Low tech and loving it

The wind to their backs and the smiles on their faces – Their laughter tells the story.

10 degrees of ....

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Walking the trail at the Waterloo River Basin. Ice encrusted trees as the temperatures drop. 10 degrees of crystallized perfection.
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Cold weather or not, we are out enjoying the weather with the dogs. Got in a nice long hike with Laura, my sister Jenny, Ben and the pups Scout, Tyler and Vinnie.

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That time of year. Indoor training in full swing. Laura putting in the hours on the bike trainer.
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Just stepped off of the homemade paddle simulator. Scout takes another lap around the dining room table. Everyone getting some exercise in.

Wintery Wisconsin Wonderland

The goal is to un-bury the boat house door to get a boat out for the New Years Day Paddle with the MadCityPadders. Our weatherman can't tell the difference between a light dusting and a large dumping of snow. 3" to 5"? How about a solid 7" out our door.

Scout is a lead dog for sure. We just ran him down this snow covered dirt road along side the car. He passed us up. We were doing 24 mph. He's a freak!!

Lots of snow. A great morning for a walk in the woods. Now I remember why I moved back from Hawaii to the Mid-West... The beer and brats!!! :-)

Been on the fence too long with my adventure trip planning. Time to make some serious decisions on 2008's adventures.

A canopy of snow in the Pines. Not a breath of air... Still and quiet... Outstanding morning!

Enjoy the day! - The Capt'n

Amazing

I have been staring at the paddle simulator for the last hour with coffee cup in hand, hoping to get in an hour or so of intervals. But the second cup of coffee is calling me to the kitchen which introduced me to Mr. Bagel, which shared his appreciation for Senor Cream Cheese which put me back in the computer chair... Blah! Am I becoming ... yes! I am Potato Man!!

But then an e-mail arrives.... adventure at the click of a mouse.

Blog: Journey on the Wild Coast

Website: http://www.groundtruthtrekking.org/

You gotta check out her 4000 mile journey by pack raft, foot and ski. Any time someone pushes off from shore in a rubber raft ( in the Alaskan winter mind you )and employs themselves running a small business making jewelry by melting glass with a giant magnifying lens: Sundrop Jewelry. I'm all in...

Sweet Judy! - The Capt'n

A time for reflection

Joseph Edward Murphy: Quotes: Reflection The law of attraction attracts to you everything you need, according to the nature of your thought life. Your environment and financial condition are the perfect reflection of your habitual thinking. Thought rules the world.

As 2007 comes to a close, a time for a quick glance back... Whoa!! Abort...abort!! (ctrl - alt - delete) It's a crazy mixed up world and I am smack dab in the middle of it!

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What the heck was I thinking - The Capt'n

What I really....

John was nice enough to send me some great pics from yesterday's paddle on the Wisconsin River... NO I WASN'T ABLE TO MAKE IT!!! What I really need is some advanced notice on these outings Mr. John... :-) Silbs, are you drooling?

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2nd Annual paddle/sail rendezvous

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We just set the dates for the 2nd Annual paddle/sail rendezvous for June 8th and 9th, 2008. We had a great showing of craft this past year. Hats off to John for hosting the event again.

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Check the Paddl'in Shop website for up-dates or if you are in the area, stop in. There is always water on the boil and a great selection of teas and coffee on hand... reasonably priced. Usually the cost of a good paddle/sailing story. if you don't have one... make one up. Arrr they love a good tall tale at the Paddl'in Shop.

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In the mid 30's , sun burning bright - land locked in a mound of snow ice and paperwork-perfect! - The Capt'n

Snow day

Laura and I hit the trail early with Scout to get a good trek in at the Waterloo River Basin. A great area to run dogs and back country ski. Today we hiked around for a couple hours.

Scout always ready to play took off on us for about 20 minutes chasing who knows what. We worked our way back along the trail and he finally caught up with us. The ole what you guys do'n, ain't this great look on his face.



Lots of great trails to take advantage of. Not too many people use this area. Most head to Lapham Peak with all the other gear and garb posers.

Scout never tires on the trail. A rare moment as he is actually sitting still for a moment.




We saw another guy (Mark) out there with his black labs - Scout and Glarus. The dogs had a ball chasing each other around. Perfect day for a hike.






Scout loves his sticks. When we first got Scout from the Dane County Shelter, he had no play skills. Not sure what the first 6 months of his life was like, but he is on easy street now.




No one appreciates the very special genius of your conversation as a dog does.- Christopher Morley

Dream State

It’s that time of year when we start looking at our vacation time and start making choices on what adventures we want to do in 2008. We have a couple big sporting vacations booked in already, the Everglades Challenge and the Louisville Ironman. Then we have the 5 day Hardcore Adventure Camp thrown in the mix, along with our second annual paddle / sail rendezvous.

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There is always room for more adventure…

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Laura has caught the adventure bug (actually never lost it) and beat me to the punch/paddle. She forwarded me some info on the Woodland Caribou Provincial Park. Wow...paddle paradise.
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Most of these dream trips are postponed until retirement as the typical two week American vacation does not offer enough time to get it all in. But this is worth investigating, even if it is done in part.
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Woodland Caribou Provincial Park, located between Red Lake and the Manitoba border, is home to large herds of woodland caribou. As Ontario's 5th largest Provincial Park, it offers over 1,600 kilometers of canoe routes.
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You can paddle the fur trade routes of the Hudson Bay and Northwest Companies or explore a chain of unnamed lakes. The abundance of connecting waterways provides the canoeist with the flexibility to plan unlimited and unique canoe routes within the park. You are more likely to see a woodland caribou, a moose or black bear than a human being.

