Here I am with my big win. I dumped some bucks into the raffles and didn't win anything. No one at our table did. And I think between Dale Kaiser and Dave Boeckermann there was some considerable dough dropped. But I did walk away with the "Hunters Choice Marinade" that was on our table because my birthday was the closest to the date of Pheasant opener on October 15th. A certain Mr. Mike ran off with the 12 gauge shells I should have also gotten when he lied about his age, stating he was the youngest at the table and he wasn't....I was. I'm also seen here modeling Dale's new PF hat. It was a good time. Thanks David Jr.
Wednesday, August 17, 2005
Pheasants Forever Banquet
Here I am with my big win. I dumped some bucks into the raffles and didn't win anything. No one at our table did. And I think between Dale Kaiser and Dave Boeckermann there was some considerable dough dropped. But I did walk away with the "Hunters Choice Marinade" that was on our table because my birthday was the closest to the date of Pheasant opener on October 15th. A certain Mr. Mike ran off with the 12 gauge shells I should have also gotten when he lied about his age, stating he was the youngest at the table and he wasn't....I was. I'm also seen here modeling Dale's new PF hat. It was a good time. Thanks David Jr.
Tuesday, August 16, 2005
Pheasants Forever
Monday, August 15, 2005
Good Day on the River

Jim Eide and myself win the Brainerd Lakes Bassmasters tournament Sunday August 14th on the Mississippi River. This is the third tournament in a row that we've fished together and won. It just seems that each time we are paired up it all works out. I caught the biggest bass I've ever caught at 4 pounds 15 1/2 ounces, just a half an ounce from 5lbs. It was a hog. But Craig Paulson caught a 5 pound 2 ounce bass that beat me for big bass. It was a great day on the water. It wasn't too cold and it wasn't too hot. We ended up with 18 pounds 5 ounces for 5 fish.
Saturday, August 13, 2005
Day 9, Saturday July 30, 2005

On this final day of our nine day "adventure" into the BWCA, we woke at 6am, broke camp and set off by 7am. The wind had come up during the night and that always makes a paddler a little worried. Winds can be your worst enemy while out in large bodies of water. We had two to cross this morning. We were on the water by 7am. We paddled across Disappointment lake, it was windy but managable. We then did a 80 rod portage. Then we paddled across Perent Lake, which was a pretty small lake, and did a 85 rod portage into Snowbank Lake (the lake we originally set out on a week before). Snowbank wasn't bad getting across as far as the wind goes but the sky was dark and the lightning was striking behind us. Ellie paddles really fast in the lightning.
By this day Nate had transferred all the heavy items into the small pack he was originally carrying and had passed this pack off to his father Mark. Thus the Duluth pack Nate was now responsible for weighed little of nothing. I picked it up and was surprised how light it was. Yet Nate still refused to try to carry both that pack and the canoe. So while the old duffers portaged both their packs and their canoes, Nate would grab just the pack and walk the portage, go all the way back and get the canoe and walk it again. Marks back was getting noticeably worse. He could hardly get in and out of the canoe. Me and Ellie had to help him put his pack on each time. It seemed like a good day to head home.
We were at our vehicle at 9:15 am. On the way home we stopped in Ely. It was Blueberry days and the town was packed. We did a little shopping at Piragis and headed south. In Tower we stopped and had a burger and a beer at Benchwarmers. The burger was real good and the beer was real cold. Nummy. We were home by 4:30pm.
This was the end of our adventure and already I can't wait for the next one.
Wednesday, August 10, 2005
Day 8, Friday July 29, 2005
Today we slept in. We didn't get up until after 8am. We sat around and had a couple pots of coffee and then went out fishing. We expected to catch a bunch of walleyes after we'd done so well the day before but we didn't catch a one. Nate caught a real nice smallmouth that he released. We came in and had some lunch and took a quick "bath" (the water was pretty darn cold). In the afternoon we all went out fishing again (except Mark and Nate...they took a nap). We didn't catch a thing except some really little smallmouth, so we gave up early, collected some firewood and went in to start packing up for our trip out the next day.Nate helped make supper and Ellie fried corn bread banick on the fire (in yes...you guessed it... in Eddie and Ron's pan). It was very very good. We hit the hay at around 10pm.
Monday, August 08, 2005
Day 7, Thursday July 28, 2005

