The Snowball Effect Part 1

Do you ever start a project and before you know it, it's turned into a whole mess more work than what you bargained for?  I call that the Snowball Effect and it seems to happen to me a lot. 

Every year when we open the lake house in the spring, there's always little things that need to be done.  You know, clean away the cobwebs and the dust that accumulated over the winter, open the windows, clean up the yard, that kind of thing.  So Chablis and I started on the yard, pulling weeds around the patio and spray painting the lawn furniture....

Swept off the back deck and pulled out the deck chairs.....

Cleaned out under the deck where we found the remains of an old army soldier that Tony and his friend had strapped a cherry bomb onto a couple of years ago...... Another one bites the dust.....

Petey inspected our work and kept getting his chain wrapped around everything.  He is no help!

Weeded the back garden and planted some flowers and tomato plants.....

So ok, that wasn't bad and it only took us 2 mornings to get that done and then we moved inside the house because I was itching to move the front room furniture around.  I hate our front room - it's long and narrow and just such a stupid shape.  We decided to dust and vacuum everything as we shoved the furniture around into a new arrangement.  So this is what it looks like now and at least we can get the front windows open and actually sit and look outside....

You would think I'd be happy with all that and just leave well enough alone.  But I can't, because I am insane and this is where the snowball effect came in.  Last year we had a mild earthquake in our area and it rocked the ceiling loose in Chablis' bedroom and the main bathroom.  Since it was the middle of summer and we had more important things to be doing, like swimming, fishing and water skiing, we had just taken a bunch of screws and the power drill and shoved the ceilings back into place.....more or less.....  And it looked like crap but I just sort of ignored it.  Until now.   Like I said, Snowball Effect.....

We go back into Chablis' room and I took one look at the ceiling and decided now was the time to get that fixed.  We pulled out the drill, screws and some spackle, climbed up on a ladder and got the ceiling back together and spackled in.  As I was standing on the ladder my little pea brain started spinning and I decided that we may as well paint the ceiling and since we were going to go to all that trouble, then we may as well paint the whole room because I hated the pink walls and before I knew it, we were on our way to town to get paint, and brushes, and rollers and drop cloths.  Did I mention that I'm insane?

So we cleaned all the furniture, took down the curtains and the shelves, spackled holes, shoved the furniture out of the way and painted the room.  But you'll have to come back and read the next post to see the finished results as well as the other project we tackled.

Some Really Big News

Well today I got a big surprise and a huge honor - I've been asked to become a weekly contributor and administrative author at my favorite geocaching blog - CacheCrazy!  Woo -hoo!!

As you all know, I've been submitting posts over there for quite some time now and I really enjoy writing for CacheCrazy.  The authors over there are a great bunch of writers and geocachers who share their adventures and stories from around the globe.  It's a wonderful group to be associated with and I can't thank Kevin enough for asking me to join their team.

Stop over at CacheCrazy and check them out.  If you want to know anything about geocaching - you'll find it there.  And if you're already a geocacher, share your stories with us.  We've love to have you.

Book Review - The Adventurers Guide to the Outdoors

BOOK REVIEW - The Adventurer's Guide to the Outdoors

Rizzoli Publishing is releasing  © The Adventurer’s Guide to the Outdoors, Universe, 2013 and I can't tell you how excited I was to get a copy of this hardcover book in my hands.  As a lifelong camper, hiker and nature lover, this is the type of book that I can truly appreciate.  Written by Guy Grieve, it showcases 100 essential skills for surviving in the wild with easy to follow explanations,  light humor and clear illustrations.

The first thing I really liked about the book was the bright red hard cover, embossed with black lettering and a great outdoors illustration.  If you love books like I do, then you'll understand what I mean when I say that the book is a pleasure to hold and run your hands across.  At 7" x 9" and 292 pages, it's the perfect size to sit and read in your favorite chair, but equally easy to toss into your bag or backpack.

The book is broken down into 9 chapters.  My favorite chapter was the first one - Getting Ready.  Experienced or not, this chapter is filled with excellent information on basic supplies, the best types of clothing and shoes to have, and equally important, what not to bother taking along.  Study up on the climate, terrain and weather patterns you may be experiencing and how to plan your route. 

