I know, I know. You have been waiting and waiting. Thinking about asking me whats the hold up. Wondering if the great outdoors has some how disappeared from the Nimrod ranch. Alas my friends it has not. Work has kept me busy and being Daddy Nimrod has stole the time needed to type out Diary entries for your reading enjoyment. But to quote a great rock song “Here we go again (on our own).”
A well earned summer break has brought the Nimrod crew to the Great Not So White north. Turns out it was in conjunction with Mother Nature deciding to punish the inhabitants of a large portion of the USA. While picking some litter from a Yooper stream I realized mother nature was showing those who have repeatedly not taken care of her what they face if they continue to trash Gods beautiful creation.
Back up to the launch of the adventure. Yoop and I loaded up Monkey and Munda for the journey to the promise land. Rather than packing the rifles we brought our fishing poles, including Nimrods’ fly rod. Would anyone leave the fly rod at home when your going to the middle of some of the best trout streams in the State if not the world? Of course not even if you have no experience fly fishing for trout and the creeks maybe a hair over grown with trees and grass.
On the morning of the launch, I got out of work in the wee morning arrived home to pack the Yoopmobile. Normally we would load the lil’ Nimrods and point the beast north shortly after Nimrod arrived home. Not this time. There is a certain destination the Nimrod crew uses as a halfway break. Its also a long time favorite store for hunters and fisherman as they head into Michigan’s northland. Just so happens this certain slice of heaven (Jays Sporting Goods if your interested) was having its annual sidewalk sales with items in every department up to 80% off. Yea thats right; hunting and fishing stuff up to 80% off... 20 cents on a dollar. It was a closeout sale so we wanted to get there around opening or else we could miss out on a deal. Ya know the fugal Nimrod clan had to check this out.
We set sail about 7am, pointing the Yoopmobile east, then north, then east. Its not a straight cardinal direction to the northland but it works. Monkey and Munda did well on the first leg of the journey only bickering the majority of the time. Nimrod drove the first 50 miles. Far enough to get Yoop out of the concrete jungle of the GR into more laid back less crowded roads she could do less damage on. After that Nimrod crawled into the co-pilots seat and sunk into a pillow. Turned on the MP3 player to a new Wild Michigan Radio podcast. Go figure the main man Duran keeps you entertained throughout the show (both hours) and Nimrod didn’t get the much needed shut eye.
Before we knew it the ship was about to land on this slice of heaven. I had never been to this sale but Logger went a few years back and said the deals were out of this world. I was stoked. After we parked, Munda and I skipped hand in hand to the front door. “There it is Johnny!”
Before opening the doors we admired a sweet 3-D mural of deer and trees and other stuff on the side of the building. I started to get chills all over and I couldn’t open the door to the promise land. Yoop looked at me like I was nuts and said move I need to get to the little girls room and off her and Munda went.
Monkey and I worked our way the same direction. Checking out the sale items as we went. The true reason Yoop allowed me to attend this sale from the heavens was Nimrod is in the market for another compound bow. Late last summer Nimrod was playing lumberjack at Base Ops, clearing out an over grown tree line for Grey Beard and Knitter. You may remember last years hiatus entry. Since then every time I shoot Kabekona the pain shoots from my wrist like rays of light from the setting sun; except it lasts for a few weeks. I reluctantly came to the conclusion if there was going to be a 2011 Bow season I was going to have to change something.
Sadly that meant selling Kabekona and buying a compound. I hate to see the longbow go. She is gorgeous and shoots like a dream. Yet times change and we can change with them or miss the main event... Michigans Greatest season!
After some haggling, getting the shaft and then finding a competent employee at the second store location I walked out the door with a brand spanking new compound bow package and less one longbow. While I hate to see that longbow go, turns out the store manager was a traditional archery guy and will be taking good care of her. The total cost of $59 (thats right: fifty-nine dollars!!) out the door made letting her go much less painful. On the way to check out I meanders over to the fly fishing bins. I glanced at Yoop and she gave me a look. I had seen this look before but never really figured out what it meant. I decided not to push my luck made my way to the check out counter.
The rest of the trip was pretty painless. The wild ones in the back seat did well. Watched a few movies, bickered back and forth. You know typical family trip things that happen on summer vacation trips (of course Book and I never fought on trips as lil ones).
Munda woke up from a nap just before we arrived at the Mackinac Bridge. I preped Yoop by giving her a dose of sedative and handing her an unbreakable stick. If you didn’t know Yoop isn’t a fan of bridges. Especially ones that span around 5 miles at a few hundred feet over the surface of water that is a few hundred feet deep. I give her a hard time but she takes it in stride. Remind me later to tell you about crossing the Mackinac Bridge in winter with a few inches of fresh snow on the bridge deck and the weather eerily similar to a blizzard. Never knew a women that could bend quarters with her hand. I think squeezing them so hard they heat up near the melting point of the metal.
Anyway while we were crossing, Monkey was asking a bunch of questions as we crossed over the Big Mac bridge. He saw the expansion joints and asked what they were. Wanting the young man to be as knowledgeable as possible I explained how the expansion joints moved back and forth. I emphasized the lesson by joining my fingers on each hand and moving them back and forth, as the expansion joints will.
Yoop squeaked something about keeping hands on the steering wheel. I glanced over to her and for the sake of saving the dashboard from permanent finger marks from her hands, I put my hands back on the wheel. Some people just don’t get the importance of an on the spot lesson. A few hours later the Yoopmobile pulled into Loggers driveway and our fun really began. More to come, hopefully sooner than later.
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