On this day we woke up at 6am but it was raining. By 6:30 the rain had ended and we got up and broke camp. We were on the water by 8:00am. We did quite a bit of paddling and six portages. A 105 rod into Gibson Lake, then a 25 rod into Cattyman Lake, a 10 rod into Adventure Lake, a 10 rod into Jitterbug Lake, a 15 rod into Ahsub Lake and finally a 25 rod into Disappointment Lake.
We got a great campsite on Disappointment. It had three tent sites (which sometimes is hard to find) and it had a decent swimming area.
While we were making lunch it poured rain. After the rain storm we went out fishing and Dave caught a couple real nice walleyes right away and Nate caught about a six pounder. We cleaned them up and fried them up in Ron and Eddie's fry pan.
Sunday, August 07, 2005
Day 6, Wednesday July 27, 2005
On this day we stayed put in our camp on Ashagan Lake. We sat around in the morning and drank coffee and just relaxed. We went out and caught enough fish for lunch. Mark caught a nice northern that Ellie put in foil and baked in the fire while the other fish she fried in Eddie and Ron's fry pan.We went swimming for a little while to wash up. The water seemed colder than previous days. But then again it did get down into the 40's the night before.
In the afternoon it started to storm out. It got very windy and rained pretty hard. We all ducked into our tents until it passed. We got out of our tents and pumped water and then bam...it hit again. So we all crawled back in our tents and listened to the Twins play the Yankees. Most of us fell asleep for a while too.
After the storms passed we got up and made spaghetti and sat around the fire while things dried out. It was a nice peaceful evening.
Friday, August 05, 2005
Day 5 Tuesday July 26, 2005

This day we got up at 6:15 am and broke camp. Mark's back was hurting pretty bad so Nate had to portage the canoe. We did two portages, one that was 180 rods and one that was 55 rods into Ashagan Lake. We went to the furthest campsite. We setup camp and made chicken wildrice soup for lunch. Then we went out fishing and got a real nice bunch of fish for a nice fish fry. Ellie cooked them over the fire in Eddie and Ron's fry pan. It was so very good.
Wednesday, August 03, 2005
Dorothy Molter's Story
Dorothy Molter was born May 6, 1907. She was one of six children. Her mother died when Dorothy was seven and the children were placed in an orphaniage. When her father remarried in 1919, he moved to Chicago and reunited the family.
Dorothy attended high school in Chicago. She was active in a variety of sports includingthe school rifle team. She won the city championship in 1925. Little did she kn
ow that her shooting skill would become a key to her survival in the wilderness later in life. After high school she went to school to become a registered nurse and completed her training. Once again she had no way of knowing how valuable her nursing skills would be to herself and thousands of visitors to the wilderness.Dorothy came to Knife Lake for the first time in 1930. She came to stay permanently in 1934, to help Bill Berglund operate the rustic Isle of Pines Resort. When Berglund died in 1948, the resort was deeded to Dorothy.
Due to the Wilderness Act of 1964, Dorothy's property was condemned and purchased by the United States Forest Service and she was ordered to leave the area. Her many friends and visitors circulated petitions in order that she be allowed to remain. She was granted a lifetime tenancy in 1975 by the U.S. Congress and was able to stay on the Isle of Pines until her death in 1986.
Each year as many as 6,000 visitors from all over the world would stop by the Isle of Pines and visit Dorothy in her wilderness home. She would make between 11,000 and 12,000 bottles of root beer per year to share with her many visitors and she gained the nickname "The Root Beer Lady".
After her death in 1986, Dorothy's homestead was dismantled and transported by dogsled and snowmobile to Moose Lake and then on to Ely, where volunteers later restored two of the cabins (the Winter and Point cabins). The dreams of many dedicated volunteers were finally realized when in May, 1993, the museum was at last open in memory of this strong, kind and gracious woman.
Dorothy Molter was the last of a special breed of people, and the last legal resident of the Bondary Waters Canoe Wilderness Area. She believed in herself and in her ability to take care of herself even in the harshest conditions and facing great challenges. She lived in harmony with the environment. She respected the plants and animals with which she shared her world. Most important of all, Dorothy was willing to give of herself to anyone in need. Many a conoeist has sought out medical aide from Dorothy. She probably holds the record for pulling fishhooks out of people. She tended burns, sprains, broken bones and more serious medical problems through the years. The time of day or night, or the task she was involved in meant nothing to Dorothy if someone needed her help. She held and lived they types of values we want to pass on to future generations.
You can find out more about Dorothy in Bob Cary's book "Root Beer Lady" or by logging into www.rootbeerlady.com
Day 4, Monday July 25, 2005

