Mike’s World

Well , today was day two for the state fair for me. Today is the day I was planning on going with a good friend and getting the full fair experience. Today I got to the fair at about 8:30am. First of all, the weather today was perfect for the fair. Sunny, dry and not to hot. We started off by finding the various food items and buildings. In the morning We made it through the creative activities building, and made it down to the bazaar and the midway. Man, I must say the midway was fun, I liked the scrambler the most, I was not up to any real intense rides. In the afternoon we made it to a pet surgery, skyride, and the fine arts building. One thing I did like as a panting called “out of the blue” which was an oil collage type panting. If I would have had $2300 laying around, I would have gotten it.

In the evening we did the space neadle, and a newer skyride type thing. We ended up leaving around 8:30pm or so, over 12 hours. I must say, this was another great state fair day.

Today I went to the state fair, for the first time out of a total of 3 or 4 times I plan to go this year. This time I got the junk food cravings out of the way, and did a good job at controlling myself, I would like to think. The weather was not all that bad (well, it did not rain, but it was cloudy and a bit humid). I went for my 2nd day straight of weight training, then it was off to a park and ride location, I went for one of the U of M lots. I ended up getting to the fair at about 9:30am to 10:00am. The main things I went to where a pet surgery, a concert and a car extraction.

Every year the MVMA has a surgery suite, and being the brother of a vet, I think its a good thing to have. Shelley Cravens, CVT is the main person behind the whole operation. She works the suite every day of the fair, every year I remember them having the suite. In addition to her, students and vet’s rotate in and out. One or two students assist with the procedure, one doctor does the surgery, and one doctor moderates the procedure. They generally do a ovarian hysterectomy of a dog, and I do find it interesting. The one I attended today had vets from the u of m both doing the procedure and doing the moderation. They did a good job at bringing it down to the level that the general public to understand. In addition to that, the surgeon did a bit of exploration of the other internal organs, which was the first time I had seen that done during one of these surgeries.

After the surgery I went off to the bandshell. When I looked at the schedule, I saw the a cappella group tonic sol-fa. Several years ago me and my sister had gone to a concert, and tonic sol-fa opened for the main act. I had forgotten how good this group is, and in fact I have now purchased three of there CDs in mp3 format. They do a good job of making real good pop music in true a cappella fashion.

Every day at the fair has a theme, and today was fire prevention day. They had fire engines and fire equiptment from several cities on display. In addition to that, they did a staged car crash and victum rescue. It was interesting in seeing the process from when the police and rescue folks role, to extraction and treatment. It gave junior firefighters the opportunity to do training, and gave us a chance to see what the process is, and see the tools such as the jaws of life in use.

Later that evening I went off to acme comedy company. On the radio I had heard that Emo Philip’s was in town, and every time I hear him on the radio, I find him quite funny. I did not have any other plans this evening so I called up and reserved a seat. Both Emo and the warm up act where quite funny. I just wish I could remember who did the opening act :-)

today was another great day at the cabin. This morning I did some cleanup around the cabin, which was much needed. Me and my sister are about the only ones that stay in here (everyone else stays in the house), and on top of that it tends to become storage area #6 for everything that gets collected around here. Because of these reasons, it can be a challenge to keep clean at times, in fact last time me and my sister stayed up here, I do not think we even bothered to vacuum. This morning I moved some carpet and carpet pad that was being stored in here from the main living room to the bathroom. Did come vacuuming and moved the furniture around. I will finish cleaning up around here tomorrow before I leave. With luck, it will stay a bit cleaner for next time I come up to visit.

Since I was cleaning, I decided to take care of some brush down by the lake as well. There is a small “bridge” connecting the two docks down by the lake, and trees started to overgrow that bridge. I grabbed a saw, and trimmed back the trees a bit, it is now much better to go across that bridge without being smacked in the face by limbs.

The afternoon started off with a short nap then another row boat trip. This time I made it off to the rice fields between big boy and swift lakes. I did not want to stay out to late so I turned back before I made it in to swift lake, but I made it further than I did yesterday. Some day I will need to leave a bit earlier in the afternoon and try to make it in to swift lake. Quite a bit of weaving needs to be done to make it through the rice, so it does take quite a bit of time.

