Holidays 2009 - Part 2

Holiday time is always family time filled with eating, games, craziness, visiting, laughter...

The kitchen on Christmas day. Talking and laughing - who's cooking?

Aha! Looks like Kyle and Kamela are in charge of the mashed potatoes.

Sunday at Rhonda and Leonard's. Undoubtedly, Kamela and Ashley are up to something.

Game time!

Ashley is attempting to draw with her eyes closed.

It's just too easy to peek. Drawing for this team is serious business.

Kyle gives Grandpa a hand.

The sun's out. No need for long underwear and coveralls!

Racquetball is the next activity. Katia, Ashley, and Karmen in a highly competitive showdown.

Karmen whoopin' up on her Dad.

Back to the house for some more goofiness.
Cowgirl Ashley.

Katia, the original goofball!

Kyle moves from "ridee" to "rider".

Settlers of Catan. Even the laid-back become competitive and high-strung in this game.

Katia saw this pencil and decided it was just perfect.

Normal bowling!

Not-so-normal bowling!
Opposite hand.
Eyes closed.
Backwards between the legs (as demonstrated by Kamela).

Backwards between the legs demonstrated by Steve.
Granny style demonstrated by Rhonda.

"The Kicker" demonstrated by Karmen.

Holidays 2009 - Part 1

Last year, while decorating cookies at Thanksgiving time, one of the kids remarked that the cookie they had just decorated looked like the Chinese flag. That comment was the beginning. They decided to decorate an entire batch of cookies representing myriad countries, including some rather obscure nations. They then took the cookies to Grandma and Grandpa's and introduced a new "name game" - as in "how many countries can you identify by the flags handcrafted in icing"?

This year, the contest reached a new level.

Here they are selecting their 40 countries - all of which will have their flags displayed on graham crackers.

Next, Kyle is getting the colors "just right".

The process continues.

Giving attention to all the details.

Flag art is an intense work.

How many can you name? Don't feel bad if you miss a few! You're looking at the flags upside down.

The contest is now underway! Everyone has a list of the countries in hand and are attempting to match with a number located beside each 'flag'.

To other participants, the contest seems somewhat unfair as they observe two renowned "geography experts" comparing notes! In fact, a couple of participants "waved white flags", surrendered, and took a seat!

Ashley checks out the finer points to determine whether she is looking at Vietnam or Suriname.

The contest winner! Having traveled to Europe, Asia, and South America in the past year probably helped. Congratulations Katia!

Cold, Colder & Coldest

For years, man has endeavored to search out the limits of our very being. To test our strength both mental & physical. Climbing Mt. Everest & treks to the Poles, soaring in space and seeking out other frontiers such as Magellan & Fossett, Earhart & Livingstone, Lewis & Clark and many others have done. Some of these individuals were considered foolish for their adventure, others were considered heroes.

For the last 4 years, a handful of individuals from Central Illinois in search of adventure have been described (mostly by our spouses) as "foolish", "just plain silly", "crazy", etc. No, these outdoor lovers will never be listed in the "Adventurers Hall of Fame" nor will they become America's latest heroes. The Arctic, the Alaskan wilderness, shoot, even Wisconsin in wintertime overwhelm the nastiest, coldest days of an Illinois winter. So our overnight winter camping trip last Friday night just isn't likely to be made into a documentary for the Discovery Channel. Don't expect to see it chronicled in Outdoor Life or National Geographic's Adventure Magazine.

But, perhaps it is worthy of a BLOG.

OK, enough of the silly stuff.

This is the 3rd annual winter camping expedition. It started as a potential "one-time" event and was instigated because I wanted to share with my son Kyle, an experience similar to what I'd had a number of years ago with some close friends. Bruce, Rob & Robert elected to join Kyle & I and we had a great time. The next year, we had a couple new adventurers (Don & Doug) added to our group and this year Andy came aboard. Bruce, Rob & Don have had some of their children join us on occasion.

Friday, January 8, 2010
Brimfield, IL
Temp about 5 degrees
Approximately 12 inches of snow
Rob starts the fire!

