All Hail Kromdor V

Hey gang.

My old crew from Clare High School reunited for our annual, summer camping trip this weekend, and once again the weekend that was selected just so happened to be the same, exact weekend that would see Kris heading down to Three Rivers for her annual Hoecation Momcation (feat. The Real Housewives of Midland.) Not wanting to give my two, teenage daughters (and their respective boyfriends) free reign over the house in our absence, I once again made this traditional  camping trip of ours a one-night affair and hung back Friday evening to hang out with the kids (and keep watch over the fort.)

Over the course of the last year, the health status of this old high school crew of mine took a significant hit. Sean had a heart attack last August that required three, different splints put in, and four months later Trevor was diagnosed with cancer (which started in his bowels then spread to his liver.) With these two setbacks in mind, we no longer wanted to camp out at Trevor's family property (on eighty acres of undeveloped property outside of Rosebush) where we usually camp, and instead opted for a more easy-going camp experience. 

Sean's sister's husband renovated an old lumber bill south of Harrison, and has been building it up over the last decade or so. Now it has running water, a movie projector, full kitchen, bathrooms, and even a pool. We had camped out here back in 2021, following Sean's' mom's celebration of life, and it had been a very laid back weekend, so we decided this would be the best way to go considering everyone's health issues.

I rolled in around noon (having spent about twenty minutes driving back and forth to find the driveway to the place, despite the sign (see pic above) and spent the entirety of the day hanging out with the ol' 90's crew. The next day we broke camp and I was back in Midland by like 11am, so a pretty quick jaunt into the woods but a fun time nonetheless.

. . . and this year's Kromdor was our biggest yet. Straight up Wicker Man shit.

Check it out. . .

When I showed up, Scrunge (who had been forced to walk out to the road so that I could finally spot the entrance to the property) helped me set up my tent real quick. Sean and some of the others were busy shooting guns in the woods, including an AR-15 and a few, different handguns. By the time I got back there they were wrapping up, so I didn't get around to shooting anything.

Sean and Scrunge, taking a break before construction of this year's Kromdor kicks off (we always do this in the afternoon before folks have too many beers in their system, that way it's ready to go for the evening's fire.)

Sean and his cousin, Luke, set to work constructing the base of Kromdor.

Sean made a hexagon-shaped base first, then a smaller hexagon to serve as the top brace.

View from the back fire pit (I thoroughly enjoyed that djembe drum somebody had brought along.)

Attaching some framing to the two hexagons.

Sean used a band saw to carve Kromdor's visage into the sides of the effigy.

A fancy new bunkhouse and outhouse that Tim (Sean's sister, Katie's, husband) had constructed on the property. Unfortunately I didn't get around to using either this weekend, I just stuck to peeing into the woods like the rustic man that I am.

The former lumber mill, now a makeshift family longhouse.

Kromdor construction around the fire pit continues.

These are pretty damn good for low-80s weather (if not a little challenging to open.)

Luke and Tim adding some limbs to this year's Kromdor, which started to resemble one of those giant heads from Easter Island.

This is the sorta thing Sean uses as a blueprint.

This pallet bridge thingy was super heavy and crumbling, so Tim used a tractor to move it into place for us to use.

Trevor and his wife, Sara, arrived a couple hours later, while we were putting the finishing touches on Kromdor.

Another great summer-time beverage for hot, sunny weather.

We spent most of the early afternoon back here, working on the fire's offering for a bit, taking a beer break, and so on and so forth.

As the afternoon wore on, folks were beginning to get pretty hot, so everyone jumped into the above-ground pool that they had established behind the mill. The dogs were all obsessed with the pool as well (including two of Katie's dogs, here.)

The two pugs couldn't be kept out of the water, which started to excite that giant-ass dog (not sure whose it was, or what breed it was.)

So that happened.

Hanging out behind the mill while folks continued to swim.

Yours Truly, Scrunge, Sara, and Sean's daughter, Gracie.

Trevor and Scrunge

(Not sure what Scrunge is doing here. . .)

I'm not sure who the girl on the far left is - she may have been Sean's current girlfriend. I never got around to introducing myself, because every year Sean has a new girlfriend and I learned years ago that it's not really worth getting to know the current models because they won't be around by the next time you see him.

A shitload of dogs on hand this weekend, I'll say that much.

The fancy, new outhouse.

Sara was part of our old high school crew back in the day, too (though a grade behind the rest of us.)

Getting dinner around inside the mill as folks wrapped up swimming in the pool.

No idea who this young couple was. There were like forty people on hand this weekend, which was a much bigger crowd than we usually have. I think a lot of them were Tim's kids from his previous marriage, and they're all in their early 20s and have significant others, so I'm sure that was some of them. Maybe some cousins thrown in there as well, who knows.

Kromdor 2026.

Folks dig into the planned seafood boil. I bought a set of street tacos from Costco for myself, so I didn't take part in this one.

Some giant-ass boat that someone Tim knows is temporarily storing there. That's waaaay too big for a normal lake, that's like a Great Lakes boat.

After dinner, we lit a fire for the evening (though the main one would be lit later on in the night.)

Luke's fancy glasses he got off of Amazon.

Evening rolls in. 

We hung out around the fire for the majority of the evening, just catching up and reminiscing about our glory days back in the 90's.

The lighting of Kromdor. . .

The thing of nightmares.

We stacked wood and kindling inside the pyre so that it would catch and then shoot straight up - we were going for height this year, if you couldn't tell.

It didn't take long for this thing to really get going.

By far our biggest fire to date, it was enormous - this pic doesn't do it justice.

The heat was intense, you couldn't get within ten or twelve feet of it before having to step back.

At one point, the structure failed and Kromdor collapsed into a giant pile of flaming debris.

Watching the remnants of this year's fire offering burn up.

Scrunge brought along his lightsabers again, and we took the opportunity to duel with them for a bit (and he once again chastised me for not bringing along mine, which I always seem to forget.)

And, in closing, here's a couple random people that showed up. I have no idea who they are or how they're related to the people around here. And, like an asshole, I don't talk to people I don't know.

- Brian