Summer Half Way

If feels like I just finished work for the summer yesterday.  I don’t know where the summer has gone.  It has been a busy summer so far.  We built a new dock this one happens to float.  It turned out nicely.  Jesse worked up all the plans in Solid Works which is just amazing.  With those plans, we had exactly what we needed for not only lumber, but down to the very last screw.  How many of you can say that about your building projects.  Anyway we took a day to build the frames, and then I spend a couple days digging out the foundation for where it anchors into the shoreline.  Then a few 55 gallon blue plastic drums and some decking we had some floating docks.  We bought some galvanized pipes and with some help from Greg at work we were able to get some augers installed on the ends of them that just burrowed their way down into the lake bottom.  It was really amazing how well they screwed in.  With some mounting hardware they were attached to the dock and now we have a secure floating dock.  All thats left for that project is figuring out what to do when winter comes.  Do we pull it out, or let it deal with the harsh effects of thick lake ice?

The other big project of the spring was a new roof for our house.  We decided to put a metal roof on instead of shingles in hopes that the snow will shed during the winter which should prevent those pesky ice damns.  Also there is the hope that it will last longer than a shingled roof.  Either way with the help of Glenn, Jim, and Jesse we were able to remove all the old shingles, and tear off the flat portion of the roof.  After a lot of figuring, and plenty of lumber we were able to create a new sloped roof line over the gutted existing flat roof.  With all that taken care of and a fresh layer of ice guard, and tar paper laid down we began the process of putting on the new metal.  Our roof is so funky we ended up with nine different lengths of metal.  It was a bit of a process, but the roof is now covered and keeping the water out.  We still need to do some trim work to really finish things off, but we have been so busy, that hasn’t happened yet.

Besides all the changes around the house, Erin has been working on her Masters and doing an amazing job of juggling that along with everything else in her life.  I don’t know how she does it so gracefully.  We have been enjoying the summer and have been out on the motorcycle and the sail boat.  It sure is nice to get out in the fresh air.

I have also been working on getting my private pilots license.  It has been fun learning to fly with my dad who has license to be a certified flight instructor (CFI).  We have been using a friends airplane for the lessons and it really has been amazing.  It is fun to get up and see this land from the air.  Looking over lake vermilion and the surroundings I drive through on a daily basis is really cool.  If you’d like to keep up with my flight training you can follow that over on www.iflymn.com.

Erin and I are about to head down to the cities this weekend for a Tim McGraw and Kenny Chesney concert at Target Field.  We are really looking forward to not only the concert, but also getting to spend some time together.  It seems like we have been going non stop for the last few weeks.  Crazy how summer can be like that.

I hope you all are having a nice summer.  If you have to work, I hope you get the opportunity to relax and enjoy the warm weather.  Take some time to relax with the ones you love and don’t let time fly by as it can so easily do.

Sailset

Worked again today.  I’m planning on taking tomorrow off for the most part.  I will have to work from home some to get some data moved around in our student information system.  Nothing I really have to other than pull our data and push it to JMC and then when they are done working on it I’ll just need to put it back.

After work the Glass family and the Cheney family came out for dinner and root beer floats.  Its fun watching the kids run around excited about everything in their lives.  Its starting to seem like Luke is getting a little bigger, but he still is pretty tiny.

After the floats most of the crew took off and Jesse and I got out on the sail boat.  It was a little slow going at first, but once we got out in the main part of the lake there was a nice bit of wind blowing.  We sailed down towards Norwegian bay and then turned around and headed home.  We were able to sail all the way back into our little bay which doesn’t always happen.  It sure was a nice night to be out on the water.

Working

I’ve been working every day this week which has bee going pretty well, but there is still a lot to get done before the school year starts up.  It was a beautiful sunny day out too which makes it that much harder to be inside.  I worked on getting iPads updated, which I think I’ll be doing till the end of time.  🙂  We have also run into a slew of problems with our student information system (JMC) and a few bothersome things with Google Apps.  I’m hoping that we can get these taken care of in the next couple of days so we don’t have to worry about them when staff and student are back in the building.

