It’s almost time to fly. I’ve spent the week with the minimum of sleep – no reason other than my brain won’t slow down long enough to let my body chill. I’m possessed, driven like a demon from hell to forge ahead into the daylight world and still try to keep my Dracula lifestyle. It’s hell.

The house cleaning, camp gear sorting, yard chores, and last minute shopping are about done. Laundry time, a few miscellaneous things that are bound to pop up, list making and list checking to make sure everything goes the way it should at the last minute are almost yesterday.

BTW, what retard would put a spare under the bed of a truck and put the valve stem on top so the spare had to be dropped to check the tire pressure…must’ve been some sick, sadistic bastard that got his 2-3 off-suit busted off.

The first of my traveling companions showed up tonight. He’s a spunky little cutie, loves to fish and swim – Ryan. He went with me year before last and couldn’t make last year…or so his mom and dad said. The one on the right will be here on Saturday – Kayanna. This is her second trip to Vegas this year and as far as I’m concerned it’s never enough. She could live with me if her mom said it was ok. And they get along amazingly well – makes that 2,400-mile round trip a lot easier to fade. And this is the lake they fish and swim in…hey…they are fishing.

By Saturday night, I’ll be on the road. I’ll make the first and longest part of the road trip to Missoula – almost 1,000 miles – before I give up and check into a hotel room that’s already reserved. Monday, the 8th, I’ll be helping my sis, Vickie, load up her truck and gear, and we’ll be heading for the campground in the panhandle of Idaho – the last 180 miles of the trip. A stop in Coeur D’Alene, Idaho for ice and groceries to slam into the cooler and then fade the damn two lane highway heading North for 40 miles to the State Park.

This is better than a scene out of a movie…a stream that runs out of the lake we camp on…and what the surrounding area looks like.

It appears that our group will be much smaller this year than previous years. Sad. Not because of any tragedies but due to mankind’s inability to plan for an event when they had a year’s advance warning/notice. Go figure. “Gee…I only had a year to figure out when I should take my vacation and put money ahead for the event but I can’t make it!â€?

Late Monday afternoon this will be home for a week.

When I crawl out of the tent on Tuesday, the squirrels will be dropping deadly missiles from 60 feet above (pinecones) and I make it a point to start the coffee and head for the awning that covers my picnic table ASAP. Man those bastards hurt if you take a direct hit. Within in minutes of starting the coffee, someone in our group will head for my campsite, and we’ll be sharing a cup of java and talking about life. Laughing over memories we share and beginning the next chapter of our lives at the same time.

But of course I’m taking a deck of cards and poker chips. I have nieces and nephews that can’t wait to play poker with Aunt Linda. And hey…I can’t remember winning a hand last year. Of course I sat with some of them while they played my chips, and I handed out stacks of chips to those that ‘went bust’, and gently walked them through the doors of Poker Camp. I’m always the banker, and while they have to buy their chips with hard cash, they get a lot of leeway and why not? We’re there to have fun. Maybe one of them will be a world champion someday and tell everyone how they learned to play poker at the family reunion. Sweet!

My next post should be the Missoula Hotel – they have wifi.