Jeff Gorden won the first pole of the Car of Tomorrow era, putting his Chevrolet Impala in the top starting spot at Bristol Motor Speedway on Friday. So I hope Jeff does good. He is currently in second place in points.

My fantasy pick for this Sunday in Tennessee is Ryan Newman who is going to start 22nd.

The Movie Wild Hogs

I went to see Wild Hogs last night. It was non-stop laughter. It's about as stupid as it could be but pretty darn funny. Don't expect to come out of it saying "That was good", cause you won't. But you'll probably come out saying "damn funny....just plain damn funny"!

Jacksonville Beach

Tonight I drove down to the beach. It's about 10 miles from where I'm staying. There were a lot of people on the beach even at 7pm. People and jelly fish. Lots of jelly fish washed up on shore because the tide was coming in.

Kyle's Birthday

Last week was my grandson Kyle's 8th birthday. On Friday night his parents had his party. He had a great cake as you can see.

Ahhhhh Travel.....

I'm still trying to get to Jacksonville. I've been working on it since 7:30 this morning. After watching the weather channel I just knew I wasn't going to get out of Brainerd and Minneapolis as scheduled today. It said there was a 70% chance of snow, sleet and rain in the afternoon. It didn't sound like conditions for flying to me. So I talked to Northwest and they couldn't get me out of Brainerd on an earlier flight but they said if I went to Minneapolis I could probably get on a 1:30 flight directly to Jacksonville arriving there at 5pm. Well hell that sounded a lot better than flying Brainerd to Minneapolis at 3pm, Minneapolis to Memphis at 5pm and Memphis to Jacksonville at 7:15pm and not arriving in Jacksonville until 10pm. So I call Makita and get him out of bed (which he had barely gotten in to after working all night in Lakeshore) and convinced him to drive me to Minneapolis before the storm hit. So he got me to the Minneapolis St. Paul Airport by noon. I stood in line quite a while to find out the 1:30 flight was oversold and they encouraged me to stick with my original flight leaving at 5pm. Great. I love sitting in airports for long long periods of time. Five hours.....perfect. So I decided to go directly to the gate for the 1:30 flight. When I got there they gave me the same story. The flight was full and I should stay with my luggage (I wonder where the hell my luggage is right now). So I walked around for a bit (circled the entire airport twice, now I have a blister on my little toe on my right foot).

Then I thought I'd try to get on stand by for a Memphis flight. At least I could get partially towards my goal and eventually my luggage should show up there in Memphis for the 7:15pm flight I was scheduled for. So I went through the whole process of going standby for a 3pm flight to Memphis. I didn't get on it. So I went to Chili's to try and catch some of the race. Well all they were interested in was NCAA Basketball. So I waited for my 5pm flight to Memphis that was only going to give me a 25 minute layover to get on my 7:15pm flight to Jacksonville. Well we left Minneapolis 45 minutes late and arrived in Memphis at 7:15pm. When I de-boarded the plane they were waiting there with vouchers for food and hotel and a boarding pass for the next mornings flight to Jacksonville.

So here I am in Memphis. The morning flight isn't until 9:30am. I won't get to Jacksonville until 12:30pm and will obviously miss at least a half a day of work. Ahhhhh travel.

To my Irish Friends and Family

The Wish
I caught a little leprechaun, quite wise and very old and he said to me, "You have one wish,would you like my pot of gold?"
"No thank you," was my quick reply,"But how about another...A gift that's truly precious and esteemed above all others?"
He offered then some emeralds, rubies, sapphires, pearls and a host of other treasures that would make your senses whirl!
As I rejected all his lis this bright eyes flashed with fire and, angrily, he said to me:"What is it you desire?"
I said:
"A rainbow's far more beautiful than its' supposed treasure and the 'rainbow' that I'm wishing for is priceless beyond measure.
"I'd like to have the dearest friends a person ever had to share in all the good times and help me through the bad...
"To laugh and sing and joke with, love and appreciate as we live life's greatest adventure that would certainly be great!"
"Oh, now I know you're daft!" he said as he ran off with his pot..."to waste your wish on something you have already got!"
~Author Unknown~

Iditarod Winner

Lance Mackey won the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race on Tuesday, becoming the first musher to win major long-distance North American sled dog races back-to-back. Mackey crossed under the famed burled arch in downtown Nome early Tuesday evening, completing the 1,100-mile Iditarod in just over nine days.