After work Erin and I met up with Greg and Corey at the Crescent for some hot wings.  They have a deal on Wednesday nights so we met up there to have a little dinner and visit.  It is always nice to hang out with them.

The lake sure is nice right now.  Its the perfect temperature for swimming and right now its pretty calm out so there are reflections of the trees hanging over the water.

Sure is nice living on the lake.

Time to Start Blogging Again

The summer sure has flown by.  I’ve been back at work off an on the last few weeks.  We have quite a few new iPads to get ready for this school year.  Erin and I have had a great summer.  We spent some time in Europe visiting Erin’s family and our friends Inkari and Peter in Germany.  We also spent some time in Italy and Switzerland.  It was really nice visiting with everyone over there.

I have been trying to get out sailing as often as I can.  I really enjoy spending time out on the water with a full sail.

I’ll try to get back into the habit of posting more often.  It gets a bit overwhelming when you haven’t blogged in a while and you feel like you have to cover everything since your last post.  So I’m hoping this gets the ball rolling.

Deutchland

The trip over to Germany was somewhat long. Mostly because of a 6 hour layover in Amsterdam. We had gone carryon for the entire trip having to look after our bags in Minneapolis, Chicago, and Amsterdam only to find out that we would need to check the back for our last one hour long flight to Stuttgart. This was unfortunate because waiting for our bags at our final destination was the thing we were trying to avoid. Not a big deal though as our bags eventually came popping up out of the baggage carousel. As we left baggage claim we were met by Erin’s family. Her Great Uncle Rolf, his wife Hulda, his son Klause, and Klause’s girlfriend Sabrina were all there with smiling faces. They helped us get our rental car picked up and then escorted us back to Rolf and Huldas house about 45 min away in Ensingen. They have a beautiful house with a garden and a cherry tree. We were able to steal a few of the ripe berries while we were there. We had some tea and visited for about an hour, but then needed to get back on the road as we were planning to be in Trier for the evening. It was great to meet Erins family and we are excited to see them near the end of our trip.

Driving to trier was fairly easy with the assistance of the GPS telling us which way to go. We were driving on the Autoban for much of the journey which wasn’t too bad. If you haven’t driven here yet, my only advice is if you do venture into the left lane to pass someone make sure you check your mirrors as cars can come flying up from behind quite quickly. It sounds like in Germany its pretty much never okay to slow these individuals down so getting quickly back into the right lane is always a good idea. I do enjoy not having a speed limit however, I think I was pushing our little Ford Fiesta to its limits.

We arrived in Trier around eight in the evening. Inkari and Peter were gracious hosts and took us out for a quick walk that brought us by an old Roman colosseum. It is amazing to live an an area that has history that goes so far back. We then headed up the side of a hill that gave a great view over the city of Trier. It is set down in a river valley with vineyards covering the sides of the surrounding hills.


After our walk we came home and Inkari had dinner ready for us. It was nice to sit down and visit with our hosts over a nice dinner and relax after a long bout of traveling.

September Swimming

With school starting next week the thought of swimming can bring a chill down your back.  When the temps hit the upper 70’s today we had no choice but to go jump in.  The water was really nice.  Not many days left where we’ll be able to float around.  Not to say we won’t be swimming before the ice arrives, but I can guarantee it won’t be a lounging experience.  As I was jumping in this afternoon Erin said she was taking my picture.  I tried to turn for the camera, but only made it part way around.

This evening Jesse, April, and Sawyer came out for dinner.  It was still nice out and Sawyer hadn’t been out for a boat ride yet.  So he donned his baby life jacket and we all hopped in the boat.  Erin, Jim, and I went for another swim.  The water was still very nice.  We hear around 66 degrees.   After a quick dip we went for a boat ride around the lake with the preparing to drop below the horizon.  It was a nice night to be on the water.

Winding Down

Summer seems to be racing to an end.  I can’t believe how fast the summer months fly by, only to see the same amount of time in the winter drag on by.  I guess working does that to you.

