Survivor!

Thursday Jim and Reilly went camping for the night at Long Lake state park.  Since its about 25 minutes from me I joined them for a while after work.

We biked for 2 hours on the lake to lake trail.  That takes us from Long Lake to Mauthe Lake parks.  Round trip of about 14 miles.  

We found a geocache for the heck of it.  We had the opportunity to find a ton more, but the bugs were really bad off the trail so we thought we would come back in fall.  Made it back to camp and it started raining.  Of course.  Time to make this all about surviving.  Jim gave Reilly the magnesium fire starter and he went to town like a little pyro!  Got the fire started and the started cooking hot dogs over the open flame.  I had to bid farewell as I had a softball game to get to by 8.  

They looked like they had it under control.  Wish I could have stayed longer.  Maybe next time we all do a 1-2 night camping trip.

Slow week

Been a slow week, it almost feels like summer is winding down already, which sucks.  in 3 weeks Joel will be back to school and a few after that Mackenzie.  Maybe it's the weather, super hot and now sub-summer temps.  These last few weeks will be busy for sure.

Yesterday after work, I took the bike to the Eisenbahn Trail, where I proceeded to bike to Campbellsport and back.  Maybe next time if I get a bit earlier start I may make it the end of the trail, which is in Eden.  All in all I did almost 23 miles (22.6) at an average of 10.5 mph.  Had I taken it to Eden it would have added another hour to my ride and it was already going to get close to dark without going to Eden.  So the way back I did a little geocaching too.  Found six before I decided to start heading back in earnest.

It was after 8 when I got home, still time to make two loaves of banana bread.

My arms have healed from my last spill I took, but not my ribs.  I must have really bruised them good, maybe even cracked one.  Not much you can do about it.

TV Eulogies

A little sad today, we finally got rid of the first TV Tracy and I bought before we were married, Yea some 22 years ago.  That 32", nearly 200 pound beast has been moved to four different residences and has been on every floor of this house.  But it finally started dying, the horizontal picture was messed up, people had big heads and little bodies, like a fun-house mirror.  Cute but it was time.

Strangely our living room TV must have heard us talking about replacing it sooner than later, also met it's demise as well.  The bulb in it went again, the screen was showing a lot of green on the edges and the projection portion had a lot of pink and purple blotches showing up during white backgrounds.  So after 10+ years we also said goodbye to that TV.  One of the original HD TV's built.  So nice when we first got it.  It served us well.

Good luck in the recycling center in the sky...or wherever that may be.

More outdoors

I like to bike, always have.  Riding my bike all over Milwaukee when I was young, riding 150 mile tours for charity and going through the 76 trail (now oak leaf).

This year I have been putting a much bigger effort to get out there even more.  But I am more limited to single-track riding now.  The mountain bike I have is not too conducive to street riding.  We have several trails.  The Eisenbahn Trail which is a rails to trails conversion.  Paved in West Bend and hard gravel from City limits all the way to Eden.  I did West Bend to Kewaskum last year (18 miles) and did a 10 mile section this year with Mackenzie.  Then we actually have a small trail in our subdivision.  Used by ATV's, motocross and anyone else.  Its can be fun to do a few laps there.  Finally a few miles away are the Kettle Moraine State Forest Northern Unit trails.  The New Fane trail in particular I have been riding pretty hard.  There are 4 loops which are about a 5.5 mile total if  you do loops 2 to 3 to 4.  because its in the kettle it has some steeper climbs and descents.  I have a GPS unit that I use for my bike computer and I get about 500 ft of climbing in that 5 miles and my average heart rate is in the 150's so it is a great workout.

Saturday I asked Joel to accompany me on my ride.  This trail is what is termed 'moderately challenging' and you really need to be comfortable with a bouncy ride and control of your bike as well as a way to keep you feet in the pedals.  I have clip in pedals so my shoes stay locked in the pedal (for the most part).  Joel's bike does not.  Needless to say he was hampered by feet coming off the pedals and losing balance in quite a few spots.  We were bombing around and since I have done this trail quite a bit this year I have a good idea of the tricky spots and interesting features.

One of these features is a 90 degree turn with a high bank berm.  The trail goes along the bottom of the berm and stays flat.  The experienced or 'extreme'  riders go up the berm.  Its like riding on a steep embankment. that goes back to the trail as you come down the side.  And this berm is quite possibly 55-60 degrees from level. The last few times through I said I can do that.  So this time I knew it was coming and hell Joel can watch this cool move as he was behind me.  So I jumped the bike up and was on the berm thinking 'F yea!' except I missed the dismount on the way down and was then thinking 'oh Shit' as I am now somewhere over the handlebars between my bike and the trail.  It was over quickly and the only thing I thought about mid flight was where I was landing. No trees? Check, No giant rocks? Nope.  Cross-check and prepare for a rough landing.  I hit the ground, arms and shoulder first.  I immediately pop up and ask Joel "Did you see that!?"  Well he was far enough back he missed most of it except the crash.  Dang.  So close.  I pick my bike up, straighten the handlebars and get back for the rest of the ride.

We get back to the car after an hour of hard trail riding and assess the damage.  Bikes  is ok. Forearm is rashed up, the upper arm is rashed and bruised and my ribs hurt a little.  So I guess I am not as good as I think I am, yet.  Will I try it again?  yea  not  next time, but I will.

The next day my rib is really hurting, I must have come down on the bike somehow. Oh well it's almost gone today.  Who wants to go with me next time?

