Our Float/Camp Weekend 2011. Always a good time, but always ready to come home by the end of the weekend.
Fairly uneventful, except for one "very unique" individual. We called him...Tattoo. You see, if you are a camper/floater you will understand the "diverse" population of those that choose to partake in such an activity. Each year, we always have one or two people that are lucky enough to be nicknamed. Last year was Jungle Book girl, the young girl on the river that was swinging from the rope swing (long brown hair, no shirt and shorts) and showing the boys how it's done. It was awesome. She was definitely a native of the river life. You have your normal everyday folk, some families that brave these elements with their children, but for the most part it is 22-25 year old kids (yes I can say that, kids). We were lucky enough to have a large group of them right across from our campsite. On most occassions for the past several summers of camping, they've made it a ton of fun. They've made us feel young and fun and super excited that we made it past midnight without falling asleep. Like the awesome Iraq vet (all of 23 likely) that came by to offer us some marachino cherries that had been soaking in Everclear. Most Friday nights, this would not be something I would think of. Everclear is back in the days I wish to never revisit. How did I drink that sh*&?
However this year, Tattoo had a different plan. He wasn't going to sleep and he wanted to ensure that no one else did either. Friday night, no biggie. By Saturday, had I not feared for my safety, I would have confronted this one. Without sounding like a old hag, he was absolutely and underly obnoxious. On the water, off the water, it didn't matter and you couldn't get away. He.was.everywhere. He had every inch of his skin from ankles to neck (and some on his face) covered in tattoos. Now I am a fan, as many of you know, but when you start to resemble someone I have seen on Lockdown...I'm pretty sure you're just on a temporary time out from the pen. This motherf...er.... (yep, sorry, but he was and I don't use that word often) kept everyone up all night on Saturday, running around making racial slurs and threats to other campers. At one point he was at our campsite messing with what was left of our campfire. The worst part..the rest of his group was just as bad and many of them were egging him on. Proud moment for that generation. Gets you all excited for what the future holds. Wow! The next morning we finally decided to start getting up at 6:57 am. Yep, that would be before 7:00 am thanks to Tattoo himself. Enoughs enough and we were all ready to go home.
Putting all of that aside however, our Friday night and Saturday on the river were great. We laughed, ate, drank and had an awesome time.
The best part...one of our friends is a police officer and comes well "prepared" for our floating and camping adventures each and every time. I've never felt threatened or unsafe in all the years I've been camping, but I can say I was quite glad she was around Saturday night. In fact so much so, I thought about climbing in her tent.
Until next summer...
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