A Living Hell in Devils Lake

Imagine if you will, you are at home excitingly packing for an upcoming fishing trip. Rods are all inspected. Reels are lubed and cleaned. Tackle is sorted through and organized. The boat is packed with care, and you finally hit the road! A 9-hour drive with an overnight in Gettysburg, SD you finally reach your destination. You get all set up and are enjoying the serene setting when what pulls up in the campsite right next door? Two vehicles. one pulling a 40+' 5th wheel, the other pulling biggest pontoon known to man. After parking, the doors open and out pop 4 screaming kids who look like they are 10, 8, 6 and 1. Welcome to hell in Devils Lake.

But before that happened, I did enjoy two nice days with my friends Bob and Kerry. Brothers Sobieck, Bob being my high school buddy and father of Chris at the farm. Kerry is his oldest brother. They have coming up to Devils Lake for a few years now and this year I horned in with them. Bob also brought another fishing buddy with him from back home. 

Grahm's Island State Park is absolutely beautiful. If you are ever traveling through central North Dakota, I highly recommend it. Big sites, clean restrooms and great fishing if you are so inclined. 

Devils Lake itself is huge! And it is getting huger (new word). Over the past several decades the lake has quadrupled in size adding over 70,000 more acres of water flooding homes and farmlands. There are actual homes, barns, roads and other structures10-20' under water. We went out that first night, Kerry and I in my boat, Bob and the other Jim in the other, the lake was like glass. and we caught about 50 fish between the group. 

The next day was another story. The wind had picked up as Kerry and I made it 3 miles out to where were going to start our day. The waves kept building over the next couple of hours and we could not hold the boat in one spot any more so we decided to try another spot. Instead of heading towards the launch, we went further away. Dumb move. 2 foot waves became 3 foot waves which became 4-5 foot waves. By the time we decided that we should not be out there, it was too late. We could not go directly into the waves so we had to ride the trough between them and as the boat crested I would have to turn the boat directly into the next wave so we did not flip over. For over an hour we slowly made out way towards the nearest shore. At one point Kerry asks, "Where are your life jackets?" "Under that door in the floor" I tell him. He proceeds to pull out my two orange $4.99 Walmart lifejackets, looks at me and says, "Is this them? They will never hold me!" "Put one on each arm like a water-wing", I tell him. But alas, they were not needed and we made it to shore soaked, but safe. Not unscathed though as my phone was waterlogged for the next day. 

We had fish for one meal, a boil for another, fires at night and an overall good time. 

Bob even caught a tagged fish! I had never seen one before, but if you send in the date and location of the fish, they will send you back what information they have on it. We tried telling Bob that it was tradition that he had to wear the tag on his lip for the duration of the trip, but he was not buying it. 

Which brings us back to our camper neighbors from hell. Would you believe that we not only parked next to them on purpose, but made our reservations so we would be next to each other? Those neighbors were none other than Chris, Holly and their 4 kids from the farm! 

And it was not hell at all. Chris and family, after one night of overlapping with his dad and Kerry spent the next several days hanging out with Barb and me. Barb and I fished in our boat while they fished in their pontoon. Then we would switch and Barb would jump in the pontoon with Holly while Chris and I (and sometimes kids) fished in our boat. 

I know many of you are waiting to hear who caught the first, biggest and most fish. I can tell you who caught the first and biggest, it was none other than my lovely wife Barb. As for the most, it could have been her as well, but we did not keep track, I will have to do better at that in the future. In the pictures below you can see Barb with her very first ever white bass on the left and Barb fishing with Chris and Holly's pontoon in the background on the right. 

Our three days together were over before we knew it and it was time to move on. Where to you ask? Another hell altogether. We went to visit Dino and Lisa! After a 4-hour drive, we were there less than 5 minutes before we were rushed into their truck which was hooked up to their food trailer and we were off to an event. Nothing like slinging soup on a hot summer day!

Our destination was the former Fergus Falls State Hospital where they put on a summer concert series. Dino and Lisa are scheduled to appear at all 6 events. That night was a Bruce Springsteen tribute band. We arrived an hour and a half before the event and started setting up. Well, Barb, Lisa and Dino started setting up. Dino put a chair in the shade for me and told me to just stay out of the way. 

Over the next two hours I watched the venue are go from a desolate grassy field to one packed with 60-, 70-, and 80-year-olds. There were several food trucks there, but from what I could tell Dino and Lisa's was one of the most popular. Several people asked, "Are you serving soup on a hot summer day?" To which Lisa would reply, "It is in our name, so we have to have at least one soup". They not only serve soup, but they also serve salads, wraps, sandwiches and several other things. Based on where I was sitting, I heard the Chicken and Wild Rice salad ordered the most. By the way, several people did indeed order soup. 

