Pam, was born in Windsor Ontario in 1955. She grew up in the West End, one of seven siblings. She fell in love with Jim and was engaged to be married on their sixth date. The proud mother of Kim and Jeff worked hard as a ‘stay at home mom’. After thirty five years of a blissful loving marriage they are known to still be on their honeymoon. She is, and always has been the strongest support for her family, and has always been full of encouragement, life and happiness.
Kim, was born in Windsor Ontario in 1977 and lived her teen years in Essex. She finished high school and went on to college to accomplish her degree in Accounting.
She met her partner Lou and is raising a wonderful son with him. Together they are a hard working couple and are quite successful in all of their endeavors.
Throughout her adulthood she enjoyed closely bonding with her mom and backpacking with her dad. They measured every ounce to keep the weight down in their huge packs. Kim and her dad are very close, right to this day and long for the next backpacking trip…soon to be made.
Jeff was born in Windsor Ontario 1978. He followed close behind Kim in school and went to college to better his understanding of the computer industry. During his younger years he was very close to his mom. This lasts strongly, still to this day. He has fathered 3 terrific boys and has entered the realm of construction as an important leader in the field. With his beautiful wife Jane and the lord at his side you will find the children are the epicenter of their existence.
Jeff and his dad had a special closeness and could talk about anything. The backpacking adventures that they went on were filled with excitement and true father / son bonding. May these trips together never cease.
Charlie was a free spirit, born in Barry’s Bay Ontario. He led an exciting life and knew the bush like the back of his hand. Jim and Charlie met in the 70’s working in construction, building houses. Jim went on to work in the factories and Charlie off to the salt mine. Charlie and Nancy brought a beautiful daughter into the world who has grown to be a wonderful contributor to society.
Through their time Jim, Charlie and Gerry (Tabernack) trekked through the bush on their yearly fishing trips. The crazy antics were unparalleled. The close friendships were unsurpassed Charlie was a great ally that would give you the shirt off of his back (and that is no exaggeration). He will never be forgotten by anyone that has made his acquaintance, least of all me. May he rest in peace.
Jim Bondy
Author of: Friday on the Trail
A book about our backpacking adventures in Ontario Canada
HAVE SOME FUN
(My Website) http://jimbondy.webs.com
(My Videos) http://www.youtube.com/user/effexus3
(Mugs T’s Hats & More) http://jimbondy.webs.com/apps/cafepress_shop
(E-Mail) effexus3@yahoo.com
Friday on the Trail
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Monday, September 13, 2010
Tuesday, September 7, 2010
Why I bought the weird tent
I just bought a new tent. My old one has served us well but it’s just too heavy. Weighing in at 11 pounds, it’s murder on my shoulders especially after you attach it to my backpack that already has about 40 to 50 pounds of dead weight. All hail, the new home away from home… only weighs 7 pounds. This will make all of the difference in the world. Here’s my dilemma. My old tent is a 3 man tent, 7 ft. by 7 ft., or about 49 square feet, which is perfect for 2 people plus gear (backpacks etc). The new tent is considered to be a 4 man tent; 8 ft. by 9 ft., which, one might think adds up to 72 square feet, which would be perfect for 3 people plus gear. (This is why I actually went out and bought it). I figured…Holy Crap I’m getting a bigger tent and it weighs less, not to mention that it was on a 70% off sale. Well I get this thing home and am really anxious to get it set up, so I brave the gale force winds and manage to figure out the pole placements. Next thing you know, it’s up, beautiful and life is grand again. It has this really unique design and I think that I like it a lot, but it doesn’t seem to have a lot of extra room. Well I figured that it’s just my imagination, so I got my old tent out and when Kim came over we set it up next to my new trendy model. Kim says “Dad it doesn’t look much bigger that our old tent.”
“Nooooo...It’s just your imagination Kim”
Well I got a tape measure and took a better look at it. Actually the tent is 6 ft wide at the door with 2 small compartment areas that stick out about 1 ft on each side…which are a little useless to say the least. So I guess that this is the 8 ft. wide dimension, (which is really only about 6 ft. and a bit… then it tapers down at the foot end of the tent). Now I measured the depth and it measured about 7 ft. 6 in. Now, there’s a mat that’s outside of the tent measuring about 1 ft. 6 in. I guess that they included this when they measured the (inside?) of the tent so there we go…that adds up to 9 ft. Just to add insult to injury, my old tent has more headroom than the new one. What the hell, man.
My new 9 ft by 8 ft tent is only 49 square feet. My old 7 ft. by 7 ft. tent is also 49 square feet.
My new tent is only 7 pounds My old tent is 11 pounds
My new tent has a small fly My old tent has a fly that goes to the ground
You can’t store anything under the fly There is a vestibule that can hold stuff
There’s only one door There is a door on each end
The further in you go you lose headroom The headroom is constant throughout
You’d think that it would be an easy decision. My old tent is more practical, but it weighs too much. I bought the new tent so that we’d be ok when Jeff and Kim and I are going together, but it will be too small. GRRRRR! To hell with it all. I’m keeping both and waiting for a slightly bigger tent, that’s feather-weight, to go on sale. I has spoken (Mammy Yokum).
Jim Bondy
Author of: Friday on the Trail
A book about our backpacking adventures in Ontario Canada
HAVE SOME FUN
(My Website) http://jimbondy.webs.com
(My Videos) http://www.youtube.com/user/effexus3
(Mugs T’s Hats & More) http://jimbondy.webs.com/apps/cafepress_shop
(E-Mail) effexus3@yahoo.com
“Nooooo...It’s just your imagination Kim”
Well I got a tape measure and took a better look at it. Actually the tent is 6 ft wide at the door with 2 small compartment areas that stick out about 1 ft on each side…which are a little useless to say the least. So I guess that this is the 8 ft. wide dimension, (which is really only about 6 ft. and a bit… then it tapers down at the foot end of the tent). Now I measured the depth and it measured about 7 ft. 6 in. Now, there’s a mat that’s outside of the tent measuring about 1 ft. 6 in. I guess that they included this when they measured the (inside?) of the tent so there we go…that adds up to 9 ft. Just to add insult to injury, my old tent has more headroom than the new one. What the hell, man.
My new 9 ft by 8 ft tent is only 49 square feet. My old 7 ft. by 7 ft. tent is also 49 square feet.
My new tent is only 7 pounds My old tent is 11 pounds
My new tent has a small fly My old tent has a fly that goes to the ground
You can’t store anything under the fly There is a vestibule that can hold stuff
There’s only one door There is a door on each end
The further in you go you lose headroom The headroom is constant throughout
You’d think that it would be an easy decision. My old tent is more practical, but it weighs too much. I bought the new tent so that we’d be ok when Jeff and Kim and I are going together, but it will be too small. GRRRRR! To hell with it all. I’m keeping both and waiting for a slightly bigger tent, that’s feather-weight, to go on sale. I has spoken (Mammy Yokum).
Jim Bondy
Author of: Friday on the Trail
A book about our backpacking adventures in Ontario Canada
HAVE SOME FUN
(My Website) http://jimbondy.webs.com
(My Videos) http://www.youtube.com/user/effexus3
(Mugs T’s Hats & More) http://jimbondy.webs.com/apps/cafepress_shop
(E-Mail) effexus3@yahoo.com
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