Aloha gang,

We just got back from another three days of family camping. Just thought I would share. On this trip, all the kids and most of the adults went fishing at the lake. My wife and I stayed behind to keep an eye on our camp site as we had been there before. I will share pictures of the fishing when I get them from the other folks. Hey, my soon to be six year old girl caught five fish!!

We had some interesting "neighbors" this time around. First another group of family campers set up a couple of hundred feet away from us. Then on our first night and every night thereafter, a strange old guy shows up around six. He seems very strange and he walks right into our area amongst our children and loiters and smokes. The first night, he showed up as I was getting our fire going. I was tending the fire and he walks up to me and starts telling me to add more wood to the fire as he knows how since he is ex-special forces. I wanted to ex-special forces escort him away from our kids and out of our campsite, but as we ignored him and didn't offer him dinner, he walked off to the other group of families. I think they ignored him too and he left the area...kind of. When he first came by, I asked him where he had set up camp and he refused to tell us. Through our collective snooping, we found out he was sleeping in his van. We found him loitering and smoking later in the evening too, then he split.

Next night, he shows up around dinner time again and walks into our camp. One of the other dads shoo'd him off as I saw him leave pretty quickly. He seems to always show up when I am getting the evening fire going. Really wierd. He didn't go to the other camp area as our previous family neighbors left earlier in the day and a group of young teenage, early 20 year old guys set up camp there with one young boy. I was waiting for Darwin to visit the young guys as they were pretty rowdy and pretty drunk and stoned. We could smell the weed one of the moms heard the unmistakable sounds of hurling coming from YG camp later in the evening. Those guys were hooping and hollering and couldn't start a fire without a gallon of lighter fluid. They would start their fire and of course, once the fluid is burnt off, the fire is out, so they just kept repeating the process. At one point when I looked over, I could see one guy holding the lighter fluid can slighty over his head and squirting down into the fire making blaze pretty spectacularly. That's when I thought Mr. D was going to visit them. I almost had a Darwin award nomination to make. I was telling my wife that if they didn't quiet down by 9ish, I was going to have a talk with them as almost all of our children were either sleeping or trying to sleep. Strange thing is at 9 on the nose, they all all shut down and went to sleep. Later that night around midnight, I smelled cigarette smoke, so I told my wife I was going out to patrol our camp and make a nature stop while I was at it. I don't know if Mr. ex-special forces was hanging around or not, but I did not see him when I made my rounds. He probably remembered his hiding skills. I did spot him in the shadows the previous night around 11 about 50+ feet away from our area.

Once we got our fire going nicely, not even the rains that kep visiting us could put it out. I was proud of our fires.

Anyway, sorry for rambling. I went on a little hike to scout out a trail that I never went on before and to see if I could find a way to a spot for the kids to go and feed the fishes. My apologies for the picture resolution. I didn't bring my camera and used the one on my phone.

Here's the hike:







A marshy area through the tree.



The edge of the lake. There are fishes right in there but you can't see them in the picture.



Here's the lake:



My shady restin' spot after getting back to camp.



The view from the shady restin' spot.



The evening fire.



The music tent...Kumbaya...when the kids that running around in the open field or plying on the hill or eating or fighting or...they would listen to music sing

nice..good to see kids out camping and maybe start picking
up some skills...
i would have used that phone to do more than take photos..
i would have called the cops and tell them some pervert
is hanging around your kids..

As usual, beautiful scenery.

I have run in to mr ex-special forces types myself from time to time. Sometimes I wish that my "one free kill a year" policy was in effect.

Who is the young lady playing the guitar???

The place we camp is gated at night and it does have security. The security guard was notified the first night and he was patrolling with a gazillion candle power search light. He couldn't find the guy. There was a power outage that night so the surrounding areas, ie, parking, the roads, and bathrooms had no lights. Power outage doesn't mean a darn thing to me when camping, but it probably made it harder for security to spot the guy. After all, he is ex-special forces.

I honestly didn't think the guy was going to do something and I don't like to pre-judge, but when their are youngs kids around, you have to be more portective and you gotta trust your gut when you have that funny feeling. And when we ALL have our hackles up...

Shame on you OBG, the lady is one of the moms. She and her family have joined us on the past couple of camping trips. Her daughter is one of the charter members of our 4H group that my wife started.

Great to hear you had a good time (if a bit "interesting" at times)! The landscape looks beautiful, especially those mountains.

It's not that uncommon though to run into weirdos when hiking or camping. I usually prefer to hike in remote areas where the chance of meeting anyone is pretty slim aside from an occasional farmer or hunter. For the most part those are the kind of people that it feels great to meet and chat a bit before moving on. Sometimes however you also run into somebody you'd rather not meet. That's the reason why I always try to camp somewhere secluded, far enough from the trail and keep my shelter and fire low profile so as not to attract too much attention. I'm really not too comfortable with the idea of somebody stalking me or loitering around the camp when I'm asleep.

I too prefer not to run into anyone when camping and hiking. That is very difficult in a family camping situaton though. Especially with a few of the families being new converts. Yes, you can call me Reverend Aloha of the Church of Outside.

We had about 15 campers and another 15 people show up for varous activities like fishing, hiking and of course, lunch.

I was never really too worried about any of our "neighbors" but the lone loiterer made us uncomfortable. I was wondering if he was trying to raid our food that night the I smelled the cigarette smoke.

As far a my daughter hiring out as a fishing guide...

Well, she is a minor, so you will have to hire the old man as fishing chaperone as well.