Me on Dorothy's Rainbow Rock
On this day we started out by A. Makita finds Dave's Leatherman and B. Mark slips on a rock on on the lakeshore and hurts his back. The back injury will accompany us the rest of our journey.
We portaged into Knife Lake from Vera. It was an interesting portage. Very rocky with steep inclines and steep declines. Mark and Nate had borrowed AL (remember Al....the Alumicraft canoe?) which weighs around 63 pounds. Nate had to carry Al because of Marks back. It was his first time carrying one. Probably not the best portage to break someone in. But keep in mind Nate is 15, is probably 5' 9" or more and weighs 160 pounds. Did I mention he's a hockey player and plays football too? Well at one point during the first portage Nate threw Al to the ground and called it a "piece of crap canoe". Al was hurt I'm sure. But eventually the kid did get Al into Knife Lake. If he's going to keep carrying canoes he'll have to probably go buy his own, lighter, easier to carry canoe.
We paddled to Dorothy's Isle of the Pines. I will write more about Dorothy soon. But in the meantime I'll tell you that we went on the islands, saw her wildflowers and touched her Rainbow Rock. It was something I wanted to do for a long time. It was awesome.
We paddled/portaged back to Vera. It started to rain and rained most the afternoon. That night there was a beautiful sunset and rainbows.
Tuesday, August 02, 2005
Day 3, Sunday July 24, 2005

Ron presents me with their fry pan while Eddie puts his pack back together after digging out the pan.
On Sunday we got up early and packed up to head out to Vera Lake. We had decided we would stay in Vera and day trip into Knife lake the following day to visit Isle of the Pines, previous home to Dorothy Molter.
As we were loading our canoes a couple guys paddled by and Ellie struck up a conversation with them. "Where ya been? Where ya going?" Stuff like that. "You wouldn't happen to have a fry pan would you?" Turns out that Eddy and Ron where on their way out of the BWCA and they did indeed have a fry pan they were willing to part with. Eddie and Ron are from Cloquet, nice fellas. Hey guys if you read this leave a comment so we can find you and formally thank you for your contribution to our adventure in the Boundary Waters.
We paddled up Ensign and portaged 180 rods into Vera. It was very hot out and most of the
portage was uphill. We secured a campsite, had some lunch, went swimming and went fishing. We didn't get any fish this day. Ellie and Dave did however manage to tip their canoe over right at our campsite while stopping by the site to pickup an item they'd forgotten (a Leatherman). In their words "we were being lazy". They retrieved everything but, you guessed it, Dave's Leatherman.We picked fresh blueberries and raspberries and Ellie made banick with them.
Monday, August 01, 2005
Day 2, Saturday July 23, 2005