In no time, the fire is roaring.

Rob, Andy & Doug survey the setup. The water is hot, the beans are simmering and the grill in the foreground suggests that venison steaks will soon be searing over the hot coals.

Yours truly starts the fried potatoes & onions.

Apparently, no one got a photo of the steaks on the grill but we did get a photo of the remaining beans & fried potatoes that were scrumptiously prepared in the cast iron cookware

Sunrise Saturday Morning
The fire is roaring again. Breakfast is on the way.
Temperature is -10 degrees.

Bruce is the breakfast guru. The eggs are about ready along with a leftover venison steak which is now deep-fried AND grilled.

Doug learned that hot eggs just removed from hot bacon grease stresses Styrofoam plates!

OK, up to now we've denied the claims that we are really a bunch of crazies. But get a load of this! Doug is preparing cinnamon rolls! It's -10 degrees!!. We are in the woods! But, Doug goes to work!
The mix needs 1.5 cups of 125-150 degree water. (Like we had a cooking thermometer hanging from a nearby tree!!!) Then the dough needs to rise! Yes, rise! Well, maybe we can do that. After all we have a fire! Somewhere between the -10 degree temp and the middle of the fire it must be room temperature! But none of us were quite sure just where that area might be. So, Doug takes a guess and sets it somewhere near the fire. They rise, despite the uncontrolled environment. Next thing on the little instruction sheet Doug is reading? Bake at 450 degrees!
We're in luck! We've got 450 degrees - somewhere.. It could be just over the flames? Just over the coals? Bruce told Doug if he got edible cinnamon rolls out of this process, Doug belonged in the "Winter Camping Hall of Fame"!

Well, what do you think?

A tour of our bedrooms.

This is where I slept. Just under the edge of a fallen tree. Don shot this photo of Bruce shooting a photo of me.

Don settled in on the opposite side of the downed tree from where I was and on the edge of a creek which is just beyond the end of Don's sleeping bag.

Doug

Bruce near his triple sleeping bag set-up.

Our group photo after breaking camp and just before heading home.
Bruce, Eldon, Don, Rob, Doug & Andy

For another perspective from this year's trip, see Rob's blog.

For Blogs on previous trips click here and here and here

IL Pheasants Missing - Found in SD

Those who have lived in Central Illinois longer than I tell me there was a time when seeing pheasants was commonplace and finding enough birds to hunt wasn't a dream. While there may be a few areas within the borders of IL that hold some pheasants, they are certainly few & far between and known only to a small number of bird hunting fanatics and accessible to an even smaller number of hunters.

For almost 24 years of residence in the upper-half of IL, I've seen a few pheasants on occasion but none the last couple years. Perhaps, like seeing deer 50 years ago, seeing a pheasant in recent years is an event worth noting. And seeing more than one would be worthy of diary notation if I were so inclined to keep such a journal. The reasons for the pheasants dramatically reduced numbers likely are varied but loss of habitat due to no more brushy, grassy fence rows, the increasing population of the wily & despised coyote and perhaps large numbers of raccoons are among the chief causes.

Included on my list of things to do while still of sound mind and body (although the body isn't quite as sound as it once was and the mind? Well, I think it's reasonably sound but I know my kids wonder sometimes.. but then I wondered about my Dad some too when I was a bit younger!) are elk hunting in CO or NM and antelope hunting in WY. Moose, caribou and perhaps bear are on the list as well if the opportunity ever presents itself. Pheasants in SD is/was on that list also and that seemed doable this year.

Looking for a hunting partner was one of my first issues. That quickly became a non-issue after talking to fellow hunter/gatherer Don with whom I've recently hunted turkey. We also enjoy talking at length about our respective deer hunts (we don't deer hunt in the same place), we have camped outdoors together, and best of all, Don knows the responsibility of providing food for his family which includes four hungry and growing children.

