We had a great 2024 Spring Campout! I will admit that this is the smallest turnout I have ever seen at a semiannual SEPN campout, but those who participated had a great weekend. We only ended up with three campsites and a total of five campers. There were several regulars at the campouts who had posted that they planned on coming but had something come up and had to back out at the last minute. We all know that life happens! They were missed, and of course, talked about.
The weather cooperated for the most part with only a short shower on Friday afternoon. Otherwise, the temperatures were not bad for springtime in Georgia. We did have to put up with the sound of the cicadas during the day, but they were quiet at night.
Those of us who attended got the wonderful opportunity to sit and socialize for most of the weekend and find out what others have been doing. It was really enjoyable to be around good friends and great people, not to mention educational. We have some very knowledgeable people in this group!
The biggest (literally) surprise was when Lilburner showed up on Friday and visited with us throughout the weekend. It has been a while since I have seen or heard from him, and it was great to have him at the campout. Hopefully, he will make a post from time to time to keep us apprised of what he is up to. I will leave it up to him to post what he has been doing, but I will provide a hint. He brought a huge selection of homemade freeze-dried candies and fruit that he shared with everyone. At his insistence, we all took home quite the bounty. It was a real treat for everyone! Here is a partial list provided by the sweet tooth in my family: skittles, strawberry cheesecake, snickers, chocolate chip cookies, peanut butter M&M’s, oreo cookie ice-cream, banana taffy, blueberries, raspberry taffy, ice cream sandwiches, strawberries. Not shown in the picture due to consumption:
peeps, circus peanuts, cinnamon taffy, and blackberries. Yummy!
In addition to his great fellowship, RWS brought several trays of Ramps, Marsh Mallow plants, and oregano, plus homegrown blueberries, and lettuce to share with fellow campers. The fresh blueberries were a real hit!
I would like to thank Farside for his efforts to schedule the campout and provide the portable toilet at the campsite. He came out to visit with us on Saturday and we were able to get caught up with his activities since the last campout.
I think we need to start a discussion about revitalizing future in-person activities for SEPN. I would like to see us get back to meeting a few times each year like we did in the past, if people are interested. Besides the two semi-annual campouts, I always enjoyed the Summer get-togethers, the fall Christmas Pot luck gatherings, etc. They were great opportunities to get together face-to-face with others in the area and catch up on what everyone has been doing. The raffles and door prizes were a lot of fun. Since not everyone wants to camp, this provides the opportunity to meet, eat, and greet others who may not be interested in camping but are active in other aspects of prepping. What do you think?
To summarize, we had a very small turnout, but a great time at the 2024 Spring Campout! Hopefully, we will have a much larger participation for the Fall Campout.
See you there!
