Cindy's post:
     So much has happened since our last post.  I have adjusted to retirement like a baby to a bottle.  I love it and cherish every day.  Sam has adjusted to his career change and stays exceedingly busy.  Sometimes putting in very long days.  I make it my goal to remind Sam we must make time for play.  Which brings me to our latest adventure in the never ending pursuit of play time.

     Last fall we started the conversation of getting a camper.  My thoughts - "Oh how fun!  Something new to decorate!  Those retro campers are so cute!"  Sam's thoughts - "I can make one and keep it light for towing and customize it the way I want.  Maybe a teardrop design is the way to go."  So one Sunday morning after Sam did some searching, he found a location where we could look at a teardrop and also a man who had a vintage Shasta for sale.  The teardrop was north and the Shasta was southeast.  As we crossed over Interstate 65 there was a traffic jam going north.  We took that as a sign that we wouldn't look at the teardrop but travel south to see the Shasta.  Now, I was never really sold on the idea of Sam making one because I didn't want to wait.  I'm sure due to  my age (61), I feel such a sense of urgency to not put off any opportunities to enjoy life or to do fun things.  No one is guaranteed a future. So the thought of having to wait on Sam to build a camper seemed like time that could be lost.  I felt so strongly about it that I woke up Sam the night before at 3:00 am to tell him I didn't want to wait on him to build the camper.  As for the teardrop design, I really wanted a camper with a potty for night use.  Teardrops don't have that.  So, when I saw the traffic jam, I interpreted that as a sign from God that He also knew I needed that nighttime potty.  So, off we went to Lawrenceburg.  JUST TO LOOK.  It was a beautiful fall day and the address took us to a lovely home in the country and tucked away inside an old barn was a 1968 Shasta Compact camper.  She had a custom cover and the owner told us she stayed in the barn fulltime.  He had only taken her out a few times and she was used for card parties occasionally.

     Well, do I need to say anything else?  She was small and the closet needed to be converted into a potty.  I thought the smallness would make Sam happy because she would be light.  And I knew that construction on a potty wouldn't take my genius husband very long to do.  Sam and the owner talked outside of the camper while I opened drawers and gave her the general once over look.  There was a big fat mouse in a drawer who was as surprised as me when I opened the drawer but other than that, she was pretty darn sweet.  The owner stepped outside and with a glazed look on my face I told Sam that I really liked her and I wanted her.  A mixture of a smile, shock, and defeat was on Sam's face.  I have never seen that look before or since.  And then he uttered those sweet words, "If that's what you want...…"  BTW, Those are the sweetest words a husband can say to his wife.  Now let's talk $.  The owner came back in and I asked him what he would take.  And guess what?  It was the exact same amount I was willing to pay.  So I said the words that I soon came to regret, "We'll Take It!"  Arrangements were made for pick up and we spent the ride home notifying friends and family of our new purchase.  We decided to call her Sassy.  She was going to be our Sassy little Shasta.  

Sam and his good buddy Rocky went later in the week and brought her home.

     I was busy checking the calendar to schedule our first outing and even told Wilson, our dog, that he could come too.  I spent hours and hours pouring over fabric samples for curtains and Pinterest was my obsession for camping recipes.  

