5th Year Vacation Part 2

Upon leaving the cities, we headed for the Dells. It was early afternoon when we arrived, giving us some time to check in to our hotel, and get settled for a bit before headed out on our dinner cruise for the evening.

The dinner cruise was on a old early 1900's freighter boat that provided us with a spectacular view of the Wisconsin River. Our captain was everything you would expect from a riverboat captain, handlebar mustache and all. For those that have seen The Blue Brothers, our entertainment for the night was something akin to Murph and the Magic Tones with only Murph. It was better than nothing, but Rachel and I probably spent way to much time laughing instead. It was wonderful to see my beautiful wife enjoying herself, and above all, actually relaxing.

At the far end of our stretch, we stopped for a break that included some borderline cave-ish tunnels through the hills. It was cool, dark, and awesome! I got to nerd out on the trees which were beyond words, and we were officially on vacation mode.

Our dinner was steak and lobster, and even for a river boat, was pretty darn good, but the sunset made the entire outing. It was nice to see my wife enjoying herself, and we had definitely started our trip off on a high note.


The next morning, we didn't exactly have time to sleep in as we were headed a little ways out of town to do some trail riding. I knew Rachel would enjoy getting on a horse again, and I was honestly looking forward to this part the most. I wouldn't say the people were brash, but they were a lot less worried about the tourist aspect and more down to home country folk. They were in no rush to get us started for the morning, but we were able to watch them go through their morning feed routine with their horses. With as many as they had, I was rather impressed by how good of shape their herd was in. These horses were well taken care of, and of course, we liked to see that. Before long we were under way, and we took off on Sarge and Shark, two geldings that were born on this ranch. Our guide was easy to talk to and enjoyed the easy of 'experienced' riders.

We heard horror stories of tourists gone wrong, so even at this stage I got the experienced label. It was a great ride, nothing too off the wall, but enough to keep us on our toes. We only had a couple of hiccups on the ride. One involved my horse starting to buck because of a B-52 bomber of a horsefly. One quick swat and I got to stay on the horse...The other was shortly after the fly incident and the horses were still a tad edgy. Rachel's horse missed his footing a bit and spooked, but thankfully Rachel knows her way around a jumpy horse. Again, nothing horrible but just enough to keep us on our toes. I didn't get many photos of this event as I spent more time soaking in the woods, and enjoying my time out with the Mrs. Our guide was enjoying our ride enough that our hour long ride was pushing two by the time we got back to the stables. Intended or not, we didn't complain at all! We handed out the rest of the bag of treats for our two horses, and people were pouring in for the next go, so we headed out for the morning.


Because we started so early, Rachel and I had plenty of time in the afternoon to do whatever we chose. We perused some of the shops on the tourist strip, and found something to occupy some time that we figured we could enjoy. We found a paint-your-own-pottery place that let us design and glaze something. I chose a giant pasta bowl, and Rachel picked out a rather sizeable serving platter. After getting the low-down we started our masterpieces.

When it was all said and down, we spent almost three hours working on our work. Rachel's of course looks like it was done by a professional, that knew exactly what they were doing, while mine looked like a 4th grader was finger painting. No matter, I liked it anyway.


We continued our loop through tourist town, finding nothing that really piqued our interests much. The only thing that I was interested in was an ice cream cone! Coffee chunk for me and.....cotton candy for the Mrs...gross.

We finished our loop and headed back to the hotel for a break and possibly a quick snooze before our outing to the drive-in movie theater.
I know these things have gone wayside to urban sprawl, but I hope that my hipster brethren will revive this concept. We got in on a double feature: Secret Life of Pets, and The Legend of Tarzan. We figured we would tap into the giant concession stand that was advertised and enjoy the movies from the comfort of our own car, with our own pillows! The concessions were an absolute let down, but Rachel was prepared with munchies for the trip so we weren't totally screwed for food. After the sun finally set and the movie started, we turned to the station for the movie and it was surround-sound movie!

After the 'Pets' movie concluded many family left for the evening, but the perk was, we didn't have to do so. As some families were packing up I heard the tell-tail clicking of dead battery....I knew someone's evening was going to be fun. I watched as another van pulled to the front and attempt to assist but I knew something wasn't working. So over I went to see what I could do. When I turned my phone light on I knew there was a problem. I almost burned my hand trying to pry the now welding hot prong off of the dead vehicle. They had managed to cross wires....No explosion, but it was not far away. I helped them along their way and back to the movie. I proceeded to start my vehicle to make sure our fate wasn't the same, but there was a twinge of anxiety the rest of the second movie. Once it was done, Rachel and I both breathed a sigh of relief when the car started without a hitch.


Nevertheless, we enjoyed the outing immensely, and we would like to find this avenue for motion pictures again near home if available.