Formerly the Outdoor Life Channel, Versus, is Alaska’s premier cable sports channel. Versus is airing a series of Iditarod shows.

All shows listed are Central time, 60 minutes in length and on the Versus channel (the old Outdoor Life).

3/18 6pm

3/18 9pm

3/25 6pm

3/25 9pm

4/1 6pm

4/1 9pm

My new toy

Got myself one of them there wheelers. As you can see it's a little used (has 800 miles on it). Needs tires. But now I can ride with everyone else. Giddy up!

Sunday's Race Recap

This past Sunday in Las Vegas Jimmy Johnson took the checkered flag. Right behind him the number 24 of Jeff Gordon snatched second. I guess it doesn't get much better than that for me. My fantasy pick for last week was Mr. Johnson. So if I had to pick how the race would end, I would have had to pick Johnson first and Gordon second. Good race fellas. My fantasy pick for Altanta next weekend is the 99 Carl Edwards. My fantasy Nascar is going fairly well. The only driver to screw it up so far is Kasey Kahne. I had him winning in California and he crashed and DNF. No points for me that week.

To catch you up with the standings: Mark Martin 1st in points, Jeff Gordon 2nd, Jeff Burton 3rd, Johnson 4th, Tony Stewart 13th, Little E 28th and Kasey Kahne 36th.

Snowshoeing

Yesterday I finally got the opportunity to use my new Snowshoes that the Wnuks got me for Christmas. Makita and I went up to Dave and Ellie's place in Thor and tromped around in the really deep snow. We tried walking with them and without them and let me tell you, it made all the difference. It was a lot of fun to get back outside. The weather was amazing. It was in the 40's and beatifully sunny. Maggie liked being out in the woods too. Good dog.

Ellie and Dave are pro's on the snowshoes. They showed us the way. They also cooked up some big fat juicy steaks on the grill and treated us to a winter picnic. I love a picnic!

Wasted Energy

Last night I went down to the Iron Rail, downtown Brainerd, to see my second cousin Andy Fischer perform with his band Wasted Energy. Andy is the lead singer. They've won several local singing contests including the Brainerd Battle of the Bands last summer. The entire band is still in high school and did an excellent job.

Brainerd area Polar Bear Plunge to benefit Minnesota Special Olympics is scheduled for this Saturday March 10th.

WHERE: Breezy Point Resort Marina

TIMES: Registration: starts at 11 a.m.

Plunge time. 2 p.m.

And our very own Dave Makita St John Cox is taking the plunge for the second year in a row. Loco. If you haven't already sponsored him, because I know a lot of my readers have, give him a shout today or tomorrow and make a pledge. 218-838-9793

Here's a little reminder of how it was last year Makita. Yikes that's a shrivel'r.

Larsmont Cottages on the Shores of Superior

The radio stations in Duluth put me up in one of the nicest places I've ever stayed. The Larsmont Cottages are awesome. I hear the rate is around $300 per night. As you can see from these photos it's top notch.

Check out their website at www.larsmontcottages.com

Devils Lake Trip

We had a great time in Devils Lake. Here's a photo of the whole crew. From left to right: Dave Boeckermann, myself, Starla Atkinson, Ellie Boeckermann, Lorrie Wnuk, Jodi Calkins, Dave (Makita) Cox, Dick Calkins, Robin Kaiser (has some photo complex and always covers her face) and Dale Kaiser.

