10 days and only 14 pictures

Well, we're back from the longest week of my life.  It happens every year, the last full week of July. This was our home for the week.  It's our own little cave and, most of the time, people leave us alone in there.  Sometimes we get a lurker who comes to visit and won't leave.

My friend Kelly completely takes care of EVERYONE in our camp.  The first night, we had Christmas supper, complete with a Christmas tree and presents.  Later in the week, we had a fiesta with sombreros and maracas.  On my last night as President of the association, we had an impromptu Retirement Party.  I hope my next one is as good as this one:

The sign, attached to our fifth-wheel with electrical tape.

This is how prepared Kelly is for a party.  She keeps a helium tank in her fifth-wheel.  Seriously.  Brown-eyed man would have a heart attack if I tried to cart something like that around.

I may or may not have had some drinks on this night.  The hat it courtesy of my friend Tammy who felt that the outgoing President needed something fancy to wear on her head.  You can't see from this picture, but there are shotgun shells all around the crown.  Pink shotgun shells.

Like my gun?  I have always complained (jokingly) that our association needs to give a Presidential gun, similar to the "other" trapshooting association.  They budget $16,000 per year for the President's gun.  I got this:

It makes real shotgun noises and comes complete with fake shells and "smoking oil".  I haven't attempted to make it smoke yet.  That table is a mess. 

I also got this:

A solid gold shotgun pendant with a diamond sight.  I have always wanted one but never wanted to spend the money on it.  It was such a wonderful surprise.  The Past President generally gets a belt buckle or bolo tie, depending upon their particular tastes.  I got exactly what I wanted, a shotgun.

Brown eyed man doesn't want his picture taken. 

Have you ever wondered how the airlines treat your luggage?  This is a heavy-duty aluminum case that holds two shotguns.  See how the end is blown out?  I think the baggage handlers see these cases as a challenge.  There is a huge dent in one corner and you can barely latch it.  Last time I flew with this gun case, the lock was broken completely off it when I went to pick it up.  Luckily, my guns were still inside.

This is the pink truck that delivered targets while we were at the shoot.  The driver's wife has breast cancer so the owner of the company painted the truck pink in her honor.  We had an event where we shot pink targets and pink shells and all the money we raised is going to the American Cancer Society.

This is Powder.  She's 12 and a good good dog.

This is Primer, Powders new sister.  Get it?  Powder and Primer?  It's a gun thing.  This is the most clear picture I could take of that dog because she doesn't stand still for long.  She spent a lot of time in our camp, which is fine because last year Clover spent a lot of time in Powder's camp.

Clover and Primer did a lot of this:

And this:

And this:

So, we had a great week.  My three terms as the President are finally over.  I'm happy about the lady who has taken my place.  I feel good about the way the shoot went.  It was probably the most fun I've had at this event in the 6 years that I've been on the Executive Committee.

I'll spend at least one more year on the board as Past President.  Hopefully no more than one year.  We'll see.

I got to spend some time with one of my greatest friends.  We saw a lot of people we only see once a year.  It flew by and it also seemed like it went on for a month.  It was nice to be back in my office on Monday and not have 400 people trying to talk to me.  I'm still not caught up on my sleep.

It's an odd way to spend vacation time, but I love it.

Have you had a summer vacation yet?  What did you do?