Sam is the yin to my yang and reminded me that there are a few things that must be done to make sure she is camp ready. As anxious as I was to take her out, he needed to make sure she didn't leak.  Well, guess what.  She did.  A lot. The roof had to be scraped and resurfaced.  Upon further inspection, the windows leaked which meant the walls had to be stripped out and she became naked down to the frame in order to fix it.  Twice.  The wiring needed updated and new lighting installed.  We redesigned the seating and Sam installed air conditioning and rebuilt the benches.  She still needs the furnace installed and the closet converted into a potty.  So she is a work in progress.  That's the bad news.  She has caused Sam lots of frustration and he has already spent many, many hours working on her.  I wish I had his knowledge so I could do it myself.  I can sew the cushions and curtains.  I can paint and I can decorate.  But I can't do the carpentry or mechanical stuff.   In some ways I wish I'd never said those 3 words.  But in the end, I really think we will make tons of fun memories in her and the grandkids are really looking forward to camping in her.  The good news is that she is resting comfortably in the new garage addition that we call The Toy Box.  It holds the Memory Maker (M squared) and Miss Friday as well as Sassy.  Sam worked incredibly hard all summer at construction for my sister and also building the Toy Box.  Our goal is that she will be all ready to take camping next Spring.  On a side note, I've not negotiated any other purchases.  We bought a 4 wheeler not long ago and I stayed in the truck while Sam negotiated the price.  We've decided that negotiating for the best price is not something I'm good at.

Here is Sassy all decorated for the holidays.

     We are one of those couples whose garage is twice the size of their home.  I'm sure there is a name for that condition.  Sam calls it lucky.  

And now, on to a different lane...….

     If you've read our previous blog entries, you know that we love snow and skiing.  We love cross country and downhill skiing.  A couple years ago, we traveled up to Crystal Mountain, MI to downhill ski and also to visit our good friend Captain Scott and Mary.  History lesson:  Scott & Mary are life long friends and Captain Scott gave us our first sailing lesson.  Now back to back to skiing: I must admit that as evening approaches and we're on the snow, I sometimes have trouble with depth perception while wearing goggles.  As the conditions that day became snowy and my legs were fatiguing, I went down a slope and had trouble reading the bumps and valleys and was going too fast.  I lost control and wiped out!  Not as bad as the skier shown on the intro of Wild World of Sports, but still a wipe out all the same.  Long story short, I messed up my shoulder.  Call it ignorance, stubbornness, or being too busy to get it checked out but in any case, I ignored my symptoms until I couldn't any longer.  Three weeks ago, I had the shoulder repaired and have been recovering from surgery.  Because Sam is such a sweetie, he took me to a vintage camper show in Lanesville to help stave off boredom.  While there, Sam was enamored by a little pop up camper.  He is planning a fishing trip west and thought that little pop up would be just the ticket.  We've also purchased the woods across the road from us and the pop up is narrow enough to go through the trails to a secluded camp site  Unfortunately, Sassy is too wide to get through the trees.  Dang!!!

So Sam researched and found a one owner Cox camper and it had original paper work.  Road trip!  A few weeks ago we left at O'Dark thirty and drove to Elkart and met the sweetest couple.  He was 83 and was strongly being urged by family members to start parting with possessions that he will no longer be using.  Enter... Sam.  So, we are now owners of 2 vintage campers and haven't camped a night in either.  That's the bad news.  The good news is that Poppy, the pop up camper, also fits in the toy box.  Sam has promised that he will indeed finish Sassy and we will take her camping.  I trust him and my goal is that we will play enough to use both campers to their fullest.

Poppy looks right at home in our woods.

     Poppy even came with 2 little cabinets, one for Sassy and one for Poppy, that can be used for outside meal prep.  There were 3 camping seats, camp stove, and miscellaneous other kitchen supplies.  

     We have a trip to CO in late winter and I'm really hoping my shoulder is ready for skiing.  I will follow doctors orders and do my physical therapy religiously in hopes of being strong enough.  I have a long way to go.  But it always helps to have a goal to keep a person focused. 

Until next time..... Stay safe and appreciate every day God gives you.

 

Miss Friday renovation continues

4-21-17

 Well it is almost sailing season here in southern Indiana but we are not quite ready to hit the water yet. We have a few weeks to go yet before we can take the Memory Maker back to her slip on Lake Monroe and work is still progressing on Miss Friday.
 I have continued to sand down the hull to get most of the paint off and I am down to the wood in a lot of areas.

