I read the sign: "Obdinoha Park 10 miles." Ah, it was good to be back. This would be my second time here. The first time was almost exactly a year ago. Once was enough to make it my favorite place to get away. It was a bit too cold for the masses to be out camping, and although the fishing wasn't great this time of year, I'd prefer the crappy fishing season over the crowds.
I was very excited, not just because of the park, but because Micah was meeting me there. Micah and I were best friends back in high school, since we were both 16. Now, we're both 20 in our sophomore years in college. We went to different colleges pretty far away from each other. Last year, we decided to meet about half between us and camp at Obdinoha Park and make a long weekend of it, skipping Friday and Monday classes. It's about a 6 hour drive for me, about 5 for him. It was the only time I got to see him since we left for college. Neither of us went back home much, and if we did, our timing was off. He had his summer business internships and I had my summer doctor-shadowing for my pre-med program. We still kept in touch via phone and IM conversations, so that was nice. I missed him, though. I guess at some point we decided to make this a yearly thing. I pulled up to the camp site. I got out of the car and stared at the beautiful scenery. The camp sites are on a hill overlooking the lake, so it's a nice view, but you can't pitch your tent directly next to the lake, though. There is a heavily wooded area separating the camp sites from the lake, with just a small walking trail connecting the two. Luckily, just like last year, we practically had the camp sites to ourselves.
It was starting to get late. I figured I would set up the tent while I waited for Micah. I was a much bigger camper than Micah, while he was the fisher. The deal was that I brought the camping equipment (minus his sleeping bag), while he brought the fishing equipment. I pulled out the tent from my car and began to set it up. It was a nice-sized family tent that could uncomfortably sleep 5, but comfortably sleep about 3. Luckily, it was just us two, so we'd have plenty of room.
I had grabbed my sleeping bag and threw it into the erected tent just as I heard Micah's pickup on the gravel road. I turned around as he pulled around the corner out from behind the trees. I walked towards the road as he pulled up next to my car. He barely had time to turn off the engine before he jumped out of his pickup and ran towards me. He gave me a big bear hug, lifting me off of the ground.
"Hi to you too," I said.
"How's my Ryan doing?" He put me back on the ground. He was never afraid of showing his affection to me as a friend.
"Oh, you know, you know."
"Yeah, well there's only a little more than an hour of sunlight left," he said looking up at the sky. "Let's get in some fishing in while we still can." He ran back out to his pickup and rummaged through his stuff. He grabbed two fishing rods and a mini tackle box out of the bed of the truck. He left everything else in the bed.
"Don't you wanna unload your stuff and put it in the tent? My bag's still in my car, too" I asked.
"No, man, we can do that later. Let's fish!"
"Ok." He handed me a fishing rod, and we trotted down the little trail towards the lake.
About an hour later, we were still at the lake. It was almost dark, and it was starting to get really cold. We would pack it in within a half-hour or so. Micah had caught a few small fish, but had to throw them back. I didn't even have that much of luck, as usual.
"So... How you coping, man?" Micah started.
"Well you know how it goes. The long-distance thing was just too hard. Marissa brought it up, but I was thinking the same thing, too. I guess even after two and a half years, our bond just wasn't strong enough." I responded.
