Cabin Time!

Once a year I get my own little retreat. A night with the boys up north at the cabin! It's been an annual tradition so long that none of us can actually remember when it started. It's been more than 20 years, we know that, but as with most things at the cabin, the rest of it is a bit hazy...

The Friday after Christmas we met at our usual location: Aaron's driveway. We were definitely pumped for the trip and pumped to see each other! Some of us hadn't seen each other since the last time we went last year. We may not spend as much time together as we used to, but the moment we are together it's like no time has passed at all. We filled up the vehicle and we were off! Chatting and laughing the whole way up, we stopped, as is our custom, in Big Rapids for lunch, and then eventually found our way, after a little jog in the road, to the good ol' cabin!

Settling in, getting the fire started, freezing for the first hour or two. All part of the joy of being there! We decided to do something different for dinner this year, opting to skip out of Sporties, we drove north of town until we found a restaurant that was open. Now here's the thing with trying someplace new: it's not always a success... Was the food good? no. But was the atmosphere good? Also no. But at least the service was good? Also no. I don't think we will be going there again, if I'm being honest...

Returning to the cabin, it was now time for the main event: game time! We gathered around the table, put on an Aaron original mix of music, and got busy playing dumb games and making each other belly laugh for the rest of the night! Eventually we got to the chatting part of the night, except Jon, he called it quits pretty early. Sleep came a callin' and finally we all tucked in for the night.

The morning, as always, it mostly about waiting for everyone to wake up so we can make a run to the gas station and use the bathroom or get coffee. With everyone up, we cleaned up and gathered our things. Another successful cabin trip is in the books!

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Cabin Trip 2023

Pure joy fills my heart as we finally get to the event I have been waiting months for: It's cabin time, baby! Every year I get to gather together with my favorite friends and head up to that most beloved of towns: beautiful and lovely Balwin! We met up Friday afternoon at Aaron's house, as has become the tradition. After taking a few minutes to catch up, we pile into one vehicle and begin our trek up north.

Man, it's been too long since I spent time with these guys! The unfortunate reality is that we all have such busy lives that, for some of us, this is the only time each year that we get to see each other.

We stopped at Ruby Tuesday's in Big Rapids, filled our bellies, and finally arrived to see a beautiful newly (partially) redecorated cabin! Apparently there have been some issues with little varmints getting in and making themselves at home, so my cousin (who owns the place) has put in the effort to strip it and rebuild much of the inside. We walked in and felt pretty fancy with all the upgrades! With it being so warm outside, building the fire wasn't as urgent as usual. We took our time and settled in. 

After our standard visit to Sporty's bar and grill, we came back and got up to no good, as is our way. We forgot to bring up some of our favorite games, so we made due with what we had. It was an uproarious night, as always, but eventually we all tucked in for the night.

Like I said, this is one of my favorite events of the year, a time to play and chat with some of the guys I've known the longest of anyone on Earth. And Jon. We always have a rowdy time as well as heartfelt conversations. It's the best of both, really. We've been doing this for over twenty years now, and I hope we never stop!

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Finally, The Cabin

Finally! After a couple years off, we finally get to go back to the cabin! The guys were just as pumped as I was to finally get together again and visit that blessed land up in Baldwin! Two years ago we skipped due to the pandemic, and last year we had to miss out because of an infestation, but this year we are going no matter what!

We bypassed the usual stop for lunch and just went straight through to the cabin. It didn't look much different, but we basked in it's beauty once again, and that was enough. Aaron drove us up there, Dusty, Jon, and I. We got up there and found the place looking nice, and pumped to be back where we love to be! After our celebratory tradition as we pull in, we made it back to the cabin. It was crazy how little snow there was up there- it had all melted so quickly! 

We whooped it up a bit all afternoon and then headed over to the ol' Baldwin favorite: Sporties! A delicious meal as always, filled with a great time being silly with friends. When we got back we stoked up the fire, the drinks, and the fun. We pulled out Cards Against Humanity, and got to work having a blast! Soon after the game Jon called it quits. Dusty held on a bit longer, having some good talking time with the three of us. Eventually, as usually happens, it was just me and Aaron. We got pretty deep and honest, which is the real point of the cabin trip, if I'm being honest...

In the morning we hung out for a bit, ran to the gas station for our morning constitution, cleaned up, and were on our way. Another successful cabin trip! What started as a silly little night away all those years ago has become the cornerstone of our friendship.

