Sheldon's 1998 Ural Deco - Week 26
"Wild River"
(1960)
Day 156, Sunday July 11, 1999...
Son #1 was moving today. Unfortunately this is the week of "Car
Craft" in Minneapolis. It is a huge hot rod show, races, and all kinds of
events, put on by Car Craft Magazine. Last year Aaron almost won the "Burn Out
Contest" but lost oil pressure on the last event. He is really into this and so
are all of his friends, hence the problem. They were all in Minneapolis this weekend
and there was no one to help him move. The house that he has rented for a year was
sold and he had to move. So daddy was volunteered to help, and one of his friends,
Jim, stayed behind to assist. Happily Christal volunteered to help, and her sons
Dyami, Shawn, their friend Mike and Shawn's girlfriend Jaci also volunteered. So I
showed up with a crew of six and with Tami, Aaron and Jim that made a crew of 9. We
did the whole job, packing the old house, loading, driving to new house and unloading, in
about two hours. That has to be some kind of record in my book.
Afterwards I came home, mowed the back part of the lawn, picked
"undesirable" plants from my gardens, worked on the computer for a litle while
then went for the first ride of the day. Took the Deco and just went for a ride
around the area. Came home and worked some more around the house. Even went
out and picked blueberries in the back yard. Turned out that I not only plant berry
bushes for the birds but now I pick them for them. I sat the bucket of berries on
the edge of the deck while I went in the garage to do a couple things. When I came out the
berry bucket was on the ground and a blue jay was flying away from it. The berries
were all gone. I couldn't believe it. This year I planted
strawberries,
June berries, and tons of sunflowers just for the birds in the hopes that they would leave
my patches alone. Right! I think they are winning, but I do love watching
them, so I guess there is a tradeoff.
Later I went for another ride and rode through Jay Cooke State
Park and stopped at Thompson Dam. Because of the unusual amount of rain we have
gotten in the last couple of weeks the river was incredible. In the spring it is
always a torrent, but this time of year it is usually very docile. The Thompson Dam
is the location of the National Kayak Center and the Kayak and Canoe Institute so they
must have been in heaven today.
Went home and printed the design for the rally t-shirts and had to go back to Carlton
to drop them off at Silver Brook Embroidery. I taped the envelope to the outside of
their door and then I headed back to the river. This time I brought my camera, had a
great ride and the UDF was in full swing.
Monday - Thurs - On the road again...
Day 161, Friday July 16, 1999... Have
been out of town since early Tuesday morning at a company meeting in Door County
Wisconsin. I am now back at my office for an hour then it is off camping with
Christal for the weekend. I have been separated from the Internet for four days and
now won't touch it again until Monday night. Hope to catch you all up then. I
should have lots of photos and great stories, if I survive...
The week was spent at The
Landmark Resort in Egg Harbor Wisconsin. That is in Door County, overlooking
Green Bay, the bay, not the city. Spectacular place with all kinds of things to do,
except... We were there for the annual company planning meeting for Owens Forest
Products. We were in meetings from early morning until late evening and never really
had much of a chance to enjoy the place. The Landmark is an incredible
place but I had no opportunity to enjoy it. Had my computer with but I never even
had a chance to check my e-mail or update this site. In the morning I am leaving to
go camping with Christal and our friends Doug and Mary Jo and I will not be taking a
computer with me there either.
Day 162, Saturday July 17, 1999... The
weather forecast was for overcast and possible thunderstorms, yet the day dawned sunny and
bright. We were packed and ready to go by 8:00 a.m. when Doug and Mary Jo came for
us. It is amazing how much "stuff" four people can pack for two days
outdoors. We had the back of their Volvo station wagon completely full, and a car
top carrier stuffed. Off we went to Walker Minnesota and Itasca State
Park. Lake Itasca is the headwaters of the Mississippi River. An
incredible park, which was Minnesota's first state park, has over 32,000 acres, 100 lakes
and is the one place where a wader can cross the Mississippi by just walking.
We first checked in at our campground at Mantrap Lake in the State Forest.
It is a primitive campground with the only amenities being cleared spots with
picnic tables and outhouses. But it was certainly secluded and beautiful.
After we got our tents set up we piled in the car and headed to Itasca State Park and the
headwaters. Had a ball walking across the "Mighty" Mississippi river in
water only up to our knees. You can also walk across on a series of stones but I
really enjoyed crossing on the river bottom. It is only about fifty feet wide at
this point and the water temperature was very pleasant. Watched
an Eagle soar above us as we enjoyed the
pristine wilderness.
Then we took the wilderness road through the park and stopped at the
Largest White Pine in the park which is about four feet in Diameter and the largest Red
Pine in the state which is over three feet in diameter. Them's pretty big trees!
Most of the white pines in Minnesota were logged off at the turn of the last
century but there are still a few like this around that are well over 300 years old.
This one is about 350 years old.
We got back to our campground at about 7:00 p.m. and Christal cooked up a
dinner of roasted Chicken Breasts with all kinds of salads, fruit, and corn on the cob.
A gourmet meal in the outdoors...
You can e-mail Sheldon at sheldon@sheldonaubut.com
Check out Sheldon's Sportsman Diary
Check out the "European Motorcycle Universe"
Copyright 1989-2010, Sheldon T. Aubut, all rights reserved
Last modified:
March 22, 2011
For questions or comments about this site please e-mail
webmaster.
