first walk of 2014

it may only have been a block

his little paws hopped hopped hopped

sliding in the slush

speeding up with each step

but it was a walk

a collection of odds and ends - jan. 12

wait, what's that hiding under my couch?! is it a wee troll?! noooooooo, it's a willis! this is how lucas and i spent our weekend - playing with willie, cuddling with willie, feeding willie, laughing at willie. heck, all he has to do is stick is little tail out from under the couch and we drop everything to watch. dog.are.delightful. and after this video, you have no need to see anything else today BUT in case ... here's some linky-links!

i stumbled on this while digging around them internets for work. so simple and oh-so-easy
13 smart and fun ways to enjoy wildlife in 2014

pretty pictures. 100. weather. done
weather.com's top 100 photos of 2013

reason #256 why we all need many, many pets.
30 of the great animal photobombs of 2013

because, why the heck not?
adopt a bison

it's not often that lou and i are impressed with stories on firearms. this one was well done, focusing on the stories and letting the reader use those stories to create their own opinion. as heated as the gun debate can be, it's refreshing to see a piece open the door to conversation for both sides.
firearms in the family

fall is

pretty

in which i do something ... like a whole lotta nothing

and yet, it was a delightfully hectic weekend!

for being a rare we-have-no-plans weekend, we still managed to fill our precious two days. roy appeared on friday, with a bag stuffed full of delicious breadboard. 880 miles for fresh(ish) sandwich delivery is my kind of service. saturday was errands - menards for the pa, target, groceries, and four liquor stores ... that was for us. saturday night we grilled on the back patio and sunday we hopped over to minneapolis (with tony!!) for jenn's waterski practice ... and subsequent wipe-out off the ramp that landed me as er driver and "sitter" for four hours. dinner with the in-laws at smashburger that night followed by a wee bit 'o tv. i'm gonna call that a success "do-nothing" weekend!

hunter vs. sort-of hunter

last night we had our neighbors over and, as it goes with meeting any new folks, you skirt around the issues of politics, race, social status, student loans ... all those scary big-people issues. after they left, lou mentions something gun related and i reply with a "well, i am a hunter ... or, sort-of hunter .... well, new hunter." so all day i've been thinking about just that. when do i get to call myself a hunter? am i a turkey hunter if i've never shot a turkey? am i a prairie dog hunter ... since that was the thing to do on weekends in wyoming? i wanna be a pheasant hunter but does one (okay, maybe two) times out in the field count?

i get around the college friends and start throwing out tidbits like why i like my 20 gauge better than lou's 12. why i had to go with a full choke on my benelli for turkey hunting as opposed to getting a turkey choke.

but, then i realize i'm just talking myself up. i don't own a single piece of blaze orange ... how un-hunter of me. my top trap score was a twelve and even that was mostly beginners luck. i've never shot anything bigger than a goat and as much as a i want to go deer hunting, i don't know if i could actually go through with it. my shoulder gets bruised after two rounds of trap and more often than not, lou has to remind me what the heck the difference is between a size four shot and a size eight.

so, sometimes i feel like a badass lady hunter ...

and, sometimes i feel like i'm a kid sitting at the adult table when i shouldn't be ...

i guess the word here is patience. and practice. and that it all comes with time.

in which i do something ... a little bit creepy

and it was creepy ... super creepy.

three days

one van

five bags of candy

one-half working cell phone

nine geocaches

four state parks

seven relatives

one last minute (stolen) campsite

two delicious breakfasts

seven gun shots

one fingee in the door

zero bowls of booya

three ice-creamless hours

...

countless memories

i do believe our #freecandyvan adventure was a smashing success

so where'd we go:

• lake maria state park
• zoomski's midtown cafe
• charles a. lindbergh state park
• mille lacs kathio state park
• father hennepin state park
• czech booya festival

let there be sun ... flowers

they made me slam on the brakes. cut amanda off mid-sentence. pull the van over and do a u-turn. it was beautiful. they were beautiful. rows and rows of sunflowers. picture-perfect puffy clouds overhead. blue sky. all looking so prime and proper. facing to the east with their faces gently bowed. and the humming. the constant buzzing and moving and life.

in which i do something ... a little bit campy

waterfall shooting into my head? awesome. thanks random lady taking photo.

and ... it was ... kind of awesome ...

but really just exhausting ...

last weekend i was able to tag along during an i can camp! program put on by minnesota state parks and trails. the idea with these programs are to help newbies to camping feel comfortable to venture off on their own one day. now, yes ... i've camped before ... so i was there more as an observer to the program - what were participants saying, how'd the program outline go, anything people were asking that could be expanded (in person/online) ... 

so lou and i spent saturday learning how to set up a (6 person!) tent, pump up an air mattress, try some archery, hike around historic sites, make a "log cabin" fire and some really kick-ass spider dogs (yes, that's the creepy hot dog in the picture above). okay, to be fair to the i can camp! program, the spider dogs were all mine. i feel i have a calling in hot dog art ... ... ...

i'll save you the details of the program (you gotta try one out for yourself ... info here!). but gah, i forget how exhausting camping can be. you haul all this stuff for one night ... then haul it all back. the air mattress deflates, you happen to be camping on the coldest (*cough *cough) record breaking night of the summer, and the lady with the monster snores is in the tent next to you ... awesome. the i can camp! program itself was great! it was the nature part that was a bit shady ... guess i'll be camping in this beauty more often!!