Aloha - you picked a beautiful place to camp in . Too bad about the weirdo guy and the noisy drunk kids .I would have been much more worried about the weird guy . I would have made it very clear that he was not welcome anywhere near my camp , but thats just me . Maybe next time , you or one of the other campers could bring a dog along . It's been my experience that weirdos do not like dogs and dogs seem to know when someone is weird . Dogs are also very good at letting you know that someone or something is out there .

Aloha,

Great pictures as usual. I just got back from Hawaii and seeing your pictures make me want to hop on the next flight back.

Sorry to hear you had a strange guy disturbing you. I would have been very paranoid, especially if there were small children around. Around here, when you run into strange people (and it happens a lot!), they're usually exceedingly strange, and really put me on alert. I doubt if I would have been able to sleep knowing someone like that was out there.

My daughter's been telling me since she's been two that she was going to make a lot of money so I won't have to work. Since she started her first business at age 5, at least a decade ahead of schedule, I see no reason for her not to start her fishing guide business. And are you kidding me? Someone's going to pay me to go fishing. Just let me know where to sign up!!

Thanks guys. We like that place a lot. Unfortunately, pets are not allowed there.

Like I told one of the moms, I am more worried about crazy than stupid as stupid is usually predictable while crazy is not. I didn't lose sleep over the guy, but I'm a usually a light sleeper, so when I heard or smelled something that didn't belong I would get up and patrol our campsite. On the first night, one of the other dads couldn't sleep so he was our guard. He kept the fire going and stargazed. I heard him out there and checked on him briefly before going back to bed.

Perhaps some "Verbal Jujitsu" would be in order?
http://www.alpharubicon.com/prepinfo/verbaljujitsugoshin.htm

I had noticed that LEO's tend to have a certain mannerism when conversing in an offical capacity but had never quite realized why before...

Perhaps OBG can give us some insight?

Something I have stuggled with for most of my life is the unacceptable situation created by the imposition of non-conformists in a majority conformist public environment, and the often ineffective and escalatory effort of law enforcement or security at dealing with the non-conformist.

Campgrounds and parks are perfect examples of this. Most of the people that frequent these places are respectable, considerate, and often family oriented. Sometimes the youngsters can be a little bit intrusive, but so long as it is not overtly so, other occupants will generally accept this.

Then you get the vagrants, the bums, the wierdos, the vandals, the theives, the punks, the gang bangers, and the psycho-nutsos, who intend to impose their bad behavior on the other occupants of such facilities. They ignore rules, laws, and are inconsiderate to say the least. When confronted by the other occupants, they either ignore the requests, or issue inappropriate and threatening challenges. In fact, oftentimes those who would confront them become the target of their aberrant behavior.

Then the authorities are contacted and all they do is come in, tell the pests to quit annoying the other occupants, and usually leave after a bit of blatant observation. So the pests will quiet down for a little while, then once the authorities have left start up their antics again, or even escalate it to the point of genuine harrassment. Seldom have I actually seen these pests get run off never to return. Then usually a conflict arises and someone's outing gets ruined. Then the cops show up after the fact and begin their process of effectively dealing with the pests, after the damage is done. I experienced this type of situation directly and indirectly repeatedly over my lifetime, and it is just as unacceptable now as it was when I was a kid, even moreso now since I am the silverback.

Life doesn't have to imitate Pleasantville, but it would be nice if the treasures which we are constantly being asked to preserve and perpetuate for our descendants were proactively managed so that we can also enjoy them in the present tense.

In every hunter ed class I taught, I got to present the part on hunter ethics, a role I inherited from the Chief Instructor. Usually that is one of the hardest talks to give and keep the students captivated about. You really have to teach it passionately and keep them involved. One point we drive home with large blunt force is the necessity of respecting others when sharing public areas. Being such a big, imposing presence, I learned to deliver that particular part of the lesson with such effect that there's no doubt a lasting impression was put on these minds. It is the only time when I actually raise my voice, gesticulate authoritatively, and add a hint of anger to my tone. It is not a very comfortable thing for me to do, but all of the instructors felt it a necessary and vital part of the delivery of the message. The way we see it, if the message gets pounded in far enough, it will seep over into influencing more of the behavior in public. The more positive influence we can have, the better.

I have been to hunter education class. But I think those who are inconsiderate have never even thought about attending one.

Fortunately, no escalation beyond "letting him know that we know he is there and are watching too" was necessary. I think he was really uncomfortable when he was followed to his van and his license plate number was taken down along with the make and model. That got forwarded to security in the park.

"...Shame on you OBG..."

A simple question, shame on you for thinking bad of me. She is a cutie tho...

Thanks for briefing everyone on another one of those hazards that are out there. The two legged varmints are the most dangerous!!

By the way, OBG, ALL the moms are cuties!

As are our ETS ladies.

Hey! A fund raising idea for Doug...Ladies of ETS calendar. And we have guys that are easy on the ladies' eyes, I am sure. So they can get fair and equal time. Guys of ETS calendar too. Or would you guys prefer ETS Stud Muffins 2008? Doug and the mods can fight over who gets the cover. Maybe the fight can be pay per view to raise even more funds. Well, it could...

No offense guys, but I would only buy the ladies' one. Especially the special zombie hunter edition!

Great idea, I might even volunteer to be the photographers assistant for the Ladies version!!!

You know, encouraging Blast like this will only make him more obnoxious...

Ladies, yeah maybe. Fellas, lot on your knife!!!

You know, encouraging Blast like this will only make him more obnoxious...

Ladies, yeah maybe. Fellas, lot on your knife!!!

You know, encouraging Blast like this will only make him more obnoxious...

Ladies, yeah maybe. Fellas, lot on your knife!!!

You know, encouraging Blast like this will only make him more obnoxious...

Ladies, yeah maybe. Fellas, lot on your knife!!!

I got dibs on the sponge boy position for the ladies photo shoots!