Indiana in the fall

So last weekend we went out to the great state of Indiana, a state I have not seen in about 9 years. Brenda's sister and her family live out there and we thought this would be a great time to go and see them. Here are the Voyagers arriving by canoe. It rained all day Friday, but cleared up for the feast on Sat and Sun. It was very muddy and a bit cold, but that is just the taste of the midwest Brenda and I wanted.

There also were some Scot's in the area so they had a caber toss for fun as well.

Dan is a woodworker and he has the booth at the Feast of the Hunters Moon. This is a get together to celebrate the French Voyagers history of the area. Dan has a booth where he has kids turn a giant wheel and the wheel turns a lathe. The kids get a chance to pick out a figure for Dan to turn on the lathe and then he makes it and gives it to them.

Part of the requirement to work in the booth is that you had to dress in the period clothing. So Brenda and I got to partake and dress accordingly. I told them all I needed was a loin cloth, but for some reason they insisted that I wear the knickers.

Baking some Bread.

There was a blackpowder reliability test and the guy firing right now is just wearing a loin cloth. He was so hardcore.

Dan also had another guy at the booth who turned some wood toys for the kids and gave him some breaks.

Abby was very happy...and I am holding her, so I guess she likes me.

Here are the girls.

Finally the last day we had time to go for a walk around the neighborhood and found a pumpkin patch.

Great time was had by all and we are so glad we went out to Indiana.

Brenda with her cloak and the girls.

Triathalon

Quick update on what is up. I am now out of town north of Reno working at the Sierra Army Depot and very busy. Last weekend Brenda had a triathlon and it was fun. She did great and it looked like she also had a good time, but I cannot think of how running can be fun.
My beefy woman.

Hot...so hot.

I guess it was not all seriousness at the triathlon, but here is Brenda having fun.

The weekend before I went camping, fishing, and hiking near Saddlebag lake outside of Yosemite with some guys from the church. I can upon these on one of the hikes.Bear tracks.

Here we are at the top of mount Coness in this picture. Great hike, but I should have brought a jacket.

Nice view down the valley.

Here I am at the peak...with the Def Leppard shirt.

You could see half dome from the top and much of Yosemite.

All in all it was a great time and we caught some fish as well. Just a quick update, but that is all I have time for now.

Def Leppard and Camping

Last week we got the opportunity to go to a Def Leppard/Poison/Cheap Trick show at the Shoreline. I of course got the hairband mullet wig out and made a Def Leppard/Poison T-shirt. It was awesome and there were a few others there that got dressed up as well.
Like this guy. I guess this was the only band shirt he had.

Crazy guitar with 5 necks. I was waiting for them to drag that thing out the whole time they were up there and then finally at the end...there it was.

My woman also had a fake hair extensions in that put her as a 10 on the hotness chart.

Here is our group

I got a lot of women that wanted their picture with me..,.so I obliged. Brett is laughing because he tried to pull me over about 5 seconds earlier.

On Friday we left for the Backpacking in the Sierras Trip. We took the bike.

Here it is.

At the trailhead there is a tungsten mine abandoned in the 60's, but kept in working order if the price of tungsten ever rises again. The trailhead was about 7500' and the pass we were crossing was a 11600. It was a very hard first day.

Looking to Nevada.

Nice views the whole way up, but about a million switchbacks.

Here is the meadow just on the other side of the pass. We camped down by the river in a great spot.

Here we are at the pass...very tired. Brenda is doing her best to keep a smile.

The next day we just went for a day hike to Merriam lake. It was about a 1.5 hr hike and a great lake to relax next to all day.
Our private camp with a waterfall in the background.

Very clear water with great trout fishing.

I caught 4 golden trout and it was great. The fishing in the middle of the day was not great, so I read a book for a while.

Brenda and I are blocking a great peak.

Great views everywhere.

On the hike out I threw my line in and about 5 seconds after it hit the water I had one...if all fishing was this easy. These trout were Brookies.

Brenda exiting the wilderness.

I noticed that the tread on the bike had dropped drastically on Saturday and wanted to keep an eye on it on the way home. We stopped at a gas station in Bridgeport and this is what I saw...Steel belts showing us that our motorcycle journey was over. With no services within 90mi we were SOL. A tow was over $500 for 90 mi and there was not an open tire place until the next day. Not good.

Kevin to the rescue. I called Schenk and explained our problem and proposed a solution of him picking us up in his truck (we were 3 hrs away) and then drive us home (5 hrs) and the go back to his house (1.5 hrs). He said he would not let us down and accepted. This is a true friend and I am glad that he helped us out. I don't know what else we would have done, but Kevon really came through and we will not forget it.

Here I am waiting for the great Kevin Schenk.

Pour some Sugar on Me

Great weekend. I am not sure if I can elaborate on that statement, but I will try. We went to Yosemite with a few of our friends (Brett, Michelle, Harry, and Mindy) to go camping and causing trouble. A few of the people had not ever seen Yosemite so it was fun for Brenda and I show them the best spots inside of the park and outside.
On day 1 we thought we would do some swimming and so in the morning we checked out Hetch Hetchy. Gorgeous lake, but no swimming or boating. These BS government rules make the lake useless.

Harry loved throwing rocks off of the dam. It is huge and the rocks started small and got much bigger. After the last rock was thrown we about had to run because it made such a bang while it hit the bottom of the dam.

Next up was a hike up the river from an undisclosed location to this awesome area where there is cliff jumping and a rope swing into the water. The water was so clear it was amazing.

This is me trying to hit dive bomb Harry as he sits helpless in the water.

Harry and Mindy...aaawwwe.

That night we ate and as soon as we got in our tent it began to sprinkle. It ended up doing this all night and everything was wet in the morning. We ate eggs and sausage under the 15'x30' tarp and got going to the valley floor. It is a good thing we went swimming the day before so we could do the car stuff while it was raining.

Here we are at the Awahnnee (or however it is spelled). A cup of Coco later we were on our way. The falls this time of year pretty much suck so that was a disappointment, but it was still nice.
Harry and I with John Muir.


We rednecked it up for lunch. This involved taking the bench seat and captains chair out of the van and setting them up for a no neck straining view of El Capitan. We love being white trash.

Here is what we saw while in the seat/chair.

On the way back to the campsite we stopped at a fire lookout and got there right in time to see a chopper set down and refuel.

Here is where the firefighters stay in shape. Notice the sign that states "Restricted area: Authorized personnel only". Apparently Brenda (and later Harry) could not read.

After we got camp packed up the others left. I stayed another night because today I had a job on the way home. This gave me a chance to get in some fishing. I caught a few, but they were very tiny.

Here is the spot I caught 2 Rainbows...on the fly of course.

Here I am jumping over everyone.