Saturday Night in the Camper

I am watching Hoosiers.....


The TV reception in the park is terrible. Thank God for the DVD player. I fell asleep last night watching SpaceBalls. I know someone who will not be thrilled with my movie selection but you can only find so much at the bargain bid in Wal-Mart.


We went fishing just about all day today.


I started at my favorite fishing hole just a few steps from the camper here..






I love this little fishing hole. So far this year I have pulled out

2 salmon, 3 bass, 2 rainbow's and 1 brook trout. Along with a host of other's that got thrown back.

The stream ends here and takes an abrupt left hand turn and then head further south. During the rainy season this rock looks like a ride from an amusement park. Last year when we had all that rain the water was cresting at the mid part of the rock as you see it here.

So I played around in this pool for a better part of an hour ,I think, and then decided to take off down stream and see what I could find.

So I walked for about 15 minutes and wound up here....

Ever spot on this river is absolutely beautiful. The only problem with this spot is that I can see a little construction off in the distance.

This river follows the Army Core Of Engineers water line that I think runs from the dam all the way down to Watertown.

I got just about nothing out of this spot. I hooked a brown trout and got him up to shore. He was only a little guy and as I was bringing him out of the water he wiggled off the hook. Was not a big deal and decided to keep heading down stream.

The trails that the bikes have cut up are pretty impressive. It's like walking threw a tunnel of tree's. Being this early in the season the whole woods smells like fresh cut grass.

So I kept walking. I walked farther this time than I ever have before. Let me back up. I have been this far before but I was on a mountain bike ride and had to pay closer attention to the path than I did site seeing.

I am not sure how far I walked but I can around this benn in the trail and saw this............

OHhhhhhhhhhhhhh..................

BABY.........................

Come to DADDY............



I fished this hole for about an hour. I was just killing this area. They must not have been feed in a week. Soon as I dropped anything in the water they were all over it. I pulled (and released) 6 (count them 6!) keepers. 4 rainbow's, 1 brown and a brook trout.

I was starting to get a little tired and followed the river back. I was taking a little extra time on the way back and dropping down to some of the smaller pools to see what they looked like. One of the more memorable pools was this one where I spent the better part of a half and hour. As I was casting out and playing with some different bait when this caught the corner of my eye.














There were three of them just minding there own business and taking in what was now the afternoon sun. They kept coming up and swimming by me. I could not resist taking a couple more shots. Here ya go..

I got the second picture as they were going down stream to get a bit to eat. I had the camera on auto focus and did not see the tree limb in front of me. But you get the gist of it.

I made my way back to the camper and did a little work around the 2nd home. Went out and got some pizza. I did manage to sneak in another hour down at the little fishing hole a couple of paces down. Pulled up an 8 inch rainbow but it got really dark really quick and decided to come in and take in a movie.
Well, gotta run. Going to get some shut eye. The fish get up pretty early in the morning and I will be waiting for them.

PEACE.......................

DJD

It's Monday

And it feels like Monday.....

We opened the camper this weekend.

That was the best feeling in the world to walk into it and start putting stuff away and getting ready for the season. Above is a shot of the camper. I love this camper. Sleeps 6 comfortable and is a lot of fun.

I do not have the entire thing set up yet. My father should be up there a few days this week and finish up what i have not yet.

One of the best things is at night when we fire up the campfire. We have an old rim as a fire pit and we put the folding chairs around it and sit there for hours and bullshit. Above is a shot of the pit.

Opening day of Fishing season......

I went with just the basics. Just a pole and a few pieces of tackle. And the determination to go catch something. I left the camper and headed down stream to find something. The water lever is descent this time of year bit not where it should be, but good enough so that even the low area's are deep enough to cause a problem.

I headed off the the farthest point and started throwing out. All was good. I got a Pike in one of the deeper pools, hook a nice large mouth in one of the access streams and also wound up playing with a few Rainbows. After a few hours of playing around I was all set to just star heading back up stream and call it a day. UNTIL.................

I saw HIM..................

Right out of the corner of my eye...

2 feet deep....

Sitting in the sun.....

NO, Basking in the sun......

Just casually waving back and forth in the same little spot in a fairly stiff current. He was just sitting there waiting for his lunch. It was about 10ish and I would have thought I would not see anything like him out this time of the late morning. I actually sat there and watched him for a little while. Should I try and get him or should I let him just hang out and enjoy the day? After all I was a day late (It was Sunday) and he had survived opening day Saturday.

