Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness

Well I'm off to the BWCAW once again. I'll be back home monday evening to fill you in on the details of the trip. Hopefully the weather will be good and the fish'n will be better. Until then....

My Red Rubber Boots

For whomever wanted to see my red rubber boots, here you go. I'm happily ready to play in the mud at Winstock 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.

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

Here I am in Jeff's pit in Michigan. Speaking of pits, Jeff didn't do to well this week. He finished 32nd. Hopefully better days are ahead. Sonoma California next Sunday holds promise.

One the Michigan Track

Dave, Myself, Bob and Joy are actually standing on the Michigan International Speedway track prior to Sunday's Nextel Race. It may not look very banked, but it is.

Planning another win!

Jeff Gordon and Rick Hendrick

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.

Pass Another Old Style Beer Please!

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.

Hello from Me and Shayne at Wrigley Field

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.

Me and Shayne in Chicago

Last night Shayne and I hit the town. We had a drink at the Water Tower, an awesome meal at Rosebuds on Rush and then hit the clubs. We boogied our butts off and as you notice from the picture we had a few cocktails. Next week we're going to a Cubs game. So stayed tuned for Wrigley Field pictures!

Here I am in Chicago

I don't have any photo's to share yet. I arrived yesterday evening. Tomorrow night I'll be meeting Shayne for dinner. As always it's nice to see him. We laugh ourselves silly. Next week when I come back to Chicago we're going to take in a Cubs game at Wrigley (Hey Jerry Katz....see that...Wrigley....the Cubs!). I'm really looking forward to that. It's really hot and humid here right now. I'm not minding it to much though.

Winstock 2005

Me and Darryl Worley at Winstock

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.

Me and Dierks Bentley at Winstock 

Ellie and Dave in Shorty 

Trout Lake May 2005

Mike, Myself, Ellie and Dave enjoy the campfire at Trout Lake in the Boundary Waters.

Kyle the Frisbee Champion! 

Camping in Crosslake last weekend

Jessi, Mike and Kyle are baking something and roasting corn. We sure did have a good time camping last weekend. It was very windy so we didn't do any fishing but as you can see we ate good, we played hard and had a nice time together. Kyle is the frisbee champion.

Now me and Mike are off to the Boundary Waters in the morning (Wednesday). You will get a full report when we return.