Pretty soon Barb came out and took down the sign offering that salad and then the wraps became the most popular thing. The band was good, the people watching even better. Dino's sister Gio and her husband Jeff were there in another tent selling their beverage Switchel as well.

The band wrapped up about 8pm and we were home by 8:45 where Barb, Lisa, Gio, Jeff, Dino and I all gathered around the kitchen table and had a few cocktails. I was the first one to call it quits about 11:00. I am not sure when Barb came to bed, but I think it was an hour or so after that. The soup business must not be that good though as when I asked Dino for a beer, I received this tab with it. $8.00 should buy an entire case of this beer. Perhaps I should start a GoFundMe page for them. 

The next day we just hung out in their garage chatting, before we went to supper in Fergus Falls followed by a boat ride on West Red River Lake.

This was the coolest part of our ride.....

Next up, crossing the border into Canada and more fishing. This is where the real contest begins as the past week was just a warmup! It might be a couple weeks until our next post as internet will be limited or nonexistent. 

Home Makeover - Camper Edition

 Yes, it is true! After 4 long months Barb is ready to reveal her camper makeover. When she first started this project in April, she thought it would be a breeze and she would be done in a few weeks. A cold wet spring was not conducive to wallpaper which significantly delayed the project. But with the kid's departure last week and our own departure next week it was time to crack the whip!

She had been whittling away at it over the past couple of months, but this past week was the final big push. Although she is not totally done, she is happy with where it is for now. 

But first, the before pictures. This is what the inside of the camper looked like when she started. 

The camper is almost 20 years old, dated, but in great shape, it just needed to be freshened up. And when Barb does something she goes in with both feet. Removing all the linoleum, replacing the handles on the cabinetry, wallpaper, backsplash, new carpet, new shades and new curtains.  

The in-progress pictures are scary and overwhelming. I personally stayed as far away as possible, only peeking in there when she had a question or wanted to show me something. The first thing she did was recover the dinette cushions and started the backsplash in the kitchen. 

Next up was the wallpaper. Talk about slow and tedious. Her advice to anyone thinking of doing this, do not pick wallpaper with lines. Too hard to maintain the lines and make it appear level in a camper. 

Then came the flooring. We are still not sure how this is going to work. We used leftover LVP from the house. Not sure how it is going to stand up or hold together in a moving vehicle. We shall see. Last up was the carpet, shades and curtains. There is not a lot of carpet, the stairs, up by the bed and under the dinette. 

Now for the finished(ish) product!

I think it looks great if I do have to say so myself! I am super proud of her. The wallpaper is kind of a birch bark design. She cut, planed, stained and varnished the wood around the slide out. She made the curtains by hand and cut and installed the carpet herself. 

She only replaced the carpet on the steps going up to the bed so far, the dinette carpet will wait for another day. The pictures on the wall are ones each of us picked out from previous adventures. I picked out several of her and she picked out several of me. 

There are a few other final touches she wants to do but for now we are ready for our next big adventure!

While she was doing that, I was having my own fun this week with the garage installing posts, LVL's, 4 more trusses and purlins for the extension. 

No skidsteer and boom to help with the trusses this time, we beefed them up by hand with an assist from the tractor. 

We now have all the trusses up and can carry on with finishing the remainder of the roof. I highly doubt we will get that done in the next couple days, but we'll give it a try!

Kevin needed help with two pours this week. Brutal. It would not have been too bad except for the heat. 90+both days. 

Then of course when we are rushing to get things done before we leave the brakes on the Jeep start squeaking. Why, oh why does that have to happen now. A couple hours later I had new brakes (and one new caliper) in the Jeep and it is ready to roll. 

Friday was of course the 4th. Barb and I celebrated it by working on the garage. It was also our baby girl's birthday! 44 years young, we are so proud of her. 

I have fond memories of 4th of Julys past spending it at my dad's place in Shell Lake Wisconsin. What I remember most was the fireworks. Dad used to fly his plane to South Dakota or Iowa, fill it with fireworks and fly it back. I am not sure of the legality of that, but I have a feeling it was a little sketchy. Firecrackers, sparklers, M80's bottle rockets and some bigger stuff that I did not know the names of. After dark, we would all pile into the boat and watch the fireworks that were lite over the lake. Great memories, I wish I could go back and experience one of those days again and really appreciate it. 

This coming week is going to be action packed and one we have been looking forward to for months!

Empty Nesters!

 Barb and I first became empty nesters in 2005, I was 43 when our youngest Forrest graduated high school and went to Arizona to continue his education. As many of you know, finding yourself alone with your spouse can be a shock to your system as you stare at each other in the deafening silence. 