On Dec. 8 we headed to SD. Through one of the most exciting blizzards I've ever driven. The trip out is another entire story and worthy of it's own blog. But I don't have photos nor the time to give the details but suffice it to say, it ranks in the top 3 for most severe winter conditions in which I've been. With 4 wheel drive, no family to be concerned about, our winter sleeping bags in the back of the Tahoe we were ready for the adventure! We drove almost 8 hours in blowing, snowing & occasional white-out conditions before climbing into our sleeping bags inside the truck at 3 AM just off I-90 near Rochester MN.

Without going into all the details, perhaps the highlights of our hunt could be summed up as such.

1. Hunting public land without dogs in the part of the state where we hunted is not easy. We had to go with Plan B which included hunting areas of grass & brush in ditches along roads, state right of way, etc. Getting permission to private ground was not easy as so much of the land is leased to hunting clubs & outfitters.

2. SD residents said this may have been the best year in memory for pheasants. In South Central SD, there has been an infestation of mange among the coyote crowd and they have died off in massive numbers. The pheasants are crowing about their good luck! Numerous times we saw (mostly on land near the road that we couldn't hunt) not 5 birds, not 50 birds but 200, 300 or more birds contentedly watching us drive by or flying from cover if it was an area we could hunt. I've never seen anything like it.

3. Pheasant hunting is enormously enjoyable. Given the chance to do it again, I'm there!

One day's limit for two hunters...

Thurs AM the temp was -13. With a north wind. During the day temps were closer to zero. The wind was biting but the walking & insulated coveralls made it easy to overheat except for the exposed areas of the face.

The picture doesn't do justice to the beauty of these "Chinese Chickens".

Thanksgiving 2009

Brenda & I were delighted we could all 5 be together for Thanksgiving along with my parents. Additionally, we had Kim, Jeff & Greg to round out a wonderful day of feasting & fellowship!

We also enjoyed games, some music, hikes in the woods, target & trap shooting, a wiener roast and to top it all off, we were honored with our own personal package of lefse to take home, courtesy of the head of lefse production and resident Norwegian... my Dad.

Uffda!

Deer Season 2009 (Part 1)

The "Part 1" in the title is relevant due to the fact Illinois' deer season for shotgun is split into three days the weekend before Thanksgiving and four days the weekend after. So here is the report on Part 1.

Since Kyle is studying at Oklahoma State in Stillwater OK, he was eager to work out some sort of arrangement that would allow him make the 8 hour drive to Pike County IL and get in the woods. As it turned out, most of his classes the week of Thanksgiving were canceled - so he was able to hunt first season AND stay home for the entire holiday. We were all very happy he was able to be home that long! (His Mom was very, very happy!)

The three deer pictured below were taken opening day just about sunset. Kyle and I got all three of these within about a 10 minute span. The weather was warmer than we would have preferred but we had them all cut up and in the freezer pretty quickly. Beside the roasts & steaks, we got about 70-80 lbs of hamburger.

October Camping

We acquired a camper just before convention this year. Early August, it was. Not really sure why we didn't do it years ago when we had kids at home. Sometimes you don't see things real well as you zip down the road and then you look in the rear view mirror and get another perspective.

At any rate, my reasonably patient wife and I thought it would be great to spend the Labor Day weekend at a local State Park and get into the camping mode. This plan began to unravel just before the planned excursion and I spent about 35 hours at work over the Holiday. Not good, you might say.

The next good opportunity didn't arrive until Columbus Day weekend. Brenda had no school on Monday and things were now under control at my business so off we went. Sunday afternoon and Monday.

Now, I've asked my wife to join me on my winter camping expeditions and she has no interest. At least not yet. She did get a taste of cool (not cold) weather camping. It came complete with a short burst of sleet after we had settled in under the 3 or so blankets on Sunday evening. Of course, the camper heater kept us comfortable when we were inside and it was very enjoyable outside sitting around our small fire cooking the staple of all camping trips. Hot Dogs.

Shelter, warmth, scenery, something to read! Life is good!

Not exactly "my old flame" but similar I suppose...

Captivating.

Our only companions on our end of the campground.