The use of GPS units is becoming almost commonplace in the outdoors, but believe it or not, there are situations where a GPS will do you no good.  Get a compass and learn to use it.  The section on compass instruction is particularly good and informative.

Knowing how to set up a campfire and actually starting a fire is certainly an important outdoors skill.  What would you do if you're out in the woods and you don't have a lighter and your matches are wet?  If you read, study and teach yourself to use the bow and drill method, you'll never panic if the situation arises. 

Want to float down a lazy river, cross a pond or just sit back and let the current do the work?  Learn how to make a raft, complete with a dry deck.

One complete chapter is devoted to "Climate and Terrains of the World" and includes..

• Temperate
• Mediterranean
• Alpine
• Tropical
• Tundra and polar
• Savannah and desert

Each climate is broken down to include different areas around the world, as well as the temperature, rainfall, plants, animals and survival tips specific to that particular climate.  The nice thing about this section is that it encompasses areas around the globe, so the tips in this entire book really apply to most countries and many different outdoor situations.

There is a wide variety of information that can be used in numerous settings - things like finding and purifying water, starting a fire, preparing a meal, digging a toilet, what to do in an emergency, hunting or fishing for food, building a shelter and rescue techniques. The section on Observing and Hunting Prey gives tips on where to locate different animals, how to hunt them and includes an excellent chart showing track patterns along with a wide variety of footprints.  I seriously doubt I'll ever be in a situation where I need to build an igloo, but if I am, I will be prepared!  The instructions and illustrations on how to build one almost made me wish we still had a few feet of snow left in the yard.  For me, that was one of the most interesting sections in the whole book.

Rizzoli Publishing has once again released a winner!  I enjoyed the light touches of humor throughout the book, the excellent descriptions and how well everything was organized.  Chock full of practical advice on 100 essential skills, this is one handbook that any outdoors minded person would enjoy and treasure.

If you're looking for a hardcore survivalist guide, this is not the book for you.  As openly stated in the Foreword the reader is given ideas at a basic or beginners level about how to go about a task.  For a seasoned outdoors person this may not provide enough in-depth information.  But this resourceful book will definitely provide most people with a basic knowledge of practical outdoor skills for a wide variety of situations.  If you enjoy the great outdoors, the wilderness or adventure, then this book is for you!  It is packed full of advice and no matter how experienced you are in the great outdoors, this book will probably share something with you that you'll find useful.  Youngsters just discovering the great outdoors will delight in this book and it will benefit them for years to come.  Adults will surely learn new things and who knows, you may be looking at deer tracks in a whole new way or waiting for the next big snowfall so you can build an igloo!  Give me a call - I'll come help you.

As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.   Get your copy here

I was provided an advance copy of the book for review purposes and asked to give an honest review. All opinions are my own.

All illustrations credited to: © Sam Chelton, The Adventurer’s Guide to the Outdoors, Universe, 2013.
All photos and illustrations property of Rizzoli Publications.  Do not reproduce.

Awesome Garcia Rods

Last summer we did a gear review on a Garcia Veritas Rod.  You can go back and read the review here.

Well, the guys have been using this rod a lot and the general consensus is "awesome rod!"  You don't have to take my word for it - a picture speaks a thousand words.....

Like I said - AWESOME rod!  Visit the Abu Garcia website and check them out for yourself.

Tater Day 2013

"Tater Day" is an annual festival that has been held in Marshall County, Kentucky since the mid 1800's.  Marshall County was founded in 1843 and on the first Monday of every April, the farmers would gather in town to trade sweet potato slips to plant and grow on their farms.  Sweet potatoes are grown by planting the slip, or sprout, that is grown from a parent potato.   Each spring the framers would begin planting their crops by early April, so it was decided that the first Monday of April would be Tater Day and the farmers would come from miles around. 

At the same time pigs, chickens, goats, cows and other livestock would also be traded.  Hunting dogs would be compared and purchased.  As time went by and the population of Marshall County expanded, so did the Tater Day Festival.  Soon medicine men were selling elixirs and politicians were shaking hands, women were buying dress goods and pots and pans.  As time went by, the festival grew even more and soon movies were being shown, carnivals were running, concerts were performed and parades went through the town.  Tater Day had blossomed into a huge annual event.