 I sanded down to the wood here first to see what I was working with. It looks like the only areas to have any fiberglass on them are the seams. It almost looks like the rest of the boat was just sealed with paint.
 I continued to sand on her with my palm sander and 60 grit whenever I had time to get covered in sanding dust. By last Saturday I was almost done.

 I had seen an area on her stern when we picked her up that appeared to be cracked so I wanted to make sure I checked that area out and repaired it. Once I got the paint sanded off that area I could see we had bigger issues.

 This much polyester body filler is never a good thing to see. It all had to come out and  be repaired correctly if I was going to do this. So I gave up the sander and broke out the angle grinder with a fiber wheel because it was so darn thick. It took a while but I was finally able to get down to the wood under the repair.

 If she could only talk I would love to know what caused this damage. I just can't imagine it happen through normal use. I asked Adrian but he had no idea nor did he remember her ever being yellow either. That was her original color as the hull sides and stern where yellow with an off white bottom. Later she was painted off white all over.
 Who ever repaired her damage got rather creative as they used a piece of what I call chicken wire mesh as a back up for the fiberglass cloth and filler they used. I could not figure out what we would be causing the sparks as I was grinding the filler out with the fiber wheel.

 Once I got all the filler removed I could easily see where the sparks were coming from. I am in the process of getting the area all cleaned out and cutting a patch to go in that hole and will epoxy it into place once it is all ready.
 We plan on adding deck hatches to all 4 of the sealed areas both for access to storage space but also so I can epoxy the inside of those areas as well. It really looks like it is just raw wood inside the sealed area. Granted it has lasted 50 years like this but I would really like to see her last 50 more.
 I am hoping to get the patch glued in place tomorrow since it looks the weather will not be conducive to outside activity. That will give me time to work on her a bit before we go off to a disco party. Long story.
 I did fire up the motor for the Memory Maker last night and got her ready to go for another season. I know I should probably change the oil but it doesn't have 10 hours on it, it is as clean as it was the day I put it in, and is just as full. I am not doing it. She fired right up on the second pull. Thank God for Avgas. As long as I have access to aviation fuel I will never worry about fuel related issues with my small engines.
 Hopefully the next up date will show a repaired hole in Miss Friday's stern and we will be closer to actually sailing her.

Meet Mirror 1675

4-5-2017

 Mirror 1675, or Miss Friday as we have come to know her, is a very special little sailboat. Not only is she a 53 year old handmade wood sailboat but she was built in England in 1965 by the grandfather of a good friend of ours. She was handed down through the family to his parents who sailed her often in their younger days. Sadly his father passed away and his mother chose to downsize houses which meant Miss Friday would no longer have a spot to hang in the garage. That's where we entered the picture. Once we heard the story of the little sailboat we had to see her. As the story goes Adrian's grandfather who built her did not have to work on Friday's in England. Once he got her built she became his "Friday Mistress" as he was sailing her every Friday when the weather permitted. So his Friday Mistress turned into Miss Friday and the name stuck.
  Adrian loaded her up and brought her to his house where Cindy and I could meet the little girl. We found her sitting in the grass by his garage in pieces. I had done a little research on the model and knew just enough to be dangerous but in about 10 mins I had her all rigged and ready to hit the water!

 She is just the neatest little sailboat! Not bad for 53 year old sails!  It is so simplistic that it cracked me up how some of it worked. Between that and the fact that I am a sucker for a good story I had to have her! Adrian said his mum really wanted to see her go to someone who was going to fix her up and sail her again. I assured him that was our intention because to just look at her she was ready to sail away if she only had water and wind. We agreed on a price and then returned the next day with our flat bed trailer to take her to her new home. Lets see, that makes watercraft number #9 for us. Must be like shoes, you can never have enough.
 I could see a few areas of concern that needed to be addressed before we tried her out but I was hopeful we could at least sail her once to see how she did before we really dove into the restoration process. After making a few repairs I thought she was ready to give it a go so we loaded her back up on the trailer behind Juicy the Jeep and off we went to Starve Hollow state park. Again, it only took a few minutes to get her rigged and ready. Life jackets on, just in case. Time to splash her in the water.

