travel

Summer Vacation, Day 72: Gang’s All Here (Belated)

/ J. Thorp / Leave a comment

Been sleeping on the houseboat with the full moon for a night light. Jill and her kids (plus her boxer) came up to the lake, too, and the boys (minus Trevvy) went fishing. Lots of too-small walleye.

Then Brendan finally hooked something. The pole bent double. The drag whined as line was pulled out against the reel’s wishes Dziadzi was ready with the net, and Gabe and Kyle were cheering him on … and it spit the hook. Oof. We all felt terrible, and Dziadzi shouted something it’s best I don’t repeat here.

Brendan took it in stride. He imagines a massive fish and tells a good story. Dziadzi tells him his great-grandpa caught few fish, but always caught the biggest. He sees himself in that light.

Gabe suspects the fish was “Old Mocker” – the fish who’s been jumping on all sides of the houseboat this entire trip. Gabe imagines a wise and clever fish who, like Moby Dick, can show up in one place and then somewhere else entirely nearly simultaneously.

He called the fish “Old Mocker,” of course, because it continued to mock us each time we set out …

Summer Vacation, Day 63: The Illusion of Time Off

/ J. Thorp / 3 Comments

We leave for Michigan early Friday morning. I worked later on both Monday and Tuesday, trying to get everything squared away before we leave for a week and a half. Even so, I brought work home tonight. Tomorrow is a day-long retreat, so no time to work then. Packing is not done – tomorrow night most likely. Up late, up early, drive all day to my sister’s place.

Too tired Saturday morning, but the kids will rise early to play with their cousins. We should be rested by mid-week, except that somewhere in there we drive to my folks’ house. Or rather, their campsite on a lake – that should be fun. And active. Then drive to Grand Rapids to see friends – we invariably eat too much and never sleep.

Up late, up early, drive all day home. Sleep at the office.

Summer Vacation, Day 17: Travelin’

/ J. Thorp / 2 Comments

Today we embark on the first trip of the summer, a quick jog to the north for a weekend in a lakeside campground. We’ll have a cabin, and we’ll be surrounded by families from our church, which has rented the entire campground. They even feed us! Very nice. (Of course, this means I’ll be posting for both Saturday and Sunday later on Sunday …)

This will be the warm-up to our summerly South Dakota adventure the following week. First, the Polo All-School Reunion in Jodi’s tiny hometown. Then, a beef, beer and guitar fiesta at Jinglebob’s (Remember the other nickname I had for you, JB? Our discussions during the Colorado trip have made me self-conscious about using it.), with Hubba and Deacon Tyler in attendance, among others. Then we’ll kick around the hills, stay in the lap of luxury at Jodi’s folks’ place and enjoying the Piedmont Fourth of July Parade. With any luck, the riding steer and spray-painted goat will both make an appearance.

Of course, neither of these trip compare to a couple of friends of mine: one of our student workers headed to Peru, and a former colleague from the University of Minnesota Crookston is moving to China to teach English and spread the Word. Wow. Safe travels!