Easy like a Saturday Morning

So last week was month 6 of not ingesting caffeine.  The experiment has run its course.  Nothing gained, save a few dollars for coffee and nothing lost.  Actually I enjoy not having that coffee craving every morning. It sure made business travel that much easier.  No worries about where I could get my morning coffee or if I would get a headache if I didn't.  But overall no other health positives (or negatives for that matter).

Anyway, last Saturday I said, "time to have some coffee".

So there it is in all its glory,  It tasted ok.  But after 2 1/2 cups over an hour and a half  or so and I was shaking.  The rest of the day was pretty crappy, like sick to my stomach hungover type feeling.  And no I did not drink heavily (one beer with dinner in Madison)  the previous night.   Wow, that is a severe reaction to being more ore less caffeine free for half a year.  So if I do start drinking again it has to be a lot less than what I was drinking prior to quitting.  At this point it will probably be only a someday thing and not an everyday thing like it used to be.

Friday Date Night?

Well sort of.

The last few years I have been kicking around getting a canoe or a kayak and always get notices from Rutabaga paddle sports for all the sales etc.  Plus I always liked canoeing with the scouts and even did a 6 day excursion in Canada half a lifetime ago.

So a few weeks ago I signed Tracy and I up for a recreational kayak class. Better to try it instead of buying an ill fitting boat, do it wrong and never use it or worse yet make it a miserable experience.

Friday around 3 we left for Madison and got to Rutabaga around 5 PM.  Beautiful day for sure. 83 degrees light breeze calm water.  Perfect.

Met Mary our instructor and the group of 7 went through on land instruction.  Fitted with 12 ft kayaks, paddles and PFD's it was time to hit the water.

Tracy, she prefers a pool or smaller confines of shore.  From the time she went snorkeling in the Keys and had that agoraphobic type attack in that wide open water, shes been slightly apprehensive about the whole thing.  That and not wanting to tip over etc.  Which are all valid concerns.

Came time to get in the boat and the first lady totally misses and falls ass first into the drink.  It was right on shore but a wet butt is a wet butt.  Tracy looks at me with that face.  I assure her she is much more coordinated and more physically fit than the small plump woman who somehow though she was sitting in the kayak but missed.  Sure enough the rest of the class has no problems at all.

We practice all the strokes, leaning, turning, proper posture and hand positions paddling around the pond, it was time to hit real water.  Out on to the Yahara river that connects lake Monona to Upper Mud lake.  Some open water paddling under the hwy 12/18 and into some nice quiet stretches of river.  Mary mentioned that in a few places where we stopped normally we would be sitting on ground, but because of all the rain this summer has we were in at least 2-3 ft of water instead.  What was incredible was that 300 ft from the one of Madison's main arterial highways you were now in this lush river-way and couldn't hear and cars or see any sights of the city like power lines etc.  Incredibly peaceful.  This is what I like. This is the reason I would do this.  Put in and have a few hours of relaxing outdoor time.  Maybe do some fishing, sightseeing, photography.  

During this time I kept some distance from Tracy, catching up with her every now and then.  She doesn't need me hovering, she is a little stubborn and likes to figure it out without me. Which is good, I am not the expert and can only provide some words of encouragement.  All in all the round trip out and back was just a shade under 2 miles.  Pretty good for a  bunch of beginners.

We get back, unload and put the boats back.  We do a quick change of clothes and bam! ready for a nice late dinner.  Madison is a nice city, a little hippie for me but it has a lot to offer.  So we hit Vintage Brewing Company.  Had a nice late dinner and house tap.  We were so close to calling the kids and telling them we were not going to be home, grab a hotel and come home tomorrow.  If we had a few more things I think we would have.  Grudgingly we opted for the hour and forty-five minute ride home.

Well am I going to run out and get some boats?  Probably not, but I did get a great experience and maybe next year will look a little harder.

Happy Fourth of July!

So hey did anyone see those fireworks at the lakefront on Wednesday?  Yea, neither did any one else.

That didn't stop us from having a good time though.

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Pretty nice weather this last weekend.  Kiki and I got in 10 miles of bike trail on Friday night and found one geocache. Tracy and I had a little road trip to Horicon. We had to replenish our grilling larder. So Leroy Meats here we come.  Got 12 regular brats, 6 pepperoni pizza brats, 3 huge bone in rib eye steaks, 2 seasoned split chickens, a bunch of marinated chicken breast, 2 racks of baby back ribs and 2 mango habanero brats.  Quite the haul.  In the area?  Check out the weekly specials here.  Not sure what they do to to the chicken, but it is some of the tastiest, juiciest we have ever had.

Kiki, a friend of hers and myself also went to pick strawberries at the local u-pick farm. Nice little time and tasty.

Joel had all 4 wisdom teeth pulled on Friday.  Kid is back at work today.  He recovered pretty quick.  Although he is kinda mean when on Oxycontin...

I also finally got to see Reilly play baseball.  It was fun and brought back a lot of memories of playing those long weekend tournaments with Joel.  From what I saw RT is pretty good.  Some nice defense at 2nd a opposite field hit and a screaming liner to center.  Keep it up buddy and don't get down on yourself for the little things.  The elite players only get a hit 3 times every 10 at bats.  

Speaking of baseball - last weeks softball game we only had 8 players.  And we beat the second place team 13-6.  Yea, 3 infielders, 3 outfielders and we made it rain.  I even went 4-5.   Talk about a demoralizing loss for them.  

Anyway long yet short week this week.  Softball, Fireworks, the actual 4th of July and a special treat Friday night..

Anyway I leave you with some more food porn.  Grilled split chickens.