The Hunting Shack

Lions and tigers and bears there are girlz at the hunting shack. Not just any girlz, but my girlz. They love it at the shack and pitch into help and don't whine about the out house. They love to sauna and haul water and kindling and wood to make it happen. Breakfast is always Chef Charlie's Panokauken with maple syrup and one time blueberries with whipped cream, yes real whipped cream. No one starves at our shack. Friday night of opening deer is a turkey, mashed potatos, squash and dressing with pumpkin pie for dessert. Can't wait. Girlz at the shack? I brought it up a couple of years ago and the answer was no wimin! I think they will get to hunt cuz they aren't girly girls at the shack and they help. They are in favor of gun control because you can get tight groups with proper gun control.

A weekend project recently was putting a deck on the sauna. What'd ya think? Time to have an adult beverage and enjoy the view.

Take the poll in the upper right corner should girlz be allowed at the shack?

Flood Run 2008 and not the best way to make a smiley face in an energy concerned world

The Fall Flood Run, the 3rd weekend in Sept, became a tradition a few years ago because the Spring Flood Run, held on the 3rd weekend in April, (and we all remember last April) was fraught with cold and wet weather. This had to be the nicest weather for even a Fall Run. It was 85 and hot. Lotsa bikes out. I was invited by an old friend from high school and living in Rochester to join him and others to do the Fall Run. Bob is a H.O.G. and Patriot Guard member and knows the back roads and off we went. Our destination was Red Wing and across the bridge into Wisconsin and to the Harbor Bar for lunch.





The group from l to r; Steve, Lorrie, Cycho, Tracie, Barry, Bob and Vickie.


HEY, Look it's Superman!!!!!!!!







The next stop is Maiden Rock, WI and the bikes are lined up in traffic for a mile waiting to find a parking spot. The Flood Run had begin in the 1960's when there were some spring flooding and bikers came down to help and it has become a tradition to remember those who helped and those in need.


Maiden Rock is a beautiful little town on the river. Next stop was Nelson, WI for an ice cream cone made with the BEST ice cream in the world. Traffic again was bumper to bumper and backed up when some guys on Boss Hoggs left in a sorta show. A Boss Hogg is a motorcyle with a hopped-up Chevy V-8 in it. It is wretched excess and entertaining. Anyway one of the guys does a burnout and about a block ahead of him is a cop car that can't be seen. Well, as soon as the cop heard it and saw it he just pulled into the oncoming lane blocking his path and pointed him over to a side street to write the ticket. I'm glad there is always some dumass around to do that stuff....I really like to watch. I don't know what the fine is in WI but in Sturgis it's a $100. My cousin was in Sturgis w/her husband and the crowd talked him into doing a burn out on Main Street and he did and he was nabbed by the cops before the smoke cleared. I don't know what he was thinking because there is ten cops at every intersectionin Sturgis.



From Nelson it was back across the Mississippi and into MN and to Wabasha for gas. Then it was the back roads to Elba, MN, in Whitewater State Park. It was almost like coming home. When I was a student at Winona State my main hobby was trout fishing anf this was one of the most beautiful places I had visited. Elba was hit hard in last year's flooding and the bridge had just been completed. Mauer Brothers' Tavern is still there. They always awarded weekly prize for biggest trout and also the season's biggest trout. There was a new bar in town called Jerry's Saloon where the majority hung. While we were sitting outside an old, really old, like 40 years ago, neighbor of Bob and Steve and Barry's met up again.





Steve, Bob and old friend.





Vickie and Vicky and Bob




At the end of the day the guyz were doing burnouts

and

some only trying to do burn outs






and then the pros came and began their handi-work.
















What's he doing???














Is it a peace sign?

Ohhhhhhh, I get it now.

it's a smiley face :-)

Another damn Boss Hogg!!!!!!!!

Vickie

wants a

H-D!!!

Tracie wants one too.

As the afternoon came to a close a calm settled on the scene, but it was not a real sense of calm, it was actually fear...........we could feel the presence of them........................evil squirrels had come... for our nuts. Everyone begin to slowly move to their bikes and start them quietly and then ghost out of town and into the setting sun.

