The Adventurers

I thought it might be appropriate to at least introduce you to the four adventurers for our various journeys.  While we have, on occasion, added one or two more for various trips (Ryan and Rick), and on a couple of instances, one of us has had to bail at the last minute, our typical adventures include the four of us.

Joe

Joe is probably the one in the group who ventures out the most, on various one-day hikes, scoping out some possible trip options.  He is the one we rely on to find us many of the places we visit, and hopefully will lead us out of the woods when we get lost.  In many cases he will plan the trip for us - we just have to show up! He has convinced us (or at least me) that the best way to pack food is to buy those pre-packaged meals that you just add hot water too.  They are lightweight, taste ok, and zero mess to clean up.  Joe is also the oldest in the group (not by much, but still the oldest), which should make him the wisest - but that's up for debate!

Ben (aka - The Skinniest of the Skinny)

Ben is the one that always brings something new to the camping adventure.  Whether it is hand sanitizer to help start the fire, or a new lightweight chair (which got ashed by the fire the first night), he is always ready for a camping adventure.  The rest of us always wait in our warm bags each morning until we hear Ben get up to start the fire.  If there is a dry twig in the nearby forest, Ben will find it.  We actually almost feel sorry for any other campers in the area, once Ben has combed it for fire wood.  There will be nothing left for them to burn!  Of course, because Ben is the skinniest, he also is the 'coldest', even on warm trips, which, I believe, is why he is so good at starting fires!  Ben is also the youngest (by a long shot).

Ron

Ron is the most entertaining of the group.  He has a million stories to tell which cause us all to practically fall into the fire with laughter.  He is also known to 'over indulge' in the packing of his backpack.  It almost always weighs more than he does, I'm convinced, yet he manages to get it to the site every time.  He pulls more stuff out of that pack than I thought was possible for it to hold.  It's like a clown car - things just keep coming out of it.  Ron is also the best fisherman in the group, by far.  He knows more about it than the rest of us combined, and if we catch any fish, it is usually Ron that does so.

Mark

Finally, there's me.  I'm the 'fat' guy that is the most out of shape.  I believe I'm allowed to tag along for two reasons:

1. I have an old GMC Suburban I drive to these adventures which smells like the last trip, and we can put anything in it, at any time, and not worry about it.  
2. I bring the large steaks or hamburgers to the adventure, ready to cook on an open fire pit of coals.  I am not obligated to bring them, but it is sort of a tradition.

I will throw in some occasional humor during our journeys, but I'm also the one everybody has to wait for during our longer hikes.  I like to take my time and enjoy the journey (ie.- take a lot of breaks)!

The Purpose of this Blog

Many years ago, three friends (Ben, Ron, and Joe) and myself (Mark), all from the same high school, decided to get together for a 'Boys Adventure Trip'.  It had been several years since we had really done anything together, other than the occasional golf round, so we thought it would be something fun and interesting to do.  This first 'Misadventure' has since led to many, many more such misadventures.  As this has become a semiannual event, we have started to not only gain a lot of funny and interesting stories (many of which could be classified as 'you had to be there' type of stories), but have started forgetting all these stories (as we aren't getting any younger).  This blog is really a way for us to continue to track these misadventures, and they are definitely misadventures as you will see if you decide to read on further.  Ron has done a good job of at least keeping a good list of our various trips.  I seriously doubt we can get these trips in any kind of valid chronological order, but will at least try to get them written down.

Upon further reading, one would think that we would finally just give up on the trips, and never, ever go again.  However, it has almost become a joke, as we really never know what to expect.  My wife (Karen) has told me many times that we have a knack for picking the worst times to go on these adventures.  We schedule them well in advanced, but for some reason, we almost always seem to run into some issue as we get closer to trip date.  On many occasions the weather has not played well with our plans, but we have just 'gone with it', which has been part of the so-called 'fun'.

I am not much of a writer, but do hope you find some of these stories entertaining, if not inspiring (inspiring you to stay home, that is).  Let the Carolina Adventures begin....and hopefully never end.