Lawn Mower Saga Ends

You may recall that my new lawn mower took a powder earlier this year. We tried to fix it but only seemed to make it worse. I thought we'd ceased the motor. We took it to Dave Boeckermann as junk. He needed a lawn mower body for a motor that still worked. Good riddance.

Well the other day Ellie shows up at my door declaring she has my lawn mower. I reminded her that I didn't' have a lawn mower anymore. She said I did indeed. Evidently we didn't cease the motor and Dave got it to run just as we had (run - quit - run - quit - push the primer - run - run - quit). So he did the same thing we did, replace the diaphragm (don't have carburetors anymore). After he fixed it, it still did the same thing. Wouldn't run. So my friend Ellie went online and found out that the motor had a two year warranty. She loaded it up and took it to the doctor. They fixed it and according to the invoice she gave me, they didn't charge her anything. Holy Hanna there's my lawn mower all fixed up! Used it last night. Works like a charm. I can't believe Ellie went to all that trouble to fix that mower. And then she brought it back. She could have kept it. I had given up all rights of ownership. Thanks Ellie and Dave. I think I owe you a mower. Oh and thanks for the new spark plug. I had removed it. One thing though, you may have overlooked that it was out of gas.

Busy Weekend

Friday night we drove Eddie over to Hinkley Grand Casino. We had a RV site reserved thank goodness because all 300 sites were full.

Jonny Lang opened for George Thorogood. It had been quite a few years since we'd seen Jonny. He played a bunch of new stuff and very little of the good old stuff. Snore.

George Thorogood really rocked the place. The crowd was really into it.

We were able to get right up to the front of the stage! Here's me doing my impression of the "Woo Hoo" lady.

It became apparent early on that I was not going to be able to stay out of trouble.

Saturday we went over and stayed in St. Croix State Park where we jumped on our bikes and rode over 11 miles. They have some really nice paved trails.

We also found the parks geocache.

We saw some "wildlife".

Sunday morning we started out the day with a bloody mary. You have to love the wool socks with the Keen's. High fashion I tell you.

Hitting the Road for the Weekend

Tonight Eddie comes out of retirement to hit the road again. He's taking us to Hinkley Grand Casino to see George Thorogood and Johnny Lang at the amphitheater. Then Saturday he's driving us over to St. Croix State Park.


Lonesome George Thorogood ..................Johnny Lang

Wednesday Night Fellowship

Last night we gathered at Stella's house to say goodbye to her daughter Kiley. Kiley, whom just graduated from BSU, is heading to Missoula to further her education. Stella (pictured above) welcomes our newest member, Marley Jean, to her first official WNF meeting.

Kiley holds Marley who is now two weeks old.

Trying My Hand at Canning Pickled Beans

Makita's step brother, Ryan, makes the best hot pickled beans. He was kind enough to give me the recipe and I'm giving it a try. Problem is I don't have a garden so I'm relying on the grocer to get the beans, dill, jalapenos, garlic, etc for me. The beans I got last night weren't very good. I ended up throwing half of them away. I may visit the Farmers Market this Friday to see what they have. I can't wait to see how these turn out. I think you need to let them pickle for about three weeks before you dig into them. They are the absolute best in a Bloody Mary.

Kennedy is Getting Bigger

Stangel's (grandkids) new puppy, Kennedy, is getting a little bigger. He's so cute. Full of energy.

Kiehra's Birthday

Yesterday was Kiehra's birthday party. Today she's 9.

Meet Marley Jean Alleman

Meet little baby Marley Jean Alleman, born last Wednesday August 5th to Jen and Nick Alleman. What a little doll. She's going to make a fine Fellowshipper.

Counter Balance

Well I had to remove the audio from this video. So don't expect any. It's a video of Mike and Goose tipping their canoe. It was sooooo funny. Even without sound (removed due to my offensive comments) it's pretty darn funny.

The Flat Tire Lesson

What do you get when you have two half wits trying to change a tire? You get out the manual. That's right folks. Don't even stand there scratching your head for 10 minutes. Just get it out.

Last night Makita and I went up by Pine River to scope out some ATV trails and camping, which almost immediately we decided was not what we were looking for. It was a redneck rodeo with 400 plus cc's under their butts, going like the wind..yikes and camping from Deliverance. About halfway into the "forest" a message pops up on Makita's dash telling him he had a right front tire going down. Bring 'er in for a pit stop.