 Cindy and I carried her down the boat ramp and set her in the water. Before we could even get our first foot in her she started taking on water, at a rather brisk rate I might add. It became apparent in just mere seconds we were not going to be able to sail her and if we did not hurry up and get her out of the water quickly we might have to drag her out with Juicy! Well Buggers!
 Back home we went, a bit bummed we did not get to sail her but excited at the prospect that we could eventually sail just mere minutes from our house instead of having to drive an hour to sail the Memory Maker at Lake Monroe. Don't worry. Were keeping the Memory maker, for now at least.
 With other projects to do first, Miss Friday sat patiently in the garage with the Memory Maker all winter waiting on me to get time to fix her. Well After finishing our bedroom built ins I finally made the time to get started on her. The first thing to do was to get her flipped over so I could start stripping away all the layers of paint from the last 50 years. Luckily she is very light, maybe 90 lbs, and I was able to get her set up on saw horses by myself as Cindy is still recovering from her ACL surgery.

 Here she is with all the keel strips removed and waiting for the temps to warm up enough that I can start stripping the paint. I had to make some measurements so I knew were the stern hardware went once I am done with the fiberglass and epoxy.

 It finally warmed up enough and the fun began.

 If you have stripped paint before you know it is far from fun. As I stripped off the layers I could see numerous stress cracks in the hull from age and a few areas of damage that had been repaired with what looks like JB weld. No wonder she made a better watering can than a boat when we put her in the water.
 I am down to the original paint on the bottom now but the stripper wont touch it.

 Once I get to that point on all the sides and stern I will start sanding with 60 grit and make the needed repairs to get her water tight again. Once that is done then I can cover her with 6 oz fiberglass cloth and start rolling on the epoxy.
 Cindy has already picked out the color of blue she wants me to paint the hull so hopefully in a month or so we will be ready to head back to a local lake and give her another try. If your wondering why I am trying to protect the gravel in the garage with the tarp it isn't so much about protecting the gravel as it is being able to clean up all the pieces of paint that I scrap off her. We are finally going to pour the concrete in the garage this year and I can't wait!!! We just hope we can still get the Memory Maker in the garage door once we do as it will be a bit shorter opening with the concrete.
 Hopefully the next time you see Miss Friday she will be naked!!!

Fishing in the Smokey's

3-22-17

 With Cindy off to Key West with her girlfriends on their annual spring break get away Bill and I finally go to take a fishing trip that we have been trying to do for several years now. We loaded up Shifty Sunday morning with our hiking packs loaded with camping and fishing gear then headed off to Townsend Tennessee to hike, camp, and fish for wild trout in the streams. We had been talking about and preparing for this trip for months and were really excited that the stars all aligned and we got to go.

                                                              Were going fishing!!!

 We left bill's house at 4:30 am and after a quick stop for breakfast at a local Waffle House were on our way. Our first stop was going to be Little River Outfitters in Townsend TN to pickup our fishing licenses and some new flies. We rolled into there about 10 am and were met at the door by these two sweeties.

 Gotta love shop doggies! Little River Outfitters is a really really nice fly fishing shop with great service. We picked up our flies, license, and very cool combination fly threader and knot tying tool. Bill might be able to fish without me being there to tie his flies on for him now but we will have to see LOL!
 After a quick sandwich at Subway it was time to head to Elkmont and get started on the hike in. We finished getting our gear all rigged up and then loaded up. Here we are all smiles before we headed up the trail.

 I don't know how are packs got so darn heavy but we were both hauling 45 pounds plus of gear. Granted it was still cold weather so we had more stuff to stay warm with, and our fishing gear, plus our hip waders. Ounces turn into pounds very quickly.
 We saw one fisherman on the hike in pretty close to the trail head but that was it. Not a good sign but too late now as we were committed. Here is Bill on one of the bridges on the way in.