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Cabin Substitute

Every year since I was in college, the guys and I have gone up to the cabin for a night of fun. Unfortunately we were not able to go last year because of that whole pandemic thing. We were pumped to be able to go back up this year! We started making plans and getting excited. And then I got word from my cousin (who owns the cabin) that there had been an infestation over the summer and he recommended that we do not go up there until it is dealt with. Oh no! Needless to say, we were absolutely crushed! Now we have to wait another year to go back to the cabin? Heartbreaking. In order to console ourselves, we decided that we should at least still get together. Dusty volunteered his house for us to enjoy an evening together crying about missing the cabin. All the usual suspects got together at Dusty's place: Aaron, Adam, Jon, Dusty, and I. Dusty had prepared a delicious meal and we spent the night laughing and catching up. Some of these guys I hadn't seen all year! It was so fantastic to see everyone again and have lots of laughs together. When Dusty's wife got home she even took a photo for us as we realized that this was an unofficial reunion of the Sidestreet Guys!

off to the cabin!

Cabin time!  It's that annual tradition here again!  Every year a bunch of us guys go up north to the cabin and hand out together for a couple days.  We've been doing this so long that we've almost been doing it more of our life than haven't.  That's crazy.  Some friends have come and gone, but there's always a wonderful togetherness when we go up.  Last year Jon wasn't able to join us, but this year he made extra sure that he would have the time off without excuse!  Aaron, Jon, and I met up with Dusty in Big Rapids and, after a delicious lunch, made our way to the ol' cabin.  We never really know what to expect, some years we've had so much snow that we had to park at the road and hike in, other years we've had no problems.  This year there were a couple big trees in the way of the path!  fortunately, with a little team work, we got the path cleared with only minor delays.  We settled in and did a little big of catching up.  Unfortunately, we see each other less and less these days, so for some of us there was a lot to catch up on.  Even though we don't hang out together as much as we used to, the old friendships don't take much to rekindle.  Before we knew it we were having a blast like usual!  Of course, we did our usual Sporties visit, game playing, and deep talks.  The details of which will forever be shrouded in mystery due to the blood pact we have to make each time we go to the cabin, but it's totally worth it.
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cabin again

the annual tradition of going to the cabin continues.  it was a little smaller group than usual, with this being our first trip up without our beloved jeffry lee.  unfortunately jon was not able to come either, but at least we had dusty, aaron, and adam!
we met up at Aarons,  a little earlier than years past, that way we got a some more time up there.  we stopped for lunch in big rapids and then headed all the way up.  it took some getting used to not having jeffry lee there, he was always the one who was extra loud and excitable- so the rest of us had to make up for it!  dusty took over the fire starting duties, and by 1pm we were all cozy and ready for some fun.  the day brought a lot of silliness, great stories, crazy games, and some really great conversations.  after a visit to sporties for dinner, the party continued well into the wee hours of the night.  the best part of these trips is the renewing of friendships through the deeper discussions that happen at the end of the night.  there was a lot of talking about life, relationships, and deeper purpose.
this was our 18th year of the cabin tradition, and it keeps getting better!
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baldwinning!

its time to go back- back to the cabin!  the five of us gathered once again for our annual trip up north to the great town of balwin where we do a whole lot of nothing- and love every minute of it!  this year adam wasn't able to make it, but that didn't slow us down one bit, the rest of us were ready to rock!  we were all supposed to meet up at aaron's place, per usual, but jeffry lee was running late, also per usual, so dusty, aaron, and i headed out and met jeff and jon up there.  when we all arrived we had a couple issues with the generator, but soon got that resolved and jumped right it to the fun and frivolity! 
we made our annual pilgrimage to sporties bar for some 'delicious' food, and then the real fun started!  we always have a blast just chilling out, playing games, and chatting the night away.  the next morning, as has happened before, we had a little issue with the vehicle we drove up...  this is always super scary- if we can't get out of here then we are screwed!  its an hour and a half from home!  fortunately, we have aaron and jeffry lee along with us- two guys who know their way around a broken down vehicle!  this time the truck had an issue starting up.  aaron slid under the engine, gave it a well placed tap, and it was running again!  we didn't want to jinx it, so we immediately packed up and headed out, making sure not to turn off the engine for anything!  all went well, we got everyone home safe and sound, but after everyone was dropped off, i brought it straight to the shop to get fixed!
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cabin: hangin'

to say we have fun up at the cabin is an understatement- there's a reason we have been doing this for so many years!  of course we did all the usual things we do up there: we went to sporty's for dinner, we came back to the cabin and took a walk, played games, had our fantastic candle light talks; but the best part of the whole thing is having the opportunity to get together again as friends and just catch up.  we had some great conversations, some really fun adventures, and we had a blast just being together.  as long as we can use this cabin, i'm sure we will keep this tradition going for many many years to come!
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cabin: inventin'

