my birthday

for my birthday this year i wanted to go camping.
i wanted to have a campfire and drink beer and throw the cans in!

mikey and filmer and seth came to visit.

to me, it was the perfect plan:
me and some good friends going on a canadian camping trip!
all four of us and our gear and a canoe and my jeep!
i was quite excited and anxious and happy.

my friends are way good and wanted me to get what i wanted.
i asked mikey for some ATC-20 amp automotive fuses.
he brought me the exact ones!
they are for my fog lights.
i forgot to put them in.

and filmer messaged me while i was at work on thursday.
he said, hey man, we have a surprise for you when you get home!
i was like, well its ruined now because i'll be expecting it.
when i got home, it became apparent that filmer and seth had been drinking.
like, drinking a lot, all kinds of things; they were drunk and it was barely 5pm.
there were beer bottles all over and they were laughing so much.
it was the best surprise ever, i told them.
because i was honestly surprised.
i liked being surprised!

i also got dinosaurs.
(i'll take them to work)
i won't take the sign mikey gave me to work.
(mikey and i give eachother signs for birthdays sometimes)

_________________________________________________

anyways, here are some photographs from my best birthday yet!

there was a lot of gear and we used all available space.
we had to get stuff out or move stuff when we stopped.
everyone usually sat or stood around while i put the puzzle together.
my friends knew, though, that i like doing that kind of thing.
so they just let me do whatever i wanted.

packing up for departure:

seth:

filmer:mikey:andy:

we picked up a few last minute groceries.

it was a fiasco and nobody ended up getting the ice.
even though we each had to get one thing: beer, ice, water, snacks..
..we eventually ended up with the following:

*18 pack busch
*1 bag of cherries
*6 nectarines
*4 fiji apples
*1 loaf of bread
*12 hot dog buns
*mustard
*ketchup
*6 potatoes
*1 can of spam
*salt
*pepper
*1 bag of sugary gummy orange slice candy
*12 pack heineken keg cans
*1 bag of classic ruffles chips
*beef jerky
*a pound of bacon
*1 can of beans
*a dozen eggs
*1 gallon of water
*3 large oranges
*4 individual litres of water
*3 bags of ice
*1 box of 4 ice cream treats
*1 bottle of jim beam
*1 bottle of wild turkey
*1 package of cheese filled brauts
*1 package of hot dogs
*1 package of tofu dogs
*1 bull-shaped bottle of brandy
*4 snickers bars
*2 3-packs of reeses cups
*1 box of graham crackers
*4 chocolate bars
*4 caramel-filled chocolate bars
*1 bag of jumbo marshmellows
* and one home-made pie (thanks mikey's mom)

filmer also purchased ultra soft dock:

then we drove for a while.
i told my pals that we had two options, of which we chose the latter:
1.) sleep at the campground at the lake
2.) sleep somewhere in the wilderness along the outlet river below
i turned off the road when it felt right.
the place was meant to be!
it felt magical, even!
wow, it was really working out, this birthday trip.

we unloaded the jeep:

then we made a sweet timelapse of us setting up camp...
..well, nobody has seen it yet, but i bet its sweet.
seth still has to make the frames into a movie.

we needed to get firewood before it got dark.
i took seth and filmer to a log jam on the river bank.
i had spied it as we drove in; a mile or two before our campsite.

it got dark:

the canoe made a nice place to sit by the fire:

we had some dinner and drinks and it was great.
it was exactly what i had been missing; what i had in mind.

i made grill marks on my hotdog using the side of a can:

we played some music:

filmer and a canoe:andy and a headlamp:mikey and a hatchet:seth and the brandy bull:two or three years ago mikey urged me to buy a bottle of brandy.

the brandy was in a stylized anotomically correct glass bull.
it was like 80 bucks or something, but i had to, mike was right.
well anyhow, filmer knew how important that bull was to me.
and seth has wanted to drink from the brandy bull for years.
but i would never ever ever let anyone open my brandy bull.
so, i surprised everyone and pulled it out and we drank it!
after two sips or so each...
...i threw it in the spring.

then i heard stuff like:
'F(%KER! what the f$@k did you just do!?!'
'@($%*)&@, etc, etc, @$(#^&)'
'etc'
'etc'

i guess they were pretty upset with me.
for all the suspense, and only a sip or two.
mikey later kicked me in the face and went to bed in the tent.

the brandy bull's second victim:

filmer and i stayed up until 3.30.
it sure was beautiful in the morning, when the light came out.

after i got up at 8.30 and made that video ^ I took a walk.
it was nice.
my pals got up an hour or so later.

my jeep in its natural environment:

our campsite:

our campsite looking at my jeep:

my jeep looking at our campsite:

i made everyone a hearty breakfast the next morning.
filmer got the first meal, then seth, then mikey, then me.

i made breakfast in this blue chair:
mouths to feed:
breakfast:

after breakfast, my camera battery ran out of juice.
we had an amazing time on the canoe on the lake.
seth took photos and i will get them for you soon!

stay tuned!

-ajk