 It was a very pretty hike and the temps were such that we did not get too hot. As we got closer to campsite 24 the trail narrowed down a bit and got a bit more adventurous. First there was the rock garden we had to rock hop across.

Then there was the water stepping stones.

 One more crossing to go and it was a log crossing. I hopped up on it and trotted across like a squirrel but Bill thought better of it with the way his waders we hopping around so I dropped my pack and went back across to carry his across. My legs did not realize I had dropped my pack and I nearly shot over the log when I went to hop up on it. that must have been what walking on the moon felt like as I felt like I could jump 10 feet straight up. Bill followed me across after I got his pack.

 We got to back country site 24 which some refer to as 3 forks due to three streams that come together. Neither of us had gotten wet so far so that was good. We picked a campsite and got the tents set up.

That is my little one man tent in the rear. Not only was it lighter than my two man tent but I thought I might be able to keep it half a degree warmer at night. It has plenty of room for one very limber person. Once camp was and the beer was in the natural cooler

 it was time to get to fishing! But first Bill had to tie one on

 If you look above Bill's right shoulder you can see my pack hanging on the bear cable system they provide for you to hang your pack and food with. Much easier than throwing bags full of rocks over tree limbs to hand your pack with.
 Once Bill was all setup we headed off for a couple of hours on the water in hopes of catching dinner. The scenery was very beautiful with the water cascading down the rocks

and we just knew there was a fish hiding behind each rock. Well, there should have been, and maybe there was but with the water temp barely above the 40 degree mark they were just not very interested in eating. I did manage to catch this small Brook Trout

 Sadly that would be the only one to grace the lenses of our cameras! Bill did catch one as well but his pic did not turn out due to the phone case. I guess it was a good thing i pack other food just in case we did not catch enough to eat.
 After fishing for a while it was time to start the fire and get supper cooking. We decided on Alfredo pasta with grilled chunk chicken breast. There was a couple of nice rocks that made great cook tables.

 Dinner was pretty darn tasty even if the noodles were not quite as soft as I would have liked for them to be. It was cooling off pretty quick since the sky had cleared off and we both knew it was going to get pretty chilly that night.
 Our only neighbors came by for a visit apologizing for bugging us but they wanted to ask us a question. Seems they were 6 college students from Chicago and they were curious how to get a fire to burn. First thing we asked was if they had dry wood. They responded, "What is that?". After a quick lesson on the best type of wood to find they went off in search of better fuel. It must have helped as we saw flames dancing over their fire pit soon there after.
 As the sun got lower in the sky the fire felt better and better. Here we are warming/drying our socks out over the fire.

Too bad we could not take that nice toasty feeling into our tents with us. Before long it was dark and with the fire dying down it was time to turn in. I always thought it would be very relaxing to sleep next to a babbling brook. It might be, but sleeping next to a thousand waterfalls was just down right annoying!!! I tossed and turned from 9 till probably 11 as I felt like I had two white noise machines strapped to my ears. I finally dozed off only to wake up needing to go #1. Darn beer.
 By now it was pretty darn chilly out and my upper body was cold. As I got out of my bag I realized my sleeping bag liner was not up all the way so I made sure to get it up further when I got back in. It made a huge difference and I am very glad I spent the money on the liner or I would have froze. A little while later my left should was cold and I discovered I did not have my my mummy bag zipped all the way up. After a few tries I was able to get it. I have to say my bag is none to long or wide as I fit nice and snugly in it. Once everything was pulled up and sealed up I was able to stay warm enough till about three when I woke up with cold feet. I put on a second pair of socks and tried to go back to sleep. By 6 am I had to pottie again and as I laid there trying to convince my self to get up I decided to just get up and go collect some more firewood and get the fire going again in hopes of getting warmed back up. The moon was only about 1/2 out but it was plenty bright to see and soon I had a nice stockpile of limbs for wood. By the time Bill finally crawled out of his castle I had a nice fire going. He wasted no time getting over by it to warm up. Seems someone forgot to pack their sleeping bag liner and he wound up putting on all the clothes he had to stay warm.
 Since we were not slaying the fish it was spam and eggs for breakfast cooked on the granite counter top.

