My Dad as A Boy

 Taking the high road circa 1953

 Wagon and bikes from 1946

 1944 a year of chicken love

 Grandpa Harry, Uncle Ray and Dad

Driving the Farmall in 1954.  Just 10 years before I was born.

Harris playing in Back Yard. Pineapple Dinosaur for Dinner?

Surly Pugsley 3.7 Deformation Over Obstacle

Cuyuna Lakes Whiteout

I had fun as a spectator at the Cuyna Lakes Whiteout last year, but plan to ride this March.

Two Girls & Three Guns

 A friend and I took his two daughters ages 8 and 10 out shooting for the first time.  They started with BB's then moved to shooting .22.  They did a great job of being safe and of having fun.  They deserve to be proud of themselves.

The .22 is a Hoban that belongs to my mom.  It is also the first gun I shot some 40 years ago.  I remember the day well and hope think these girls made a lasting memory today too.

Grouse Medallions and Grouse Soup with Hand Parched Wild Rice and Fresh Shiitake Mushrooms

 Grouse breasts medallions with tenderloins and larger section of meat thinly sliced.  Light flour dredge and a light pan fry allowed the grouse flavor to come through and left them moist and tender.

 The rest of the carcass turned into stock then reduced to half.  Added onion, condensed milk, wild rice and fresh shiitake mushrooms.

 Stock boiling

 Breast frying

Our dinner earlier this morning.

Small Game Hunting

I'm off to a friend's cabin in Northern Minnesota for a little hunting and to help him pull his dock.  I haven't hunted for some time, but will enjoy the walk in the woods game or not.  

The kids are excited to taste both both grouse and squirrel. 

For the first time in 15 years I'll be bringing my shotgun afield to take grouse and/or squirrel.

Minnihaha Creek Bed Ride & Mark Twain Character Troglodyte

With rain coming this weekend, I wanted to try riding the dry (mostly)  Minnihaha Creek bed before it flowed again.  I parked at Fort Snelling and rode to the falls.  First I headed west under the bridges below Minnihaha Dr. and Hiawatha Ave.  This route ended when I hit a dam a hundred yards or so upstream.  I spent a few minutes visiting with a man who frequents the location to drink.  He suggested I try the downstream side of the falls.

Quick hike-a-bike down the stairs and I was riding the cobbles shown in the picture.  The rocks are large but flat enough to ride easily.  What a blast it was working my way down toward the Mississippi. I wore old shoes and committed to getting wet.  I was able to ride through most of the standing water, but spun out on slippery moss once the depth got about two feet.  The water was surprisingly warm as I waded feeling my fat tires float the bike against my hands on the bars and seat.

As I rolled onto the beach marking the mouth of the creek into the Mississippi, a group of young men approached me.  The leader, who reminded me of the King from The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, wore a top hat oddly sitting above his swollen black eye.  His hands held several apple-halve sized rocks. He informed me that I had scared away his dinner and pointed his club like hands towards two ducks swimming out in the river.  He said he and his companions were staying in a cave in the bank just south of where we were standing.

Deciding that it was time to get out of there, I let him know that I had seen fish trapped in some of the pools upstream.  Then rode off.  This felt like it could have become a dangerous situation.

I found a slightly different channel on the way back to to the falls, hoisted my bike on my shoulder and hiked up the stairs to the top of the falls and rode home.  The fat bike did it's job; another adventure on a Wednesday afternoon.

Minnihaha Creek: The New Fat Bike Greenway

 Jared called me last night and suggested we try fat biking the dry Minnihaha Creek bed.  I've hiked in the stream with water flowing, but still am not sure what the bed would be like.  I feared goat-head rocks.  An image search netted these.  Looks ride-able to me.

 Photos lifted from the Wildreed Blog.

Fort Snelling Fat Bike

A few photos from a memorable day of fat biking along the Mississippi around and below Fort Snelling.

Shot of the Pugsley  against the fort wall.  Note the rifle slits above the top tube.  We rode down stairs, through sand, in water, through grass, on pavement while having a blast.

Low river levels made for outstanding beach riding along the river.  The bottom was surprisingly firm allowing us ride in the water.

Another shot of my bike surrounded framed by almost identical shades of trim paint and sumac.

Finally, I love this photo my brother took of his Moonlander.