The night started out with us arriving in Staples at 8pm. Our train was scheduled to leave at 1:42am....so we had some time to kill (more like brain cells to murder). We closed down our new favorite hangout "Twisted Sisters". Ellie's pictured here playing pool.
When we arrived at the train depot we discovered the train was running 90 minutes late. So we took advantage of this time to have a little snack, some more drinks and to play a little 500. We were the only people in the depot. It's kind of a scary place. It's "under renovation" and creepy. But we made the best of it. When we arrived in Devils Lake we were greeted by their fresh new snow fall of 18 inches.

The big surprise was that my sister Lorrie and her friend Starla drove all the way from Wyoming to join us. Only Dave and Ellie Boeckermann knew they were coming so it was a huge surprise to all of us. Lorrie took over lunch duties and cooked in her new Amtrak apron and chef's cap that Ellie had bought.

We didn't get out on the ice the first day because of the high winds....so we made the best of it.
On Saturday we did get out fishing. We didn't catch much (only two all day) but we had a blast. Lorrie was again our cook! It was an awesome fun time.

Winter Wonderland

Well winter has decided to finally grace us with it's presence. We received around 11 inches of snow over the past weekend and we're expecting another foot or so today into tomorrow. Wouldn't be a problem but we're going to be trying to get to North Dakota tonight to go fishing, where they are expecting equally troubling weather.

One good thing...reports continue to support my theory about the health benefits of fine wine:

What are the health benefits of drinking red wine?For over 10 years, research has indicated that moderate intake of alcohol improves cardiovascular health. In fact, in 1992 Harvard researchers included moderate alcohol consumption as one of the "eight proven ways to reduce coronary heart disease risk." However, research has suggested that specifically red wine is the most beneficial to your heart health. The cardioprotective effect has been attributed to antioxidants present in the skin and seeds of red grapes. Scientists believe the antioxidants, called flavonoids, reduce the risk of coronary heart disease in three ways: by reducing production of low density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol (also know as the "bad" cholesterol) by boosting high density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol (the good cholesterol) by reducing blood clotting. Furthermore, consuming a glass of wine along with a meal may favorably influence your lipid profiles following that meal. Recently, researchers have found that moderate red wine consumption may be beneficial to more than just your heart. One study found that the antioxidant resveratrol, which is prevalent in the skin of red grapes, may inhibit tumor development in some cancers. Another study indicated that resveratrol aided in the formation of nerve cells, which experts believe may be helpful in the treatment of neurological diseases like Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s.

So drink up my friend...................

2007 Iditarod Starts This Saturday March 3rd

Keep an eye on the 35th Annual Iditarod Race on either of these two websites: http://www.cabelasiditarod.com/ or http://www.iditarod.com/2007/

Going to Devil's Lake via Amtrak

We're heading to Devil's Lake North Dakota to stick some jumbo perch. Friday morning at 2am (yep you read that right) a group of us are jumping on the Amtrak train here in Staples MN. Four and a half hours later, at 6:30 am, we'll get off in Devil's Lake North Dakota where we'll spend Friday and Saturday out on the ice. There's eight of us going: friends Ellie and Dave Boeckermann, friends Robin and Dale Kaiser, my cousin Jodi and Dick Calkins, Makita and myself. And let me tell you, we're ripp'n and rare'n to go. There's even rumors Shirley and Bill Bruers may make an appearance there in Devil's Lake.

We'll be staying and fishing out of Woodland Resort. Makita grew up with Kyle, one of the resort owners. I suspect there will be quite a bit of partying and some heavy fishing as well. Might even be a few side bets. May the best gal win!

You can check out the website at http://www.woodlandresort.com

My Sporting Ups and Downs

The up: Jeff finished second yesterday. That puts him third in points. That's very good. Just to give you something to gauge that with, Jr. is in 41st place, Stewart in 21st, Kahne in 32nd (after not finishing yesterday....so much for my fantasy pick). Next week the Cup series has the week off. Then on to Las Vegas on March 11th. My pick for that race is last years Champion Jimmy Johnson.

