Tim Hortons

The real reason we came...

Canada!!!

We made it!

Lunch at Rainy Lake - Sha Sha Resort

Almost there!

Just about 10 minutes from International Falls!

On the road

In Bigfork at 9:30 after some awesome curves!

Blister Run: Grand Rapids

Left at a minute or two past 8, had a couple stops for gas as well as lunch in Aitkin.  Saw three separate bald eagles, but none of them attacked us this year.

Really good roads, weather, and mileage.

Made it to Grand Rapids ahead of schedule.  Contemplated going all the way up to Intl Falls tonight but they're booked solid up there at the Super 8.  Pry just as well.  Tired!

Anoka

Canada bound!

Tweedledum has launched!

She floats!

Blister Run 2009 Prep

We drove the first half of the route up to Aiken last night. It took forever. Lots of small towns, curves, stops and things like that. Not so great for getting your family to the lake.

Perfect for scoots! It's gonna be awesome!

TNR

Well this was the week I most needed my gps tracking us and this of course was the first week I forgot to turn it on.

Happily, I have this link:

TNR 2009 Route

Good ride, but something of an uninspired route. :( Too many pretty but generic suburban curves. Will have to work on that some time!

Productive Saturday

Eli did some "pitchforking" on the new patio spot for a little cash(*),  I built some new sawhorses, made a garden support fence for the new garden, organized my garage workshop and cleaned up the boat area.  Whew!  Oh yah I got part for my scrollsaw foot switch project and a bit of wood for the "homemade cam clamp" project.

Jill got her hair done and Lily covered herself with tattoos now that her airbrush tat set has more ink!

* he pulled a Tom Sawyer and got Lily and Darcy to help out, but we made sure he compensated them.

Catching Up: Part 2

February

While the sewer saga was mostly over, there was still some residual ugliness. The kids had their usual fun, and Lily had a school program. We went up to Bear Lake once, and went skating at Centennial Park, as well. Eli had a birthday party and the family had the Mardi Gras party.

March

As winter wore on, I went to the Make:Day at the Science Museum, we celebrated Saint Patrick's Day, and I created a kinetic cat for the Kingfield Art Show. On the travel side, we went to Lake George (1,2,3) and Bear Lake (1,2) Also, Mom and I went to Michigan for a First Communion. Jill helped run the Science Fair and Eli participated in the Pinewood Derby.

April

The usual kids and chaos continued in April. We celebrated Easter at our house and I went on the first TNRs of the season. Eli had a school presentation, and I recovered my hard drive.

Tweedledum

Well, she's white! Need to do the red trim and a coat of shiny clear stuff and we'll be all set. Forgot the life jacket(s) up at the cabin though. Either I go shopping or wait until Labor Day.

TNR

Another wonderful ride. Lovely weather!

Suzanne Vega at the Dakota

She played all my favorite songs!  Opened with Marlena and ended with In Liverpool and had all sorts of wonderful in between.  We even got to sit right behind her Mom!  Great show.

Tuesday Night Ride

Another good ride!

Painted lady

Got a coat of primer on the Tweedle Dum, got the oars to the point of needing a little more glass and they'll be all caught up.

Lily even helped with the painting!

Tweedle Dum

Tonight I finished the last of the epoxy and fiberglass on the boat*. Tomorrow I'll start the final sanding and then painting. Got some paint at Home Depot. Pretty sure I've shored up, epoxied, and glassed more than I need to on "it's just a rowboat" and I am really confident the Tweedle Dee will take about a third of the time to do now that I know what I'm doing.

Jill and the kids are visiting relatives tonight, so I enjoyed some late boat work and the rain. I've done my obsessive reading about boats and boat building, and when I'm not working on it I'm thinking about working on it, or the next one, or the next next one. But when I'm in the garage working on it time stands still and the only thing I'm thinking about it wood, water, epoxy, and sandpaper. It's nice to have a meditation like that.

* The oars still need some epoxy and glassing, but since I'm clamping one of them with every clamp I've got right now, it'll take a few more days to finish up the second one.

Catching Up: Part 1

The photo album server took a nosedive late last fall. It took a long time to recover the drive, then get the server working again, get the network set up properly and debugged, and get the new photos indexed. And then there was the whole sewer incident. It's been a long road. But things are moderately stable and I feel maybe a little somewhat hesitantly confident that they're back in working order. We'll see. :)

But in order to catch everyone up, I'm going to make some posts here in my blog summarizing and linking to all of the photo albums you've missed since then! Enjoy! (click on the links to see albums, or the year/date to see the whole month.

2008 - November

Robert and Jill in their Wii Halloween costumes

Thanksgiving

2008 - December

December was a happy holiday month, of course. The kids made gingerbread houses, christmas wish lists, and artistic and toylike creations. We put up a tree and took portraits in front of it. Robert had a couple of different birthday parties, since he was turning 40! We got to see the Michigan cousins, bubbles, and pretend northern lights. After a traditional Christmas Eve with the Hubbes families, we had a nice little new years eve. (I can't believe we managed to miss taking pictures of the Mipros, will check back on that one. We were having a bit of a house plumbing meltdown problem at the time..)

2009 - January

The month of the sewer issues. We took a lot of pictures of the long, drawn out drama. Thirty days without a fully functional plumbing system - in January! We went to Bear Lake with the McAneney's, Lily graduated from a gymnastics class, and Robert connected with his TNR friends by bowling.

Lily had a birthday, received some great presents, and later dressed up as Little Red Riding Hood. Robert is still working at Nazca, the kids are still kinda crazy, and it's cold out.

Next installment: February 2009!

.. progress ..

It's always a good thing to make some progress.

• Finished filleting the inside seams
• Taped inside seams
• Began work on supports, finished mid-ship support and fore-side supports
• Rough cut all support pieces
• Removed braces, boat didn't snap in half or anything traumatic, yay!

Got some more hardware, clamps, drill bits, etc. That was exciting, as always. :) And I'm not counting it on the boat total. In fact, I'm not counting the prices or hours of the boat. I've learned that it's all about the process, all about the craft, and all about the journey.

I'm also so much more embedded in the idea of a chugger. Oh, and did I mention the Tweedle-Dee won't likely nest in the 'Dum? Those added supports and all. But that's ok. The intention of the two was that "there is another one somewhere", just like in the movie.

New Mantra: "It's just a rowboat" - replaced "that's for the shop, it's not included in the cost of the boat"