My brother Jack gets more bang for his travel buck than anyone I’ve ever met. One year they went snowboarding in Colorado for a week for like $250 (lift tickets, travel, food & lodging included). Another year it was hiking in Utah for $150. Even a backpacking trip to Louisiana for 5 days plus a day and night in the French Quarter for $125. Last week he hiked the Lake Superior Coastal Trail in Ontario for under $100. If you’ve got some time to kill he’s got some great photos and a long narrative about the trip online.
Archive for August, 2005
Jack’s adventure
Tuesday, August 30th, 2005Dressler ties the knot
Sunday, August 28th, 2005About ten years ago I met a very tall, very outspoken guy who was fond of rowing, sailing, good beer, and spaghetti. He thought corporate jobs were for suck-ups, suburbia promoted ignorance, and marriage was for those willing to lose their identity. So when he met and fell in love with Leslie Rattan we were all curious to see what would happen. Somehow, he managed to marry her yesterday in a fantastic outdoor ceremony that was still very Dressler-esque, as evident by the mid-ceremony humor, flipflop-clad groomsmen (who still managed to look quite classy), and the fact that the majority of the guests camped at Bong Recreational State Park, before and after the wedding. Not to mention Turbo Tap, which Dressler co-created, was in full effect and Hoofer sailors were there in abundance to make use of it. Congratulations to Dress and Les on their wonderful day!
Gladiolas
Tuesday, August 23rd, 2005Back in May, when my parents had their surprise 60th birthday party, we gave out gladiola bulbs as party favors. In all the chaos that ensued I forgot about mine for quite a while and by the time I found it, it was starting to fall apart and kinda moldy. But I planted it anyway. Guess what came up? And just to point out that my camera still rocks, here’s a close up.
Got a blooming gladiola from the party? Please send a photo my way.
Tornado?
Friday, August 19th, 2005We had crazy weather the other day. All in all there were 26 tornadoes that touched down in Wisconsin, most of them in Dane County. The radar indicated that they would miss the west side, so I went out on my roof to see what I could see. Just big wall clouds, I thought, but after hearing there was an F4 off to the west, I’m thinking this picture I took might actually have been a huge tornado. Or at least one forming. Scary.
Beerfest
Saturday, August 13th, 2005Today was the 19th Annual Great Taste of the Midwest, or as my friends and I affectionately and erroneously call it, “Beerfest.” We were a little slow on arrival this year, showing up only an hour ahead of time, and therefore had to assume our place in the line behind about 2,000 people. Once the gate opened however everything moved along and within 45 minutes we were in, taster’s glass in hand, friends found (and the newest member of the group), sampling several of about 500 beers and root beers. I also got to meet a lot of the Bell’s brewery crowd this year, since Bryan and his friend Kevin both hail from Kalamazoo, MI. An interesting bunch. And, as tends to happen after drinking for 5 hours, our group had our own share of amusement.. there was the dolly incident and Gino’s hula hoop attempts, both of which resulted in having things taken away from us. So it goes. At the end most of us headed out -on foot- for Mexican food and we all eventually got home safely. Yet another successful beerfest.
Jazz@5
Wednesday, August 10th, 2005One of the cool things about summer in Madison is that you can get yourself all cultured up every Wednesday. In June/July we have Concerts on the Square and in August there is Jazz@5 at the top of State St. Where else can you go -for free- and sit outside, 25 feet from the band, and sip beer? Today’s concert featured Ben and Leo Sidran and friends. Not too shabby.
Boating, finally
Sunday, August 7th, 2005Yesterday Bryan and I finally got the boat on the water. I haven’t been able to wakeboard this summer for reasons to be discussed in another post, but it was great to be out there swimming and floating around with friends Kate, Gino and Jeanne. Gino made it up on water skis for the first time to the plaudits of onlookers and Bryan looked solid on the wakeboard. Mid-day we happened across the bachelor party of Dressler which was in full swing, and yet managed to go another 15 hours, or so the rumors go. After a full day we stopped at the terrace for a chips & salsa and some music before heading home. Every Saturday should be like this.
All-City Diving
Tuesday, August 2nd, 2005I went to watch the 15-18 guys All City Diving championship at Monona pool tonight, having missed the last 12 city meets despite my best intentions. Some things have changed since I was involved – they went to NCAA scoring (well loose NCAA scoring), the required dive is now a category with a max DD and they cut to the top 16 instead of 12 finalists after the first 4 rounds. And back and inward doubles seem a little more acceptable now, although no one managed to do one really well. Everything else was remarkably similar though and it was fun to be back. Bill Rhinesmith from West Side won his event nailing most of his dives but he had some good competition. After the meet was over the coaches had their chance to show off and it was impressive – great 3.5s and the best smack ever off a 1-meter out of a front 2.25… in layout! If nothing else, I’m happy to have that part of it behind me….
