Went to Effie Wheel'n

This past weekend we went up to Effie to ride the wheelers with Kurt and Robin Hopp. Here we are after a dusty ride on Saturday. From left to right: me, Robin, Kurt and Makita. I learned some new tricks. They are very dangerous and should not be tried at home.

Robin brought her new toy "Rhonda the Honda". She's a spunky little cycle.

I took Rhonda out for a spin.

Makita built us a nice fire.

Here's Robin enjoying the fire. We had to build a wind block off the lake cause it was pretty breezy.

Here's Kurt and Tucker. I think Tucker is getting a bit of a talking to.

Finding Kitty a Home

This past weekend we went up to Thor to Dave and Ellie's place and "built" a hoop shed for Dave's Kitty. First we needed to clear a 12 x 20 foot spot for it.

Then the construction began. Boy oh boy, all four of us together couldn't read those third world instructions. But we eventually got it started.

Kitty even pitched in and helped with her new digs.

Words from Bob

This past weekend I received word from Bob. He said that it is still very very hot over there. He said that they stay very busy and he's figured out that he may be a little bit too old to be playing with the young Marines he works with. He said they are great to work with but they don't know when to relax. They keep telling Bob that they can all relax when they get home. Bob says that they are truly awesome warriors and great Americans and that he's honored to be working with them.

The pictures shown here are taken in Helmond Providence. The first one is of Bob and some property he had considered for retirement but shortly after he started looking around he decided he really didn't like the neighbors, they weren't that friendly. The second picture is of Bob's group waiting for our helicopter to pick them up.

Nephew Matthew Graduates from Airforce Basic Training

A couple weeks ago my nephew Matthew graduated from Air Force Basic Training from Lakeland Air Force Base in San Antonio Texas.

He's the tallest guy in the back row of the forward most group.

Now he's in Witchita Falls Texas at Sheppard AFB.

OOOOOPPPPPSSSS

We just happened across this poor guy's oops last Sunday at the Gilbert Lake public access. This guy, whom I've named Slick, had about as much sense as an oxygen starved house plant. He was trying to load a piece of garbage jetski into the bed of his truck (no trailer evidently). I guess it never occurred to him he was on a cement ramp that ended at some point. Oops...fell off that. He lost his computer and cell phone in the lake. And from what I saw he also lost a lot of oil and gas too. There was quite an oil SLICK. By the looks of his truck and jetski I'm going to go with "no insurance" to cover his loss. And oh boy the tow truck driver (from some operation I have never heard of) was equally as smart. But they did manage to winch the truck out. It's probably still there in the landing.

Aitkin Pheasants Forever Youth Day

This past Saturday was the Aitkin Pheasants Forever Youth Day at the Wealthwood Gun Club.

The kids went through and participated in eight different stations. Here is a little guy trying his hand at Trap.

There was a Turkey Hunting station. Look hard you'll see the instructor all in camo under the tree.

This year the kids got to try a laser shoot.

The rifle range is always popular.

Conservation Officer Bob Mlynar and his dog Maude gave a demo of how he uses his dog to find illegally taken birds.
There is an opportunity for the kids to shoot Skeet.

Conservation Officer Scott Fidzgerald gave a safety and rules talk to each group of kids.

Most of the kids loved to shoot at the Bow simulator.

Sunday at the Races

We make our way into the track on Sunday.

Diamond Rio performs before the race.

Here's all of our fancy headphones that Mike painted for us. Notice Jerry's nice new Mark Martin #5 set. Nice job Mikey.

Isn't this new camera the bomb? I love it. Looks like Kasey was 10 feet away when he approached the stage for driver introductions. Heck he was a long way away from us.

Here comes Jeff's car to get in line for the start of the race.

Jeff coming off the intro stage.

Atlanta Motor Speedway Pole. Where the hell is the number 88? The rest of the Hendrick drivers are up in the top 7 starting spots.

Our seats are simply "AWESOME"! We can see the entire track and we're on the start/finish line.

Kasey waves to the crowd right after his win.

Heading to the winners circle.

Here's a video I shot of Diamond Rio (and about 125,000 rednecks) singing the National Anthem last Sunday. Stay with it and you'll see the fly over. You may also notice the one asshole that keeps his red cap on. Nice...not.

Back from Atlanta

We made it back from Atlanta. I have lots to share but haven't had time to write. As soon as I get caught up here I'll fill you all in!

Heading North

Left Atlanta Motor Speedway at 9:00 am CDT. Heading North on 75.

Sunday at the Track

This morning we had omelettes in a bag and bloody marys. It's incredibly hot here. There are thousands of people camping at the track. It's a great time. Go Jeff!

Saturday at the track

Tonight is a Nationwide race. Deep fried a turkey last night. Nummy. Today is Stella's 50th. Happy bday my friend.

Chattanooga!

1150 miles down. 5:20 pm. Getting thirsty. Got word that Katz has bloody marys waiting for us.

Paducah Baby!

875 miles under our belt! 9 hours to go. 12:45pm Thursday.

Message from Bob

Just heard from brother Bob. He sent some photos to share. He's looking rather slim.

Here is Bob (center with a cap on) after sleeping in the dirt for four days. He said they were served sheep (and coke it looks like). He also said mom might yell at him for eating off the ground but he was hungry.

This last picture is of the Afghan version of a Super Walmart.

Heading to Atlanta

This afternoon we hit the road for our third Atlanta Pep Boys 500 Nascar Race. It's about a 24 hour drive. Eddy is all loaded and ready to head out. Jerry is going to head to the track today and we'll meet him sometime tomorrow night/Friday morning. This year they moved it to Labor Day weekend. It should be even crazier than before.

Here I am with the Pep Boys!

Here we are last year.

Our seats are right on the start/finish line - AWESOME!

Last year pre-race concert. This year it will Diamond Rio performing.

Weekend at Thor

It was a very nice relaxing weekend at Thor. As usual there were several small activities going on.

We kicked it off Friday night by celebrating Dave's birthday which is actually coming up tomorrow.

We had some good laughs around the fire Friday night. Looks like I may be going to tip over in that chair.

Saturday brought some rock removal.

Then there was some wood cutting and splitting.

Here's a load of wood I carted in. We also had a pickup load to go with it.

Me and the Pick-a-roo.

Saturday afternoon we rode out to the food plots and did a little more planting.