BIG Adventure. . .. Chapter 19: Part One

We have arrived. . .  Steve is in his BIG man chair watching some mob movie on CABLE, he has been cable deprived for the last couple of weeks, and I am going to take a long, hot bath!!  Awwwww. . .  the anticipation is making me crazy!!!!!  I don't have a lot of time to write at the moment (BATH!!!!) but I will have a final post describing the last two or three days of Steve and Kim's BIG Adventure and we will have our TOP 25 list of favorite places, sites, and adventures for the past 88 days. 

Stay tuned for just a little while longer. . . . . :)

BIG Adventure. . . Chapter 18

August 3, 2011

Before I get to what has been going on for the past few of days we would like to say a

BIG HAPPY BIRTHDAY

to

Ethan Cain Mathews who turned 7 on August 2nd

and to

Jace Michael Costello who turned 4 today, August 3rd.

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First of all I need to go back to our time spent in Minneapolis, Minnesota and our visit to the Mall of America.  I made Steve walk all four levels but most of his enjoyment came from watching all of the kids at the amusement park in the center of the mall.

 

If I were a kid again I would most definitely have done this. . . I am not sure what it is called but it looked like a blast.  The kids where walking from level to level attached with safety harnesses.  I could see all of our grandkids wanting to do this not just once but numerous times!!!

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We spent two more days fishing, one of which was very, very hot and the other was very, very wet!  But nothing will stop Steve form hitting his favorite fishing holes, not even a downpour that lasted not for a couple of minutes, or a couple of hours, but rather ALL DAY.  My fingers and toes were shriveled up like raisins by the end of the day.  Oh. . . and by the way, if your rain pants are ripped in the back you can expect your rear end to get very wet!!  I think we will be looking for new rain pants before our next fishing trip.  :)

We took Tuesday, August 2, as a day off from fishing so I could do laundry and Steve got a haircut in downtown Chetek.  We spent a little time in the city of Rice Lake goofing off and hanging out at the trailer.  We were anxiously awaiting the Wednesday arrival of two fishin' buddies, Steve's brother Mike and nephew Matt.   We met them in town. . where else but BOB's.  For those of who who have been to Chetek know what I am talking about and each of you has your favorite breakfast items.  For Steve it is the blueberry pancake that is as big as a dinner plate and for me it is the bisquits and sausage gravy.

Thanks for a great Breakfast Uncle Mike!!!!!

The ROD and GUN. . . our favorite bait shop. 

There they are. . . Steve, Mike, and Matt.

Are they discussing breakfast, fishing, or both!!!

One of our favorite sites here in Chetek is the eagles, watching them soar through the treetops or diving to snatch up a tasty meal from the lake.  They are absolutely beautiful and never taken for granted when we are here in Wisconsin.

Even though our BIG Adventure is nearing its end we still have a couple of stops.

STAY TUNED!!!

BIG Adventure. . . Chapter 17

July 30

Hello from one of our favorite fishin' holes. . . Chetek, Wisconsin.  We are at the Six Lakes Resort and RV Park.  We spent the morning catching Crappie until a storm blew in over the lake and ran us off!  We feel a little lucky to be here since we had to make a pit stop on the 29th to get the brakes fixed on the trailer.  The place we went was a hole in the wall shop but it is amazing that some of the best mechanical work can be found in the strangest places!  Steve will have a few words for the dealership when we get back home!!  So thanks to AR Welding in Blaine Minnesota for getting us back on the road!!

Speaking of Blaine Minnesota. . .

it is the home of our fishin' nephew. . . MATTHEW, his wife Jennifer, and his three beautiful daughters, from left to right:  Allie, Grace, and Taylor.

Stay tuned for more from

Chetek, Wisconsin !!!!!

BIG Adventure. . . Chapter 16

If it weren't for the calendar hanging on the wall of the RV or the date posted at the top of my phone screen I would have no idea what day of the week it is or the actual date.  The days are all beginning to run together as we get closer to the last few chapters of our BIG Adventure.  Nevertheless it is Tuesday, July 26 and we are currently staying at the Crow Wing Lake Campground just south of Brainerd, Minnesota.  We arrived here on the 24th after a few days stay at Devil's Lake North Dakota.  Besides wanting to fish Henry's Fork, Steve also wanted to fish Devil's Lake for the advertised "JUMBO" Perch.  Well things are not always as advertised!!! 