F-It. Let's play. If he is going to just sit there and taunt me like that I am going to have to take a shot. So, Find a nice spot about 5 yards behind him and toss the bait up stream and let it float back to him and let him open wide. I did not have my fly rod on my at that point and he did not look like he was too interested in them. So i was just using a worm on a hook and a 4ft ugly stick. I can not tell you how many time i casted off perfectly and and landed about 5-7 feet in front of him nice and softly and it just floated by him. Again, and again, and again, AND AGAIN....

When you get to this moment in your life when you see something in front of you that you really want and you try everything you can to land it and It just does not take the bait there is a few things you can do.

Keep trying,

Give up,

Or keep going till you win.

I do not give up that easily............

(This is like golf for people who can't play golf. I hate putting. I can never read the green right. Go left, go right. I just hit the f-ing thing straight and hope for the best. Fishing on the other hand.. I happen to enjoy and do very well.)

So I took a set on the side of the river. I spoke to him and told him if he let me catch him I would not kill him. I would not eat him. I would not take to my neighbors to kill or eat him. I would put him back. Unharmed. And back in his original spot.

It took him a while but i finally got threw to him. After about another half and hour he finally have in a took the bait. It was a perfect cast. It landed about 8 feet in front of him and caught the current perfectly. Started rolling down street. He saw it, flinched and BANG!, hit it with everything he had. I caught him good on the side of the jaw and knew i had him. He put up a great fight.

Here is where it get interesting...............

He made a bee-line for the log in the center of the stream and actually wound up pulling a buggs bunny around the log. I had to move quick to get the line untangled and i moved a little too quick. I lost my footing, I lost my balance. I did not, however, loose a grip on my pole. I wound up a little more than thigh deep in the river. But, on the brite side I did manage to get a good angle on the log and wound up untangling the line. So I pulled myself back to shore and reeled him in.

TRUE TO MY WORD.........

I let him go....................

But I had a little conversation with him while I was taking him off the line. I told him I would be back and that he would see me again. I am sure that I will see him again. I am sure I will see him again before the season is over. He was as beautiful out of the water as he was in it. I was just sorry that I did not have my camera on me or someone did not walk by to see him. From the tip of his lips to the tip of his tail he was from my index finger to my elbow. Not too shabby for just messing around on a Sunday afternoon.

More pictures will follow....

When the leaves come in and we get the camper all set up I will snap off some more shots and let everyone see the surroundings that I get to see every weekend.

As long as the weather is good this weekend and I have my mountain bike out of the shop I should be able to snap off some pretty good pictures this weekend. Now that I know how to post them you will be seeing more.

PEACE...........................

DJD

THURSDAY NIGHT WRAP

I Love Thursdays.......
Know why? Yup! One day closer to Friday.

Now that the summer is here it is going to be the last day at the house until Sunday night at 7pm. Fridays are a wonderful time, I actually enjoy going to work on Fridays and getting everything done and watching the clock until it hits 5pm. Into the car and off to Thomaston. When i hit the entrance to route 9 i know i am almost there and it is time to kick back and relax. Most people take a week of and go somewhere tropical or that they have never been before, but me, I got the place where i am most comfortable. Hanging out in the sticks of Connecticut (Yes we have wooded area's in CT, ALOT of them) enjoying a late night fire and cooking steaks, potato's and corn on the cob.
(Well I did make someone an offer to go to Punta Cana but I am pretty sure I got turned down. Married. Nuff said.)
After I quit drinking and started actually taking care of my body the woods became a refuge for me. It's not really the WOODS.. We have the 30ft trailer parked at a camp site with about 50 other trailers. But no one really bothers anyone else unless you need help with something and actually ask for it. Anyway, I started working out at this little gym and also mountain biking during the evening and taking the bike to the store and around town. Now when I take my vacation I spend about 10 straight days up there. Here is how the days are going to go.
Wake up.
Eat.
Go to the gym.
Come back and relax.
Go fishing.
Take a bike ride.
Take a nap.
Eat.
Go back to the gym.
Came back and relax.
Eat.
Go fishing.
Build a fire.
Take an afternoon ride.
Sit and relax while making smores.
Go to sleep.
All that between the hours of 7am and 11pm.
Sound good? You bet your ass it does.

