I Love Camping...

Spent the weekend doing one of my favorite tribal things - camping.

We earned half the wings of our third year totem this weekend up at Key Haven on Kerr Lake during our tribe's annual tent-fest. As we do every year, it was a weekend of awesome grub and some special male bonding. Between the food, fishing, football and tall campfire tales, there was plenty of testosterone flying around those woods.

Howling Wolf put it best when he borrowed an old adult golden beverage commercial tag line: "It doesn't get any better than this." Truer words were never spoken by a man full of steamed shrimp and babyback ribs and kielbasa and s'mores, sitting around a blazing campfire.

The fish were scarce, but the Little Braves cared not. They enjoyed the quiet time by the lake as much as the Big Braves. If one kid caught a fish, they all reviled in the victory as if they'd caught it themselves. That's one of our tribe's many finer points: the awesomeness (is that a word?) of the boys and dads that make up the mighty Wild Wolf Warriors. They are some of the best kids you'd ever want in your tribe, and I'm proud to call them my own.

With the sun setting over a pristine Kerr Lake, we had a tribal meeting as we usually do while camping. Sitting around the campfire for a meeting is just so much better then sitting in someone's living room. Listening to the Little Braves tell how they earned their wampum as their eyes reflected the fire's flames makes a meeting so special. White Bull entertained the boys with a couple of rounds of Halloween Bingo as the dads prepared dessert: Atomic (and regular) s'mores.

As with every camping trip, the Big Braves stayed up late after the Little Braves crashed in their tents and laughed the night way, telling stories of long ago and retelling of tales too "rich" to share in this forum (tawdry enough to make Moose blush I'd say).

Breakfast was a total team effort. As the Little Braves hunted for arrowheads, the Dads all pitched in for a massive morning meal consisting of coffee, eggs, bacon, sausage, toast, hashbrowns and chicken cheese grits. One thing we Wild Wolf Warriors do not do on our trips is go hungry. We eat well and we show it.

After another round of fishing, everyone packed up camp and headed back to Raleigh. As the last car pulled out, Dylan and I had a moment alone to reflect upon the weekend. I could not help but remember our first time to Key Haven as a tribe back in 2006 and think how much these young men had grown in size and how we Dads had grown as friends. A lot has happened in the two years we've been together and there's a lot left to happen yet. And I can't wait...

How-How!