I’ve had a jam packed summer.  Erin and my tirp to Australia was such a great time.  In fact the best part of this summer was being able to spend almost every day all day with Erin.  Not like we do a ton of crazy exciting stuff, but just being together is nice.  Aside from our trip over seas I’ve spent about 20 days in the Boundary Water Canoe Area filming for BWCACAST.  The weather wasn’t phenomenal but it wasn’t the worst either.  We had rain on every trip, and sure fought the wind on our longest trip where we covered 100 miles in 7 days.  We got some great video and had a blast spending time in the woods.  My parents came down for one trip where we paddled across pretty much the entire Crooked Lake.  We did it the right way paddling from west to east, so the wind was at our back the entire time.  Can’t complain about that. 🙂

Erin and I finally got some time in the lake at the end of the summer.  The weather was so cold, windy, and rainy that it wasn’t to appealing to jump in the lake.  This is pretty much crazy.  On a normal summer day we are in and out of the lake at least three times.  So with a few nice days in August we finally started jumping in and even did a little water skiing.  Josh (a friend of mine from Fairbanks) came down for a BWCA trip and he was the instigator for the skiing when we got back home.  I amazingly got up on one ski on my first try which was pretty cool.  The next time I tried a couple days later I wasn’t so successful and wasn’t able to get up on one at all.  After six or seven tries I opted for two skies and dinked around on them for a while.

Our first official days of inservice for school begin next week.  I’ll be heading in tomorrow for a bit, but hope to spend as much time playing as possible before work is thrust back into my life.  Dont’ get me wrong.  I like my job, but having the days to do whatever I want sure rank a bit higher then the old “9 – 5”.

I hope to be posting more in the future.  I know I fluctuate quite a bit with my posting.  With all the websites I manage it kinda play out with coming up with fun witty posts to entertain the masses. 😉  I’ll do my best though.  Don’t give up on me yet.

A week on the water

I sit here on my couch looking out the window over a calm lake vermilion.  You can see the reflections of the trees on the opposite shore in the near still slightly ripply water.  The only waves are created by the occasional boat passing by.  We truly live in an amazing area.

I just got back from our second trip into the Boundary Water Canoe Area.  This was our long trip of the summer.  I think I’ve talked about it in previous posts, but we started on the eastern edge of the BWCAW in a lake called Little John Lake.  From there we headed west traveling through 31 lakes and 6 rivers covering approximately 94 miles.  This brought us to about the half way point on the Voyagers Highway.  This “Highway” is the same route the fur traders used to transport their winter catches from as far north as Athabaska country all the way to Grand Marais where there was a substantial trading post. When deciding the location of the international border between the United States and Canada they agreed that this commonly used route would be the dividing line, and that all of the lakes and portages (the hiking trails connecting the lakes) could be used by people of both nations without the need to pass through customs.  So on our entire trip the shoreline on our right was Canada and the the shoreline on the left USA.

As we paddled and hauled our gear over this historic route, it was amazing to think about the individuals who passed over the same ground we did years ago.  Also to think about the equipment they used and the weights they had to haul really made us appreciate the struggles they would have endured.  There is one portage we encountered along the way that was 660 rods long and aptly named “Long Portage”.  Portages usually range in the 30 – 170 rod range, and there are 320 rods in a mile.  So needless to say a 660 rod portage is quite the undertaking.  This is where you take all your gear out of your canoe and carry it across including your canoe to the next lake.  A two mile hike doesn’t seem that difficult if you are on a backpacking trip, but the packs we use are designed for canoeing.  They are wide to fit in the canoe nicely and one feature that hiking packs have that these packs do not is the very important waist belt to help carry the load on your hips.  These are strictly shoulder packs and at 60 – 70 lbs they are a bit to lug around.

We got to see some cool wildlife.   I was filming a loon swim across the lake when Matt nudged me and pointed out a beaver dragging a green leafy branch down the bank towards the water.  I quickly began to film him doing his work.  As he began swimming with his branch I was zoomed in relatively close on him when the loon popped up right in the frame.  It was pretty cool.

