Here's little Lindsey's first Holloween costume. Her parents brought her and her brother Kyle, pictured below as a Ninja Turtle, to see me before I left town because they knew I'd be gone over Holloween. 
Yesterday I had the privilege of going fishing with Steve Davis. Jerry Katz arranged it (trying to reduce his guilt for not taking me to the Talladega race that he's promised me for several years).
It started out by me driving twenty minutes to met Steve at 4:30 am. It was very dark and very windy. I was a little apprehensive.
Steve had drove down to Opelika the night before to meet me. I later found out that he was actually checking me out to see if he wanted to waste a whole day fishing with "a girl from Minnesota that says she can bass fish". Evidently that sounded a little to far fetched for him. But I passed inspection when I answered a few key questions correctly (I don't even remember answering any fishing questions but I guess I did).
I met Steve at the Waffle King (right next door to the Waffle House...they sure do like their waffles). He bought me breakfast. He refused to let me pay. Super nice guy! Then we went to his house (another fifteen minutes) to drop off my car. Then we drove another hour to the lake.
We launched in the Harris Reservoir, also known as Lake Wedowee. It is a 24 mile stretch, 10,660 acres of back water off the Big Tallapoosa River, located on the East, Northeast border of Alabama.
We were on the water finally at 7am. The fishing started out awesome. Steve's first cast a fish blew up on. Right away I caught one on a top water buzz bait. Then another. It was just like I imagined it. The lake had dead stumps sticking out and we fished around them. The boat would hit them and scratch the sides from time to time. The wind was really blowing so we fished a lot of pockets out of it. Fishing slowed down considerably but all together we caught 17 fish. I was lucky enough to claim 12 of them. All but one largemouth were spotted bass. I had never caught one before. I had never even seen one. Some folk call them Kentucky bass. They look just like a largemouth but they have a rectangular tooth patch and a spot on their tongues. They also are a thinner, skinnier fish. They catch a lot like a smallmouth.
We didn't leave the water until 5pm. And by then the weather was sunny and bright and warm.
I will never forget this day. It was an incredible opportunity. I had so much fun. I have to thank Katz for setting it up, Sherrie Davis for borrowing me her husband for the day and providing me with a nummy, much appreciated lunch! And a big thank you to Steve who was one of the greatest guys I've ever fished with. He borrowed me his equipment, let me always have the first cast and was a true gentleman. I hope to come down here someday and convince him to take me again!
My friend Sharon become a Grandma last Sunday. Here's a picture of Ryan Arlen Harris right after his birth. He weighed 6lb 9oz.
Proud parents Ryan and Pillar. Congratulations!
Here's a shot of me and Katz at 8th and Rail last night after having dinner at Cafe 123. http://www.opelika.cc/cafe123/
Last weekend we celebrated my granddaughter Kaylie's 5th birthday. She got a lot of My Little Pony stuff. The kids had a ton of temporary tattoos that they plastered all over their bodies. We had cake and ice cream, played pin the tail on the donkey and ate Tonya's nummy lazagna for dinner. The kids ran around and I got tired. Damn I'm getting old.
Here's my grandson Kyle (with the red/blue hat) during his last flag football game this past Saturday. He was really into it. I, on the other hand, was not that "in to it". It was about 30 degrees out and windy and I darn near froze to death. I think I became an animated cheerleader, just trying to stay warm.
My friend Jerry Katz received his first grandchild, Bryce David, at 8pm this past Saturday. Isn't he a proud Grandpa? Congratulations Jerry!
Here's my friends Sharon and Monty as we were having lunch one day last week in Reedsport. The weather was so nice we were able to sit outside by the river and enjoy the sun.
This is the Umpqua River that runs through Reedsport. It's an inlet from the Pacific. You pass over it's bridge on the infamous Highway 101 as you leave Reedsport heading North. The Chinook salmon (king salmon) were "running" (swimming up stream to spawn) while I was there last week.
Last Saturday, while at the Mall of America, Dr. Phil and his wife Robin walked within 5 feet of me. I had my camera ready (or so I thought...remember it's a new one and I'm slightly handicapped). When they got right up to me I thought I was taking a picture, turned out I was shooting video. So I didn't get the photo I wanted and this one of them on stage is crappy, but I did get to say "Hi Dr. Phil" and he said "Hi" right on back to me. They were there promoting Robin's new book. I thought the name of it was "My Thoughts on all Kinds of Shit" but ends up it's called "Inside My Heart". 
I also got a new camera recently (after sinking my old one in the boat). I loved my old one but I'll get used to the new one. At least I can take photo's again!
I'll be back in Brainerd late tomorrow night (10 pm) and on the water Sunday. It looks like Sunday is going to be fairly warm (75 degrees) and windy (up to 25 miles per hour).
Sunday I'll fish a small impromptu bass tourney on Hammel Lake in Aitkin.
Monday is my big 43rd.
Then we went to Bloomington to stay the night at the Embassy Suites. Well we weren't there 10 minutes and had to go swimming. 
Mount Rainier from my seat yesterday as I fly into Seattle. I stayed the night in Seattle and then this morning flew to Eugene Oregon and drove down to Reedsport.
Brainerd Lakes Bassmasters 2006 state team. Pictured here is Dan Doughty, myself, Jim Eide, Keith Tuma, Chad Invalson and Troy Bruns.
Me and my boat wave day #1.
Me and John at Day #1 weigh-in
Me weighing in the second day. As you can see I was bundled up.
Recently Makita had the opportunity to meet Bret Hedican, from the Carolina Hurricanes, 2006 Stanley Cup Champions, when Bret brought the Stanley Cup to Zorba's in Lake Shore during his "cup day". You can read all about Bret's day at http://www.nhl.com/cup/scj06/scj20.html. Pictured here is Makita, Bret, Lake Shore Police Chief Steve Sundstrom and the owner of Zorba's.
For those of you that don't know, Bret is married to gold medalist figure skater Kristi Yamaguchi. They have a home on Gull Lake that they visit whenever they get a chance.
A fun location for lunch. We were the only people there in business dress. Everyone else was in swimwear. 
A walk down the beach after work....
A bunch of cruise ships came in yesterday. The island was crazy with people. When the ships aren't here it's pretty quiet around here.
View from my hotel room
Well it was up early, pack up and get going. It was foggy but the sun was burning it off pretty fast. We reversed our path that brought us in and did the same eight portages and several lakes backwards. We didn't see one person for about half the trip. There wasn't even any campers on the sites that had been full just a few days before. We thought the place had been evacuated and no one told us. The trip out took us about 5 hours. 
Another perfect day. Fishing was good, everyone took a bath, the fish fry was awesome and the cocktails by the fire was very relaxing.
Tomorrow we pack up and head out.
