faretheewell friend!

do you remember our dear family friend and i must say, young modern hero, nick savino who i have mentioned here and  here?

well he is leaving on the adventure of a lifetime: a four month trek up the entirety of the Pacific Crest Trail!

This week he takes the train down to the border of Mexico and then will hitchhike to the trailhead thus beginning his arduous journey north through the mountains, deserts, and wilderness. his plan is to make it all the way to the border of Canada sometime in August.

we are super excited for him although we'll miss him dreadfully cause he is a huge part of the fun around here.

so we had a farewell SURPRISE PARTY for him the other night and for once the party was actually a surprise. conveniently it was held at a campground where nick and his lovely and spunky girlfriend rachel have been staying in her airstream trailer. so as they pulled up after going out to dinner with his family, she claimed it must be the neighboring campers having a party in her field! he was all ready to defend her honor as she marched toward us, and then we all yelled SURPRISE!!! and he was truly surprised. it's funny how usually you just kind of assume the person sort of knows, at least that something is going on. but as he proceeded to drink whiskey nick told the story more than once, how he thought he'd have to "man up" as tiny rachel 86ed the campers out of her home turf!

okay, here are some pictures of the amazing airstream home set-up that rachel and nick have created down by the river:

outdoor kitchen table:

buckets of flowers:

outdoor shower!

a tiny life in the woods:

is so romantic and cozy:

anyway, em and i were in charge of set up since rachel was out to dinner with nick.

we strung lights up in the blackberry bushes and around the tree:

made signs:

and also decorated a cake, set out candles and big tin buckets of ice and beer, and set out bowls and trays of snacks people brought.

em and i, proud of our work and ready to party!

of course it was rebecca who had to school the guys on how to make a fire without an axe!

after the bonfire was made (thanks lady!) we were all set!

this is the best i could capture of nick being actually surprised:

stan set up a slack line in the dark and the boys had some fun, i like to think of them as magic men or circus performers...

joey had a bit too much whiskey:

while us girls goofed around like usual!

we hope to send our friend off with the spirit of love, friendship and fun strong in his heart so he hurries home to us all safe and sound! here's to summer adventures!