Our answer was to sell our house and move to a lake home starting a new chapter of our lives. Fast forward 20 years when Forrest, Somer and Lily stopped by for a visit. A 9-month visit! As one of our friends asked Barb, "You already carried him 9 months once, how does it feel to do it again?".  

It was not bad at all. We got to do things with them that we would have never been able to. It had been 20+ years since Forrest and I had been able to hunt and fish together and we got to do both several times. While we have spent time with Somer a week or two at a time in the past, these past 9 months gave us the opportunity to really know her. And Lily, our 13-year-old granddaughter, it goes without saying that the time with her (and her with us) is something that neither of us will forget. I don't recall spending one night with my grandparents let alone months at a time!

I wanted to write about and show pictures of all the good times we had, but I could not have done it better than Somer did in this Instagram post. I hope this link works!

If I were to be totally honest though, while we are going to miss them, there is a certain peacefulness having it be just Barb and I (and the girls) again. Now our lives go back to "normal". While Forrest and Somer did help with a meal or two a week, Barb no longer has to plan and groceries for 5. Yes, life will be different, we are going to miss them yet are happy for them as they carry on with their RV lifestyle adventure and wonder where they will end up next. 

They spent their last few days here packing up. Boy, do they have a lot of stuff! Luckily, they have a toy hauler to fit all their toys. 

Before we knew it, they were loaded up and ready to head to their next destination; Oklahoma for a few weeks. Hugs were tight and maybe a few tears as we watched them disappear around the corner of the driveway.....

Before they left, Forrest and I (and Kevin) got out on another adventure. It was one that we had been waiting months for and what we had been practicing for over the past several weeks. It was another archery shoot, this time at Terry Peak Ski Resort in Lead. Total Archery Challenge (TAC) is an organization that puts on shoots across the country. We had been to one in Salt Lake City (Snowbird) in the past and now this one. It is a challenging shoot where you ride the chairlift up to the top of the mountain and shoot various full size 3D targets on your way down. Here we are discussing our bet while riding up the lift...

As I said, Forrest and I had been practicing for weeks. Kevin, had every intention of doing the same, but life got in the way and pulled out his bow the morning of the shoot having never fired an arrow.  Wanting to make it interesting Forrest and I bet $1/point with a total of 264 points on the line. For example if I shot a bullseye (12) points and Forrest missed entirely, I would be $12 up. We would total up our score at the end and the loser would have to pay up. We tried getting Kevin to go in on it as it would have been easy money, but having not practiced, he wanted nothing to do with this bet!

The ride up was fun and the camaraderie was even better. For the next several hours we laughed, ribbed each other, lost a few arrows, but overall had a great time. 

When it was all said and done we sat down in the lounge at the lodge and added up our scores. For the second week in a row, Forrest and I tied! How is that even possible?!?!? To make matters worse that nonpracticing no good friend of mine beat us both by 8 points! The only redeeming aspect was that he opted out of the bet!

Now for the moment you have all been waiting for, it is photo real or is it Memorex? Remember that commercial? If you are over 60 you probably remember it. The photo below was taken with me standing in our living room with no fish in hand. Forrest then just told AI "Add world record walleye". While it did not add a world record walleye, it did add a pretty nice one. It also added the entire background and my hands holding the fish. In the original picture my hands were down by my side. 

There were a few clues, the biggest being that the fish is "too plastic-y" as one person said. Another person said that the sky is just too perfect, while another said my teeth looked "bucky". The meanest of all was posted on our Facebook page where someone said it was obvious fake as I was too good looking!

Besides proving that I caught the biggest fish each time we go out, there are other good uses for AI. The best I have seen so far comes in the form of dog videos. Specifically, this dog video.

This week was all work for us and very little play. Barb has been busy working on her camper remodel. She is not ready for me to show you anything yet, but it will not be long!

As for me, I have been a slave to the garage and made some great progress! Sunday Kevin came over with this skidsteer to drill three holes for the extension on the end of the garage. That's right, the garage is not even done yet and we are already planning an extention. Actually, it was always in the plan, now is just the time to start working on it. The siding steel arrived this week

We were only able to get down about 18" at the deepest due to the rock, but we drilled some rebar into the rock which will act as a stabilizer as well. The next day I poured concrete into each of the tubes and waited 3 days for them to harden before I put in the anchors and the posts. 

While waiting for those to harden I started on the siding. Day 1 found me about 1/2 done with the north side. Day 2 got me almost done with that side, I need to wait until the extension is up to totally finish that far end. Day 3 I worked on the west end, it was a long hot day, but I got that entire side done in one day!

No pictures of the girls this week, but I will leave you with a picture of our biggest yucca that is in full bloom. We have them scattered throughout the property. I do not know a lot about them, but what I have observed is that is that they do not bloom every year and some do not seem to bloom at all.