Fellow Brehtren…another year come and gone.  All of the months of waiting and anticipation culminated in another successful trip (although I guess “successful” is all in your point of reference).  We added some “newbies” to the group again this year.  It was fun having HK1, 2, and 3 joining us.  Daniel U. made his 1^st trip and seemed to take it all in stride.  HK1 certainly made his presence known early and often and it only got better throughout the week…”why are you cooking the deer steak like that?”.  Of course we had our issues on the way up w/the Kalkhoff’s whose ride was making some noise which forced all the dads to get out and look at the vehicle like we knew what the hell we were doing…I even kicked a tire…and again with the Kalkhoff’s who were stopped at customs.  The latter (2^nd one Rack) left the rest of us trying to decide how long to wait before making the assumption they had been stripped searched and tossed into a Canadian jail.  While this would have concerned us, the reality is one of us would have gone back to the border unhooked the Grumman and then heading up to BDL.  We had our usual 30 minute discourse on what and how much beer to buy at the Duty Free…a staple I personally look forward to each year.

Things got better as the sun came up and we were pleasantly surprised to see Larry’s still there and operational.  The food was as good as ever…even Tom’s “egg-whites” which of course we all know are the entire egg scrambled with a little bit of the cooks spit added in for him even asking for egg-whites.  Despite the little hiccups in getting situated at BDL, playing which cabin are you in?, day 1 came and went with just about everybody (and maybe everybody) out of the house. 

The kids explored islands and JD, TF, and GK explored options.  The beer flowed (even the Corona), the food was great, the fishing wasn’t.  We had some sun, some rain, and some great card games (although I am still not sure how MF never lost…?)  Shore lunches were best ever and we actually looked as though we knew what we were doing.  Whose idea was it to split the fire into 2 so we could cook everything all at once?  That person is a Genius!!!  True to form, Tom and I had to leave on Wednesday and True to form something happened to one of the boats after we left…hey Beeks, at least the Grumman still floats and the trolling motor will get you around the BDL bay.

Great friends, great times and now we begin anew…we will spend the next 10 months recapping what was and what could have been.  Somewhere over that same time we will start talking about 2009 and what secret weapons we will be buying.  And, if all stays true to form, these “Thoughts from the Top” will be gone next month and MF’s will be there until we depart next June.