Friday I found myself picking up "The Major" as I affectionately call my trailer pit, then stopping by the house to load everything up for the long weekend.  I opted to not take the jeep this time since I knew I'd be devoting the entire time to prep and cook activities.  Arriving at Camp Mabry before dark, I set the pit up, moved the coolers and prepared for the impending significant storm that was about to blow through.  This was one of those 'springtime' Tejas storms that is violent, yet short lived.  Rory and Jeff were kind enough to let me sleep in one of their tents for the weekend so I moved some things there, to the truck and decided it was time to turn in for the night and let the storm pass over.

Well, about 9:30pm the storm came and knocked down about 40% of the camo netting they had setup. Then, one of the large poles came crashing down on a tent knuckle that broke and then stopped on my forehead.  I survived, but the tent was now reduced to about 20% capacity and there I was crammed up in one little corner and it started to leak as it lost it's dome shape and now more resembled a funnel.  The storm passed and we gathered what we could and put it mostly back together except for the tent that would have to wait till morning to repair.  The alarm was still set for 4am and I didn't sleep too well after that.

4AM rolls around early.  It was quite chilly and a tad bit damp.  But the wind was the enemy today.  A constant, never ending wind out of the North.  I had the pit with it's firebox facing the South and I battled trying to maintain 200*F.  I started the fire with my lump charcoal stuffed in a charcoal chimney and then on top of the turkey fryer.  Presto.  In 20 minutes I've got a huge bed of excellent coals that all I need to do is add wood to the firebox and there she goes.

To make a short story long, I prepped some 'fatties' for breakfast, along with prepping the brisket and a couple of pork butts.  The menu was fatties and biscuits for breakfast, stuffed pork loin, stuffed chicken thighs and chicken for lunch, and pulled pork, brisket, an elk roast and a bean pot for dinner.  Sunday would be a repeat for breakfast and any leftovers would be reheated for lunch.

It was a grand cook but I was beat by Sunday afternoon.  Cooking for 30 or so guys is a blast but a lot of work.