I bought that light weight alloy skillet to cook fish in, not spam. But seeing how we were hungry and we did not catch any fish spam it was!
 Our original plan was to break camp and hike to site 23 but the last weather forecast was for strong storms that night so between that and the lack of fish we decided to fish till noon then head back down the trail and get a room in town and afterwards fish the lower levels of the river in hopes of finding warmer water and some fish. After cleaning up our breakfast dishes we hung out bags back up and headed down the trail to the intersection of the Goshen trail. Fish Camp Prong hits the little river there so we gave fishing that area a go. Still no fish but plenty of beautiful views.

 This one was from the bridge on the Goshen trail looking up the Little River.

This is looking across the Little River at Fish camp Prong where the two intersect. Not every where was rushing white water like that but pools we could fish were few and far between due to the elevated water levels.
 After a couple of hours of fruitlessly whipping the air with our fly rods we headed back to camp to pack up and head down. We ran into the college kids as they were heading out and wished them a safe trip as they thanked us for the fire tips. Why does breaking camp always go quicker than setting up?

 Here is Bill taking down his tent on the way out. Notice mine is already gone and hanging on the back of my pack LOL! While Bill worked on getting everything stuffed back in his pack I figured the load would be lighter if I had another refreshing adult beverage

 Behind my left should you can see out packs hanging on the tree. Not sure where I read that tip but I would like to shout out a thank you to whoever suggested a simple loop of cord tied in a not then looped around the tree with a carabiner hooked to your pack. Much nicer than sitting it on the ground when it come times to start digging through it to find something.
 With Bill all packed up it was time to head down the trail.

 I think I must have slept on my hat as the brim looks a little worse for wear but it still works. I will have to see if I can flatten it back out. You can see my waders strapped down on top of my pack. That was 4 lbs of weight right there. But poor Bill's hip waders are twice that weight. We hooked them to his tent on the bottom of his pack to keep the weight as low as possible.
 Shortly after crossing back over the log crossing and the rock garden I saw a bright read bag laying in the trail. Once I got to it I saw the letters ENO and knew right way one of the college kids had dropped their hammock system off their pack. I picked it up and hoped that we ran into them on the way down but with an hour's head start on us that was probably unlikely. If we did not see them I was going to turn it at the ranger's station in hopes they might stop there looking for it. If nothing else the ranger could contact them and let them know he had it. As luck turned out we actually caught up with them a little past half way. They were stopped at a trail intersection just getting ready to head off to another campsite. The boy who lost it did not even realize it had fallen off. Needless to say he was very happy to get it back!
 We made really good time getting back to Shifty, being downhill really helped.

Were still able to smile so that was good. Time to get a room and try fishing another location! It took a bit to find a place open as it is still early in the season but we finally got a room then headed back into the park to fish the lower levels of the Little River. Sadly there was not much difference as we still were unable to convince, trick, or beg a fish into taking out flies.
 Luckily we were still able to have fish for dinner, all be it at the Steak and Trout house down the street from our hotel. Even though we did not catch it personally ourselves it was still very tasty!

