Today was our annual and possibly last "Bash and Splash". We began the Bash and Splash five years ago as a way to thank all my friends and fishing buddies who helped me through my hip surgeries and afterward. It was our way of saying a big "Thank You!" to all who assisted me.
The day began as it did the day before... Hazy, Hot, and Humid. It was already 80 degrees by 8:00 a.m.! My wife and I went to a local restaurant for breakfast to make plans for the morning setup.
When we got home, we started to work in the yard setting up the Pop Up for shade and carrying chairs our to the pool patio. I was sweating like a pig before it was all done.
Max "The Wonder Dog" and Missy "The Jug" inspect the toys in the pool.
A couple of umbrellas for shade. The one on the left protects my granddaughters baby pool.
The grill and the Pop Up waiting to be put into use.
Folks started to arrive around 1:00 p.m. Petey Hanford drove in from Sunbury, Pa. That's about a 2 hour and fifteen minute drive. Petey brought his "world famous" Barely Edible Salad. Let me tell you folks, this stuff is to die for.
Steveinpa and his son and daughter arrived next. It didn't take long for Tyler (16 yrs. old) and Kayla (12 yrs. old) to jump in the nice pool water. In fact, this old man joined them.
Along came Josh "smallieman" Kreider and his girlfriend, Vanessa and her five year old son, Jamie.
We all gathered around the pool deck and were enjoying each others company. Josh kept track of a wicked storm crossing the state and darkening the western skies.
I was suppose to start the grill at 1:30 p.m., but the ominous clouds and the distant rumbling of thunder helped me make up my mind to hold off cooking. I'm glad I did because within fifteen minutes, the skies open up and we got nailed with a tremendous thunderstorm and torrential rains.
We rushed to collect our belongs, drop the umbrellas, and lower the Pop Up. A big thanks to everyone for helping.
That didn't damper our spirits, we moved into the basement and set up our chairs to wait out the storm.
After about an hour and no let up in the rain, my wife started the burgers and doggies in the oven. We were all so hungry by then that we were willing to forgo cooking on the grill to get some food into our bellies.
Here is a pic of some of the food we had set up in the kitchen.
Check out Steveinpa and Josh "smallieman" Kreider chowing down on the scrumptious food brought in by all who attended. Al Winco has his back to Steve and my oldest son, Chris is off to the right with his wife. They're expecting our second grandchild in September!
Around 4:00 p.m., the clouds broke and we moved the "Bash and Splash" outdoors. We had a fantastic evening of swimming and even a casting contest in which Petey Hanford took honors and the grand prize... an old fashion cane pole! LOL!
Thanks to all my family, friends, and fishing buddies who have been there to help me when times were tough!
Dad
