2024 Bear Hunt Day 1 - Bombing The Nursing Home

It got cool enough overnight that the air conditioner quit, but it was humid enough outside to make it just clammy in the hotel room in the morning.  So after a quick shower and some futzing around, I packed up and hit the road.

It was early and still dark.  I love watching all the wind turbines all blinking in unison.

I passed through the most evil toll both in the world - Illinois tolls really suck - and I was into Wisconsin.

It started to get light right near Madison.  Traffic picked up just a little bit, but it was still early on a Saturday so it was never an issue.  Then I continue north and west.

I finished listening to The Ends of the World and it got a lot better as I got into it more.  Early in the book felt very repetitive, but later in the book there were a lot of interesting anecdotes about prehistoric animals, when they actually lived and how much time separated some of them.  I also came away with the belief that geology, paleontology and astronomy are all somewhat petty and driven too much by egos.  Being a scientist myself (chemistry), I can say I see this all too often at work...

There was one laugh-out-loud moment when the author was talking about the possibility of the dinosaurs' end and the huge asteroid that hit Mexico being completely coincidental since some believe the asteroid happened after the dinos were already dying out, and it was referred to as the "Bombing the Nursing Home Theory" - which I thought was really funny (maybe you had to be there...).  I also really liked how he went into detail about how some animals have adaptations to conditions and predators that no longer exist - meaning animals like pronghorns that are laughably fast compared to their predators are essentially running away from ghosts.  Although I guess they still can't outrun bullets.  All in all it was a pretty good book.  It ended on a mixed note which I found oddly comforting.  No matter what we (humans) do, on the geologic time scale, things will end up where they end up.  I am cosmically meaningless.

I didn't want to start a new book, so I listened to pod casts the rest of the trip.

The drive went well enough.  Temperatures started cool but got warmer.  Traffic remained light to tolerable the whole day.  I realized as I got near Eau Claire that I had finally started to relax a little bit.

As I continued heading north, the area got beautifully boggy and northy.  This kind of scenery always tells me I'm headed to an adventure.

I continued on to Baudette where I had a hotel at a fishing resort right on the river.  I loved the place - I may have to come up early on a future trip since I have never caught a sturgeon.  The view was absolutely gorgeous and right across the Rainy River was Canada.  I couldn't help think of my 2021 trip where I stared across the same river in Fort Fort Frances at the United States.

After wandering around for a little while I returned to my room to veg out before preparing to head across the border to bears in the morning.

2024 Bear Hunt Day -1 - A Year Older

I've been managing some health annoyances for years.  They were noticeably worse last year to the point that I was wondering if travel was going to have to be parked.  Either that, or I was finally compelled to "do something" about them.  This has not been easy ... or cheap.  I hate trying to navigate the complexities of the health care system.  I've spent more time with doctors over the last year than the previous 20 combined.  In a case of life imitates art in the form of The House of God, I was turfed to many doctors before I reached the actual surgeon.  But a few weeks ago I held my breath and put my life in the hands of a doctor.  My follow-up visit with the surgeon was exceedingly brief, "My work here is done."  I'm uncomfortable that things may deteriorate again, but am hopeful a few lifestyle changes will minimize that chance.  There are frequent reminders that I am aging, but all this crap has made me feel quite old at times.

And yet, more than anything, I'm ecstatic that my recovery has been rapid since I'm about to head north for my ninth bear hunt.  Unquestionably, I am very fortunate.

After a harried Thursday at work, there was nothing that required me to be at work Friday so I decided to work from home.  As a day before the Labor Day weekend, I was expecting it to be quiet.  And it was not.  I did get a quick dog walk in; it was so heart-warming seeing my older dog happy to have a cool morning walk and my younger dog able to walk with her bestie.  Oddly, I think my younger dog must have knew something was different since she slept in the "old dog spot" for quite a while.

Eventually early afternoon came around and I dumped a quote by Tupac Shakur into my Out of Office notification, wrapped up a few things and shut down.  I packed up my last things and was on the road.

I initially listened to the Henry James' story The Jolly Corner.  Spencer Brydon ends up walking his boyhood home being haunted by the ghost of who he could have been.  Timing was odd for a story about unlived lives.  A guy I used to work with just received a prestigous promotion at work.  It is totally deserved and I'm really happy for him, but it did make me think about how things could have been different for me.  Actually this whole concept of unlived lives is something I've been noodling all year...

Then I switched to non-fiction in the form of The Ends of the World by Peter Brannen.