Now I ask you, what the heck is the story with the crap they equip these vehicles with for changing a tire? First you can't get the stupid tire out from under the vehicle (hence the manual...you may want to practice in your driveway. Except you may never figure out how to get it back under there). Then the jack they provide is hysterical. WTH is it? A Barbie car jack? That is suppose to lift up a pickup truck? You give them thirty five thousand bucks and they give you a thirty five dollar jack. JOKE.

And at 7:30 at night in August in Minnesota there are a bunch.... repeat... bunch of mosquito's try to eat you alive. Carry some bug spray in your truck at all times (that's a message directly to you Makita). And how about providing your assistant with a pair of gloves?

Well we finally figured it out and got the tire changed. Fiasco my friends, fiasco.

Back from BWCA

Last Tuesday we headed north to the Gun Flint Trail. This is a photo of us at our customary stop at Gooseberry Falls on the North Shore. Present from left to right, Makita, Dave, Ellie, Goose, Mike and myself.We stayed the night in the East Bearskin Campground. We got there around 8:30pm, setup our tents and got to talking and before we knew it, it was 1am. But that didn't stop us from an early rise, a quick bagel and on we went.

We paddled 4 miles (an hour) and found our portage from East Bearskin lake to Alder lake. This was an easy easy portage. It was only 50 rods and pretty level.

Then we paddled around Alder lake for probably an hour or so looking for a campsite. There were several available but luckily we stumbled across a really really good one. Here's Ellie and Dave paddling.

Here's Mike and Goose paddling on Alder.

We had really good weather most the entire time we were up there. This little storm went right by us. It did rain one night while we were sleeping. Otherwise it was great. It wasn't hot, it wasn't too cold.

On Thursday we went on an adventure to Johnson Falls. We paddled to the Alder/Canoe portage and crossed there (only 21 rods). Then we paddled the length of Canoe lake to the Canoe/Pine Lake portage. This portage is said to be one of the most difficult in the BWCA. It's 230 rods. Going to Pine from Canoe is mostly downhill. And as you can imagine the return trip is the bugger. Yep...mostly all up hill. Once you get to Pine lake you have another quarter mile (or so they say...seemed longer then that to me) to get to the falls. But like the book said, it was well worth the hike. It was pretty awesome back there in the middle of nowhere. Some folks that we kept encountering were going back there to swim or skinny dip or something. We weren't quite that adventurous.

Fishing wasn't outstanding but it was fair. Here's Ellie with a nice Smallmouth she caught on Thursday.

Here's Makita with a decent Walleye he got on Friday.

Dave and Makita did the fish cleaning each day (except Wednesday when we tried hooking into some Lake Trout but were unable to get any). After that we went back to what we know.

Ellie did all the fish frying. She's got a knack. We ate fish Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights.

Saturday before going out fishing Ellie and I made two pizza's on the fire. Here they are prior to cooking.

Here's a group picture a day or so into the trip.

Mike chose to jump in the lake for a swim. Let me tell you, it was freezing cold!

Something went terribly wrong when I got pine pitch in my hair. It was a lot. At one point I was going to have it cut out. But Ellie came to my rescue with Criso oil. She poured a bunch on my hair and she worked that pitch out. She's soooo smart. Then came the double dose of Dawn dish washing liquid to get the oil out of my hair. I actually liked the results. I may change over to Dawn as my choice of shampoo from now on.

We had an Eagle that lived with us all week. He was very cool. The seagulls gave him a bad time but he held strong.

The moon was full during our trip. That always makes it a little nicer.

Then yesterday we paddled and portaged back to East Bearskin. It took us about 3 hours to get there and load up. Then the long 5 hour drive home. But it was worth it. We had a good time.

Watch for a slideshow of more photos. It will be coming soon.

War and Peace

I'm off to the lovely, peaceful, beautiful Boundary Waters Canoe Area. There are six of us going this time. We'll be driving up to East Bearskin lake on the Gunflint trail this afternoon. Then we'll be entering the BWCA tomorrow at entry point #64. We'll be heading back out on Sunday. I'm really looking forward to the quiet, calmness of the woods.

Meanwhile my brother Bob leaves again tomorrow for Afghanistan (pictured here second to last on the right). Here's to your safe return Bob. You're in my thoughts each day.

Aunt's Lila 75th Birthday

This past Saturday was my Aunt Lila's surprise 75th birthday party. It was up on Pelican Lake at her daughter's Kathy and Tom's place.

Here's a photo of Mom, Cousin Kenny, myself, Cousin Larry and Brother Bob.

Here is cousin Cindy talking to cousin Jodi. And Lila talking to her daughter, cousin Mary (in from Oregon).