Donnie's Old

Last weekend we took a little road trip down to the Milwaukee/Madison area to take in a little Brew Crew and to celebrate our friend Donnie's 30th birthday. The trip down was uneventful, except the first 10 minutes, when Mike realized he had forgotten the tickets. Fortunately we were still in St. Paul, so it wasn't a big deal.

Before a game, you've got to stop at Kelly's Bleachers. Where we'll be spending our early evening. Miller Park.Here we are outside, ready to enjoy outrageously expensive concessions. Don't tell Mike or Shawn, but they don't serve Coors or Budweiser products inside. It's all Milwaukee brewed, baby!Obligatory statue to Mr. Henry Aaron, whose 755 home runs could be eclipsed this night.A view of the park. As you can probably tell, our tickets are less than ideal. Oh well, they were cheap.And Barry puts one foul, before he grounds out.Mike and Mitch, with another stadium down in the quest to see them all.Before the game, we all took bets on which tubed meat would win the Sausage Race. If you're not familiar, during every home game, a bunch of ethnic wursts run around the bases to see who's fastest. The crown votes before hand via text message. We all had $2 riding on it, so it's high stakes! I threw my basket with the Chorizo.Go Chorizo!!!Ah, sweet victory!After the game we headed out to the Safehouse, and then over to Water St, where we met our high school friend Jenny. A great night in Milwaukee!The next day we had to head out to Madison for a surprise golf outing with the birthday boy. It was NOT a pleasant morning, as Shawn attested to.After a boot and rally from Shawn, it was picture time. As you can see, Donnie has already been blessed with "the shirt". It's gift that keeps on giving (from 1992). We made him golf the whole 9 holes in it. Here's where the day got really interesting. First, we played as a scramble, with three teams of three. On the first hole, we were all at the tee box to watch Donnie hit off.After this, it was my turn. The first whole is a dogleg right, which is perfect for my slice. I think, "just nail it, and watch it sail!" There was a lake to the left, with some assorted wildlife, but I wasn't concerned, as I almost never hook. I take a backswing, foreswing, and just SHANK THE BALL! This is no ordinary shank, either. It does one hop, then heads toward the lake at a high rate of speed.

In the vicinity of a crane.

A protected species.

It can't happen...

Not a chance...

THUNK!

Yes, I hit the crane square in the head. Do you know how big a crane's head is in relation to a golf ball? The bird's head pendulumed once as the whole body flipped over in what seemed like super slo mo. No one knew how to react, although I think we all laughed our asses off at first. I go over to check on the bird, and it's lying on it's right side, breathing very slow. It doesn't respond to pokes with a driver.

"I killed the crane" is all I could think.

Fortunately, the bird got up about 15 minutes later, and even went for a swim. A serious concussion, at the least. I still think it just wanted to die in dignity, not on a golf course.

Anyways, after the hunt, we headed back to Donnie's for the party.
I think you actually need a permit to put that many candles on a cake! But I'll give Donnie credit, his old man lungs still managed to blow out all the candles in one breath.Later that night, Mike and Shawn (after much consumption) did representations of the crane, before and after impact.A great weekend, even if PETA is going to hunt me down now.

19h10m37s

So wedding number 3 of the year was this past weekend. No exotic machinery wrecked (sorry Nik), but I'm pretty sure one of the bridesmaids was annihilated.

Some interesting stats (many courtesy of the car).

• Driving time: 19 hours 10 minutes 37 seconds
• Wedding time (attended): approx 5 hours
  
• Distance: 1,230.7 miles
• Avg. MPG: 28.4
• Gas Stops: 3
• iTunes listened to: 306 songs (no repeats)

From the numbers, we averaged just over 64 mph. Pretty amazing, I do say. It helped that there was next to no traffic in Chicago either way, and only one major delay caused by an accident.

My cousin Ben and his new bride Ashley.
My mom on the right, and a couple of her aunts and an uncle. Unfortunately I don't remember many of the names. But they all recognized me, despite not seeing me for probably 15 years.
Trent, me, Angie, Matt, Julie, and Kelsey. Trent is Julie's friend. Angie is Matt's girlfriend. And Matt and Julie are my cousins. Does that make sense?
That was about it for the wedding pictures. I hadn't been out to Grand Rapids in about 3.5 years, so it was good to see everyone again.