 Blackened trout with a good old baked potato. Just pretty darn hard to beat. Cap that off with a cold beer and bourbon pecan pie and that can only equal one thing, going to bed stuffed to the gills!
 Over dinner we discussed our options for Tuesday which would be out last day there. We decided to roll the dice and drive the hour and half across the ridge to the North Carolina side in hopes of finding warmer water and hungrier trout. I did not make it very long once we got back to the room and crawled into bed. I remember the TV was on but I have no idea what was on as I was out like a light.
 We headed out about 6:30 the next morning headed to Gatlinburg then down 441 to the Cherokee area. We stopped for breakfast on the south side of Gatlinburg at Crocketts Breakfast Camp restaurant. OH WHAT A FIND!!!! I ordered a breakfast skillet meal thinking I got to choose a couple of items from a long list of sides but turns out I got it all! It took two frames to get a pic of all my breakfast!

 They brought out this 14" cast iron skillet full of country fried steak, fried taters, two eggs, bacon, cone pone, and grave. Then on another plate I had a biscuit and the thickest pan cake I have ever seen. I managed to clean my skillet but there just was not room for very much of the pan cake even thought it was really tasty!
 Bill got the ham and eggs and said the ham was delicious but those fried potatoes were just nothing short of incredible!!!! We both said we could have just gotten a big plate of them covered with gravy! Somehow we managed to walk out of there and made it to the car once we finished stuffing our faces. I was just glad my chest waders are kind of stretchy LOL!
 On the way over the mountain we discussed fishing on the tribal section of the Raven's fork as they stock it twice a week. I was not opposed to catching stocked fish at this point. Turns out that the catch and keep area of the river was closed till the end of March but the "trophy fish" section which is catch and release only was open. Only problem was that they wanted 85 dollars each to fish that section. Call us cheap, but we said no way. Actually it was probably more like "Oh hell no!".
 Giving up on that idea we went back up to the Smokemount campground to fish the Bradly fork prong. Along the way up 441 I saw a large deer standing in the Oconaluftee river so I pulled off. I quickly realized it was not a deer but a elk and he had friends with him. A lot of friends, as there may have been two dozen in the woods.  That was pretty neat to see as I don't think I had ever seen elk in the wild before.
 We got to the campgrounds and got all decked out to go fish again. I was first to hit the water and on maybe my 5th cast I hooked a nice brown trout and managed to get him turned before he spit the hook out. I was bummed I lost him but pumped up that maybe we found a place that would finally produce some fish. That hope was short lived as that was the last strike either of us would get. I made the best of it and had a good time exploring my way up the stream along the edge of the rocks. I worked my way up to this pool and tried my luck one more time.

 Then just kept working my way up through water like this.

Hard to believe that was about 4 feet deep as you can see the bottom everywhere in the streams. I could not get any further up stream without getting in water deeper than my waders and there were other people fishing up stream so I went back and got a action shot of Bill.

 No one ever said fishing was easy or a sure thing. Sometimes you win and sometimes you don't. Sure we would have loved to caught a lot of fish but we still had a great time and laughed almost constantly at one thing or another. I am just glad we finally got to go give it a try. Next time we will hopefully have better conditions.
 Ironically, the temp was 83 as we headed back north. The sun was out and the waters had just started to warm. Like it so often seems, the fish started biting the day after we were there...

Skier on the mend

3-14-2017

 Just a quick update to all of you who thought we had disappeared. Were still here and I am glad to report Cindy is recovering from her ACL reconstruction surgery she had on Feb 22nd. Fortunately it has been almost a totally snowless winter so we have not missed out on any great conditions. I think we are both starting to show signs of cabin fever though as we have not been able to do anything outside since the accident.
 Cindy was really hoping her knee damage was just a MCL sprain but after 5 weeks it was still hurting and starting to lock up. I finally convinced her that we needed to get it looked at again. She had to change doctors and I think she got a really good one the second time. After looking at her knee he told her he was 99% sure she had internal damage, most likely a torn meniscus and ordered a MRI. Well he himself was surprised when we looked at the MRI because the meniscus was fine but then as he scanned down he saw that the ACL was missing. Cindy wound up having a 99% tear.
 The surgery was scheduled for the morning of 22nd so we were up early and heading to the surgery center. They made quick work of getting my little lady ready for surgery and let me see her for just a few minutes before they wheeled her back. Doesn't she make a cute little patient?