The weather just hit the 70's......
I got a call from my mountain bike this morning and it is ready to go. There comes a point during every season that you just know it's that time of the year.....
How do you know?

Baseball really starts getting going.....
Like the Yankee's and Red Sox going into back to back series. Yankee's beat up on the Sox and then the Sox return the favor. Speaking of the Red Sox, when the hell did they pick up Sean Casey from Detroit? How did I miss that trade? Was I in North Carolina? Did this just happen when i was in New Mexico? He looks good in a Sox uniform, Still has the high leg kick to get himself jacked up.
A-Rod is off to a hot start, So is Manny. Speaking of Manny....
This is a contract year for him and he is off to one of the best starts he has had since he was in Cleveland. I think it is because he wants to be put into the same category and people who are in the Hall Of Fame now. He has had some of the best years of his career in Boston. Helped them win tow World Series rings (Two, Count them.) I think he want to be one of the big 3 up here in the eastern states. Right now the THREE is...
#1 - Brady
#2 - A-Rod / Jeter
#3 - Garnett / Peirce / Allen
Schilling is no longer in the conversation because he has not pitched in like two years. Does he still do the http://www.38pitches.com/ blog? I have not been on it in a while. Besides he is hurt and should be rehabbing.

Around the league.....
Random thoughts......
I see the Tigers have finally found out what it is like to win again.
Washington's hot start seams to have cooled off.
The Marlins must really be missing Miggy right about now.
The CUBS suck, They got destroyed by the Reds.
I would hate to be a Philly's fan this year. It looks like there going to bring every game down to the last inning. (Except for today).
Griffey is only 4 home runs away from 600. Why is no one making a big deal about that?

Getting late and i have to get up early.

PEACE................

DJD

No Jet Lag

Surprising but no jet lag.....
I went threw three time zones got very little sleep and still have no ill effects from the 3 days of non stop travel.
Albuquerque was nice, very nice.

OLD TOWN.
What a simply gorgeous little town. Being in the lighting business i notice the architecture of almost every place i go right away. This town with all the adobe architecture is just a joy to walk around. The only thing that got to me way how dry the air was. After about 3 hour i felt like i could drink a lake. Albuquerque for being such a dry town as it is makes a lot of ice cream. When you parched, tired, and a little lost there is nothing like sitting in the shade and eating a home made ice cream cone. I have some picture that i am going to try and post.

I Really hate flying.
That is not an understatement. I can barely sleep on the plane and even with the i-pod the time goes by so slowly. On all 4 of my flight i happened to be in seat F. Seat F is by the window. When i get nervous i either smoke or drink a lot of water/soda. Problem lies that right before the flight I go to the bathroom. But as soon as we take off I feel like I have to go again. Then when i do really have to go the dude in the isle seat is already asleep and I can not bring myself to wake him up and ask him to move.

I Love Southerners.
I love how polite they are, even when you face them with adversity. While sitting at dinner when I was asked how i take my coffee, she asked "how I take it?" "WOW, So many comments, so little time. I was in a pretty good mood and came back with a fairly descent comment. ("I don't know what the guys have told you, but I am not like that.") She smiled, then asked if i would prefer cream and sugar on the side. I politely said yes and was done with it.

Southern food....
WOW, WOW, WOW. Going down south and eating is like stepping into another world. just the best tasting food with all of the spices and everything else they throw into it. I have no idea of half of the stuff i was eating but it was good.

Late and i gotta run.
Should have a much longer post tomorrow.

Later,

DJD

2 DAYS AND COUNTING

2 DAYS AND COUNTING TILL...........



I leave for Albuquerque New Mexico...

I guess we really did not think when we booked the airline tickets. My flight takes off at 6am on Sunday morning. Which means.

#1 - I have to get up at 3am to get to the airport by 4ish to check in my car. Then take the ride into the airport and get threw security. The sit in the airport and wait, some more.

#2 - Have to take the 35 minute drive to the other side of Hartford at 3:30 in the morning. With the other morons out on the road at 3am in the morning. That is kind of scary.

#3 - I do not go to bed too early so getting up at 3am should be pretty interesting. I land in NM at about 11:30 after a short (hour and a half) layover in Dallas. I was planning on renting a car and going to old town for a few hours before hitting the bed and getting rested for Mondays meetings. But NooooooooooooooHooooooooooooooooo......................

