First off, I can’t help but notice you seem to doubt the fact that I could hop onto an ATV and drive it under seriously hazardous conditions just because I play a few video games.

You’re thinking, wait a second — I play video games. I couldn’t do that!

OK. Maybe not every gamer can.

There’s a reason I can.

Read on. It’s a few chapters down the road.

You might also be wondering what Hamza (correction — Amir Hamza), Louis, and Ben were doing out in wilds of deepest, darkest Wisconsin in the first place?

Well, let me satisfy your curiosity.

My Dad’s a proctologist. And yes, he’s a pain in the butt. Very funny. He’s got his own practice, and his partner is Louis Gagne’s dad. Louis’s dad plays golf with Ben Weidermann’s dad. Small world. So my Dad is always trying to get Louis’s dad to play carrom, which is an Indian game — did I mention my Dad’s Indian? He’s Indian. From India. Anyhow, carrom is this Indian board game that’s kind of a combination of marbles, pool and shuffleboard. Really. It’s a thing. I’m not lying.

Anyhow, to get my dad off his back, Mr. Gagne gave him Mr. Weidermann’s number. The three got together for coffee to arrange the friend-swap, and it was bromance at first sight. Choirs of angels singing and violins playing the theme song to Monday night football, or something manly like that.

The downside, none of us ever managed to keep anything from our parents anymore. If I screw up and Ben or Louis lets it slip in front of their dads, word gets back. And I’ve got to confess to returning the favor sometimes.

The upside, ever since our dads became besties we all head over to Lake Dalton for the last few weeks of vacation. Which is great. Lake – beautiful. The rocky crags of the dells -- beautiful. Sunsets – beautiful, sweet blue sky and even the occasional summer thunderstorm – all beautiful. The lakes, the water parks, the shows - even all the tacky tourist stuff — beautiful.

Love Wisconsin Dells. Always have, always will. Even after everything that happened.