The down....my poor Avalanche's. I'm still cheering for them but the reality is ...they're in big trouble. Come on guys.....pull it together!

Gordon takes the pole for Sunday's Cup race

Gordon turned a fast lap of 185.735 mph Friday to grab the 57th pole of his career. The year is off to a good start. Jeff ended up finishing 8th in the Daytona 500. Let's keep up the good work.

MyCoors Light Challenge pick for this week is Kasey Kahne who is starting 2nd. I had to pick winners for all 36 races, never picking one driver more than 4 times throughout the season, prior to the start of the Daytona 500.

Smelly Guy

Sometimes you get the smelly guy. Oh you don’t think he’s going to be “the one” but much to your horror he is. He’s middle aged and sharp dressed. He has a yellow tie and a good looking suit on. The tag on his computer bag says he’s from some college. Starts with a B. No, not Berkley. It’s one I’ve never heard of. Which doesn’t mean anything since I haven’t heard of many. But as a general rule, if your school is not part of March Madness, I probably haven’t heard of you.

This guy doesn’t speak to you. Oh no…he’s much too important and you are to much of a dweeb to address. He does however let you get in to the seat next to him. Now you’re all tucked in by the window in seat 5D. First Class. Ready for a nice two hour, forty minute jet ride that will take you half way across the USA. The sun is shinning. Things are nice. You’re reading your book. It’s rather interesting. Kind of weird. It’s about a guy that sees ghosts. You take off. Your neighbor seems restless. He’s constantly straitening his tie that is already perfectly straight. He makes sudden jerking motions. Like he might have an itch somewhere you shouldn't scratch in public.

You’re up there around 40 thousand feet. They bring you some coffee…in a real ceramic cup. None of that environmental killing Styrofoam. Not up there. Not in First Class. At first whiff you think maybe they’re cooking up a storm right there in the galley of the plane. It smells like tamales. Have you ever had a hot homemade tamale wrapped in corn husks? Good stuff. I’ve had them in Texas for breakfast. Yep…good stuff. But Northwest Airlines is not known to serve homemade tamales. But they do serve us a cheese omelet, fruit and a bagel. Okay stuff. I never do get another cup of coffee. My neighbor finishes his breakfast and gets up to visit with an associate sitting a few rows ahead of us. He’s gone for quite a while. I’m still snug as a bug reading my increasingly weirder novel. My neighbor returns. All of a sudden I smell tamales again. I realize he’s the source of this smell. What the hell? Where did he get involved with a tamale already today? Or is it some other corn product? I’m not sure. And why would he eat another breakfast here on the plane if he had already eaten, from what I gauge to be, a dozen or so tamales? Oh well. The ride continues.

Tamale guy is typing away on his computer and writing notes on his boarding pass. Each time he finishes writing he flips the note over to insure I don’t sneak a peak at his top secret college notes. Maybe he’s a sports scout and he’s writing down the next offer he’ll make to the next prospect player for his never heard of college. It probably says ‘Hookers, Jack, Roids and a Honda’.

We only have about an hour of the ride left. Then it hits you. Super smelly. What now? Fart. Flatulent. Gas. Pooper. Toot. Plain and simple. At first I suspect the rather large woman sitting ahead of me. As soon as the smell almost takes down the plane, she gets up and goes to the restroom. Good, now maybe that’s taken care of. But no. She returns and goes to sleep. And again and again and again I am assaulted by fart. Is it? Could it be? Tamale fart? Who knows. But I’m absolutely sure it was tamale guy that is leaking this toxic waste. Please just get us on the ground safely. I fear if this drifts up into the cockpit, the captain could go blind and we’ll have to rely on that 12 year old co-pilot to land this bird.

But all ends fine. My eyes are blood shot from the fumes. My gut hurts from the retching but otherwise all is okay. Good bye and good riddance Mr. Smelly Ass. May our paths never cross again while you’re in such a condition.