We got up at 6am and packed our gear, including the 35 pounds of food and the "kitchen" into our already heavy packs. Dave had a Duluth pack...loaded to the max. Ellie had a full size pack.. I'd guess 4500 to 5000 cubic inches..packed so she couldn't even lift it. Makita had a large Duluth pack that weighed a ton (we're still not sure what he had in there that weighed so much). I had my 4500 cubic inch pack stuffed so full it would barely close. Ellie had loaned a Duluth pack to Mark and Nate brought a small external frame backpack that didn't really hold very much but we stuffed it as full as we could. And off we went....
We launched in Snowbank lake at 8:30 and paddled just over an hour to our first portage of 60 rods. Then we paddled across a small pond and immediately did a 50 rod portage in to Boot lake. We paddled across Boot lake and then did a 280 rod portage that quite frankly kicked our butts. The guys tried to do a "one-ee" with their packs and the canoes and they didn't make it. It was really hot out, I'd guess somewhere in the 80's. We did finally finish the portage and get in to Ensign lake. We took the first campsite we found, #23. Sites #24, 25 and 26 had reported bear a couple weeks earlier so I was relieved not to go to any of those. We were in our camp by 2pm.
We went out fishing and caught enough for a taste of fresh fish. So we started our meal of spaghetti and discovered we had forgotten the fry pan in the vehicle. Oh boy ... this isn't good. Hence the picture above of Ellie frying the fish on a piece of tin foil right on the fire grate. It worked...but not that good.
Day 1, Friday July 22....Ely Minnesota

Friday July 22, 2005
Well we're back home after a week in the BWCA. There's so much to tell that I'll take it one day at a time.
On Friday July 22nd Dave and Ellie Boeckermann, Mark and Nate Hegstrom, Makita St. Cox and myself left Deerwood around noon and drove to Ely to acquire our permit. We went to the Wolf Center, watched the required movie and left there with our permit in hand. The permits go very quickly for this entry point. We were lucky enough to get one because we applied for it last winter.
After we left the Wolf Center we went on a special visit to the Dorothy Molter Museum. Here is a photo of me by one of the signs there on site. Stay tuned for much more information about Dorothy.
That night we stayed at the Fall Lake Campground. It was brand new and a very nice place. It had running water and warm showers. It would be our last shower for a week. We ate steaks and salads and sat around the fire. It would be our last fresh meal for a week. Everything would be freeze dried from here on out.
Thursday, July 21, 2005
Heading back to the BWCA

Well the bus is getting ready to pull out for the "big" trip. We'll be leaving tomorrow at noon and driving to Ely. We'll visit the Wolf Center to get our permit and then maybe stop at Dorothy Molter's museum. This whole trip is to get to the place where Dorothy lived and died as the last resident of the BWCA.
Saturday morning we will paddle 4 miles across big Snowbank Lake to its northeast corner. Then there's two short portages, 30 and 50 rods, (a rod is approximently 17 feet, the average length of a canoe) and a small pond will lead us to Boot Lake and then a long portage to Ensign Lake (220 rods). We'll paddle up to the portage of 180 rods to Vera and a 280 into Knife Lake and Isle of the Pine, right on the Canadian Border, the home of Dorothy Molter. That will be our first two days. We are going in for nine. We'll be visiting other lakes, fishing, enjoying the wildlife and the full moon that will be big and bright on Thursday the 21st. We'll be coming out on Sunday July 31st.
I'm really looking forward to getting back in the great outdoors (just got home from Motortown). I'll fill you all in when we get home.
Tuesday, July 19, 2005
Sunday, July 17, 2005
Sight Seeing Along Lake Huron

Today Debi and I drove over to look at the houses along Lake Huron. This is one of the run down homes. Most were mansions, as you can well imagine. This one caught my attention because it looks like something out of a Harry Potter movie. I believe it even winked at me as we drove by.
Tomorrow it's back to work for three days and then off to Minnesota to leave on a nine day adventure into the BWCA. I'm really looking forward to this trip. It will be our longest, hardest trip thus far.
Saturday, July 16, 2005
Pride of Windsor Cruise

We, Debi and I, crossed over to Winsor Canada today and took the Pride of Windsor Cruise for a lunch trip. The cruise was on the International Water Way of the Detroit River. It was cloudy and rainy most of the trip but it did clear off towards the end. In the background you can see the Detriot skyline. We went an hour up the Canadian side of the river and then came back down the US side. The thing I noticed most was that the Canadian side was very nice and clean and the US side was dirty, run down and embarrassing.
Hard Rock Cafe Detroit
Friday, July 15, 2005
Bass Pro Shop in Detroit
Debi Peterson waiting for a new key
Tuesday, July 12, 2005
Mike and Dan take 2nd place on Gull

