Ok, so the title is a little off because we have only been doing this trip for 22 years, however, this year is going to be the 23rd. Damn, that just blows my mind thinking about it because I have students that are younger than this trip. In fact, I can not think of something that has lasted longer in my life other than my family that I have done that is older than this trip. Yes, yes, in the grand scheme of things it is only a drop in the bucket, but almost a quarter of a century...come on! For us shit-ball humans it is, for the most part, a third of our lives. That is why I am so damn pumped for this year's trip.
This year is going to be a great learning experience for the entire family in so many ways. Sure we have all camped together, however, never before have we split up with our own gear to tackle a watery trail as our means to our destination. We are going to have six people, with three canoes and only half of us have had experience at being the Captain in the rear of the vessel; yet that is only a fraction of what my kids will have to learn on this trip. Oh yes...there is a lot more.
Well, as I sit here and think about the trip that is going to come up this year, I know we are going to have more than just three canoes because The General is going to be coming along with us as well as possibly Radar and Johnny Rambo...I hope. That would mean we would possibly have five canoes on the trip. One short of our record of six. The only difference is that four of the ten people would be underage, and we haven't had that since Stebe and Adam were on the trip. But that isn't going to matter much because there are going to be a lot of pros on the trip this year to teach them how to canoe and camp.
This has got me thinking...maybe The General's idea isn't all that bad. We live in a time where a lot of shit is going viral. I mean, in a recent conversation with a friend of mine from work, he said that one of the top paid people on Youtube this year was a kid, younger then Bug, who did reviews on toys he would play with and review. That is fucking crazy!! The kid made over a million dollars paying with fucking toys and giving his opinion on them. This has led me to think that we maybe onto something with our canoe trip. Well...at least for something to have some hits or something on it. If only we would have had a go-pro cam back in the day. Hell, we would be making some BANK!
I'm thinking about the times that Stuball rolled his kayak and kept his brew above water, or the time that Andy was launched out of his canoe and hugged a rock. And lets not forget about the time The General tipped over on the hill at the Doons. I could go on and on about all the adventure we have had on the Bigfork, but it doesn't change the fact that those memories are lost to time and the only record is what I have recorded on this blog...that no one reads.
TTFN
Until then I will forever remain...Crazy Joe.
The story of The Bigfork River Runners begins back in 1996. It was the end of my first year of higher education and to celebrate I put together a motley crue of friends to take a canoe trip down the Bigfork River on Memorial vacation. The trip was a blast to say the least; since then we have carried on the tradition of canoeing the river every year on Memorial Weekend. Through this blog The Bigfork River Runners will share their stories and pictures from trips past and trips to come.
