soggy sheboygan

Hi All. It's been a while since I've been on the blog. and I'm still not sure how to kick up the type face but...

I just checked out Freya's wild ride on Saint Grover of the West. Still the cutest little cowgirl this side of the Pecos. matt hope the job search lands you on something good someday soon.

.And Mark's pix were very cool- I'm jealous everytime someone takes that trip. Maybe we can go with Maura and Steve and Alex Tim and Matt and Casey and Freya.

Maura Tim Steve sorry to hear about Kassie. I always liked her and was sorry to hear that news. Didn't she look just like Alanis Morisette (sp?).

Magda-nice to hear of your adventures even though some aren't particularly pleasant. Hope overall the good expereiences outweigh the bad.

Michele- The Bob Dylan concert sounded like lots of fun. I'm jealous of that too. I think I have a sibling rivalry/ jealousy problem.

Sue it was nice to talk to you last night- sorry I biffed on the 15th date.

We've had an active couple of weeks here. Susan had a good fair in Sheboygan but lost her tent in a storm in milwaukee- morning glory. No jewelry lost as it happened overnight but she had to pick up the soggy carnage the next morning and head back home.

The boys and I played at Earthfest- not together. I was the live CD between set ups for the big bands during the evening- it was lots of fun. It rained and lightninged pretty hard for a while and we thought they'd pull the plug on the event but hippies don't let a little rain scare them off- they just do more impressionistic dancing- which seems to induce more rain. It was the second to last performance of Babar- so a bittersweet night for the boys. They were the 'headliner' and played a great set.

Ellis had been bugging me to go charter fishing on the lake all summer, so I finally caved in and we went down one night to check out the boats on the river and see which one we would want to go out on. We checked every single boat up and down the wharf and finally picked the 'Hi Tech' which was just coming in with a huge load of fish (and were among the cheapest for a '3 hour tour'(!)). The skipper and first mate were a great couple of guys and we had a great time. caught 8 fish. Ellis and Finn both landed 16+lb Kings. I got the only Lake Trout which was a beautiful 12 pounder. and the rest were lesser Kings. we smoked two and filleted the rest so have lots of salmon in the fridge. It was a very fun night for all of us. and it was everything Ellis hoped it would be.

Sue and I had our 25th wedding anniversary last week! we went golfing and had a dinner date. It was pretty low key but fun. we decided we are going to treat ourselves to a long weekend trip to some to be determined destination yet this fall- maybe San Francisco , or Seattle , or Kenosha or ????.

Cooper and I spent a couple of days in Seattle and Vancouver last week. He had found a guitar building school out on Vancouver Island that he had done some research on and we decided to go check it out. It was a great littel backwoods place. the owner/teacher was a great guy and knew all about the school I had gone to back in the old days. He has a nice apprentice-like approach. you can spend up to a year there (including a month in Sweden at a sister school) and then he helps you get placed in a shop or factory setting and expects you to keep up your training and growth. It was a great experience for Coop and he coudln't stop smiling or taking about it. Not sure if this will be the place -(there are several others around the country) but he is pretty jazzed about the idea of getting that kind of training and I think it is something he will pursue.

We also had a red Mustang convertible and were able to drop the top most of the weekend. (Mom and Dad you might want to avoid that car at Avis (after all those neutral drops in the rental car)). We went to the Rock N Roll museum which I had been to before but Coop loved it and we spent many hours there. Also the SciFi museum was pretty incredible. Mark there were pictures of your guy Forrest something from LA! I was trying to get flight with a stop over in Boise but no such luck. Didn't go up the Space Needle but told Coop all I coudl rememeber about the Expo grounds. Most of the rest of the time at The Pike Street market where they throw fish indescriminantly and yell at you to stop looking and buy something.

Back to the grind this week. North Carolina most of next week to teach my new boss his job (?!)

Well that's it for now. Hope everyoen hasd anice end to their summers