Barbie Saved my Life

 Camper on, boat hooked up we pulled out of the driveway and headed out on our next great adventure. We had 4 destinations in sight arriving at our first one 6 hours later. Lake Oahe, just outside of Pierre South Dakota is known for its excellent walleye fishing, we have wanted to fish it for years and we left a day early so we could add it to our list on this adventure. 

Not really enough time to properly explore it, but enough time to get a feel for what it is like. And bonus, unbeknownst to us, two friends of ours have a place within a mile of our campsite! I knew friends Bob and Barb have fished all over the state, so I contacted them for information on Oahe as we were going to be stopping by for a two-night, one day trip. They asked where we were staying and when I told them Cow Creek Campground, they said they had a place very close and would stay an extra day to show us around!

Cow Creek is a great campground, overlooking the lake, boat launch nearby and an awesome fish cleaning station complete with a commercial grinder to grind the fish carcasses once you have fileted them. 

At this point each of you have read "Oahe" three times, and if you are like me, you have been pronouncing it wrong. Then if you look it up it says to pronounce it "Oh-wah-hee", newscasters seem to pronounce it "A-wah-hee" and locals just call it "Wah-hee". Oahe Lake is part of the Missouri River system and was created in 1958 with the construction of a dam and now is one of the best fisheries in the state. 

Bob and Barb picked us up at our campground that evening and we headed out for supper at a local restaurant; burgers all around except for me who opted for the steak bites. I should have gotten a burger. The bites were tough and chewy. In fact, this is where I got in trouble, when one got stuck in my throat. At first, I was not worried, thinking a sip of my drink would help. No such luck. It was then I knew I was in trouble and did exactly what you were not supposed to do; I got up and started walking away from the table, not being able to breathe at all. I got to the other side of the dining room still not being able to breathe and looked back at the table. Barb was staring at me, and I signaled her to come over. I continued to walk into the hallway and she followed. I was not able to talk to her, but she knew something was up. She asked, "Do you need the Heimlich?". By now we were near the restrooms, and I grabbed her arm and pulled her into the men's room. Again, not the smartest move. Inside, I raised my arms over my head, and she gave me a good squeeze from behind and I was able to partially breathe. 

Then another guy came in. Not to check on me mind you, but to use the urinal. I was leaning over the sink making struggled breathing noises, Barb was rubbing my back. He unzips and does his thing, talking to us like its another Sunday on the lake. I was soon able to breathe normally again, and we returned to the table like nothing had happened. Talk about scary though, I have never had anything like that happen before. So, now I guess I am forever indebted to her for saving my life and will be her servitude for eternity. Basically, no change from before the incident. 

The next morning, we met Bob and Barb at the boat launch where we both launched our boats and we were off! We fished four or so hours, I caught one smallmouth bass and Bob caught one Sheephead. Apparently, the fish were still "upriver" from spawning and had not made it down this far yet. But any day on the water is better than a day working so we had no complaints. 

We loaded the boats up and met them at another restaurant for an incident free meal. 

The following morning, we were off for our next destination, Devil's Lake, 5.5 hours and 340 miles to the northeast in North Dakota. 3 hours into our trip as we were turning east on I94, we decided to pivot and go to a different lake just an hour to the north, canceled our Devil's Lake reservations, and made some new ones at East Totten Trail Campground on Audubon Lake. This is another new to us lake. The bonus is that we were only 30 or so minutes from The Farm! A quick text, and we had arrangements to meet Farmer Bob and DeAnne for supper!

Our reason for getting up in this area at all was for their son Dylan's wedding on Saturday. We decided to hit the road a week early and make a fishing trip out of it. At supper, we talked about farm life and everything they have been doing in preparation for the wedding (more on that next week). It was great to see them and will see more of them in a few days. 

Throughout the week we received pictures from the kids out east. Our daughter Jessica's family and son Forrest's family were on a joint vacation at Myrtle Beach. They have been doing this annual trip for several years and it really warms our hearts knowing they get together like this. The kids are really growing up!

The whole gang minus Shane

Jessica during her birthday celebration!

All the girls; Somer, Kendall, Lily and Jess playing mini golf, then Somer, Jess and Shane on the beach.

Cousins Lily and Kendall and our kids, Jessica and Forrest. 

Meanwhile, back in North Dakota, we had high hopes for Audubon Lake. We had heard a lot about it and were anxious to get on the water. At 25,000 acres it is a huge body of water, quite intimidating to fish if you have never been on it before. Where does one even start looking for fish on water this big?

Once we got the boat launched Barb drove the truck back to the campground to get it plugged back in so the girls would have AC. It was going to be in the 90's the next few days. This lake is known for its abundant walleye and big smallmouth bass, a cousin to the largemouth bass. 

