Travel day one. 

Well I'm on the plane on my way to Minnesota for my vacation. I hear it's going to be hot and humid. From the people I've told where I'm going most have said, "why there?" "to fish" I said. Sometimes you just have to get out of town. It will be nice to get away from work. I'm going visit my cousin John and his family who live in Northfield MN. We are getting a cabin on a lake and are going fishing. I plan not to shave on my trip so I can be real ugly when I get back. 

Day two. 

The second day wasn't very eventful. I spent most of the day running around town getting things for my cousins car. We did get a chance to go fishing at the local river but the only thing biting was the mosquitoes. We spent the rest of that evening getting my cousins computer connected to the internet. He is now part of the information age. 

Day three. 

Today John, his girlfriend Chris and her daughter Jessamae, the 6 year old and I drove up to central MN to go fishing. Chris is a hairdresser so she had to work a little this morning. That gave the rest of us time to go to K-Mart and get things like fishing licenses, bait and Off repellent... later at the lake... We arrived at Clearwater Lake about 2:30pm. The ride went well and we didn't get lost at all. I'm in the geographical center of Minnesota. After getting the car unpacked fishing was the high priority. I had the honor of catching the first fish which we will eat for breakfast along with the other 5 fish tomorrow. We fished until the sun went down then cleaned fish and drank beer. 

Day four. 

Up at sunrise with full intent of going fishing. I went back to bed. Slept until eight. Went fishing and had breakfast about 10:30am. Went fishing again. The rest of the day went well relaxed a lot but didn't catch any fish. We had BBQ pork chops for dinner and roasted marshmallows over a campfire for desert and beer. 

Day five. 

I was up at sunrise this time and did go fishing. I saw a large mouth bass jump out of the water about 15 yards from me. It looked like a cover to a fishing magazine. I didn't catch and fish this morning. After breakfast I went fishing. To no avail, no fish. After a good lunch we packed up the whole group took out the motor boat we borrowed (at no cost because the they didn't know we took it) from the resort and went across the lake to fish. After the 6 year old got tired of not catching fish we tried to start the boat. It didn't take long to flood the engine and the 6 year old to start crying. We pulled out the ors and went to work. Half way across the lake we got the motor started and made it back to shore. After docking the others I went out to do real fishing. Finally they started to bite. First the sun fish then the bass. Most to bass were to small but I only caught one that was a keeper which was the largest of the trip. The timing was perfect. About the time Chris was BBQing the chicken I had the fish clean. I pan fried it with butter, garlic and onions. Tasty! We closed the night eating marshmallows at the camp fire and drinking beer. 

Day six. 

The crack of the thunder woke me up before sunrise. My plan to catching that trophy bass was washed in the lake. The lightning storm put on quite a show. After the storm passed breakfast was in order and packing for the trip back to Northfield. As I rowed the canoe back to the resort the wind blew the canoe in circles. The canoe leaked and with 6 inches of water at the rowing end it made a great pivot. The amount of things a family of three can pack in car is astonishing and keeping the 6 year old occupied in order to get the packing done is quite a feat. The travel back from the lake was quite a trip. The 6 year old decided she had a tummy ache, luckily we were at an exit near with a gas station. Just a few minutes later the message came out that the Apple Jacks needed to be cleaned off the floor. How the puke miss the toilet is another story. Vapor lock is when the cars engine gets hot and decides not to start. We could see the Mc Donalds across the freeway and thought doing what the three bears did was a great idea and what 6 year old doesn't like Ronald's Playland. $10.92 later the car started with the help of a BigMac fries and a Coke. Back in  the car for the rest of the trip home. The night ended late with a continuos thunder and lighting storm from 1:00am until 3:00am. Kind hard to sleep with so much noise. 

Travel day seven. 

Well I'm on the plane and on my way home. I went to relax and fish which I did a lot of. I haven't shaved in the last week so I look like a mess. The mosquito bites are almost healed but the rash from the poison oak has started to set in on my legs and the itching is just as annoying as the 6 year old. They are getting ready to serve breakfast. A Bloody Mary and coffee please. It has been a great vacation even though it was like a family vacation and I don't have a family. Six year olds need a lot of attention and at times I don't feel like playing with the Babries. I haven't checked and e-mail, voice mail or phone messages which is just fine with me. Time get back to work.

It's Monday So I'll see you down at Java Joe's for the Wendy's Open Microphone Night Show.