Every year Amber and I do our annual fall drive and leaf hunt. It'll be sometime the 3rd week in October here in Southern WI. We plan on driving east to the Lake Geneva area after work and taking some scenic drives that people have recommended. Then we'll stop and buy a pumpkin and some gourds. Grab a cup of coffee and a slice of apple pie and enjoy the scene. It's a Lashua family tradition!
Last weekend, Amber and I had the pleasure of going to our friend's families' lodge up in Brule, WI. It was about a 5.5 hour haul to get there so we arrived pretty late. Man, this place was something else. 13 bedroom, 6 bathroom, 4 fireplaces, huge wraparound porch with hanging beds, on the river. We took two canoe trips on the rapids, played boche ball, cards, ping pong (I won every game I played!), Ticket to Ride, Pictionary, we did some reading, ate plenty of good food and really enjoyed the company of some good friends. We also cracked out a few of the new Ezekial Brewery Belgian Wheat beers I whipped up. They were a big hit! Everyone liked them. Here is a link to some photos (I'm not on my home computer right now so I don't have quality photos to post) I also realized that there are no pictures of me from this trip!
I'm constantly amazed at the beauty of this state, especially the southern half. On the ride home I was almost overwhelmed at how awesome the bluffs, rolling hills, farms tucked into little nooks here and there. WI is a great state to be in! If you want to check out some great photography of the state I recommend looking at "Wisconsin" by Zane Williams. He's a pretty famous phototgrapher from this area. That book was up at the lodge so that's why I mention it.
Of course, me and Dobbins also had the big Boundary Waters trip at the end of August. That was a trip!! We didn't realize how challenging it was going to be. The first day really knocked the crap out of us. 3 portages: 2 very long and 1 very very muddy. I hurt my back on the very first portage and wasn't quite the same for the rest of the day. But luckily we found this amazing site on Good Lake. On a cliff overlooking the lake. Actually every site we had was unique and really cool. Very large. We got into a pretty steady routine throughout the course of a few days of packing up and setting up camp everyday. The scenery was perfect though. Check it out for yourself We had some pretty windy days and it was a bit tense at times trying to go parallel to the waves and risking a flip over. Man, if we would have tipped a canoe we would have been screwed. Actually, we would have been up s*^t creek without a paddle. Everything we had was in those packs. I would like to go back someday and check the other parts of the BW.
Big weekend coming up! Tonight Amber and I will grab some dinner at this new place right by our house that just opened. Grill type food but we've heard good things. Then watch an episode or two of Breaking Bad. I got it for my birthday from my sister, very cool show. Intense, dark and still funny.
Then tomorrow we are going to watch my cousin Owen play football in Jefferson (7th Grade) He's the QB and does pretty well! I'm hoping to tape record it for my Aunt. Then on Saturday night I have the big U2 show at Soldier Field in Chicago. That will be mind blowing! It'll be just me as I could only score 1 ticket but it should be a sight to behold. Snow Patrol is opening. Check out some photos of the stage:
It's going to be a long night!
On Sunday, I want to run 12 miles before the Fox Cities Half Marathon next weekend. I did 10 earlier this week and felt good, but I want to run 12 to prove to my body that I can run a half marathon on short notice. Then on Sunday afternoon/evening I'm volunteering at Ironman Wisconsin. From 3-8pm I'm working at the aide station at the corner of Lake and State St. then from 8pm-1am I'm working in the medical tent. It's a blast; I love the energy of it, the people and the music at the finish line. My buddy Ed wrote a nice article on the Ironman. So, a very long weekend indeed. But fun! We'll see if I'm in the mood to run 12 miles on Sunday morning, but I should since the Ironmanners are doing 140.6!
I've been thinking of becoming a member of Engineers Without Borders This is a program for engineers to use their skills outside of the traditional work environment and help out countries or communites that lack the people and knowlege to build certain types of infrastructure. From their website: "Our vision is a world in which all communities have the capacity to meet their basic human needs." There is a Madison Professional Branch that I would join. They do a lot of water well projects and most of the engineers are either civil, structural or environmental, but they do need Electrical engineers for some power systems projects. I think I would join one of the Technical Advisory Comittees (TAC) for some power infrastructure projects. The Madison branch is involved in projects in Kenya, Rwanda, Honduras and northern Wisconsin in the Red Cliff Indian Reservation actually. I doubt I would be travleing anywhere, but they have monthly meetings in town and I would be an advisor when people have specific questions. It's something I've been thinking about and it would allow me to spread my wings a bit. We'll see what happens in the next few weeks.
The Longshots had a bad loss last night, I won't bother mentioning the score. But the team we played was very good. Everyone was a huge hitter and we just couldn't keep up. We have 2 games left in the fall league. It's time for an epic flood of biblical portions. I really love playing 2nd base though. I think I'm grasping the fundamentals well and make a few outs every game. I still haven't turned a double play yet though! Go Blue
It's Patriot Day so remember to keep the families of the victims of 9/11 in your prayers!
Peace,
Zeke
I've been thinking of becoming a member of Engineers Without Borders This is a program for engineers to use their skills outside of the traditional work environment and help out countries or communites that lack the people and knowlege to build certain types of infrastructure. From their website: "Our vision is a world in which all communities have the capacity to meet their basic human needs." There is a Madison Professional Branch that I would join. They do a lot of water well projects and most of the engineers are either civil, structural or environmental, but they do need Electrical engineers for some power systems projects. I think I would join one of the Technical Advisory Comittees (TAC) for some power infrastructure projects. The Madison branch is involved in projects in Kenya, Rwanda, Honduras and northern Wisconsin in the Red Cliff Indian Reservation actually. I doubt I would be travleing anywhere, but they have monthly meetings in town and I would be an advisor when people have specific questions. It's something I've been thinking about and it would allow me to spread my wings a bit. We'll see what happens in the next few weeks.
The Longshots had a bad loss last night, I won't bother mentioning the score. But the team we played was very good. Everyone was a huge hitter and we just couldn't keep up. We have 2 games left in the fall league. It's time for an epic flood of biblical portions. I really love playing 2nd base though. I think I'm grasping the fundamentals well and make a few outs every game. I still haven't turned a double play yet though! Go Blue
It's Patriot Day so remember to keep the families of the victims of 9/11 in your prayers!
Peace,
Zeke