I also fished this tournament and finished dead last. Good grief. I can't even go into what a struggle it was. I fished with Troy Switajewski for eight hours both Saturday and Sunday in 90 plus degrees on Gull Lake. We did pretty darn good the first day and totally bombed the second. Keith Tuma and his partner Troy Bruns won with over 29 lbs for just 6 fish. That's huge. Dan and Mike took 2nd with 23 lbs for 6 fish.
The club will be fishing this Saturday on Rabbit lake but I won't be able to join them because I'm in Detroit working. Hopefully I will find something fun to do here. I'm here with another trainer, Debi, and we're talking about going on a river cruise over the weekend. We'll have to see. It's in the 90's here too.
Tuesday, July 05, 2005
Group at Perent Lake

Dale and Robin Kaiser, Bunny Lazorik, Ellie and Dave Boeckermann and myself are seen here Friday night enjoying a nice refreshing drink of "Wang".
This was a very quick trip. It simply was a break away from all the hub bub of the 4th (tourists, commotion and noise). It was a first time trip in a canoe to the BWCA for Dale, Robin and Bunny. I hope they enjoyed themselves.
We paddled down Hog Creek for several winding miles and then across Perent Lake to find a campsite. The campsite we really wanted was already taken. So we paddled on. The campsite we ended up with turned out to be a very good one too. Plenty of room for the tents. Firewood was a little scarce but we always came up with enough to have a nice fire. Bunny was assigned the duty of "baker" and did a fine job baking. We even had lemon bars one night.
The wind was howling pretty much non-stop and limited the time we could spend out on the lake fishing but we still managed to russle up enough fish for a fish fry Sunday night.
We are now preparing for the "big trip" coming up in three weeks. The big one will be nine days in the BWCA. We will be very limited to what we can pack in. It will be the most challenging trip for us yet. We will be visiting Isle of the Pines, Dorothy Molters old residence. I am really looking forward to it.
Thursday, June 30, 2005
Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness
Monday, June 27, 2005
My Red Rubber Boots
Sunday, June 26, 2005
Four Wheeling in the Chipewa Forest

Wednesday we took off to Chipewa Forest, just out of Effie Minnesota, with Kurt and Robin Hopp to ride ATV's for a few days. It was great. Kurts boss, Glen Nolan, so kindly borrowed us a couple of his machines (trusting fella huh?). Kurt and Robin invited us stay in there super duper nice new toy hauler camper (first class all the way).
That day, after driving about two and a half hours, we set up camp and headed out. We rode for a couple hours, came back to fuel up and headed back out for another ride before supper. That ride turned out to be somewhat disasterous. Robin hit a log wrong and it launched her and her 750 plus pound machine airborne. She landed on her back with the wheeler on top of her. I, a certified last responder, came around the corner to see her under her machine with only one leg sticking out. She was screaming her head off. Let me just say I don't react to such things very well. Kurt was off his machine and hauling her's off her in a flash, Makita came up behind me (ran into me actually) and ran up to help. It was nice to have an EMT with us. It turned out that nothing was broken but she was really bruised up, had one rather nasty cut and a whole lot of stiff and soreness. She was very lucky. She wasn't able to ride anymore and I stayed with her most of the time (did sneak off for one more long ride on Friday) and the guys rode a couple times each day.
The trails up there are awesome. There are miles and miles and miles of them. There are hills to climb, mud to conquor and beautiful woods to explore. Kurt lead most of the time and therefor got stuck the most. The campgrounds was very nice (until the hillbilly's showed up on Friday). Our site was right on the water of a really nice small lake (Bass Lake). We fished some and caught, you guested it, some largemouth bass. We brought Al, the canoe, and paddled around some too.
It was a super nice time. I really enjoyed spending time with Kurt and Robin. We had great campfires, nummy food, good conversation and lots of laughs.
Tuesday, June 21, 2005
Our Seats on Turn One