 She will kill me for that pic but I think it is priceless.

 After about an hour and half the surgeon met with me to discuss the procedure and show me some pics. the ACL was all but gone which made less work for him cleaning out the damaged tissue. He showed me pics of the drilled holes in her bones and the new cadaver tendon they inserted into her knee. He assured me all went great and went over the rehab details.
 I got to help Cindy to the car about 45 mins later then carefully took her home. She was super tired from the pain meds so I got her setup in front of the fire and that is pretty much where she camped out for the first week or so.

 The bag of ice got replaced the next day with a really cool Cryo Therm chiller that pumped cool fluid around her knee which really did a nice job of keeping the swelling down.
  I had to take her back the next day for a post op check up and she was barely able to stay awake long enough to get to the car. She went right back to sleep once I got her belted in and then struggled to stay awake to get into the office. She went right back to sleep sitting in the waiting room and then once she saw the pillow on the exam table she went right back to sleep again.

 The Doc woke her up and asked if the pain meds were making her drowsy? Just a little LOL! They reduced her dosage and checked out her knee. All looked well and they gave her the green light to start exercising it daily to get her range of motion back.
 Cindy started working her knee that night and had plenty of help from the boys as they wanted to make sure she was doing them right.

Ok, so the were not much help but they were there to offer moral support. They have really liked having Cindy at home with them everyday. They love having someone else to take naps with them during the day.
 Cindy just had her two week checkup and the Doc said she was Rockstar because she was doing so well. Her range of motion was well past 90 degrees, probably close to 130. She was walking without much of a limp and he cleared her to not wear her brace all the time. He also said she could ride her bike on the stationary bike trainer stand without any resistance. Cindy still has some swelling if she is on it for very long or if she works it a lot but that is just part of it and will go away as the knee continues to heal.
 I have been trying to be the best nurse i can be for her during her recovery. I think I deserve an A for my nest building skills

 The curved foam pillow was just the ticket to keep Cindy's leg from rolling off when she slept.
 Sadly we chose to cancel our trip to the Rockies this summer. While her doctor said she should be fine to go it just isn't worth the risk of re injury so soon after surgery. Once I told the doc that we were going to be backpacking in and fly fishing in the streams he agreed that it might be best to postpone that trip till her knee is completely healed which will take up to a year. We were both really looking forward to going and had already started getting all the gear we would need. We can use the gear kayak camping as well so it will get used one way or another and we really hope to be able to go out next summer and see the Rockies. It just wasn't worth the risk of Cindy slipping or stepping on a rock and stressing the new tendon as it heals. Plus I did not want to have to carry her out 6 miles at 10,000 feet. I would have done it but I would much rather not doing it if at all possible.
 As long as Cindy continues to heal at the rate she is healing she should be good to go when sailing season arrives in a couple of months. She will still need to be really careful crawling around on the boat to make sure she does not slip and take a spill. I will do my best to keep her somewhat under control.
 We are getting ready for our spring break trips as Cindy is going to Key West with her girlfriends and I am hoping to head down to the Smokies for a few days with my fishing buddy Bill to backpack in and fly fish for trout. The forecast looks great for Cindy's trip but it is still kind of iffy for our fishing trip. They just had snow in the mountains and now the temps are really dropping with a low in the teens tonight. That will make the water temps drop as well and we really need the water to be 50 or close to it for the trout to be active. There is a warm up forecasted to start a few days before we are scheduled to go so hopefully it warms the water back up.
 I know Cindy did not enjoy getting hurt and we both really missed not being able to take our normal ski trips to Michigan. But I know she has really enjoyed being at home the past few weeks. She started cranking out the sewing projects once her knee got well enough for her to be a little mobile. I think it has given her a taste of what retirement will be like and from all impressions I get she really really likes it!