Ritzhikes

Where: Farmington River, ColIinsville When: June 10-11, 2017 With: The Stupids Mar 24, David Bachrach email "A call to arms, or rather kayaks, “Back to Bugle” because Jack is no longer with us. When: June 9-11 Where: Collinsville U.S.A. (Next to the Dam)   Why: We all need this so don’t argue, “just do it” Who: The Mutual Stupids (of course) Please RSVP (or we will simply show up and kinap you)." And so it began. After 13 years, we were heading back to Collinsville and the Farmington River.  It was 22 years after we first visited, 21 years after our first camping trip on the river, and 20 years after we first camped at The Pool. We exchanged emails over the next few months, and at 8AM on Saturday, Chip arrived in my driveway. He’d offered to take care of the cooking duties this trip, so I left my cookpots, stove, kitchen tools, etc. behind. Actually, packing for this trip had been interesting. I hadn’t been camping in a long time, and I cut back to ...

Where: Collinsville, CT When: 7/24-25/2004 With: The Stupids I'm not sure who initiated the preparations this year, but the usual flurry of emails and phone calls secured a mutually agreeable date for another edition of the Farmington River Trip. A few brief suggestions of other destinations and activities were quickly dismissed in favor of a return visit to Collinsville to see if Jack was still waiting for us. Jack, for those who haven't read last year's write-up, was a huge bottle of Jack Daniels whiskey. The amount consumed on that trip (2/3 of the bottle) had had a significant influence and as we packed to leave the campsite we debated what to do with the remainder. In the end we decided to hide the bottle at the campsite and leave Jack in Fate's hands. It was now time to head Back to Jack. A month or so prior to the trip we got news that altered the focus of our gathering. Chip announced he was dealing with some serious personal issues related, in many ways, ...

Where: Farmington River When: 7/19-20/2003 With: The Stupids Planning for this trip began in June, when Chip & I started to discuss summer camping trips. Our immediate concern was a trip for the two of us, but Chip mentioned that he might be available for two trips this year and we thought a late summer/early fall trip with the rest of the Stupids might be worth considering. I said I'd been thinking about a return to the Farmington and somehow the planning changed to another Stupid kayak adventure. We contacted the rest of the crew, suggested a couple of fast-approaching dates and by some miracle found that everyone was ready, willing and available for a weekend in mid-July. I volunteered to cook again, and Chip was able to borrow a small kayak from a friend. Since David had two sea kayaks, that meant we could avoid having to rent boats this time. I suggested hammock camping, offering my old army rig for Seth's use. Chip purchased a new hammock of his own and we were a...

Where: Collinsville, CT When: 7/17-18, 1999 With: The Stupids Year 4 or 5 of the annual expedition to the Farmington River, depending upon whether we count the year we crashed at Seth's apartment as Year One or not. Anyway, there wasn't much activity going on so I picked a weekend in July and proposed it for this year's trip. Dave finally got an email address and we let the Internet do the work. Dave wasn't able to make a firm commitment at first, but eventually everyone was on board. As the day drew near, more of the pieces fell into place. Chip made the arrangements for the boats with Collinsville Canoe. I'd brought back some smoked salmon from a trip to Vancouver, so I volunteered to take care of dinner. I also offered the use of my orange pup tent to Xeth once again. He accepted and asked for my opinion on other gear. He had a huge Walmart sleeping bag and wondered if that was appropriate. It seemed a bit much and I recommended something like a fleece bag ...