Firepower Weekend!

Over the Labor Day weekend, my family and I, along with a number of family friends set out for a little out of the way place in Iroquois County to spend the weekend camping under the stars. This is a great place. It is about 5 miles from anything... no electricity, no running water other than the creek, and no people living nearby. Only about 80 acres of woods, grassland and fresh air. (The only drawback that anyone can talk about is that we have to dig our own latrine! Fortunately we have a old hosptial commode chair that we place over the stew hole and throw some canvas up over the branches of a downed hickory tree. It provides not only privacy, but a sense of normality when doing your business. ) We have been coming here now for about 4 years or so and each year we bring out all our guns, paintball gear, cooking accessories, and games and enjoy a few days of doing nothing in particular. One of my good friends nicknamed the weekend, "Firepower Weekend," and I think that moniker suits it quite well. And it sounds better than "Labor Day Weekend Campout." This year we had some new attendees to Firepower Weekend. One of my son's Boy Scout troop members came out and got to shoot the crap out of my 8mm Mauser! (I doubt it has been shot that much since 1944!) He also got to see how much food we can make in an evening, and even got to try my family's homemade ice cream for the first time. And our pastor, a big shooting and hunting fan, came out and almost immediately found himself involved in an airsoft BB gun fight with myself, my son and a couple of other kids! He also brough out a number of weapons and we enjoyed shooting them at targets or just plinking. (Plinking, for those who do not know, is just picking a safe target, where ever it might be and trying to hit it with your gun, or more accurately, bullet fired from the gun!!! It is quite fun and very theraputic!) As and aside, it was reassuring to later find out that he keeps a loaded .45 cal. 1911 Colt with hollow point bullets in his home.... just in case! In any case, we spent most of the afternoon shooting ammo at all kinds of things.

After cleaning up a bit from shooting, the kids found the foam swords and weapons I brought and managed to smack the crap out of each other for about an hour or so. It is funny to watch my dog Gunnar. He always seems to go after anyone who is attacking (in order of importance) Me, my son or daughter, my friend's kids, and lastly, anyone who looks vunerable.

Later that afternoon, after playing a game or two, we got the fire going well and cooked a number of pork loins, potatoes and onions, sweet potatoes and homemade ice cream with chocolate chip cookie bars. Man oh man was it good eating. The meal is always eagerly anticipated and this year proved to be a feast! Everything, and I mean everything, tasted wonderfull!

After supper, a bit of cleaning up, the homemade ice cream came out and the campfire talking began. I even got to make fry pies with my cast iron pie maker. If you have never had one, I feel sorry for you.

All In all, it was a great way to spend the weekend. Here is to next year!

Later!

Photos descriptions! The first two are of my son and one of his best buds doing what best buds do best! Shooting at each other with Airsoft BB guns! How I have great memories of BB gun fights as a kid. I hope they cherish their fights too! The next one is of my daughter getting ready to shoot her brother and friends with her BB gun pistol. The mask is a bit big but the outfit she was wearing is hilarious! Nothing like princess clothing for a gun fight! The next one is of my wife shooting my M1 .30 carbine. This is a WWII vintage gun that shoots really smoothly! It is a blast to shoot! The second to last is of the foam sword fight that broke out just before supper! The kids were really wearing themselves out but having a great time doing it! And finally, the last one is of me making the most delicious of desserts, homemade ice cream! The recipe we use is close to 150 years old and we don't change a thing. I could eat a ton of it. The only thing missing this weekend, was my Mom's homemade chocolate sauce to go on it!