I spent the past two weeks in Canada and it was really nice to be away. The first week, I took Soni and our three kids to a family friendly fishing resort , 12 hours north with a beach and other activities. Unfortunately, the weather turned ugly and all but one day was chilly and or rainy. The highlight was that we took a guide one day and Soni and the kids learned how to fish and everybody caught quite a few fish.
The excitement ramped up when Soni and the kids drove home, but left me behind to be picked up and join my buddies for our annual fishing trip. I was joined by five great friends (2 others couldn’t make the trip) that I have known since at least 1978 when we all began high school together at Prospect H.S. Two of the friends on my trip went to grade school with me. We’ve been going on a trip together every year for more than 20 years.
In the odd years, we go to a fly-in to Uchi Lake Lodge and spend five days fishing, eating and playing cards.
“While we spend approximately ten hours a day fishing together ( 3 to a boat), this trip is really not about fishing”.
Our group of guys grew up together, has an endless list of great memories, funny stories, and screw ups together and now we are talking about what our kids our doing as several of them our in high school and beyond. This week we were all asked to be sounding boards for one another regarding business and family issues that we are all trying to cope with. I felt fortunate to unload about many of the issues that are causing me anxiety. These are the guys we all can trust and feel most comfortable telling anything to. We all “really know each other”, and all our flaws, but still are the best of friends. Like everyone else, our schedules are full with work and kid activities so we don’t see each other as often as we would like, but that changes once a year.
Ten hours a day in a boat is a lot of time to catch up and we all took full advantage of it. The “cutting shots” we take at one another are not suitable for what you could get away with on just any friends. The belly laughs from 7-day this trip are more than I’ll have the rest of the year!
Make a gaffe with this group and it takes on a life of its own.
I am very grateful for this group of friends and hope that you reach out to your best friends and make sure to carve out some time with them. THIS IS THE BEST INVESTMENT YOU CAN MAKE. We are already starting to plan for next year.
Oh, by the way the walleye and northern pike fishing was amazing!!!!
Beautiful Northern! Just about every year for the last 20+ years of my life my Dad and I make it down to TN for striper fishing in December. It’s cold and sometime we hit it big, other times we get skunked, but it always makes for a great trip.