Makita gets a little WILD

Makita met a couple Minnesota Wild players this week during the Wild Road Tour's stop here in Brainerd. Here he is with left wing #19 Stephane Veileus and center #96 Pierre-Marc Bouchard.

The fishing bets were on....

Day one: First fish....Kimkay took it away. Second day: Biggest fish....Dave cleaned up. Day Three: Most fish...Makita. What? Makita? Why he's becoming quite the little angler.

Ellie frying fish in Dave's new FISH pan

A Few Photo's from Big Moose Lake BWCA

Here we are "enjoying" happy hour.

Jessi out fished Mike on Saturday. Thus he was forced to give her his lucky hat.

Can anyone say "WALLEYE"? Nummy num.

Jessi got the Duluth food pack, which she found easier to carry on her front rather than her back.

Ellie and Dave hopping down the bunny trail.

Me and my new pack. I love it. Kondos out of Ely made it special for me. (kondosoutdoors.com)

Makita and his Kondos pack

Mike portaging the aluminum canoe Dave and Ellie borrowed him.

Mike and Jessi "setting sail".

Ellie and Dave on the Big Moose River.

Heading to the BWCA

Tomorrow morning we're heading into the BWCA for a few days of paddling and fishing. Mike, Jessi, Dave, Ellie, Makita and myself will be leaving Deerwood around 6am tomorrow morning. We'll drive to Ely and pickup our permit. Then we'll drive around 25 additional miles to get to our entry point. We'll be going in four miles this trip into Big Moose Lake in the Southwest section of the Boundary Waters.

This lake is reported to house walleyes, smallmouth and northernpike. Can you say "fish fry"? Speaking of fish fry....Dave and Ellie have a new fry pan. Actually I'd have to say it's Dave's. Ellie ordered it and was going to send it back because it's pretty heavy. But Dave liked it so much he's offered to carry it. So we have a new Fancy Incredible Square High-sided (FISH) fry pan. We used it in Trout Lake over Memorial weekend and it worked really good. But no one had to carry it there.

(Pictures from a trip last year)

Wheel'n

My friends Kurt and Robin Hopp took us on an excellent adventure on our wheelers yesterday. We rode the Soo Line from Isle to Moose Lake. It was a titch over 100 miles round trip. We went through the Red Top trail and that was a lot of fun. There was some water to play in. We stopped in Denham (population 40) on the way back for a good old fashioned nummy burger. The trail got a little dusty and I was a mess but had a great time.

We crossed a really long bridge over the Kettle River. We were over the tree tops. It was pretty cool.




"The Soo Line South ATV Trail is a 114-mile trail beginning at Saunders Junction, Wisconsin (near Superior). It runs southwesterly through Douglas County, Wisconsin, and ends at Genola, Minnesota. This scenic route includes a mix of woods, farmland, and trestle crossings on the Kettle River and Birch Creek and includes the Northern Pine Riders ATV Trail. The Soo Line South ATV Trail connects with the 148-mile Soo Line North ATV Trail, southwest of Moose Lake.The Red Top ATV Trail lies off the Soo Line Trail, 4.6 miles from Isle, and near Mille Lacs Lake. The trail winds through a forested area and provides a pleasant excursion for riders on the Soo Line. The Red Top loop winds through the forest on a gently sweeping alignment that is fairly wide and easy. Off this trail system there are two more technical loops called Foxy and High Adventure trails. The trail system provides something for all levels of riders and makes an excellent destination for the day or the weekend."

Meet and Greet Me at Winstock 2007

Gretchin put on a great show. It was fun to meet her.
















The Bellamy Brothers invited us on their bus. They still have it.














Rodney Adkins ("If You're Going Through Hell" and "These are My People")was very tall and was especially "friendly" with Joy.





Old high school friend Wayne Renn put on a good show. He sure can fiddle. And his brother, Dirty Ernie, whom used to play with Steve Hall and Shot Gun Red, can sure play the steel guitar.

Trace Adkins was so much fun. We didn't go back and meet him this time. I've met him twice before.

Welcome to the Family Little "E"

Dale Earnhardt Jr. will join Hendrick Motorsports in 2008, hopefully moving one step closer to a championship that has eluded him while driving for his late father's company.

Rick Hendrick said Earnhardt will replace Kyle Busch on his star-studded roster of drivers. The announcement Wednesday ended five weeks of recruiting for Earnhardt, NASCAR's most popular driver, who became a free agent May 10 when he said he would leave DEI at the end of this season.

