tubbylobster

misión cumplida Chile — thank you for restoring some of my faith in the human race.

i guess the last month or so has been pretty eventful, even if it hasn’t been terribly productive. after the triathalon i endured two consecutive weekends of a wong tag-team, with the lone highlight being the stp show. i didn’t have the highest of hopes for it given how terrible their last one at the roy had sounded, but it ended up as quite possibly the best show i’ve ever been to. it was fun to hear the new stuff as well as some older, non-radio classics, including pretty penny and still remains (!). it was pretty awesome. and i’ll admit it was fun to attend with some people who could appreciate it, even if one of them was sam =)

also happy 30th samm n ross. it was fun to see (most) of the millers at the b-day shindig, and thanks for busting out all the awesome food and beer. i think i counted 6 kinds of meat for the build-your-own slider buffet, and the beer selection was top-notch if a bit stout: 120 min ipa, ww stout, bourbon county stout, and (at long last) surly darkness, which i think after the bourbon county was my favorite. we were also graced (however briefly) by charlie’s presence, and treated to a live performance of septimus + en memoriam by enlai. good times!

oh, and oscar had his 3rd birthday a couple friday’s ago. he still acts like he’s a fraction of that age, but he’s a great dog. <3

this is a little overdue, but the lotw trip was a great time. after making it to the first gas station over the border with just enough time to buy our ontario fishing licenses before the place closed, i got the feeling things were going to go well. while technically staying on minnesota soil in the northwest angle (the part that makes mn the northern-most state in the lower 48), we fished the upper portion of the lake in ontario water. without a guide we would have quickly become lost amongst the hundreds of islands, let alone had any clue where to fish; it was worth the extra cost.

the fishing was incredible. i know i’ve never seen that many walleye before, and certainly not as many big ones as we caught. and the best part was that it required about 2 cents worth of tackle: a lead head jig tipped with a frozen minnow. our proficiency at setting the hook on the bigger fish improved as time went on, but i’d guess we hooked maybe 1 in 10 strikes. but that still meant we spent a lot of time reeling in fish, it was a lot of fun. the guide even caught a muskie (the first one i’ve ever seen in the wild), and i landed a pretty decent northern, easily the biggest fish i’ve ever caught. we managed to bring home our limit of walleye (4 apiece), as well as some monster perch and crappie. definitely looking forward to trying out some new ways to cook fish.

next destination for the amazing scuttling crustacean: canada. i leave in 7 hours for a fishing trip to the canadian side of lake of the woods with all the males from my dad’s side of the family (all 5 of us). looking forward to a short break as i just finished the rough draft on my final thesis chapter. wish us luck!

i made a return trip to the UP this weekend, this time to copper harbor for my first-ever triathalon — and managed to survive! not only that, i think i did pretty well, finishing 25th out of 100 or so. also not too bad considering i’m a poor swimmer (78th ‘fastest’ time, lol) but made up for it on the run with the 5th fastest run time. more importantly it was actually a lot of fun, even the swim. the course was beautiful, and the biking portion was especially kick-ass; it’s a lot of fun to ride with the wind to your back along curves and (mostly) gentle hills right next to lake superior. and naturally the weather was perfect, unlike in mpls.

the UP, as always, supplied plenty of scenery and very few people to spoil it. we spent the afternoon following the race on a quiet beach in bete grise bay, drinking beer and catching a few z’s. (doesn’t get much better than that, right?) on the trip home we drove through porcupine mountains state park and visited the presque isle river and a lookout area somewhere (can’t remember the name). the keweenaw is definitely a pretty area, and i’d look forward to an excuse to go back up sometime.

i’ve finally discovered a place to buy all sorts of awesome beers: wisconsin. a mere 20-mile drive puts an unbelievable selection at my disposal, including stone, dogfish head, three floyds, and of course new glarus and south shore, among others. oh, and i can purchase on sunday if i like (which i did today after a soccer game just over the river). too bad it took me six years to figure this out…