Times have changed and farmers no longer need to trade their tater slips, but that didn't put an end to the Tater Day festivities.  Today it's a huge, 3 day event that draws crowds upwards of 60,000.  Tater Day is so popular that the area schools close down on that Monday because so many kids skipped school to attend the festival.  The event begins the Saturday before Tater Day and hosts a Tater trot.

We happened to be in Kentucky last week so we decided to check out the Tater Day Festival on Saturday.  Even arriving at 10:00 we found it already crowded and we drove around for 10 minutes before I found a parking spot.  We headed down the main strip, where people in cars drive in a constant never ending parade, blowing horns, waving flags and shouting to friends on the street....

 

I took this picture for my friend Karen.  "Duck Commander!!!"  Quack, quack.....

There were lots of cute little bunnies for sale....

And dozens of merchandise stalls spilled out onto the sidewalks.  Personally, I was a little put off by the merchandise sellers this year.  We've been attending Tater Day on and off for the past 20 years.  They used to have a lot more booths with homemade items and crafty stuff.  This year seemed to be a lot more of flea market junk and cheap items.  I was disappointed in that.  This stall was the only one I actually saw that had some hand made things....

Food stalls lined the main drags and sell a wide variety of items....

There is no shortage of fried foods at Tater Day, that's for sure....

We walked around for awhile and decided to get a funnel cake and some ribbon fries.  I have to tell you this story because it's just too funny.   We picked a food booth and stood in line.  When it was our turn, Chablis asked for a Coke.  The woman behind the counter says, "We don't sell Coke products.  We have Pepsi, Mountain Dew, Root Beer and the like."  So Chablis says, "Ok, I'll have a Pepsi then."  The woman replied,  "Our pop machine is broken.  Do you want iced tea instead??"  LOL.   Chablis and I just looked at each other and tried not to laugh.  Seriously. 

So we ordered the food and I have to tell you, I was really disappointed in it.  We had carried it back to the car to eat because there was absolutely no place to sit.  The funnel cake tasted like it was cooked in old grease and the ribbon fries had absolutely no flavor what so ever.  Just terrible.  I half considered walking the 2 blocks back and asking for my money back, but we were so aggravated, hungry and thirsty by that time, that I just drove to the next town and we went and got a hamburger.
 

So that was our Tater Day experience this year.  Sadly, it wasn't a good reflection of an annual festival that I've enjoyed with my kids for many years.  Maybe it's gotten too big, too commercial, too overblown.  I didn't care for the carny atmosphere or the flea market marked down items.  I missed the old fashioned arts and crafts and the really good food.  Or maybe it was just an off day. 

If you'd like to read more about the annual Tater Day festival, go to this site.  Please don't let me dissuade you from attending and forming your own opinion.  Like I said, maybe it was just an off day for us.

Unite4Kids

I'm sure many of you remember my friend Mike McLaughlin from last years Appalachian Trail adventure that he hiked in order to raise funds for his "Hike4Kids" campaign.  In 6 months he raised almost $ 15,000.00 for underprivileged children.  Going by the trail name of Standing Bear he successfully thru hiked The Appalachian Trail and sent me regular blog posts about his journey and progress.  Here's the link to the first post if you missed them. 

Just search through my blog for links to the rest of the posts.  It was a really exciting series and if you missed them when they originally ran, you'll want to go back and read the posts.  This time Mike is up for another challenge that involves hiking to the top of 67 of our 4,000 foot east coast mountains and then cycling 4000 miles across America. For this event he's started a new group called "Unite4Kids."  Taken from the Unite4Kids website:

Unite4Kids is a movement with three primary goals:

(1) Raise awareness and be a voice for children who are neglected, abused, or mistreated

 (2) Raise funds for worthy charities that serve these children

 (3) Raise an army of volunteers for projects designed to help these children, such as YouthConnection and Unite4Kids

While we can never completely eradicate the mistreatment of children, we CAN change the outcomes for those children by giving them the tools and support to rise above the circumstances they were born into and go on to lead healthy and successful lives.

