Hoka Hey?

Last weekend we were in Wyoming for my husband's 20 year class reunion. Let me just say... It was quite the interesting weekend. While some where lounging at the pool on Sat, some of us decided to ditch the organized day activities and cruise around Glendo Lake on the bikes instead. It was a gorgeous day for a ride!

On the way back to town, we had to wait out a thunderstorm at a truck stop which is where we met 3 guys who were in the midst of the Hoka Hey ride. In cannon ball run style, these motorcyclists are racing from Key West, FL and will end up in Alaska sometime around the 4th of July. The problem is that unfortunately, it sounds like the whole thing may turn out to be a scam. Supposedly, the winner is to receive 500,000.00 in gold coins. However, there are already rumors that there is no gold to be had. The guys pictured below were in pretty good spirits about the whole thing and mentioned they are in it more for the experience than anything else. However, I think I wouldn't be so gracious after putting in a $1,000.00 entry fee. I for one will be interested to see how this all turns out.

Oh, and to keep with the hunting / fishing theme of my blog... one of the guys mentioned that he hit a deer coming through the mountains. Yikes!

Good luck to my motorcycle Hoka Hey friends!

They are probably sleeping at a random gas station somewhere on the way to Alaska right now.

Fishing and 3D Archery Vacation Time

In the very near future, my husband and I will be taking a much needed vacation. I've been researching some places that I want to make sure are included during our trip. We are planning on spending several days in Wyoming with family and then head down to Salt Lake City for a 3D archery shoot in the mountains of Utah. I've successfully convinced my husband that Jackson Hole is on the way, so we will be stopping there for a few days of fishing / hiking.

I think I've decided on Colter Bay as one of our fishing destinations. (Click on the link - the view of the Teton mountains is absolutely breath taking!!) I can't wait to take pictures of our trip and add them here when I get back. I'm hoping to have plenty of fish tales and adventures to bring you all.

My father-in-law just told us this evening that he reeled in 11 walleye today.

Wahoo! I can't wait to get up there and put a line in the water.

Horse Rides and Fishing for Two

What a joy to share some "firsts" with my niece and nephew this last weekend. While our husbands were hard at work putting the rock on my parent's chimney, my mom, sister and I took the kids for a quick horseback ride at the neighbors. My little niece was not scared in the least at the thought of mounting an animal towering above her. In fact, upon watching her brother go first she quickly spoke up and proclaimed "where's my horsey?" She takes the world at full speed at her tender age and is ready to take on the next adventure no matter what it is. I love that about her. It is so refreshing to be around kids who want to experience life to it's fullest.

A lot of fishing was also done this weekend. Saturday evening our little crew loaded up our trucks and headed across the valley floor to a stream nestled along the edge of "our" mountain range. The sound of a lively brook was music to our ears. With hopes of luring in a hungry trout, worms were firmly anchored on our hooks. We inexperienced fisherman spread out in excitement along the babbling snow melted brook. However, only a few bites caused worms to mysteriously disappear into the rippling waters. So, as the daylight slowly began to fade across the peaks of snow faded mountaintops we shook hands to our fish friends admitting our defeat. However, it is hard to convince a six year old who has big hopes of each person catching their limit, that it is time to call it a night. This is where my heart melted a bit and why I offered to take him fishing on the way down the mountain the next day. I'll admit that I wanted to spend the afternoon with fishing pole in hand also.

After morning church, fellowship, and hamburgers on the grill, my nephew gladly helped to load up the truck and navigate to the perfect spot where we could cast a line. It was a great spot too. We crossed the stream with all of our supplies. There were rocks to sit on, hummingbirds to observe, and fish to catch.

While we where discussing important things like tarantulas, why fish like earthworms and how a hummingbird can stop in mid air, the tug of my line quickly alerted us that a fish took the bait! What happened next was quite the commotion. Since we were perched a top a large rock (pictured below), and both our poles were right next to each other, I had my nephew grab the net while I took his pole. Somehow, I managed to tangle our poles up in a mess, while my nephew slid down the rock into the mud. We managed to real in our rainbow, snap a quick (blurry) picture and release him back to his home. It was so fun! I quickly learned that next time we MUST keep the fish instead of releasing it, because there was a six year old who wanted to taste a mountain trout. So, we will be back to our secret trout stream in the near future.

What a great day!

Acronym Phenomenon

Acronyms seem to pervading our language these days. They are everywhere! What has happened to us? Are we just getting lazy in the way we talk? I'm afraid that acronyms have taken over and there is no turning back. There needs to be a dictionary / glossary for this madness.

I struggle with all the acronyms I have to know at the office and now it seems that the acronym phenomenon has even invaded our hunting community...

ATV, DOW, PP, BBD, DRT, FPS, P&Y, GPS, B&C, DIY, BLM, EBJ, EHJ, OTC, PSE, BATB

And those are just the ones that I could think of fairly quickly. I know there are more out there!

Okay, I'm done venting my frustrations a bit. Anyone else struggle with acronym overload or is it just one of my weird quirks?

BTW - We didn't go fishing last weekend at Eleven Mile b/c it was cold and raining, which is why I didn't have a fishing update on Monday for you all. However, we did get out the motorcycle and go for a ride to support the fallen police officers. Some of the cops pooped out because it was cold / raining, so they didn't make it the entire ride. We gave them a pretty good teasing considering the FD guys made it the whole way... you know, comments like FD not being scared of a little rain getting them wet. Or cops being afraid of the rain rusting their guns. I think the color pink was even mentioned. LOL!

"Fishing" at the "Lake"

We just spent a weekend at the "lake" to do a little "fishing." Here in Colorado the big lakes are really reservoirs, but I'll take it! I love being around water and miss the days of basically living out on the river / lake all summer long. Growing up in Minnesota with the mighty Mississip right out my back door gave me a love for water. I have many childhood memories of lazy summer afternoons spent swimming out to the nearby island, jumping my brother's bike of the dock into the river, floating down the river on tubes to my friend's house, canoeing, boating, swimming, water skiing. The list goes on. The activities all seemed to center around water. Water that I now find myself longing for at times.

Therefore, it is understandable that this last weekend when we spent a few days fishing at the lake, I found myself several times IN the water instead of on the shore with fishing pole in hand. For example... "oops" my line is stuck on that branch and I have to jump in and untangle it? In the water I went. And then.... The 90+ temperature is making me sweat and there is a lake that I can jump into. In the water I went. And then there was the fishing spot where my chair mysteriously found itself IN the water. I don't know how that happened, but I think I just claimed the best fishing spot. I didn't catch any fish all weekend. Hmm... I wonder why? Maybe I'll have better luck next weekend when we fish Eleven Mile up in the mountains - it may be a bit too cold to jump in, so I should be able to better concentrate on actually fishing.

Does anyone know what kind of fish this one is?

(Al put it back in the lake b/c we are thinking it was just a silver carp or something.)

Troy's walleye - not quite big enough to keep, but fun to catch!