#4 - They schedule a meeting, a "get together" meeting at the hotel for 5pm on Sunday night. I know exactly what is going to be. There will be about 45 guys there from around the country jet lagged and drinking getting ready for the meetings. There goes the small amount of time i had for myself. (Not happy about that fact.)

2 DAYS UNTIL I TURN 37...
I am not happy about that fact either. I like being 36, I liked being 25 better, but that will never happen again. I am really not turning 37 I will actually be about 2.7 years old. That is about how long I have been sober now.
Funny, I turn 37 on Saturday and less than 24 hrs later i am on a flight to NM. I really did not think about it when i said i would go for the meeting.
It will be nice to see another part of the country. Who knows when i will be back. But again with the schedule i have to keep there will not be alot of time to go out and look around. To bad everyone tells me i have to see so and soo when i get there.
I suppose if i would have thought this thing out i would have flow in on Saturday and spent my birthday in New Mexico driving around and look at everything. Hind site IS always 20/20.

Well It's late and i am getting tired.
We'll deal with the Met's, Yankee's, Red Sox, and Seattle tomorrow night.

PEACE.

DJD

Workout, Baseball and Idol

In no particular order.....

IDOL GIVES BACK.........
This is kind of like the St. Jude's but with entertainment. (Wait, that was kind of bad. I love St. Jude's and give every year.)
I do watch this every year (for the last three) and am quite glad this year they are focusing a little more on the problems in America. It's only about 9:30 and they have still not kicked anyone off yet. I think were going to be surprised this week with who gets booted.

BASEBALL..................
I love this time of the year. The grass smells a little better. The sun comes up a little earlier, Andy Pettite is coming off his first DL stint. I can not believe the Tigers have still not won a game yet.
Only 6-7 games into the season and i have already heard some of them talking about the playoffs. IE: The Tigers are 0-6 and no team 0-6 have ever made it to the playoffs. Seee.....
Did you know Baltimore is in 1st place? The Red Sox are in last place and the Yankee's are in the tanker with everyone else.
Granted, this is only a week and a half into the season but.. If someone had told you in spring training that this was to happen in the first week you would have thought them crazy? I would have.
I think it is still a little Earlie to write anyone off thought. My team to watch for this year is the Ray's. Not the Devil Rays, But the Ray's..... Catch the fever...............

WORKOUT......
I am back to a pretty descent schedule. I feel better than i have in several weeks.
Random Thought: If i had a body like Maria Carie's I'd never leave the house. Holy crap does she look good. I though the camera put on 10lb's?
Getting back into a routine and pushing myself to work out every day was the best thing I have done in the past few weeks. I have been going 3 days on and 3 days off and the one day off i have been trying to do a little cardio. The weather is getting better and i have been itching to get on the mountain bike and take a long ride.

Forrest vs, Rampage....
This is going to be a fun season on the ultimate fighter. Forrest Griffin vs. Rampage Jackson. I have no clue if they even like each other or not but went the season is complete i have a feeling they will not like each other at all. (This usually happens.) Dana is pretty good at matching the coaches up to opponents that already have a descent "dislike" of one another. But get them going head to head for 13 or 14 weeks and as soon as the get in the octagon things have a way of exploding.
Rampage and Forrest are both pretty funny dude's so i am going to be tune in just for the comedy factor of the whole thing. I am going to be making a point of trying to blog while the show is on.
Jeremiah from Mississippi? Holy crap. Kid has no teeth but a ton of heart. (You'll see him again. Trust me. If Dana mentions something about this kid on the air, You'll be seeing him again somewhere, somehow.)

Gotta run. Up early tomorrow. Job to quote, other reps to piss off.

Peace.....................

DJD

3 Days in Asheville

3 Days in Asheville, N.C.
Beautiful town and very nice people.
With all of the meetings and class's i took there was not a lot of time for site seeing. The closest i got to seeing something was when i took a walk to the shell station to get some water and a pack of smokes. (yah, I'm still smoking,)

The Holiday Inn was quite pleasant and had some pretty descent food. Breakfast at a hotel, alot of times, leaves something to be desired. But this was quite enjoyable. I just felt a little sorry for those who spent the entire night in the bars and all they could woof down was a little coffee and some toast.

Fish out of water...
I did feel a little out of place. N.C. is a little layed back. Up here things tend to move a little faster than the rest of the country. I was only there for a few days but i did manage to come back with a little bit of an accent. Ya'll is the most common of the phrases i came back with.