Patriot Guard Mission to Aitken and Deer River Legion Riders to Ely

Friday August 22, 2008 I went on my first Patriot Guard mission. You may remember that the Patriot Guard came about because of some people claiming to be Christians protesting at funerals of soldiers killed in Afghanistan and Iraq. Some veterns and non-veterans said we will not allow those people or any other groups that wish to disrupt the funeral of a fallen American soldier. Their plan was to form a wall of supporters with American flags to shield the family and others from the pathetic protestors. There were allegations that the protesters were really doing it to provoke someone to attack them so that they could sue the municipality for not protecting them and their right to free speech. Are you starting to boil alittle here??? The response was overwhelming and The Patriot Guard is now a national organization represented in every state. You do not need to be a veteran to be a member of the Patriot Guard. It is a great way to support the troops with something tangebile rather that a bumber sticker, magnet or yard sign.

In its early days there were many missions for the fallen from Afghanistan and Iraq and then requests came for the Guard to attend funerals of veterans from all wars. Our mission to Aitken was for a former Marine who was killed in a motorcycle accident. His family requested a mission and the call went out. It was a last minute request during the time of the State Patriot Guard Gathering in Rochester. My calendar was clear and I had yet to go on a mission.

I met a group of bike riders and cage drivers (I drove my cage cuz it looked like rain) numbering around 30.

There was a veteran of Korea who had both legs frozen in the Chosin Resovoir in Korea and a young man who was a Combat Medic and wounded in Iraq. Guess what his nickname was?????? Yup, Doc!

The Guard was led by the bikes with the flags on them. At the funeral home we then stood in a flag line for two hours as people arrived to pay their respects and attend the service. Doc didn't have a flag so I gave him mine and became relief man and held their flag while they took a break. The family came down the flag line and hugged every Patriot Guard and shook their hand and thanked them before the service. Plenty of tears to go around when a veterans goes down.

Semper FI Donald "Duck" Smeby. 6-24-62 - 8-22-08. Thank you military service from a grateful nation. RIP

Staurday, August 23 a group of about 30 riders led by the Deer River Legion Riders Chapter #1 headed to Ely and The Veterans' Resort on Fall Lake, actually closer to Winton than Ely. For some reason when we met in the GR L&M parking lot the metric bikes parked seperately from the Harleys.

They were a great bunch of people and it just seems that riding on a mission for veterans brings out the best in everyone. One young couple from Stillwater were on their second ride to Ely and told me how they had become a part of the ride. A coule of years ago their battery died on the side of Hwy 38 and while they were wondering what they were going to do Mike and Candy pulled over and offered to help. They ended up taking them into town to get a new battery and then staying over night and becoming best friends and participants in the ride..ROOL 62 is don't take yourself so damn serious...a message from a friend of Bill.

This year the Legion Riders from Deer River raised over $3200 and the couple from Stillwater over $1800 for the Veterans' Resort.

What a beautiful facility and staff. They have a full service resort for all veterans and very reasonable in price.

Next year I am booking a cabin and staying for the Ely Blues Fest. Thank you from a grateful veteran for your support. God, I love this country. PS Overheard conversations. After the service people were thanking the PG people on the flag line and the man next me was thanked by a couple and he replied "My privilege!" and I thought how appropriate. It reminded me of another recently overheard conversation on "The Run For The Wall" in Jackson MS where we were greeted by three men who had been awarded the Medal of Honor and one person was talking about how what a honor it was to be addressed by three Medal of Honor winners and a retired Sgt Major was walking by and he said ever so politely "Gentlemen these men did not win the MOH, they were recipients of the MOH, it's not a contest."

Sundance, WY Burnout Contest

My favorite Wyoming Wednesday event is the Dime Horseshoe Saloon Burnout Contest in Sundance and yes that's where "The Kid" got his name. Actually the Street Drags in Beulah, WY was my favorite. The last year they held the street drags a guy on a bagger was racing all day. He gave a lot away because of the weight, but he had a big motor in it and he managed to win quite a few. Win or lose he would turn around and do a giant wheel stand with sparks flying off the fish tails. It did start to get a little out of hand though when the races were close. The idea was to be the first one to the bridge, but some guys would just stay in it and go out of town for the the top end. It had all the elements required, speed and danger because "if it isn't dangerous you ain't doin it right."

