Recreation « Journeyman Journal

My First Buck

Monday, October 20th, 2008

Two weekends ago several guys travelled up to the middle of Wyoming for our now annual Antelope hunt. There were four of us on that trip. Two of us had buck and doe tags (Virgil and I), two had doe tags (Justin and Nick). Within our first hour of getting to our area Virgil had his buck and he filled his doe tag the next day.

This was Nick’s first hunt and he filled his doe tag on the second day of the hunt (after having a shot at 150 yards he didn’t take because he couldn’t settle down ). I wasn’t actually there (Virgil was his “guide”) but I hear it was a nice shot and it was a good-sized doe.

Justin wasn’t able to fill either of his doe tags (VERY unusual for this hunting area…just wasn’t his year I guess). I filled my doe tag on the second day. I had a shot on a buck the first day as well as the second day, but missed on both shots!! I could not believe it (and the first one was a very nice buck). We had to leave a little early because of some weather that was moving into the area (they actually got quite a bit of snow so it was a good decision).

However, that left me without a buck (since I couldn’t hit one to save my life). So, I went back this past Saturday to give it one more try. Another buddy of mine (Brett) was up there as well. I hunted alone in the morning with no luck and met up with Brett t about noon. I had one more stalk left so I headed out while Brett packed up his camp (he had shot his buck the morning prior).

Long story short…after a 2 hour stalk on a group of 75 antelope I finally got my first buck ever. The pack-out was brutal but in the end it’s always worth it. I didn’t have a camera with me in the field (couldn’t find it before I left) so here are some shots from home (not the greatest, but you get the idea):

He’s about a 12 inch buck (not great, but not bad either). I dropped him off at the taxidermist yesterday to get mounted (you gotta mount the first right?). The bad news? I get him back in about a YEAR! But the wait should be worth it. We (Justin, Nick and I) head out to Craig in two weeks for our deer hunt so hopefully there is a monster buck in my near future. And if not, I’m sure there will be plenty of tales to tell.

20.10.2008 Guy Stuff, Hobbies, Hunting, Recreation 1 Comment

Hunting Fever

Wednesday, October 1st, 2008

One week from today I will be in the middle of Wyoming hunting antelope for 5 days (hopefully it will only take 1 or 2). This is my second year hunting (you can see the results of last year’s hunt here) and my first year with a buck tag. There are five of us going on this particular hunt this year and I can’t wait to get up there and get started!

I officially have hunting fever…I am so ready to hit the road and get started. Hopefully I come home with some meat for the fridge and something like this to hang on the wall (in the garage of course):

I will have all the details (along with pictures) when I get back. Until then I’ll have to live with my fever…the anticipation is killing me!

01.10.2008 Guy Stuff, Hobbies, Hunting, Recreation 4 Comments

Rental Rut

Monday, September 15th, 2008

Hopefully life is starting to settle down a little bit as I get back into school and a more “regular” schedule (whatever that is!). With the busy schedule blogging has taken a little bit of a backseat…which should mean I have a lot stored up right?

I’ll ease back into it today though. Today’s topic? Bad movie rentals! Anita and I have been on a bad run lately…every movie we have rented lately has S-U-C-K-E-D. Hopefully this is just a result of a lull in the movies that are available, but I am starting to get a little “gun shy” when we go to pick one out! We don’t get to the “big movies” very often so it’s a real bummer when a rental doesn’t pan out. Life is too busy to waste 2 hours of it on a lame flick.

Any recommendations?

15.09.2008 Misc Ramblings, Recreation 3 Comments

Spiritual Retreat WP-Style

Tuesday, July 15th, 2008

This past weekend Anita and I headed off to Winter Park for a spiritual retreat…and it was absolutely amazing! A friend from work, Emilie Erb, was gracious once again (we went last year too) to lend us her mountain retreat. As Anita put it, the point of the entire weekend was: NOTHING! We had no itinerary and no agenda outside of spending time together and time with God (and we accomplished both).

We slept in. We read. We prayed. We shopped (of course). We walked. We ate. We watched two movies.We got connected once again to one another and to God. Again, it was an amazing weekend!