Stay Tuned

5th Year Vacation Part 1

Rachel and I are closing in on our 5th year wedding anniversary, and we figured this was good as a time as any to take a much needed vacation. With the new clinic in transition, and my work being quite stable, we figured we should do it now before we get our puppy in September. We were going to make a trip from Clark, to the Twin Cities, to The Wisconsin Dells, back down to Rachel's parents, to Denison for a baby shower, up to Cherokee to hang with Poindexter and Lisa, and finally back to Clark. It seemed like a lot, but the spacing made it so we were never driving more than 4 or 5 hours in one hit, which REALLY helped to break up the drive.


We started our trip by driving to the Twin Cities to stay with Dave and Laura. This would save us some lodging costs, as well as give us the opportunity to see them while on vacation. We were treated to a night on the town, or more specifically, the city, where the four of us went brewery hopping in a rather hipstery district of Minneapolis. Rachel played along quite well for not being a beer lover, but were still able to find some thing she liked. One of the places I nursed something called a peanut butter porter. It tasted like PB in a glass; weird but good! We finished out evening out at a The Anchor Fish and Chips. It was another hipster joint with guys cooking up battered cod right in front of you. Again, we enjoyed beer, or cider, and some great pub food. Fish and chips that I shall return for!
This whole part of the vacation was not even planned, as our intention was to just hang out at the house, but it felt good to get out and do something again!!!
After returning home, the ladies went to bed, while Dave and I had an evening nightcap and cigar.
XXX

15 year old scotch and a spectacular Cuban cigar. What a way to finish an evening, and we hadn't even started our vacation yet!


Stay Tuned: much more to come

Weekend in Cherokee

Getting behind again....


Last weekend of July, Rachel and I took a trip to Cherokee to hang out with Nick and Lisa, as well as work on a project or two. We have not seen them in awhile and it was time to make the trip. Earlier in the week Nick had made a trip to my wood pile stash in the father-in-law's out building. He was able to salvage a sizeable amount of decent cedar, and we were looking to make a vanity sink to for his upstairs bathroom. Saturday morning I got right to work and used Nick's new chainsaw to rip-cut three chunks for the table. I spent the rest of the day sanding and working the table top.

Yes, we did take a break for guns and food, but the main goal of the trip was to get this table as close to done as possible. By Saturday late evening, I as able to get a coat of epoxy on the table top, and we left it in basement to cure as best as possible.

By Sunday morning it was still a little tacky, and rather large spider had fallen from the ceiling into the middle sometime during the night......We hauled it upstairs to cure better in the warm bathroom and see if I could get the flood coat on before we left. It was by the skin of our teeth, but I managed to get the last coat on before we left. From log to finished in a weekend is borderline insanity but we got it done, and it was immaculate!

No it was not perfect, but it was some of my more beautiful work. With the limited amount of tools and preparation, I was able to pull it off, and Nick and Lisa seem to like it, which is all that matters.

Stay Tuned: Vacation with the Mrs!

Boldest in the Land

I have been working on a project near the Mitchell, SD area for a couple of months now, and I have been fortunate enough to encounter all kinds of critters along the way. I have seen countless deer, pheasants, ducks, and doves, but I have been charged by a badger,

and more recently I have had an encounter like nothing before with a wild turkey.
I was pacing off a shelterbelt when I saw a turkey at the end of another belt. I stopped, clucked a little to see if it would spook, and it puffed up and strutted on the spot. I started walking closer, trying to see how close I could get. I got to within 8 yards of this bird before he made a move. Instead of running away like expected, he came towards me. I backed off as I had just discovered their was a hen with him, and that maybe explained his un-natural aggression. I took some pics and videos and went back to my business.

The next day, we returned to this property to finish our plots for this location. We were however, stopped by the landowners wife.


"Hey when you guys pulled in this morning, I heard him gobble, so I figured I would warn you, there is a rather aggressive turkey on our property."


"Funny you should say that, I encountered him yesterday afternoon."


"Well, he attacked me the other day when I was on a walk, I had to have my husband come pick me up in the truck because he wouldn't let me get passed him." "The day before yesterday, I tried to scare him off with an airhorn, and that just pissed him off more and he tried to attack my face. I figured I would just warn you guys that he is back there."


"We appreciate the warning, hopefully there won't be too many troubles."


Upon arriving at our plot we discovered Mr. Dickhead in field next our plot about 200 yards out. Once he caught sight of us, he bee-lined right for our field corner. While my two interns were measuring trees I was not-so-subtly informed that he was right next to us. I figured, why not get some more videos today....idiot.....

I again got to about 10 yards from this bird, but today instead of standing his ground, he came at me the second I turned around. By the time I got to the trees, he was right on my tail, and to make matters worse, I dropped my stylis pen in the field, pretty much where he was standing. We could not continue our work until I got that pen back but he was not about to let me in the field. I did the only logical thing I could think of: I used an intern as bait. I sent Sarah to the edge of the woods on the point of the belt to egg him on, away from me. The bird would give me about 30 seconds of searching before he would come storming back, thus back in the timber I would go. Finally, he gave me enough distance that I was able to locate the pen, but when I looked up all I could hear was an intern bellowing through the trees. Oops....