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Woodland Caribou Park is accessed primarily by aircraft, but there is water access via Red Lake to the Gammon River System (Douglas Lake). Main water access points from the east are lakes such as Knox, Douglas, Leano, Sydney and Eagle.

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Not discounting what we have here locally...Chris at the paddling shop made a statement a few weeks back. "People drive through Wisconsin to paddle Quetico, but miss what is right in front of them in Wisconsin." Some outstanding paddling right out my back door. but none-the-less;

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I’ve sent away for some more specific information as dreams become reality with the first left out of the driveway. – The Capt’n

Tragedy on the Rock River

Right here in our playground.

Two persons died and another is missing after their snowmobile fell through the ice of the Rock River.The Jefferson County Sheriff's Department says a call received last evening at 6:22 p.m. told of three people on snowmobiles falling through the ice.

The rescue squad recovered one person, a female, who was taken to Watertown Hospital and later pronounced dead. More info and a time line of the rescue can be found at: Rescue time line.

What the community is saying

Posted by: curious Location: Madison Area Even though this a terrible situation, isn't a little to early for anybody to be on the ice???

Posted by: Anonymous Location: Watretown It's never a good thing when a thing like this happens yet it happens every year. Grown adults who should know better do things that I would expect from a 5 year old. It's poor judgement.... The river was only frozen sold for a week and had snow cover. The ice was only 2" thick with 2" of snow cover. Is it worth your life to get to a bar. Hats off to every rescue worker from Johnson Creek, Lake Mills, Jefferson and other communities who put their life's on the line to rescue or recover these people who continue have poor judgement. Stay off the ice until it's really safe! It's sad but a fact.

Posted by: A Friend Location: Lake Mills This was a tragedy that is all the more tragic because it could have been prevented. Hopefully this horrible accident can raise awareness to the dangers of traveling on the ice, and ultimately save the life of another. May they not have died in vain. The families have our thoughts and prayers.

Posted by: D Location: Johnson Creek Much thanks to Lake Mills Fire, Lake Mills EMS, Watertown Fire, Jefferson EMS, Fort Hospital ER and their Paramedic staff, the Jefferson County Sheriff's Office and Jefferson County Dispatch for all their help on the incident.

Posted by: C Location: Jefferson Our thoughts and prayers go out to the families, we know the woman's family and irregardless if it was a bad judgement call to cross the river, lives were lost, and it's a terribly sad situation.

Posted by: Anonymous Location: Fort Atkinson They should know better. That river is never all that safe.

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Ice Rescue Training Photos

Kids and stuff

Busy weekend with the cherubs. We hit the ground running with two showings of the Shorewood Showcase. ( at least 6 young performers that should try out for American Idol), one 7 year old birthday party ( Morgan - niece), a family gathering at the local bowling ally and last and least the moving of all our Mid-America Xtreme adventure gear to the new storage facility in Johnson's Creek.

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It's a wonder I got the girls to sit for this photo.

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Charts arrived for the Everglades Challenge on Saturday... thank goodness. Need to see where we are headed and do some route planning. Mid December already... crazy how fast time is going bye.

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Status Report

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I did manage to get in a couple of good weekend workouts... good upper body on Saturday and a good lower body on Sunday... and none of it included shovelling, whew!!

Give peace a chance / Give a piece of cake a chance - Not in our household. Still pushing maximum density and law enforcement has charged me with fabric abuse. Damn!!

Pass the gravy - The Capt'n

A balmy Minus - 9 degrees Fahrenheit

Boo on the Lemonweir River MCP paddle 2006

After reading the blogs of KiwiB and SandyB, Not to be left behind in our quests, I was pretty motivated to get my morning workout in. Then I stepped outside with the dog... yeah the themometer posting a minus 9 Fahrenheit.

So my speed plodding was cancelled do to common sense. Scout on the other hand thought it was an outstanding day for a run and proceeded without me... he found this huge stick and wrestled it around in the snow for an hour... he's a freak!!

Boo's posting yesterday... Is this good daddy? If not send me an e-mail is a good read. She is such a hoot!!

A daughter is the happy memories of the past, the joyful moments of the present, and the hope and promise of the future. -Author Unknown

An awakening

Photo by Christy

Another's perspective on why I spend most days on the lake. The last of the open water. I've been iced out early. With river flows non-existent, even the Crawfish and Rock have iced over. Looks like we'll be road tripping to get a paddle in this weekend. Boo, pack your snow shoes!

A dreamer is one who can only find his way by moonlight, and his punishment is that he sees the dawn before the rest of the world. - Oscar Wilde

what the...

OK... it is very wrong to be raking and shovelling in the same day on the same property. If you drove by and saw a bewilder man, late 40's with a rake in one hand and a shovel in the other... well, you have entered the bizzaro, the life of the Capt'n.

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We got dumped on - 3 hours of shovelling... [ enter falling to floor with back spasm and dog licking face ] what the...