The plane ride.........
To Asheville was uneventful. Plenty of room to stretch out on the Delta flights. The only thing that got me was when we got to Charlotte. From Charlotte to Asheville is about 2 hours by car. By plane it is 23 minutes. With propellers.
I did not think they used planes with propellers anymore. (Apparently, they still do) I have never been on a prop plane before and i got stuck one seat ahead to where is spins. All i did for most of the plane ride was stare out the window and repeat "Please do not stop, Please do not stop".

Now the plane rides back.................
Was a completely different story.....
They were having tornado's in Atlanta so everything from the Mason Dixon line up and down was all screwed up. Luckily my plane was not effected, but there were scrambling to get people on to different planes top get them home. I spoke with one guy who was going to California by was of Minnesota.
Now i do not mind (much) people sitting next to me, but, I was kind of in a bad mood. On the ride down I was sitting next to one of the guys who came up from D.C. Nice kid and we had a very pleasant conversation about business for a few minutes and then i turned my I-pod on and took a 30 minute nap. Before in know it were down in the Cincinnati Airport. (Which, but the way, is actually in Kentucky.)
I get off the plane and walk the 3 miles to the other side of the terminal where i am to catch my connecting flight. (not a bad walk. alot of different lighting fixture all around the airport so I was complete occupied for the time being.)
I get to my destination and see my flight is delayed for about a hour. No problem. I'm hungry and happened to have passed an Outback Steakhouse on my way. I'm hungry. Lets get some food. I walk in and sit at the bar. Order a 7up and some wings. While sitting there watching sports center i see an ash tray's on the bar. Being from out of town i ask the bar tender if we could actually smoke at the bar. Why Yes, he replies. So i fire up a smoke. This dude next to me on his 5th rum and coke starts mumbling under his breath about me lighting up. He's drunk and i am not in a good mood. Bad move on his part. For those of you who do happen to smoke it is a pretty descent science when you exhale and where you can direct it to and what kind of stream you can produce by how you position your mouth. (I am very good at it.)
(one more point before i go any further. I am 5-10" 240lb, he's 5-nothing and 150lb with his suite on.)
Inhale, Enjoy, Pull lips to right, small round opening pointed directly at his head.
EX..................
HALE...........................
SLOWLY..........................
With Purpose...................................................

The bartender kinda knew what i was doing after about 3 drags and gave me the look. I quit but to prove my point a turned my head towards the gentleman and politely asked him if he had anything else he would like to get off of the 3 working brain cells he still had functioning. Guess he was still rational and proceeded to keep his mouth shut. I, on the other hand, went back to being my usual polite self and after each drag blew the smoke directly into the air at the exhaust fan.

Loading and unloading of your baggage.....
I know the airlines have rules about how many bags you can take on the plane. But on my flight from Cincy to Hartford everyone must have had 3 bags. No one could find a place to store there luggage with out going incredible Hulk on the overhead compartments. Well everyone finally got there luggage away and we take off. I did not notice it much at first until "professor-smell-alot" besides me decided to turn on the air. He F-ing STUNK...........
He looked like a normal guy. Business suite. He, like everyone else, had too many bags and actually had to kick one of his carry on's under the seat. When i say kick, Like a mule kicking a farmer, KICK.
Not a word was said between us on the way up. I could tell he was not from these parts. Because when i nudged his elbow away from my rib with a nice little elbow he looked at me like i had stole his lunch money. Look, my smirk, eye's, and body language told him, I'm not too happy right now so move your elbow away from MY armrest and ribs and i will not have to rip your head off.
He agreed. I popped in a piece of gum and turned my air blower towards his to clear the air of the stink and i was pretty well for the balance of the flight.

The drive home.................
Was o.k.
I know everyone just got off the plane and are tired, But do you really need to do 50mph in a 65mph zone? Soon as i got on 91 and passed all of you who were driving and sleeping on the way home i was good.
Cruise control set at 73? - check
Window down to let some cold air in? - check
Radio on full blast? - check
Greenday on the radio? - check

Airport to home - 29 minutes.
from door to bathroom, 1.5 seconds.
Bathroom to bed - 3 minutes (pit stop for a glass of milk and a ice cram sandwich)
Getting in your own bed after a long trip - priceless........

Peace...............

DJD