DIPPER'S JOURNAL

Friday June 17th, 2016

Well it seems that I may have finally been accepted by Wendy's dad. I've been invited to go camping with their family this weekend. I feel honored that Manly Dan wants me to go as 'one of the family'.

Now if only the boys would accept me. It's weird, back when I was just a friend of Wendy's we were all cool. I'd get invited to play video games and such while Wendy finished whatever 'Woman's Work' (dishes, laundry, etc) their sister had to do before we could hang out and it always seemed to surprise them that I'd volunteer to go help her out instead. A it meant more time with Wendy and B I don't believe there is just 'Woman's Work'.

Now that we're dating I seem to have become public enemy number one with the boys. I get being protective of your sister, I've been there with Mabel before she started dating Pacifica (and even she got a good talking to). But these guys have went from inviting me to play Vinchetti's Bobsled Blitz to reminding me that they all have access to axes.

Well we're leaving at 7 in the morning. I already checked my pack and my pillow and bedroll are secure, so I best close this out.

DIPPER'S JOURNAL

Sunday June 19th, 2016

Well all in all I had a great weekend. I mean I spent the whole weekend with my girlfriend (man I still love saying that), ok that's really not that new but it seems I have may have finally impressed Manly Dan.

On the walk from where parked out to the campsite he quizzed me on some of the flora and fauna we encountered. Thanks to the time I spent with my lumberjill princess I've learned a good deal about the Oregon ecosystem. I even caught him in a couple of trick questions.

The only real problem I had on the trip to the campsite was for some reason I started to get winded about half to two thirds of the way. And almost from the beginning of the walk it seemed as if my pack was heavier than I remembered. The guys seemed to take pleasure in my struggles, with guffaws and giggles that Manly Dan seemed oblivious to but not my Wendy. She shot them a stern look that shut them up post haste.

We finally made it to the site and I was exhausted. Of course the boys started making fun of me for not being man enough but they quickly got quiet as I went to start unpacking my gear. I readily found out why as I unfastened sleeping bag and "pillow". The quotation marks are because when my pillow case fell off of my pack, it wasn't with a light fwomp but a loud thud. The excess weight I had thought I had felt was due to the fact that some had replaced my folded pillow with two slabs of granite wrapped in cloth to keep the from sounding if they clapped together. I was carrying an extra twenty-five to thirty pounds on this five mile trip.

The boys burst out laughing. I later found out they had removed my pillow from it's case while I was in greeting Wendy and their dad. While they still were laughing even when Wendy began to berate them, they went silent when their dad's shadow loomed over them.

He looked at me and made sure I was ok. I assured him with a nod that I was. He told everyone there that as far as he was concerned I had proved my mettle to him by not complaining the whole trip and that for the rest of the weekend the boys will be happy to do all of the work for me. The boys looked like they had just been betrayed and their faces fell faster than a boy band's popularity.

I thanked him but said that while I wouldn't mind help setting up my tent I didn't want to be treated any different on the trip and I would gladly pull my weight. This cheered the boys up and after I reassured Manly Dan that I meant every word of it, he smiled and clapped me on the shoulder and smiled.

The boys ended up setting up my tent without a complaint and I lived up to my word, even splitting wood for the fire pit. And of course I spent plenty of time with Wendy. By the time we were packing up I overheard her oldest brother tell her "You've got a good one here, don't let him get away". I looked over at her as I heard her say "I plan to keep him as long I can." And that alone made the whole trip worthwhile.