the cabin that we stay in is far enough off the beaten path that it actually is too far away from civilization to be on the power grid.  that means that if we want electricity we have to use a generator.  thought the cabin has all the modern amenities that one would expect from a 21st century dwelling, its only available when the generator is turned on.  all of this 'off the grid' stuff adds up to the fact that even though the cabin has indoor plumbing and bathroom facilities, we don't actually bother to turn them on when we go up there.  it would involve turning on the water pump and clearing out the pipes before we leave so they don't freeze.  well, that's clearly too much work.  so we have never, in all our years going up there, actually used the water or water heater.  as one could imagine, this makes the bathroom unusable.  well, when jon and jeffry lee came back from the dollar store, they declared that they had figured out a solution to our problem- jon bought a chair that he then modified to take care of the bathroom problem.  he's a regular thomas edison, that one!  we were all so impressed with his genius idea, not yet understanding how tragic things would soon turn.
i'm sure you are wondering if it worked.  well, the answer is a bit more complicated than that...
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cabin: shootin'

one of the traditions at the cabin is bringing up some guns to shoot stuff.  we don't go hunting or anything, we just like to shoot cans and any other random items we can find!  it really is a lot of fun!  in years past i have brought my dad's gun, but i didn't this year.  usually rex brings one, or keith when he would come with us, but neither of them were here this year.  that meant that it fell to jeffry lee and jon to bring the firearms (which, by the way, jon bought because he had so much fun shooting the first year he came!) well, after lunch it was decided that we should go out and use the guns.  as you can see, jon is all geared up for shootin' time.  we went out a couple times during the day to shoot some stuff.  at one point in the day jeffry lee and jon drove in to town and stopped at the dollar store so that jon could buy a few items to use as targets- and boy did we have fun destroying his stuff!
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off to the cabin!

gather the troops- its cabin time once again!  my bestest friends in the whole world and i have an annual tradition: head up to baldwin, michigan for a night together at the cabin!  we've been doing this for so long that i honestly can't remember the first time we did it.  this is either or 12th or 13th trip up there...
it was a bit later this year than usual (now that i have a different job i dont get two weeks off for the holidays, so we had to wait for a time that i could get off), but its always better late than never, huh?  most of the usual suspects were able to attend.  rex had work stuff so he couldn't go, adam was back in california so he was out.  but there were still five of us who were ready to party- cabin style.  in order to get the most of our one night away, we met up bright and early.  we gathered at aaron's around 9:00am and were on the road soon after.  jon drove his truck and dusty took his car, the rest of us split up and found seats where ever we could.  since we were so early we decided not to do our usual trip to the bk in big rapids, instead jon brought some sloppy joes for us to have for lunch when we got up there.
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cabin done

in the morning we actually got up at a reasonable time, which was probably due to the fact that we didn't stay up too late.  that allowed us to actually enjoy the morning together, have some coffee, eat some breakfast, and just relax together before the inevitable pack up.
when it finally arrived, we were ready for it, not trying to delay our departure because 'we just want a little more time together!'  since there were only four of us, we were actually able to fit in one vehicle, so that certainly made leaving even easier.  all four of us had a blast, and it was so nice to give jon a second chance to spend some time up at the good ol' cabin!
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bitelys

since we decided that we werent going to do the usual things, we figured that included going to sporties.  so, we had to find a different place to have dinner while we were up there.  we wandered up and down the main road for a while when aaron brought up a suggestion.  quite a few years ago we all came up and aaron convinced us to go to a restaurant a few miles away called bitely's and we had a strange and fun time.  aaron suggested that we could go back there.  not finding anything else, we took him up on that idea and stopped in to bitely's for a bite.  it was strange to be back there.  i have a very particular memory of the one time we had been there, and when we walked it, it was nothing like i remembered!  they hadn't renovated or redecorated at all, it was just that my memory was so wrong about what the place was like.  and it seemed that i wasnt the only one- aaron and jeffry lee were both flabbergasted by the difference between their memories of the place and the reality when we walked it.  the whole thing was a lot smaller than any of us remembered.  we recognized everything in the place and knew this was definitely the place we had been to before, but it was shocking how much my memory had morphed it into this other place.  weird!  we still had a great time there.  while we were there aaron said one of the funniest things i had heard in years.  i know retelling it wont do it any justice, so i wont.  but to give you some idea, i was laughing at aaron so hard that i was crying (and getting a little dizzy..), and my laughing so hard made aaron laugh so hard that he accidentally spit out his food... directly on jon!  which of course, resulted in all of us laughing even harder!
again jon, sorry for ruining your chicken tenders... but it was worth it!

cabin afternoon

we arrived to find the cabin just as we had left it: cold and covered in snow!  fortunately the neighbors were kind enough to have our drive plowed for us, so we didnt have to shovel out a path just to get to the door!  jeffry lee quickly got to work start on the fire and warming the place up nice and toasty for us.  we unpacked and picked our beds.  its kind of weird to be up at the cabin with so few people- we could each have our own beds to sleep in!  everyone actually opted to just go to their usual accommodations, so it didnt seem as strange after all...  we had a great time playing around, chatting, and finding as much trouble as we could to get ourselves in to.

