It turns out it was a prank call...

So I haven't put any pictures up of the camping trip because I didn't take any. In fact, any pictures we would have taken probably would have had some scowls in them anyway.

I got to the mountain just after sunset, was served some scrumptious hot dogs, root beer, and marshmallows, and sat around the fire telling and hearing jokes and scary stories (that were made up on the spot pretty much).

We hit the sack around 9 and woke at midnight to rain. After 2 hours of heavy rain the girls tent was washed out. Travis and I re-arranged the vehicles so 3 girls could sleep in one car and Nori went into our tent. Another two hours of rain...

We woke to soaked wood, soaked tents, soaked shoes, and soaked chairs (from our van, longer story than belongs here).

But then Christi's cheerfulness brought the sun out and we gradually got everything loaded. I threw on three extra layers of clothes and road the motorcycle down.

All was not bad, though. There were some great jokes told. The root beer was outstanding. The kids had about 16 hours on Friday to play in an awesome camp site (good on the Harts for picking that one). Everyone was safe. We lived to learn to pack better for the next trip!

Nature Calls

We're heading up to Mt. Bigelow today in the Catalina Mountain range for an overnight camping trip with the Harts. It was going to be several families, but sadly a lot of people were busy or not feeling well. I'll get some pics up when we get back.

Off subject, I got this today from The Other Secret Agent. I thought it was a sharp reminder that we can't borrow billions of dollars too prop up a straw-man economy and not expect serious impacts.

A day of rest

Last weekend we went up to Mt. Bigelow. Four of our friends were already there and were staying until Sunday. We only went up early Saturday and left around 8pm that night. It was gorgeous up there. The temperature was perfect, there was just enough wind to refresh the face, and, of course, the time with friends was great! Two other couples (+ kids) showed up mid-day. There were 26 of us in all and it was a great time.

Rock-star Donnie and me










Mrs. FPF and my bride










Wyatt and his fiance (first argument)










Bubba critiquing lunch

Forever and just a moment ago

Mrs. Pipes and I celebrated our 9th year of marriage on Thursday. We took the morning (because I had to work later) to drive up the beautiful Summerhaven on the iron horse to enjoy some fresh, fresh air and stone oven pizza. It was a great time together.

We got caught in the rain for the second time coming down the mountain. That's just another highlight that we have no pictures for.