Memorial Day Weekend 2009

The start of summer....

We made the trek from The Ryan Compound in Pewaukee north to the cottage again on Friday May 22. The drive was long as there were backups in a few locations along the way. We made it there and unpacked and called it a night.

Saturday Cam woke really early. We got going and ate and got out to do some last minute packing for the ATV ride that we had planned. About 7:10 my Dad, Jeannie, Danny, Michelle and the boys pull in to pick up the trailer to head north to Mercer, Wisconsin and the Iron County ATV trails.

On the road 10 minutes later and arrived at our destination about 8:30 or so. Unloaded and headed made our way north on the trails. Most of the "trails" were logging roads or simply gravel roads. We wound our way around the trails to Bear Chasers in the middle of nowhere. There we stopped for lunch in their parking lot as we had packed a lunch for the trip. On our way again and heading north to trail 8 that I had heard was pretty muddy. Once there, the first mud hole, I got stuck with Carrie's 4 wheeler. Lucky I could jump to the edge and get a winch cable and it only took 2 yamaha's to pull out the might Polaris.



From there, the trail continued to be filled with mud holes. All in all, it was the best part of the entire trip. From there we headed back south on the grade to Mercer to load up for the day. It was about 82 miles for us. A whole lot of dust, mud, black flies, and nats. Overall the day was a success and all had a good time. By the time we got cleaned up on Saturday night, it was time for bed.



You can check out the entire day HERE

Sunday we headed for Rhinelander first thing in the morning to get a few things at Menards. What is going to the cottage if I can't waste an entire day working on it? Back home around 9:30 and we headed for my Dad's with Cam's 4 wheeler so he could ride a bit with Brady and Brandon. All was good until Cam got lost on Grandpa's maze of trails. Carrie actually heard his calls and started running through the woods as I took off on the 4 wheeler to find out what was wrong. We both met him at the same time - just scared about not knowing the trail. All was good in about 5 minutes.

In the afternoon, we went to the Mirek Manor for a visit. As always, they are great hosts. We played in the lake, fished a bit off the pier, ate way to much, and even had a few cold ones. Back to the cottage for some sleep.

Monday Cam rode his 4 wheeler for most of the morning until we left for Land O Lakes to put in the pier for Sally and Doug. They were our old landlords and friends from way back when we first moved to Land O Lakes. We arrived around 11 or so and chatted and then put the pier in. After, we had a few cold ones with lunch and cooked out on the patio. It was a great day to just relax. We left there and was home around 5 or so. I then got a bug in my arse and built a small rock edge for some of the lawn. We have so many rocks there and they are just sitting so I thought I could put them to good use. Meanwhile, Cam rode his 4 wheeler more and Carrie painted the door frame with 2 coats of paint.





Tuesday we woke up to rain. It did break enough for Cam to get his daily hour of riding in and then we were off to the Pewaukee Compound again. Home around 3.

A great weekend for weather. 70 and sunny all 3 days. We had a great time up there as usual. Must find more mud for the ATV.

Lesson of the weekend - I should not lead going through puddles.....

More of the same

Once again, we headed up to the cottage on Friday May 15 to continue with the laundry list of to do's that has piled up.

We had again arrived early and we all went to work with the exception of Cam who mearly tooled around on his ATV all night long. I attempted to fix Ole' Blue which was worthless - strike one. I then attempted to activate the dish - strike two. I could not get a signal. And finally, I was to take my truck into Rhinelander to be painted AGAIN. Of course, Custom Collision was not able to accept the truck to paint even though I had talked with them not 24 hours earlier. My advice - stay away from Custom Collision in Rhinelander. Next step - new truck as I can't stand this one anymore.

All in all Friday was a complete bust for me. Carrie cleaned out the flower beds and unpacked everything in the house.

Saturday we packed up the trailer and headed to my Dad's for some wrenching on the trailer and Carrie's ATV. We had purchased a new seat for the ATV and needed that installed. That turned into a bigger deal than I had anticipated - just like everything I do. Anyway - 2 hours later, we have a seat installed. I then needed to get a few tie down points mounted on the trailer so that I can haul 4 ATV's on it for Memorial Day weekend. Together my dad and I got that all set.

From there to Boomba for lunch and then back to Dad's for a quick ATV ride to test out the new seat for Cam. I think that he liked the seat and seems pretty safe as far as he can not fall out. Back in about an hour or so as the wind and cold were taking its toll. After loading the trailer with both our's and Danny's ATV's, we were off to the cottage for dinner and Carrie continued her flowering outside.





I did end up getting Ole' Blue started after replacing the selenoid. Up and running and all was good again. It has been about 5 months since it last started and I was getting a bit frustrated.

Sunday was a nice warm day. We made a big breakfast and then went to mow the lawn and trim. Once done there, I removed the septic tank covers to make sure all looked well down there as we have been getting some wafts of odor outside our front door front the vent on the roof. All looked good so I sealed it all up and will call the plumber on Monday to see what's up with it. Cam continued on his ATV exploring, Carrie continued adding and moving plants outside in her rock garden and I continued to haul rocks for said rock garden. Hopefully that is done.

Packed up and back home by about 5:30pm.

Lesson of the weekend - The ticks suck in May.