Our focus for the weekend was praying for each of our kids. We talked about what was going on in each of their lives and how we could and should be praying for them. We talked about ourselves as parents and how we can do better. We talked about our own spiritual journeys. And we prayed…we asked God for guidance, for help, and for each one of our kid’s needs and futures.

We also spent some time praying and reading Scripture for ourselves. For me, God dealt with some old agreements as a father that He wanted to heal and restore. I also made three new commitments that will help me be a better dad to my kids. And God also shared His heart with me and asked me to slow down and just be with Him (abide in Him) and stop looking so far into the future…to be more present with Him now and enjoy the journey a little more.

I can’t adequately express what this weekend meant. It was fun, it was restful, it was needed. I highly recommend it to anyone and everyone. I am thankful that God provided the opportunity (thanks again Emilie!) and that we were able to make the time to get away and spend it with each other and with God. We came back home rested…rested physically, rested emotionally, and rested spiritually.

We didn’t take many pictures (didn’t fit with the NOTHING theme), but here are a couple we did take)…

D&A in WP
Don’t we look rested?

The Mountain Getaway
Thanks again Emilie!

15.07.2008 Recreation, Spiritual Development, Vacation 1 Comment

Como 2008

Tuesday, July 8th, 2008

Every year we make a trek up to some private land in Como, CO. The tradition is that we go on Memorial and Labor Day weekend, but this year the snow kept us from getting there over Memorial so we pushed the trip to this past weekend. I must admit it was much warmer (day and night), but that’s not to say it didn’t have a few new wrinkles (see the last photo).

We always have fun with family and friends. The view is unbelievable and the fishing is usually out of this world (I caught 9 trout this year). The weekend typically includes poker, s’mores, rides on a recreational vehicle of some kind (this year it was a motorcycle thanks to my buddy Justin), working on the pond (see photos), and just taking it easy by the fire. This year was no exception…we had two new couples/families and had a great time. We missed some of the “old guard” (i.e.: Bill & Cindy and Larry & Shelley) but we are truly blessed to be able to use this pristine land and just get away from it all for a few days. If you’d like to join us just drop me a line…the more the merrier!

Here are some of the more memorable photos from the weekend…

The Busy Campsite

The Amazing View!

Some of the Gang hanging out by the fire.

Paul chilling out with some camp coffee
(not sure what the one glove thing was about?)

Food Fight!

Don’t they look like they love each other?

Does it get any better than this?

Logan & Kyle getting some good sleep.

Beavers have nothing on us man!
(Of course this broke about 2 hours later…but we’ll fix that)

Just as we were getting packed up to leave this hail storm pounded
us for about 5-8 minutes. That was a new one for us…now we’ve seen it all!

08.07.2008 Family, Friends, Recreation, Vacation 2 Comments

Happy 4th

Friday, July 4th, 2008

Prickly City

Today we venture off to Como, CO for a long weekend in the mountains with friends and family (the Memorial trip we couldn’t make thanks to the snow). I hope you have a great one as well…back next week with photos of the fun.

04.07.2008 Holiday, Recreation, Vacation 1 Comment

Change of Plans: Royal Gorge

Tuesday, May 27th, 2008

Our plans changed a bit this past weekend. Memorial Weekend is our annual camping trip to Como, CO. I think we’ve been going there for the past 5 years or so (Anita will correct me if I’m off one or two). We were all set for this year’s trip, we were in the middle of preparations on Friday night, when we got a call that informed us that the road to the campsite was covered with snow and wasn’t passable. A serious change of plans was in store for our weekend.

So what did we do? We improvised of course. Friday night was spent just trying to figure it out and get over the disappointment of a lost camping trip. Saturday we spent the afternoon with everyone who was going camping (as well as a few that weren’t) and barbecued at Paul & Leslie Foster’s house…followed by a couple poker games of course (and yes, Anita won one of them).