First of all as we got closer to Devil's Lake, (the town) we began to notice huge dump trucks hauling dirt.  We suppose there is a gravel pit or something nearby but NO. . . this is not the case.  It appears that there is MAJOR construction on the main highway leading into town.  The highway had turned into a crater filled dirt/mud two laned 'road (?)'.  The lake was on both sides of the road only a couple of feet away and Steve is trying to manuever the truck and the RV around the craters all the while staying out of the water.  There were a few times I had to close my eyes.  Steve and I are not very happy as this goes on for several miles with the huge dump trucks, back hoes, and bulldozers veering in and out of the driving lanes.  HOLY CRAP!!!!  We are asking ourselves why they didn't detour us and hoping that the RV doesn't bounce off the hitch. . . it was bad. . . very bad!!  :)  We finally make it through and get back on solid pavement as we enter town and head for Woodland Resort and Campground.  But lo and behold we have to travel another crater filled dirt/mud road, but only for a couple of miles and it is minor compared to the last one.  Check it out!!!

We spent the rest of the day getting acquainted with the town, the resort, and finding a guide for the next day's fishing trip.  But we cannot fish for "JUMBO" perch because they only bite in the winter, which the website neglected to mention, so we will be fishing for walleye.  Not too bad of a trade off!  Our guide for the fishing trip on Friday was Bruce and we did catch some walleye and northern pike but I have no pictures for proof.  :( 

First of all Steve found out that Bruce had been a meat cutter in his younger years. . . that took care of about one hour worth of conversation! Second of all we found out he was Bohemian.  Thirdly, he also has grandchildren. . . another hours worth of conversation!!  With all of this in mind, after the fishing trip was over Steve decided that he would call him:  Bruce the Bohemian Butcher!! Bruce also gave us the real story about the construction and once we heard it we weren't nearly as upset about the road conditions. . .


Devils Lake is a catch basin for water flowing out of Canada and it is currently 30 -40 feet higher that it was in the early 90's.  Over the years, numerous homes have been flooded and are now covered with water.  We could see barn roofs sticking out above the water.  Thousands of acres of farmland have been lost to the rising water and the construction we drove through was being done to raise the roads approximately 5 feet higher because the rising water was flowing over the roads.  The main building of the Woodland Resort has been moved back from the shoreline three times since it was first built.  Bruce said that once the lake water rises another 5 feet it will begin to flow out and the locals are hoping that this will alleviate their flooding problems.

 There is always a story to hear if we just take the time to listen!!

Today we made our way about 20 miles north of the campground to Gull Lake where we rented a boat and ventured out to catch whatever we could, no guide, just Steve and Kim!  We caught several rock bass which were returned to the lake but kept 20 nice bluegil.

STAY TUNED. . .

BIG Adventure. . . Chapter 15

Tuesday July, 19

Hello from Custer's Last Stand at the battle of Little Big Horn

just south of Hardin, Montana. 

Take note of the warning in the middle of the sign!    YIKES!!!!!

Now let's take a little trip back in time . . . back to Henry's Fork, Idaho where we stayed at the Red Rock RV park from Friday, July 15 until this morning. 

Yes, that is the rv park.  We had a beautiful view!



Just one of our four-legged neighbors!

This area was well known for moose sightings but I was getting somewhat discouraged since we had not seen any.  But Steve started calling for them:  MOOSKA MEESKA MEESKA MOOSE and look at what we saw. . .

We spent Saturday the 16th with a guide fishing a lake and learning how to use our fly rods.  Steve and I both caught our first fish on our fly rods!! Check out my catch . . . a 20 inch rainbow trout.

We spent Sunday making our way to the Warm River to try a little fly fishing on our own.  The road to the river was one less traveled. . . note the Teton Mountain range in the background.

But it is amazing what you can see along the way. . .

We haven't decided whether we will ever be 'fly' fishermen but we gave it our best shot!!!

Once we put the fishing to rest for the day we headed down the road to check out some waterfalls.  We were somewhat skeptical since we have seen several waterfalls on this trip.  Nevertheless they were just as beautiful as the rest:  Lower and Upper Mesa Falls on Henry's Fork River.

I will leave you with a picture of the Teton Mountain Range which is actually

in Wyoming but seen for miles and miles!

STAY TUNED. . .

BIG Adventure. . . Chapter 14

Wednesday, July 13

Look what we found in downtown Spokane Washington. . . Spokane Falls.

Who knows what is around the corner at our next stop!!!!

Stay Tuned. . . .

BIG Adventure. . . Chapter 13

HELLO from Seattle, Washington

We arrived in the Seattle area on Monday, July 11th and after a little time for relaxation we headed straight to the Space Needle.  Even though we expected it to be just a little bit taller it was something to see and Seattle is a beautiful city!

We took a drive through the City Market and the Riverfront just to see if it was worth the trip back the next day and it was!  We spent all day Tuesday goofing around, eating, and shopping!

We had their 'famous' Macaroni and Cheese as a mid morning snack. . . .



and fish'n chips and crab cakes as a mid afternoon snack!!



 We found an elevator only after we had walked up 156 steps to the market!!

Hey kids. . . look at the Steelhead your DAD caught!!!!

So long from Seattle, Washington! 

Over the next couple of days we will be working our way across Washington and back into Idaho to do a little fishing at Henry's Fork for trout!!

Stay tuned. . . . .