summer 2013: see a drive-in movie

$8.50 for THREE movies

you sit in YOUR OWN CAR

you can BBQ your OWN food

you can doze LAYING DOWN

you can DRINK booze ... BOOZE

you can bring your FRICKIN' DOG

what about this does not sound amazing?!

i grew up in a small town and the town nearby (33 miles nearby) with the only theater within 150 miles, even had a drive-in theater. my folks would pile us into the truck, drive over to sheridan and plop us down for a few shows. we always made it through 1.5 before someone, probably dad, would call it a night and home we'd go.

when i got older (ie - got my driver's license) i'd meet friends at the drive-in ... and these guys knew what they were doing. they'd all load up their trucks with couches, lazy-boys, and blankets and set up a staged living room in front of the drive-in screen. best.idea.ever.

so now it's been a while ... summer is whizzing by ... and while i'm having a blast-and-a-half ... it's time to get this all even more blast-worthy.

let's go to a drive-in movie!

* this goal was created as part of Go Mighty's #gosummer challenge ... and because it's a super cool goal ...

in which i do something ... a little bit dusty

and it was awesome

last week i got to ride along during the annual crawl for the cure event held at the iron range state recreation area in gilbert, minnesota. not gonna lie ... it was pretty awesome. the crawl for the cure is a charitable event where off-road vehicle folks raise money for the national multiple sclerosis society, the minnesota chapter. riders spend two days exploring the park with guided trail rides. saturday, i was able to tag along as a photographer.

a few things i learned during my short introduction into the world of off-road vehicle riding. 1 - everything you learn when you're a new driver at 16 does not apply. 2 - if that rock is bigger than your tires, drive over it. 3 - if your truck starts making funny/scraping/rattling sounds, it's probably okay. 4 - you can still plow ahead on the trail without actually seeing the trail. 5 - mud = good. 6 - rocks = good. 7 - hills = good.

our first ride of the morning was along ted's revenge (named after an old miner's helmet that was found by the crew digging the trail). tim hopped out to spot jamie as she drove. here's a snippet of the directions and ongoing commentary that tim gave jamie ...

go back a little more

give it the onion

should be able to ride outta it

back up again

hold on right there

back down a bit more

maybe give it a different line

little more

cut her that way now

back up a little more

hold on

cut her the other way

fast

hard right

go

go

go

go

wha???? 

if there's one thing that resonated with me the most after spending a day with this off-road gang ... it's ridiculous ... these guys are just ridiculous!!


ps - sounds like crawl for the cure raised over $105,000 dollars this year!!

in which i do something ... along a river

and it was awesome ...

dinner at smokey river bbq
camping in lanesboro city park
breakfast at the lanesboro pastry shoppe
paddling along the root river
and don't forget i can paddle!

a collection of odds and ends, cont.

• Oh man ... this video gives me such confused feelings. Am I supposed to be sad that he's not calling his girlfriend? But the dancing ... the dancing is oh-so-happy! But then there's anger ... the punching and rolling and spinning ... what the hell am I supposed to think?!
  
  
• These are three wonderful things all baked together into one creamy mess. I'll take five of them.
  
  
• Holy shizz balls ... looks at those eyelashes. Look ... at ... those ... eyelashes. I spent over five minutes looking at this photo last week.
  
  
• Oh man ... you can go wild bison hunting. Wild Bison!!! I found stories here, here and here and it sounds like Wyoming has one of the best hunts out there. You know, it's only a 1 in 90 shot you'll actually get a license andddddddd it's only $2500.
  
  
• I want this in Richfield ... Musical Swing Sets ... that only work through cooperation ... how fun!
  
  
• I made this for dinner the other night. Won.Der.Ful. Granted, I added heaps more cheese than her recipe calls for ... and subbed in turkey sausage for the chicken (I just didn't feel like dealing with chicken ... ).  Either way, recommended! 

turkey hunting: it begins

This weekend, I found out how difficult (and frilling expensive) shopping for camo is. Yup, I'm getting me some camo. I'm ... of my own free will ... partaking in an activity that requires me to blend in with nature ... sit uncomfortably still for long periods of time ... and then shoot a turkey in the face. Yay! Turkey Hunting! The Minnesota DNR does these niffy mentored hunts for first-time lady hunters ... so of course I signed up. This is a new venture for me. I've done little bits of hunting now and then ... some prairie dogs in Wyoming ... pheasant last fall ... and a brief dip into goat hunting in New Zealand ... but turkeys are a new experience . 

Luckily, I sat through a 3-hour Wild Turkey Clinic put on by the National Wild Turkey Foundation (the Anoka Struttin' Toms chapter) and got a feel for what to expect. And you know, it all sounded pretty darn good and dandy until someone mentioned the word - tick. Okay - time out. Ticks?! It never dawned on me that since I'd be crawling through the Minnesota woods ... in May ... I might get a tick or two ... or forty ... I can handle this. I have 2 months to get my game face on and not feel the need to saw my own leg off just because a tick crawled on it ... right?!  Right?! Okay, I'm off to watch some videos on turkey calls or yelps or purrs or kee-kees or any of the other 20-some sounds these silly birds make.

Some fun turkey facts for your Monday morning:

- the turkey was one vote away from becoming the national bird of the united states ... one vote!

- spring is ideal turkey season (as opposed to fall) because the males are so hung up on mating they can hardly think straight.

- a turkey's eyesight is 10x greater than humans (ie - the need for camo)

- a turkey's hearing is 8x greater than humans

- turkeys can only see in 2 dimensions

why yes, those are little boy pants ... and yes, yes they fit just fine.