cabin 2.0?

during our usual cabin trip that we always go on between christmas and new years, we were one person short.  unfortunately jon was not able to join us.  he had some family health issues to deal with and soon after our trip he lost his father.  we were so sorry for his loss, of course, and wanted to support him in any way we could.  he said that he could really use some time away to just hang with friends.  well, i had just the thing: how about we do that trip he missed earlier, and go to the cabin again!  what?!?  thats crazy talk- going to the cabin twice in one year?!?  jon was up for it- maybe this plan is crazy enough it just might work!
as we were making our plans, i called most of the guys to see if they would be up for a return trip, and a couple of them took the bait- jeffry lee and aaron were in!  saturday morning we gathered up at aaron's place and headed up to the snowy white tundra for the second time.  on the way we decided that, with this being a second trip, we should not do all of the cabin traditions we always do when its the whole gang.  so, instead of the usual bk stop in big rapids, we hit up the ruby tuesdays!  an oh, what a delicious treat it was!  after some good talking and laughing, we hopped back in jon's truck for the final leg of the journey up.

games and memories

after sporties, we headed back to the cabin.  adam had been thinking and brought a really fun game for us to play together.  it was one he had never played before, and it was a super blast!  all of us were doubled over laughing for most of the night- so fun!  by the time we wrapped that up everyone was exhausted, so we spent the rest of the night just chilling out and chatting.  most of the talk was pretty nostalgic, remembering our time in grade school and middle school.  needless to say, it probably got pretty boring for rex and jeffry lee, the two guys who didn't go to the same grade school as us.  sorry!  eventually we all crawled into our sleeping bags and beds and called it a night.  in the morning we took our time a bit in getting up, soon packed up, and wrapped up another year of cabin fun.  as a group, we rarely get a chance go all get together through out the year, so its a little bittersweet to say goodbye to everyone.  well, at least we will have next year!
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one eyed neil young

another great tradition of our cabin visits is heading out into the baldwin nightlife.  we always go to the local bar which used to be called 'sporties'.  its called something else now, but i've never bothered to learn its new name...  one great thing about sporties is that you never know what you are going to get when you walk in.  some years the place is completely empty, other years its full and offering a strange sort of creepy buffet.  each year you can plan on the fact that there will be some strange new feature to the place that wasnt there last time.  one year it was a gigantic wooden fish hanging from the ceiling in the middle of the restaurant, another year it was a karaoke machine (which adam was totally game for!).  this year we got a live show from a local baldwinian who had some very 'colorful' songs that were something else...  now that was a real treat!  even with all these strange goings-on at sporties, one thing has remained the same: the hamburgers are amazing!  that's the reason we keep going back.  this time, after enjoying the live music, adam took some time to enjoy the parmesan cheese (on his beard), we saw a calvin college grad, and marveled at all the seating in the bathroom.  all of which, i think, is best left unexplained...
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blaze a trail

one nice thing about the cabin is that its so far away from civilization.  one annoying thing about the cabin is that its so far away from civilization...  the path that leads up to the cabin is so remote that its never plowed.  that can be a bit of an issue when there's a foot and a half of snow on the ground.  we parked at the end of the trail, as far as we could go, and grabbed our stuff and went for a hike through the untouched snow.  when we got to the cabin and jeffry lee got the fire roaring, a few of us grabbed shovels and decided to make a walkway from the cabin back to the cars.  by the time we got half way, everyone decided to join in, making a production line of shovelers.  we each took a turn continuing the path.  the snow was really heavy and exhausting.  i kept reminding everyone 'take a break, we don't need any heroes!'
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cabin, ho!

now that christmas was over, its time for one of my favorite traditions: the cabin trip!  a bunch of friends and i get together every year to go up to a cabin that my extended family has up in baldwin, michigan.  we've been doing it for so many years that we cant even remember the first year we started- really, we try and figure it out every year and end up no closer to figuring it out...  some years we go up for a couple nights, but this year we're just going for one.  because of that, we decide to make the most of it and meet up a bit earlier than usual.  i picked up jeffry lee and meet up with dusty.  we head over to adam's place, where he's got an old friend, sarah, waiting there to send us off.  soon after we pull up, rex and aaron arrive.  now we are ready to roll!  we have the two drivers pick their teams (aka passengers), and off we go!
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bye, cabin!

another successful year- no one got hurt and everyone had a blast!  this year was especially fun, considering we got to stay up there for twice as long as usual!  living two hours away from grand rapids means that i never get to see these guys as much as i would like to, so this time together has to last me for quite a while.  when its time to go i'm always thankful for such a great time and great tradition we get to have as friends, but i'm also a little disappointed because i know i've got to wait twelve more months till we get to all get together and do it again!  see you next year, cabin.
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