This is the view from our seats. We could see the entire two mile track. We had a great time. The trip was a lot of fun. I'd do it again.
On the way there Friday we came up on an accident that just happened. Bob and Dave were right there to aide the victims. I, being a last responder, stayed tucked away in the truck. It was a semi trailer full of saw dust vs a small car with a lady in it. The truck driver seemed fine. He had blood running down his face but was running around chasing his dog that got out of the truck when he laid it on it's side. The lady wasn't as lucky. She had quite a bleeding head and didn't know where she was or what day it was. She left in the ambulance. There was a lot of saw dust everywhere. That slowed us up almost an hour.
We also had a flat tire (discovered by a nice, drunk man at the track) and had to make several stops on the way home to keep air in it. But we hobbled it on home.
Saturday we stayed in a hotel with a lot of the pit crew members from several teams. They came in after working qualifying. We saw team members from Waltrip, Labonte, Hamilton Jr., Earnhart Jr., the new Fedex team and others (can't remember them all). That was kind of cool. My fellow friends asked me to please take off my #24 gear so we didn't end up in a brawl.
I'm in Jeff's Pit in Michigan
One the Michigan Track
Thursday, June 16, 2005
Michigan International Speedway

Friday June 17th...off to the races. Tomorrow is the trek to the Michigan track for the Nascar race. I can't wait to get there and hear the roar of the engines, smell the high octane and see my favorite driver, Jeff Gordon, go nearly 200 miles an hour. Keep your eye on number 24....he's due. Stay tuned for more race news.
Tuesday, June 14, 2005
Wrigley Field

Wrigley field on a hot summer night. Well it was everything I thought it would be. The Cubs lost 9 to 1 but it was still really fun. Me and Shayne cheered and hollered and had a great time.
I'll be heading home on Thursday and driving back to Chicago on Friday. That's right. I fly home Thursday and then Friday meet Bob and Joy and start our drive to Michigan to catch the Nascar race. Friday we're going to drive as far as Chicago. We're really psyched to go (or pyscho).
Then I'll get home on Monday and leave Wednesday to go four wheeling with the Hopp's in the Chipewa National Forest for a few days. I can't wait to go do this. We'll be taking their new toy hauler to stay in. It's all decked out. It's nicer than home.
Sunday, June 12, 2005
Dinner at the Italian Garden Grand View

Saturday night I had dinner at the Italian Garden at Grand View on Gull Lake. Present were (from lower left clockwise) Shirley Bruers and Dave Cox, myself (looking quite round and full), Dr. Doug Greves, Dr. Shirley Greves and Diane Cox. The Greves are originally from Canada but have lived in Devils Lake North Dakota for the past 28 years. They also have a home on Clam Shell Lake here in Crosslake. Dr. Doug Greves still practices family medicine in Devils Lake and Dr. Shirley Greves teaches at the University of North Dakota (go Fighting Souix) in Grand Forks. Shirley Bruers and Diane Cox (sisters) are here staying the week at Gull 4 Seasons Resort for their annual vacation to the lakes. The food at the Italian Garden was family style and wonderful.
Thursday, June 09, 2005
Me and Shayne in Chicago
Tuesday, June 07, 2005
Here I am in Chicago
Sunday, June 05, 2005
Winstock 2005


Well I've been neglecting my site lately. I've been so busy doing so many things that I haven't taken the time to write.
Winstock was fun. It did rain some and flood our campsite. I met some artists, as you can see, Darryl Worley, Dierks Bentley, Sugarland and Keith Anderson. I also saw Glen Campbel, Charlie Pride, Leanne Wolmack and others perform. Lots of fun.
I came home early (11pm Saturday) to fish a bass tournament on Farm Island lake on Sunday. I fished with Wade Hollingsworth and we finished 6th. It was a good day on the water. It rained hard several times and it seemed that the fish bit best during those periods.
This week and next week I'll be working in Chicago. It was suppose to be one week but turned into two. But I'll be home over the weekend. I'm looking forward to going to Michigan to the race and then to Chipawa Forest yet this month. Like I said....very busy....but I'll try to write more often than I have been.





