On Saturday, Kelsey and I went to Saugatuck for some sightseeing. The first thing we did was a dune schooner ride! What's a dune schooner, you say? This!
Western Michigan near Holland has these enormous sand dunes, of which I have many happy childhood memories. We would camp at Holland State Park and climb up the dunes and run down them again. The sand dunes in Saugatuck have been stabilized by planting grass on the dunes.
Here I am, ready to relive running down the dune!
And there I am climbing up. I made a foolish decision, and wore shoes that actively captured as much sand as possible. It's not so easy climbing up the dune.
Lake Michigan from one of the dunes. It's about a mile away.
Yes, even the Amish love the dune schooner!
After an afternoon in the tourist trap, we headed back to my Uncle Ron's house. His wife Karen and he have two dogs who couldn't be more different. Meet Foster and Pudge. Kelsey is for reference. Foster weighs around 100 lbs, and Pugde about 4 lbs.
But Pudge is completely fearless! She would egg Foster on into tug of war matches. Foster would just fling the sock around, with Pudge hanging on for the ride.
And some video of Pudge in action.

Unfortunately I now have to deal with Kelsey asking for another dog. We made a deal. Once my parents get a dog, she can get another. So that should be sometime never.

Can I Do Nothing?

Seriously. Why is it that every home improvement project requires at minimum three trips to Home Depot or Menards? I had a leaky valve for my toilet that needed to be replaced. Measure pipe size, go to the Depot. Look at the 48 different types of valves they stock. Pick one. Come home, wrong size. 46 of the 48 valves were 1/2 inch, turns out I have a 3/8 inch pipe. Okay, go back, return old valve, buy new valve. Right? Wrong. I forgot my wallet. ARGH!!

It's done now though, and no more leaks.

Erin Zimmerman and Aaron Zimmerman

Aaron and Erin got married on Friday! Kelsey and I arrived just in time, narrowly beating out Erin Cox for the last guest to arrive. After the ceremony, we headed to the St Paul Boat Club for the reception. I kinda forgot to use my camera early in the evening, so it's all party pics here.

The bride shaking a leg on the dancefloor.A crowd.
Obligatory "couple" pic. Yes, I'm wearing my standard wedding attire. Maybe I'll wear a different tie next time.
Shawn and Erin Cox. We had all the members of Team Aaron (Erin) in attendance. Of course, half that team is now together forever.
Kelsey, Kristen and Cameron.
Pirate Steve on the dancefloor!
The happy (and slightly intoxicated) couple.
Six of the eight original crew.
It's astounding that this entire event was brought together by a couple of people not being able to hold their stomachs down. Back in early 2005, Mr. Derek Kruse came to visit Mike and myself. A Thursday evening turned out to be a little too much, and Derek paid the price all over the side of the cab. But because of that, our Friday evening Gasthoffs event turned to a Saturday event, where we met the girls above.

A few weeks later, Zimm (that's Aaron Zimmerman) joined us at Gasthoffs, where he also had a bit too much to drink. But that didn't prevent him from asking for Erin's number afterward, and love soon blossomed!

Congrats!

Mille Lacs

On Saturday morning, Anton, Mike, Steve and I all piled into the Grand Prix to head up to the north land for a day on beautiful Lake Mille Lacs. The reason for the occasion was Mr. Aaron Zimmerman's impending wedding and the need to celebrate his final days of bachelorhood.A condo right on the lake had been rented at Izaty's resort, along with a few hours of walleye fishing. But more on that later.

We probably had the two best days possible, weather wise. Lower 70s each day, with an absolutely gorgeous sky. Of course we broke out the bocce ball, polish horseshoes, and a football or two.
A quick dinner before heading off on the boat. You need a lot of food to feed 15 guys! But what a good looking grill.
Quinn had the most interesting sandals I've seen. The bottom of the sandals actually had a bottle opener in them! Genius.
And we're off! Now, I am not what you would call an avid angler. I think I've caught a total of three fish in my entire life. And there were all sunfish. So this is all new to me.
Here we are. Fishing. Not much else to say.
Nate brought a snuff board. Anton was pumped.
The bachelor caught the first big walleye. A 24 incher, I believe.
Matt was the big winner in terms of quantity. He cought something like 11 or 12 fish. Others caught one. Yet we're all 10 feet away from each other at most.
This is what fishing's all about, I guess.
And I learn quick. My first walleye was a 17 incher. Long enough to keep, but not too long to have to throw back. It became food.
I can't remember who caught this fish, but they obviously take great joy in it.
It was a picture perfect evening.
I think this was Mike's first fish. Also his first walleye ever.
Nate with a nice catch.
Aaron and his dad, Curt.
Oh, another one for me! I had a total of 5 or 6 walleye on the night. A pretty good haul, if I do say so myself. And all of mine were keepers.
Sunday morning we took the scenic route back, stopping in at Anton's parent's house. Mike enjoyed the tractor.
Overall, an excellent weekend. Good food, good fishing, and good times!