I saw my first Sundance burnout contest in 1996. First prize was a beautiful leather jacket. Only four or five bikes entered, but afterwards guys were doing burnouts all over the streets. The first guy to go in 1996 had been sitting waiting for water for his burnout and he was adamant that it be water and not beer, guess he was a purist. He finally got his water and fired his bike up and and started his burnout when all of a sudden the front brake let go or it just hooked up and took off with people jumping out of the way literally. As the crowd parted he noticed the flimsy wooden barricade blocking the end of the street less than a hundred feet away. He laid the bike down to avoid going through the barricade and the highway going through town. The bike went one way and he went another. When he and the bike stopped the crowd helped him to his feet and picked up his bike and he jumped back on and went back to the starting line and said with blood running down his arm, let me try it again, I can do a better one this time. They did....he did.

Last time in Sundance for me was 2001 and it was a great one. They had an abundance of bikes and at that point people were still using their street bikes for the contest and didn't go all the way until the tire popped. Two memorable contestants that year. The first one was a Hamster with his "chopper" and he couldn't get the tire to spin and he kept killing the motor. The crowd was starting to heckle him and finally he got the tire to spin but then immediately dumped the bike and the crowed went wild and started dumping their beers on him, it was disgusting and a terrible waste of hops.

The second rider was from Florida and had a way cool Heritage two tone cream and mint green that was slammed (lowered) to the point of impracticality. He had side by side fish tails and did not use the kick stand... he could just lean it over on the exhaust. This guy was good and had done a few burnouts before because he immediately started smokin the tire and then got off the bike and stood beside it and went through the gears smokin that tire through every gear. He didn't win the contest but he won a place in my heart.

We had stopped earlier in the day at the Dime Horseshoe to find out the starting time and wouldn't you know it the young woman said her mother lived in Minnesota and so we were talking and she apologized that the Saloon had raised their prices for the day to $3 per drink/beer. A bottle of water in the San Francisco Airport cost $4.

One thing I noticed was that the burnout contest was no longer on the street but on an especially made stand. It did take away the danger element or so it seemed. The first contestant installed flame throwers on his bike just in case anyone thought this was going to be easy to win. He fired up and got her smokin and stayed in it until the tire popped and it took an especially long time, maybe he had a fairly new one on and it actually got boring it took so long to pop. Timing is everything.

Everyone who entered today stayed in it till the tire popped so that meant you must do something to top that and everyone had their own little show. It was performance art in the truest sense. A pattern started to develop and it went like this: get the tire smokin, set the throttle lock and jump up on your seat and surf until the tire pops.

Then another contestant when his name was called started his bike and started spinning the tire and drove it like that through the crowd and up the ramp and into the wheel lock leaving a skinny black patch all the way. Yeah, they lock the front tire in a clamp so it won't take off and go through the crowd. He popped his tire and it killed the motor so he fired it up and got the shredded tire spinning and it started ripping his fender apart (fiberglass) and eventually shredded the tail light too sending pieces out into the crowd. They must have different liability laws in WY because if this would have been most any other state there would have been more than a passel of lawyers at the scene.

The tires can last so long before they pop that the motors get pretty hot so they have a garden hose and spray the cylinders to cool them down. The guy who won last year blew his motor and it cost him $4000 to rebuild it and he was back with his new motor and determined to win again. He is from Gilbert, MN area and should have won but he got robbed because they wouldn't let his bikini clad girlfriend stay on the bike with him.

It went to another level when one of the male contestants lifted his t-shirt and flashed the crowd and that inspired one of the later entrants to have his "ol lady" flash the crowd from the back of his bike during the burnout and he did eventually win. I was astounded at the willingness of people to destroy stuff to win $750 first prize...just down a couple of blocks a guy is set up to put new tires on for you and that is usually about $200-$250, but to blow up a $4000 motor is crazee.

Another contestant from MN did his burnout on the bike he rode out so he didn't pop his tire and then after he rolled down the ramp he looked at the tire and said what the heck might as well pop it and so he went back up the ramp and popped his tire.

The next event after the burnout contest was a wet t-shirt contest so we got the heck out of there because there is no danger in that unless you take pictures and your wife or girlfriend sees them. Besides that was when the evil squirrels started trailing us just waiting for their chance to steal our nuts.