At 222,222 miles, the old girl is just getting broken in!

Last year, when I bought this 2006 Land Cruiser, I wasn’t sure how I would like her, after several trouble free years with the sure-footed 2011 Xterra. Well, the LC is growing on me. I think I shall let her stick around.

Last week, the Misters P scored a Wisconsin whitetail archery superfecta.

On Monday, E was thrilled to harvest a fine 9-pointer.  He was sitting in the stand all day, and was planning to do the same all week long.  At 10 a.m., he saw a nice buck, out of range.  At 2 p.m. he had just finished his book when he saw a fine specimen walking in.  He repeated to himself, “keep it low, keep it low,” released the arrow into the deer’s vitals at 15 yards, and watched the buck run 50 yards and then expire.

 

On Thursday, L walked out to the same stand.  It has been a wet summer, so he was wearing waders to go through the marsh.  Furthermore, it has been a warm fall, so after he climbed into the stand he was awfully hot and took off his waders and pants; he claims he still had shorts on.  As the evening progressed, he cooled down and decided to put his pants on.  He got one foot into his pants when a beautiful 8-pointer walked up the same trail as E’s buck and stopped on the same spot.  He didn’t have time to don pants or remove them, only time to shoot.  So this was the first deer he harvested while not wearing pants.

 

On Friday, we ate dinner together, and I joked with both of them, “I feel like you’re putting a lot of pressure on me!”  On Saturday, however, we had some work to do on the farm, so we finished it up and I was able to get out to the stand early.  I sat in a different stand, one that is not often used, and I think underrated.  Just as L predicted, I heard a big one coming out of the marsh – 150 yards to my left and walking straight towards TJ.  I was sure TJ would get him and as it turned out, TJ had him in the crossbow scope at 40 yards but behind a tree.  Twenty minutes later, the buck walked up behind me and directly under my right side.  My heart instantly went from 50 to 130 bpm.  He was three yards away and walking pretty fast.  Clearing the branches he immediately turned away from me, giving me my chance to turn and draw, but he kept walking straight away.  I had no shot.  Twice he turned slightly, but turned right back.  Shifting right at 30 yards, he stayed on course.  I released the arrow and immediately saw the entry wound open up.  I was certain the shot was too high and too far back, but he ran 50-yards and tipped over.  Upon further review, it was a perfect shot.  The broadhead laid open liver, lungs, heart, and a 2-inch exit wound right behind the front left leg.  He had 9 points and a rare 21-inch spread.

This was my first deer with the Matthews Creed I bought this summer.  I had complete confidence in the bow, and I now have great confidence in the Grim Reaper broadheads.  They made a quick clean kill.

Now, all week B was insisting that he was going to take a deer, that now was his time, that he would not be outdone.  Saturday evening he was hunting with the other grandpa, BB.  Five minutes after I found my deer, he rang to say that he had just taken a button buck with a crossbow.  The deer walked past him and he misjudged the distance and shot low.  A half-hour later the deer circled back around and B send the bolt home.  At age 14, he has harvested a deer every year since his second year hunting and with multiple weapons too — crossbow, muzzle-loader, and rifle.

Good work men.  I believe this is the most memorable week of hunting I have had.

 

As I flew myself into New Century Air Center at Gardener, Kansas for work, I was dismayed to find that the the FBO (airplane service station) had shut down early. My rental car was sitting there in the parking lot and I couldn’t get the keys.  You knew I was flying in. You should’ve stayed open at least till the normal closing time. New Century Air Service loses two stars.

A few phone calls later I was connected to the other FBO where a nice man was willing to come pick me up and rent me their car.  The problem – it was a much more expensive car, a Chrysler 300, and I’d have to return it to a building 3 miles from where my airplane sat.  Well, I figured I’d drive back Monday after work and make the swap to save cash and a Thursday hassle.  But Monday morning I received a call from Dave at Enterprise  and he told me not to worry about it. Keep the Chrysler, return it where your airplane sits, and I’ll charge you the same as the Kia you were supposed to have.  Enterprise gets a star.

Now we address the Chrysler 300.  This was a nice ride with plenty of power, good handling, and a refined interior.  The Alpine branded stereo, however, is weak, and can’t touch the Rockford Fosgate branded stereo in my Nissan.  Chrysler neither loses nor gains stars.

K has achieved his first Robin Hood, and he is only ten years of age.  Well, what is a dad to say?  You have to feel proud, yet maybe a bit jealous at the same time.

Why carry a pocketknife? Reason No. 24: When fletching your arrows, you want to remove any old glue before attaching the new feather.

Having just returned from New Orleans and having enjoyed various po’ boy sandwiches, we decided to make some of our own.  Here is our version of a chicken po’ boy with candied jalapenos and sriracha sauce.

Congratulations to G on bagging his first 11-pointer.  He was hunting by himself and made a perfect shot.  The buck had a 15.5″ spread.  He also shot hist first coyote on the same day.

Why carry a pocketknife? Reason No. 43: If you break your dad’s boat trailer and have to replace one of the bunk guides, trim the carpet with your knife.

You know it’s a good day when you can invent a new sport.  We have begun pulling the caster-board with the go-kart and we call it go-skating.  Alas! The wheels on the caster-board can’t take the speed and we blew a tire.  I suppose that makes it an even better day!

Last Friday, I was reminded of why I like Festival Foods.  C wanted an Independence Day treat for the kids so she was going to buy “cake pops” for them, until she remembered that my neice eats gluten free.  So, I suggested we get her a patriotic themed crispy rice treat.  Well, they didn’t have any, but I had a feeling that Festival Foods would go to great lengths for us, so we talked to the nice young lady at the bakery department.

Me: “Could we get a rice crispy treat decorated like the cake pops?”

FF: “Sure, do you have one already?”

Me: “No, we were hoping you would have one back there.”

FF: “Hold on one second…[she checks]…we have them back in the deli.  Just go grab one and bring it back here.”

I walked back to the deli and asked the nice lady to point me to the rice crispy treats and she did, but the box contained way more than what I needed, so I asked whether we couldn’t just buy one or two.  The answer was, “Yes!”  So she opened the box, I asked for a red one, she repackaged it, weighed it, and priced it ($0.24).  I took it back to the bakery and talked to a cake decorator this time.

Me: “I got my rice crispy and I was just talking to someone about getting it decorated.  Could we get this decorated with the red, white, and blue stars like the cake pops?”

FF: “Sure, do you want the white or milk chocolate?”

Me: “Milk chocolate.”

FF: “Hold on…[goes back to find the stuff]”

I watched the guy pulling together the stuff to do the decorating and I started to think I was making to much trouble.

Me: “You don’t have to make it exactly like the cake pops; really, whatever you can do is fine.”

FF: “No, it’s no problem, it’ll just be another minute.”

A minute later the man came back with a red rice crispy treat, covered in milk chocolate, and sprinkled with red, white, and blue stars — just exactly like the cake pops. Later that day, I gave it to my niece, and she was delighted.

Here is the point — I interacted with four different team members at Festival Foods on July 3rd, and each time, the thing I was asking for was not trivial.  They had to think about what I was asking for and expend some effort to get it, yet in each case the answer was, without hesitation, a confident “Yes!”  This doesn’t happen by accident.  They are doing something right at that place.

Festival Foods, keep up the good work!