One last evening at the cabin included one last steak dinner on the dock. Last two nights I had new york strip steaks, this evening it was a tenderloin steak. Man was it tender! Timed it just perfect again, dinner getting done just as the sun was going down. Unfortunately I did bump my toe on the way down, and wouldn’t you know it, the steak went falling in to the grass. I think for a $16 hunk of beef, the 5 second rule applies, so in true rustic fashion I picked it up off of the grass, brushed it off, and put it back on the plate :-)

It was a great evening down on the dock. there was no wind what so ever, so the lake was like a looking in to a mirror. The reflection of the trees and sun across the lake reflected perfectly on to the lake, just a wonderful scene. It was a nice way to top off a wonderful day at the cabin.

As I sit here at 11:30pm, I hear thunder and see some interesting lightning across the lake, so I think the quiet evening is going to be followed by an active night. It should be interesting, as I never know what to expect with the storms up here.

Yesterday (Sunday) Morning Grandma and Tom left, leaving the place all to myself. In some ways it is nice being up here all by myself, as I can just go at my own pace. Yesterday I just hung out and relaxed. I went in to the local town Logville to check out the local grocery store and whatnot. I got back and decided to lay down and take a nap. Once I woke up I was getting a bit hungry and decided to cook up dinner. I had picked up a cute little 14″ weber grill, and a nice new york strip steak before leaving the cities. I fired up the charcoal, cooked up the steak, and sat on the lake and enjoyed my steak. One thing I love about being up here is sitting out on the dock and watching the most beautiful sunsets in the world. Add a nice soft breeze in the air to keep the bugs away, and I jut can not ask for anything more. After it got dark, did some book reading and went to bed.

Today I went to the town of Park Rapids this morning. I wanted to get some state fair admission and ride tickets, and I had not gotten a chance to pick these items up before leaving the cities. This gave me a good excuse to go out for a north woods drive and experience some Minnesota small towns I had not been to before. I headed up to Walker Minnesota, then down to Park Rapids from there. I must say this town was bigger than I thought it was going to be, at a population above 1500 people. I found the tourist building that they sell the tickets at, and then headed back up to the cabin.

When I got back I decided to break out the rowboat. I went out for about an hour, and it was not as hard to row as I thought it would be. The only thing I regretted was not bringing any gloves. I might try this again tomorrow. I got back and decided to repeat last nights dinner again. Once again, sat on the dock until sunset and headed in for the evening. Again another nice cabin day.

Well, I have made it up to my cabin, and now I guess I have time to blog again. I have only made it up here once so far this year, earlier this summer with my sister. It is nice to get to be able to spend some more time up here at the cabin, just the chance to sit back and relax is very welcome. I headed up Friday evening. I attempted to head up Friday afternoon but with my weight training session, shopping, packing and whatnot, it just did not happen. I ended up getting out at about 6:30pm. On the way up, I stopped for dinner at Mavericks wood grill in Champlin, MN and had a very good steak. It was then back on the road fore more driving. I was a very tired, and almost decided to stop by the rest stop in Garrison, MN for a nap, but instead stopped for a sugar hit which kept me going until I made it up to the cabin. I got in around 1:30am Saturday.

On Saturday I slepped in until about 10:30am then woke up to go say hi go my Grandmother. I had a bite to eat, and decided to break out the bike. I ended up biking to the local town, Remer, MN. I headed down county road 53, to a dirt ATV trail, the soo line trail (use to be railroad tracks, if you can guess) which goes in to Remer. After going around town a bit, I headed back on State Hwy 200. Overall trip was about 31 miles. It was then nap time. I did not do much else, just a nice relaxing bike ride (ok, with hills some of it was not all that relaxing.

Well, gone from weight loss to weight training. As I lost weight, I also lost a good amount of muscle mass. 2 months ago or so I decided it was time to start to build that back. I wanted to get a good trainer, and I did not want to deal with the whole gym/fitness center thing. I want my own space, and I do not like being around 20 other folks as I am trying to get my workout done. I wanted something where someone focuses on me and my goals. What I found was avatar training studio. This is a gym studio setting that focuses on one on one physical training. Working with these trainers, I have made more progress this summer than I ever thought I would, it is to the point where I feel stronger and notice I am able to do things I was not able to do before, I have gained back the muscle I have lost, and more.