Skipping our annual camping trip this year

[brewens]

5. I quit drinking competitively, but not altogether. I used to really pound them down with the boys,

but now I only drink occasionally. I hung out with my drinking buddies at the Eagles Lodge for a while after I cooled it, but it wasn't the same. In some cases, and some situations, you do need to drink to have a good time. I love those guys, but they get drunker and louder and eventually, I'm an outsider. I might as well be the only one not frying at an acid party.

Tell me about the prep for a trip. I used to float the rivers here in Idaho with the same guys. Some semi-retired pros that went first class on the Snake and Salmon rivers here in Idaho. Those guys beat themselves to death to make sure they had enough beer, booze and ice for most of the guys to stay drunk all the time. But you wouldn't have wanted to pay the tab on the meals they served if it was a nice restaurant. The food was fabulous.

I went on other shorter trips where we were all about the fishing. We had freeze dried and canned food and weed. I enjoyed those more. It was so much less work.