The drive went well enough.  Indianapolis is perpetually under construction.  There was one slowdown just as I was getting out of Indy, but it didn't last too long.  Then on into Illinois and my hotel.

The hotel was nice enough (I guess), but had been refinished by someone who doesn't know plumbing.  But it was only for one night.

2024 Lake Erie Walleye Part II - A Spectacular Day

Last year a large property near where I live went up for sale for stupid money.  The price dropped through the year to the point it got mildly interesting.  Unfortunately, it was more interesting to someone else at the same time and they put in a bid that was accepted.  I was disappointed, but also oddly relieved.  I'm quite sure, had our bid been accepted, that it would now seem like an albatross.  I had talked with the farmer across from the property a few times throughout the summer, "Mostly I just want it for deer hunting."  That led to further comments and connecting with another neighbor Doug on both of our love for outdoor activities.  A few road conversations through the summer and Doug organized a Lake Erie Walleye trip.  "I'm in!"

Timing was perhaps not ideal, but I've used very little vacation so far.  Going with a few people I don't know has the potential to be awkward, but being willing to risk awkwardness might be important once in a while.

So after a full day of work Wednesday, I snuck out of work at the earliest possible moment, feeling like I was dodging 3 layers of management in the process.

Once at home, I took the dogs on a quick walk before finishing getting ready for fishing and buttoning everything up.

Doug showed up right near on-time and we headed to pick up Pat and James.  Pat had extensive outdoor experience, but this was to be a first for James.

We all spent the time getting to know each other on the trip north.  Traffic southbound was ugly near Dayton, but heading north was as smooth as Dayton ever is.

We stopped for dinner at Steak 'n Shake, breaking my over-a-year streak of not eating at any restaurants.  The food was surprisingly mediocre and quite disappointing; I'll have no problems starting a new longevity record of restaurant avoidance.  We got to the hotel after dark.  The hotel was basic but also right on the water.  I bet on the right day it is pretty.  Pat and I shared a room; thankfully we were both ready for sleep soon after getting there.

I was surprisingly able to sleep until 3:23.  When I woke up, my brain went into overdrive so I tried to busy myself with my phone, but the cell signal was so terrible that this was not possible.  I may have traded a lung for the WiFi password at that moment, but didn't want to turn on the light to risk further annoying Pat.  As it was I felt like I was a baboon banging gongs in the room.  Coffee and a quick shower and we met for breakfast.  I was glad I brought a few apples since gas station food looked even more disappointing than the previous evening's fast food.

It took a bit to find the marina before we piled into Ned's boat and headed out onto the lake.

The lake had big slow swells which were remnants of the previous day's winds.  But other than that, the morning was spectacular with light winds and a gorgeous sunrise.

We started fishing where we ended my July fishing.  We had a few hits, but it was slow.  Other chatter over the radio was already mentioning the slow fishing elsewhere.  Even the perch fishing sounded terrible.  Later in the day a head boat mentioned barely 1 fish per person.

Ned did his best moving us around.  We brought in many catfish (Doug kept a few), a few sheephead and thankfully a few walleye.  Eventually we ended up on "The Shoals" which was still really slow, but at least we were catching fish.  We would catch one or two walleye on each drift; it felt like we were being titrated with fish.  A drop of one more walleye and Ned takes us around, "...one more time."  A few of the fish were quite respectable in size.

Later in the day it started to feel like work.  But it was one of the most spectacular days I've ever seen on Lake Erie.  Almost no wind, just a hint of swells and perfect temperatures.

After catching the unlucky 13th walleye, we seemed to be stuck.  We went back to our starting point, and I instantly caught ... another catfish.  The bite after that just stopped.

With only four of us we had a bit more room on the boat, and between the weather and banter, it was a great day.  Thankfully, all of our personalities worked well.  Not knowing anyone going in, I was glad none of the other guys were complainers.

Fish cleaning didn't take too long before we were headed south.  It took forever to get to I-75, but once we got there, getting home went pretty fast.  Thankfully Dayton cooperated.

During one lull in the conversation, I started to try to contrast my two recent Erie fishing trips.  Obviously the fishing was better in July, with better weather on this trip.  But the biggest difference was the people.  I thoroughly enjoyed both, but on the July trip, with mostly "work" people, I felt like I had to maintain a work filter at least loosely in place.  I'm not sure I ever really fit in anywhere, but on this second trip, I was a little freer to be something resembling me.

I got home right at dark.  A few minutes to button things up and I was in bed at nearly my normal time.  There is still much clean-up to do, which can happen over the weekend.

And the next (BIG) adventure is soon...