Sunday and Monday we headed down to my Granparent’s house in Cañon City. They spoiled us rotten and took us to the Royal Gorge on Monday afternoon. The weather was good and we had a great time. Not bad for a sudden change of plans. Here are a few pictures from the trip down south. Don’t miss the video at the end (Lindsay’s favorite part of the weekend I think).

My Grandparent’s Victorian House in Cañon City, CO

My Grandparents (Ross & Charlotte) posing with the kids.

The beginning of the Royal Gorge afternoon.

Lindsay, Logan & Kyle riding the carousel.

A great view of the world’s highest suspension bridge.

A little ”wildlife” (the Elk in the background too).

Who doesn’t love a petting zoo?

The Air Tram across the Gorge…did I mention I hate heights?

A little perspective for the video.
This is the Royal Gorge Skycoaster from across the Gorge.
It’s the same ride as at Elitches, but swings out over the Gorge!!

Here’s the video of Lindsay and me riding the Royal Gorge Skycoaster. We both kind of talked each other into it, but I was impressed that Lindsay went through with it (although she wanted to back out a few times). You’ll note in the video that she is the one that pulls the rip cord. The video doesn’t really do the ride justice…it swings you out over the canyon…an awesome experience…and one that I got to share with Lindsay!!

If you can’t see the video above, click here to see it on YouTube.

All in all a great weekend salvaged from what I thought was going to be a bummer!! You just can’t go wrong spending time with family and friends. A memorable Memorial Weekend…one for the memory banks.

27.05.2008 Family, Recreation, Vacation, Video 2 Comments

Last Week of School

Wednesday, May 21st, 2008

This has been a hectic week (hence the lack of postings the last few days). I am in my last week of school for this class (and this school year), which is always busy as I finish up big papers and all the lose ends of a class. On top of my schooling, it’s the last week of school for the kids…always hectic as well as they wind down the year and get jazzed up for the summer.

We are also preparing and planning for our annual Memorial Weekend Camping Trip to Como, CO. The trip is a blast (assuming the weather holds out), but it’s one more thing on top of an already busy week. Frankly, I can’t wait for it to get here so we can all relax a little and spend time with family and friends in God’s country (just wish Bill and Cindy could make it this year, won’t quite be the same without them)!

In the midst of all this busyness and craziness, God gave me these words of encouragement this morning. I hope they encourage you as much as they do me:

What shall we say about such wonderful things as these?
If God is for us, who can ever be against us?
Romans 8:31, NLT

21.05.2008 Family, Friends, Misc Ramblings, Recreation, School No Comments

A Good Music Day

Tuesday, March 25th, 2008

On my way into work I typically listen to talk radio. It’s usually either Laura Ingram or a local sport’s station. This morning I just wasn’t into it the talk so I turned on some tunes. I have Sirius radio so I have lots of options, but that doesn’t always mean you’re going to get good music when you want it (although it does increase the odds).

Have you ever had one of those days when you just can’t find anything you want to listen to? Or one of those days when you’re just not in the mood for music? I’m no audiophile so those days come fairly often. I’m kind of picky and have three main categories for my music interests:

Contemporary Christian (and I do mean contemporary)
The 80′s (it is my generation)
Classic Rock (especially the later stuff)

This morning I could NOT go wrong. I was either really in the mood or the stations were hitting on all cylinders this morning. For 30+ minutes I was rocking and rolling to some good stuff! Everything from Lynard Skynard to Stevie Ray Vaughn and Joan Jett. There were some good 80′s tunes in the mix too.

It certainly set the tone (pun intended) for the rest of my day. I may be back to talk radio tomorrow morning…or I might just see if this morning was a fluke or not…rock on!!

25.03.2008 Hobbies, Misc Ramblings, Recreation 1 Comment

The Triple Dockers Perform

Friday, December 28th, 2007

Our kids spent the better part of the day today (in between cleaning the house and going sledding) working on their new band and getting ready for a performance for Anita and I tonight. The band is called “The Triple Dockers” and features Lindsay on Vocals, Logan on the Guitar, and Kyle on the drums.

Here is a video of one of the songs they performed for us. Enjoy…