His criteria for a new team included finding a place he could win championships, and Hendrick is the perfect fit. Hendrick has won six championships, and has 10 wins through 14 points races this season.

"It became apparent to me the man I wanted to drive for," Earnhardt said at a news conference. "He competes with integrity and most importantly, he wins races ... So today, it is with great honor to introduce my new boss for 2008, Mr. Rick Hendrick."

It was not immediately clear what number Earnhardt will drive, and who will sponsor the car. Since starting in NASCAR, Earnhardt has driven the No. 8 Budweiser Chevrolet. It's possible that Hendrick could trade Busch's No. 5 to DEI for the No. 8, should he wind up signing with Earnhardt's old team.

"We haven't even began to work around that and see what the options are and opportunities are, and that's something we'll work out down the road," Earnhardt said.

Hendrick has longtime ties to Earnhardt's family. He fielded a car in 1983 for Dale Earnhardt Sr., who drove it to a Busch Series win at Lowe's Motor Speedway. That entry was co-owned by Robert Gee, who is Junior's maternal grandfather.

Joining Hendrick's stable could anger Earnhardt's followers because it will team him with Jeff Gordon, a driver generally despised by Junior's rabid fans. Following several of his recent wins, Earnhardt's fans have thrown beer cans at Gordon, most notably after career win No. 76 in April at Talladega Superspeedway. The win tied Gordon with the elder Earnhardt on NASCAR's victory list.

"We do have a personal competition. If you want to call it a rivalry, fine," Earnhardt said. "He's fun to race with, and especially if you beat him, it's a good feeling. ... We can both challenge each other to be better race car drivers."

Earnhardt hasn't come close in seven full seasons at DEI to winning a Cup title. Hendrick, meanwhile, has won six championships since 1995, and along with four-time champion Gordon, currently fields defending series champion Jimmie Johnson, Busch and Casey Mears.

Winstock Update

As I promised, here's some news about Winstock. We had an awesome time. We ate good, drank better and really enjoyed the entertainers. But more about them tomorrow. For today here's some photos of us during down times.


Here we all are: Makita, myself, Joy and Bob.









Bob forgot his shoes and was forced to wear his boots the entire time. Even with his shorts on.

Lots to Tell about Winstock

And I promise tomorrow I will fill you all in. In the meantime here's a photo of Bob and his new mostly naked "friend" ....I just call him "Speedo and the Hand Towel"....which of course explains this guys extremely large "package". Bob found Mr. SHT by the outhouse. It's all rather disturbing but pretty damn funny.

Oh and did I mention Jeff Gordon won the race yesterday? If not, he did. And it's because he's soooooo awesome.

Off to Winstock Tomorrow Night

Winstock 2007 Schedule
Thursday, June 7
3 p.m. to 9 p.m. - Campgrounds open for admission
5 p.m. - Winsted Fire Dept. Spaghetti Dinner near the beer tent with music
by Chopper - the World's Nuttiest DJ

Friday, June 8
9:30 a.m. - Campgrounds open for admission
2 p.m. - Gates open for admission
4:30 p.m. - The Wayne Renn Band







6:35 p.m. - Sarah Buxton








8:40 p.m. - Diamond Rio







10:45 p.m. - Gretchen Wilson





Saturday, June 9
12:45 p.m. - Marshall Star Band
2:50 p.m. - Rodney Atkins











4:55 p.m. - The Bellamy Brothers








7 p.m. - Eric Church











9:05 p.m. - Miranda Lambert







10:30 p.m. - Trace Adkins







Emerging Artists Stage
Friday, June 8
5:45 p.m. - White Creek
7:50 p.m. - KeyStone featuring Brittany Lee
9:55 p.m. - KeyStone featuring Brittany Lee

Saturday, June 9
11 a.m. - Pre-show beer tent bash with music by White Creek
2 p.m. - Flynnville Train
4:05 p.m. - Halfway to Hazard
6:10 p.m. - Flynnville Train
8:15 p.m. - Halfway to Hazard

Meet Izzy Kay

Izzy Kay is my sister Lorrie's new Search and Rescue dog. Isn't she a beauty. I've been told she's a real lover. If I have my facts right (and I probably don't), my brother Bob rescued Izzy and worked with her training her to search. Recently Bob, with Izzy in tow, went out to Cody Wyoming to certify some search and rescue dogs. My sister Lorrie, who is the Wyoming Search and Rescue K-9 Chairman, now has Izzy Kay in her arsenal of SAR Dogs. Welcome to the family Izzy (tried to get Lorrie to call her Izzy Borden...but all I could get away with was Izzy Kay).