Over the next three days we caught dozens of walleyes using both bottom bouncers and jigging. We also got several huge smallies, the biggest of which was just over 18 1/2"s!

What a fun lake! We will definitely be back. We left early Saturday morning and headed to The Farm in preparation for the wedding. The wedding was not until 4pm, but we wanted to get there early and make sure the electrical we were going to be plugged into would handle the air conditioner in the camper as it was going to be close to 100°f. We did not want to leave for the wedding and worry about whether or not the AC was keeping the girls cool while we were gone. Good thing we did too as the first two circuits we tried could not handle the load and the breaker kept popping. We finally found one that worked. While we were waiting for 4pm we helped set up a few things in shop for the wedding reception. The transformation of the shop was incredible! 

300 chairs, dozens of tables, a full bar, a dozen or so roasting pans full of pulled pork, baked beans and macaroni and cheese. It was hard to believe that this building is usually used to house farm equipment. While we were doing that, we got a sneak peek at the bride as she was heading to the church. Absolutely stunning. 

 

Before we knew it, we were off to Camp of the Cross on Lake Sakakawea. By now it was a scorching 100°f. We got to the church about 3:50 and were back in the truck about 30 minutes later headed back to the farm. The wedding was short and sweet, which was perfect given the heat.

Back at the farm, it was time to party! They had a DJ, music and games. Barb and I got to visit with many relatives we had not seen in quite a while and meet a few new ones (Hi Steve!). The partying went on well into the morning. While we went to bed around 11pm, I could still hear that hooting and hollering until about 3:30am. The next morning was pretty quiet, and people were moving pretty slow. Barb and I were up early and started the clean-up process. When we walked into the shop it looked like a bomb went off in there! We did not get a picture, but there were cups and cans everywhere, a broken chair or two, a broken table, fireworks debris, at least one broken bottle and an entire garbage can of popcorn on the floor. Looks like the young'ins had a good time!

Over the next three hours we were joined by 6 or more, so helpers and we had the curtains down, chairs and tables stacked and much of the floor swept. It was then that it dawned on me to take a picture. 

We could not check into our next campground until 3pm, so we hung out in our camper until about 2pm enjoying the AC. The next two days were going to be over 100°f, absolutely brutally hot. 

We arrived at Lake Sakakawea about just before 3pm and got all set up before meeting up with more friends. Yes, we have friends on this lake as well! Well, I did. Kent is a contractor that does a lot of work with Chris and Dylan and is also quite the fisherman! He and his wife Penny have had a place on the lake for about 5 years. Kent picked us up in his golf cart and we went back to their house for a walleye dinner. Delicious! Kent, and I, along with this nephew Josh hit the water to see if we could catch a few walleyes to replenish their supply. We caught a couple, but it was pretty slow. 

The next morning Barb and I hit the water early. Here is a fun fact on Sakakawea, it is the third largest man-made lake behind Lake Powell and Lake Mead. Did I mention it was hot? Sitting on that big body of water with the sun beating down on you was like being in a frying pan, we were basically two pieces of bacon out there. Our bare feet were burning on the carpet on the floor, and you would actually burn your hands on the metal net handle when you netted fish!

We fished for about 6 hours before we decided to call it quits. We caught a couple dozen fish, 8 of which we kept to bring home with us. I dropped Barb off at shore near our campsite and she walked to get the truck. While I was waiting for her at the landing, Kent pulled up beside me in his boat. He too had a livewell full of fish so we met at the fish cleaning station to clean them up. Out of curiosity, I grabbed my digital thermometer, pointed it at the seat in Kent's boat and pulled the trigger....165°f or then I did his floor, 172°f. I then went over to our boat and did the same, ours was a mere 135°f with the lighter colored carpet. 

The next day was supposed to be more of the same so Barb, and I decided to head home a day early. We went to supper with Kent and Penny at Ranchman's 23 Saloon, a nice, down-to-earth place with good food. What a good time. Kent and Penny are really good people. 

The drive home the next day was 7 hours, we took turns driving and made it home about 2:30pm. As we were unpacking the UPS truck pulls up to the house. Talk about good timing! He hands me a package from my good (now even better) friend Tom in Minnesota. What in the world would Tom be sending me? Tom and I met in, I think, 1982 when we both worked at J.C. Penney's in Roseville Minnesota as undercover security catching shoplifters. He is kind of guy who makes a job fun, we had so many good times back then. I went inside to open it up and my jaw about hit the floor. 

It was a bottle of my nemesis, the holy grail of my bourbon hunting, the one that has eluded me for over two years! There was also a note that said "Thanks for being such a good friend over the years". After reading the note a tear trickled down my cheek. I do not know if it was the note or the bottle I was holding in my hand, maybe a little of both. What a perfect ending to a great 10 day get-away, I am truly blessed.