The first few days were kinda chilly and a little rainy, but then turned to sunny blue skies.  It was nice to dry out and feel the hot sun on our faces as we paddled across these lakes.  One of the difficult things we dealt with on the trip was a constant head wind the entire 7 days.  The wind apparently tends to blows out of the North West and since we were heading West for our trip it made for some difficult paddling at times.  Luckily when we were crossing the bigger lakes it wasn’t too strong and we were able to avoid the large waves that often accompany gusty days.

I’d like to at some point do the entire Voyagers Highway through the BWCAW, but that will have to wait for another year.

Oh Matt (Erin’s cousin) was with on this trip.  He is a math teacher down in the cities.  He helped figure out that we each paddled approximately 20,911 paddle strokes.

For now it’s nice to be back hanging out with Erin.  It feels like I’ve been on a dead run since school got out on May 29th.  I had the 4 day BWCA trip on May 30th, two days after returning from that trip Erin and I flew to Australia for three weeks, four days after returning from that trip I took this 7 day BWCA trip.  So now I’m looking forward to some down time.  Maybe sleeping in and not doing much.

Here are a few pictures from our Voyager Highway Trip.

Spring Cleaning and a Bike Ride

This weekend with the absense of the cold white stuff all over the yard we decided it’d be a good idea to spend a day cleaning up the yard.  We still had some left over building materials from our re-roofing project last fall, so that along with some other things that needed to head to the local dump we loaded up two pickup loads.  We still have a little left to deal with, but its a step in the right direction.

We had beautiful weather both Saturday and Sunday.  It was a bit windy on Saturday, but the sun was shining so it was a nice day to be out working outside.  Aside from cleaning the yard, Jim and I worked on the motorcycle.  The back tire was pretty old and had some cracks in it.  We decided it’d be a good idea to get it replaced before it pop on one of use out on a ride.  It was a bit of a wrestling match to get the old tire off, and the new tire on, but after a little elbow greese we had it back together in no time.  We also installed a new winsheild that had a little better coverage then its predicessor.  So with the new upgrades to the bike all in place I got a couple of rides in over the weekend.  Sunday morning Erin and I took it into town for a trip to McDonalds.  I am looking forward to some warmer weather in hopes of driving it to work.  Right now its  pretty chilly out in the morning.  I need to find my rain pants before I brave the frosty mornings.

Rain

Its been a while since my last post.  The days of snow covered ground have dicipated into the soggy soil below.  As the ice melts away from the shore we’ve scurted along the the mirror smooth water in our aluminum canoe.  The ice moves around in the wind and can cut you off if you are out for too long.  The aluminum canoe allows us to be mini ice breaking boats if we do get a little trapped.

With all this rain coming down and some milder temperatures I am getting more and more anxious to be finished with school.  I have 24 more days with kids and 25 more days of work.  Not like I’m counting.  I really can’t wait for our trip to Austrailia.  It will be nice for Erin and I to get out and about again.  We had a balst over in Ireland, and I think three weeks in a little camper will be a perfect way to start our summer break.  We will be in Southern Australia, so it won’t be a tropical vacation being their winter and all, but watching the penguins run up on shore and checking out the occasional winery will be very relaxing.

We went down to Baxter yesterday for Axton’s second birthday party.  He sure is getting big.  It was nice to catch up with the Svirs.  They have another little one on the way, so they will be busy for sure when the new one comes along.  Wonder what Axton will think of having a younger sibling.

On a sad note, my little dell mini bit the dust today.  I had it set up taking a time lapse for the last 5 days.  It was taking a picture every 5 minutes and when it did it would make a little beeping noise.  I woke up this morning and didn’t notice the beep at all through out the day, so I went over to check on it.  The screen was black and usually it would have the screen saver going, so I tried to move the mouse and no go.  I did some further checking and after a little chat with Dell support Im sending it back in sometime this week.  So for my first Dell purchase this doesn’t boad so well.  Im thinking its just the power board in the laptop that went bad preventing it from powering up the battery or running the computer.  So it shouldn’t be too difficult to fix.  It’ll be interesting to see if the time lapse was saved at all.  We’ll see I guess.  The support guy said that the turnaround time would be about 7 – 10 days, so we should have it back in time for our trip to Australia.  I’ll update you when I find out more.

Well time to get to my school work done.  Have a great week.