Hey, welcome back! Where have you been!?

Ok, so maybe it hasn't been you. It's been us. Seems like sometimes, life just gets in the way, doesn't it? For whatever reason, we've been tremendously lacking in the posting department. You would think that five guys would manage to put out more than one article in 6 MONTHS! You have our apologies, and we're recommitting to getting some quality articles up on the site on a much more regular basis.

While we haven't been actively posting, we have been thinking about camping and have even managed to make a couple of short trips already. Our current efforts have mostly been focused on our annual trip, which is less than a month away. In case you weren't with us last year, this is our "Big Trip" where the five of us pick a destination, then spend a few days sitting around a camp-fire, chatting about when we were (much) younger, and probably drinking too much. This year, we have bigger plans, both literally and figuratively.

Fourteen Thousand Feet. A "Fourteener" that's our goal. Stretch goal, you ask? Bag two of 'em. This year's trip will take us to Colorado, where we're planning to take some time to acclimate to the altitude (for us low-landers that live at 800 ft above sea level), then climb a couple of mountains. We've picked out two "easy" peaks (Mount Massive and Mount Elbert). If all goes according to plan, we'll be celebrating by the end of the week! Or we could get eaten by a bear. Then four of us would have some great stories to share (you only have to be faster than the slowest guy, right?).

And what would our camping trip be without gear reviews!? We've picked up a few things (new clothing, new equipment, new stoves), and are looking forward to putting it all through its paces.

In the shorter-term, two of us had trips in May, and we already have plans for a Fathers' Day outing as well, although one guy hasn't told his wife yet (spoiler alert!).

Thanks to all of you who have stuck with us through the slow period! Look for the May trip reports in the coming days, with a Father's Day report shortly thereafter!

Last week, Eric over at The FamilyCampman had a great  post on 15 Reasons to Start Geocaching Today. While I had tried this once before, on our trip to Lost Lake (where we were unsuccessful in finding the cache), I hadn't given much thought to trying it with my boys. Eric's Reason 7: Awesome Bonding Opportunity with the Kids made me rethink this a little. Reason 8 is what actually helped us go out for the first time this past weekend.