According to Mike....

"This summer I will be climbing 67 (4000 foot) mountain peaks to raise awareness for neglected and abused children.  My departure date for the 67 peaks in New England is July 20.  I chose that date because on July 19 I'm the keynote speaker at the graduation ceremony for an alternative high school here in St. Louis.  The mascot for the school is a plush lion, which I'll be bringing to the summit of each mountain for a photo.  Also, my wife received permission from her employer to join me.  The last week of the mountains will be the week before Labor Day, and several students will be joining me then to climb the Presidentials in NH. Then I'm returning for a semester of school, but in March I'll be beginning the speaking tour as I bicycle across the country.  Several charities are lining up speaking engagements for me in cities I'll be cycling through so I can share my story and further raise awareness for abused and neglected children. " 

Here's what the schedule looks like now:

 

• July-August 2013:  climb 67 four thousand footers

• March-May 2014:  bicycle 4,000 miles across the U.S. 

Mike goes on to say, "The new schedule permits me to speak at high schools, MBA programs, and other venues along the way.  The goal is to create as much awareness as possible and I think fusing the bicycle trip with speaking engagements accomplishes this. 

I've hosted several events for at-risk youth at local agencies to directly help the kids, and I've been meeting with contractors at my university to link up youth who are aging out of foster care with entry-level jobs so they can successfully transition to adulthood.

Since the schedule opens up May-June 2013 for me, I have decided to finish my Appalachian Trail book during that time.  I have written about 80 pages so far and hope to have the first draft finished by July. "

Mike speaks from experience when it comes to abused children.  You can go here to see his video and hear his story.  Given Mike's track record, I have no doubt he will complete this challenge.  Stay tuned for more details as they develop.  I told Mike I'd be happy to cover this event here on Snug Harbor Bay.  If you'd like to contact Mike to arrange a speaking engagement, please contact him through the Unite4Kids website. 

Please check out Mike's "Unite4Kids" FB page and LIKE it.  You can also visit the Unite4Kids website for more information, to make a donation or to volunteer your time.  Please consider helping.

Good luck Mike!
 (photos courtesy of Mike McLaughlin.  Do not use without permission)

The Happy Wanderer - Part 2

If you somehow missed Friday's Part 1 post, go back and read it so you get up to speed.  As I said, we were in Kentucky at the LBL (Land Between the Lakes) and decided to get out into the woods for a little hiking and geocaching.  The 2nd half of the day found Petey more comfortable in his surroundings and since we were deeper in the woods, we removed his leash so he could explore a little.  Here he is, hot on the geocaching trail....

Does he look like he's on point to you?

Cache found and secured ma'am!

Petey bringing up the rear...

The next cache took us to a great cliff overlooking the lake.  We tried to grab this cache last year but a family was camping right near ground zero.  This year the coast was clear and we quickly made the grab...

This next cache was my favorite cache of the day - Night Rider Spring.  I know, it was hard to top the fire tower cache, but I really liked this one because it was a nice hike through the woods to get to the cache location.  Petey has really taken to his new role as geocaching dog and led the way....

Near the cache location was a hiker shelter.  This is the first time we've come across one of these on the LBL, so it was fun to see it.

We checked the GPS which pointed that-a-way, and that meant up a steep incline.  I silently cursed myself for not grabbing our hiking poles out of the car.  Off we went....

Even Petey was determined to climb that hill....

We were rewarded with an easy to find ammo can...

Snoopy says "Hello there!!"

 Going down was a lot harder than going up.  We took the zig zag approach and I was laughing so hard I practically rolled down the hill.  Look at Louie clutching at that tree!  ROFL!!

In all we grabbed 7 caches for the day.  It felt so good to be out in the woods enjoying the springtime sunshine and warm temperatures.  We were barely a mile down the road towards home and Petey the geocaching wonderdog was fast asleep.

 Take a few minutes to go over to CacheCrazy and read this fantastic post by Kevin.  He's got pictures and video of an awesome cache they did a couple of weeks ago.  This post really gives an excellent example of the fun times you can have while geocaching.