The turkey had chased her into the next field a full 150 yards away. When she returned she was out of breath and thankfully laughing. We were finally able to get the belt measured but he kept coming back. Because we were being "loud" in the timber, it irritated the bird enough that the next time he came to the edge of the woods, I tried to shoo him away, but he came in with me instead.

Now the interns were freaked and I had had enough. A couple large sticks heaved over his head educated him that I would finish him if given the chance. Upon finishing the belt I still needed to pace the belt for length and the bird was nowhere in sight. I booked it so we could get the hell out of there. When I turned around at the end of the belt, there were two interns backing away from our only escape route, waving branches around.... We planned our escape which included the interns waving sticks and talking loudly to spook the turkey back into another belt so we could get passed. Once passed, the interns proceeded to stop and cheer while the turkey was making his return to the field with me being the nearest next target.

If that were my property or someone I even knew, I would be eating turkey for dinner tonight.










Stay Tuned

Summer Weekend

I have just short of avoided fishing up here this summer as I spend more time being frustrated by it than enjoying the time out. The water is warm, the weeds are thick, and the wind blows; a lot. I have a difficult time controlling the small boat with these kinds of conditions so I just skip it all together.


However, Dad, Mom, and Uncle Paul came up for a visit the weekend of the 9th, and we tried our luck anyway. As usual, conditions were tough and we struggled to catch much. I couldn't get the boat on the main lake as I would have liked due to windy conditions but we had to try anyway.

Paul was the only one to catch anything of significance, and managed to catch a sizeable pike.

We called it shortly after catching that fish to get some lunch and come back for Ma. The afternoon outing proved to be a giant disappointment and frustration. Our original plan of fishing Antelope was a bust as the water was an algal cesspool. We tried plan-B and headed to Dry Lake #2 near Willow Lake. We basically got the boat on the water and already knew it was too windy. With Mom, Paul, and myself, it was just too windy for that little boat, and Mom was already uncomfortable with the situation. The drive back to shore proceeded to douse my mother in wave after wave, which I found rather hilarious (although I can about bet she did not feel the same...) but we made it back in one piece. There really was nothing I could do to stop it; if I went too slow we didn't move and got wet, if I went too fast we got REALLY wet but got it over with quicker...


That ended our day for fishing even though there were mutterings about fishing after dinner, although for fear of offending anyone it was discovered that none of us really cared to go back out...figures.


Saturday evening brought a much needed rain, and temporarily derailed our day plan of shooting some clays on a private property. The only access to the property was a small dirt road which would now be 4X4 territory and I did not wish to press it. The wind again proved too much to even attempt fishing. Mom, Dad, and I headed to Bailey's, which is a public shooting area, and shot our clays out there. It felt good to hear a gun go bang again. I am so ready for fall it hurts, and this just fueled the fire...




Stay Tuned

Lake Maud 4th o' July

As will be the trend for the rest of our lives, our off time is dictated by Rachel's schedule. She was granted some much needed time off, and even had a three day weekend to boot! We took advantage of this time, and visited Rick, Sue, and clan on Maud for the weekend. It was already going to be a full house with Adam, Cathie, Isaac, and their friends, Andrew, and Lynnsee. Rachel and I took advantage of the closer proximity and headed up that Friday evening after work. We were greeted by Jesse and Ben, as Grace was in the twin cities, and Rick and Sue were picking up Clara from the airport after a couple week stint in Europe. We enjoyed a nice quiet evening before the roof lifted off house when the thundering hoards arrive.


I needed to get out and enjoy the nice quiet lake, and Rachel joined me each morning for an early outing just the two of us. It is always nice having one-on-one time with the Mrs!

During the daylight hours, there was always something going on. We were able to get in on the lake parade, while the kids enjoyed the lake.

I did get this fantastic pic of my uncle carrying back his flag that we toted during the parade.

We spent an evening at Thompson's enjoying some fish Rick and I cooked up that came fresh out of the lake, as well as slow smoked wings, and ribs, followed by some monkeying around enjoying the conversations and company.

Mornings have always suited me better, but Rachel not so much...

 The second morning was much slower, but I did manage a nice largemouth at the dock.

The final afternoon, Rick and I managed to absorb in the wildlife present on the lake. A mallard and her ducklings were feet from us at the dock.

While on the far side of the lake we encountered a two year old loon that let us get plenty close.

There was also a fabled loon chick that Rachel and I discovered on one of our early morning outings, but Rick wanted visual proof and photographic evidence. It may not look like much, but that hump on the loons back is the little chick hitchin' a ride.

While Rick and Sue canoed to the new chick for better pics, I collected my things from the boat and prepared for our trek back to the prairie. I would not leave without finally landing the legendary bass that dwells from under the dock.

 A 4 pounder that frosted an already stellar weekend!

Because Ben was visiting Maud, he was in need of a ride back to Morris, and we were a great solution for all. Rachel and I made sure to send him off knowing he was family. A little ice cream and some stashed cash always goes a long way.

Upon returning home, Mocha went right to her spot and proceeded to pass out, snoring occasionally.


Apparently, vacationing is hard.

Stay Tuned