May 12, 2008
Fun in the Sun.
April is far and away our busiest month in the shop so we've been working our tails off getting orders filled for the upcoming paddling season. It works out perfect for us since April in Northern Minnesota is the worst month for outdoor activities (in my opinion.) There's not enough snow to ski and the trails are too sloggy to hike. The lakes are still frozen -so no paddling or fishing. Oh yeah, and its usually about 38 degrees and windy and rainy... So we hunker down in our cozy shop and do some serious wood working for most of the month.

At the end of the month, we treated ourselves to some time off in warm, sunny Florida. After 6 months of winter, the intense 95 degree heat and powerful sun was a shock to our arctic metabolisms. But after a day or two we adjusted and ended up having a great trip.

We spent some time lazing on the beach and swimming in the surf and also got out for some salt water fishing. The fishing was great with nearly non-stop action in the rivers and lagoons that flow inland from the ocean. We had a chance to catch a variety of species that we had never caught before. The highlight for me was catching my first salt water trout. Awesome.


Dan and his first Speckled Trout.


Joey and a Puffer Fish.


Barb pulling up a Silver Snapper.

April 1, 2008
Spring is here!!!
April Fools... The Winter that wouldn't end continues so why not enjoy another weekend of Winter bliss? We all headed up to the cabin on Hungry Jack this weekend for some snow-shoeing and ice fishing. The weather was absolutely gorgeous and the snow was fluffly and wet. Jo, Barb and I got out each morning for some awesome hikes and a few snow ball fights.


Jo on her shoes.


Barb and Jo on Hungry Jack.

We forgot a shovel so I had to resort to using one of our paddles to clear the front steps!
It worked like a charm...


Ultra-light, hand-crafted SHOVEL...

My brother-in-law Steve and I hiked over to Daniels Lake for some end of season ice fishing. The fish didn't cooperate but we didn't mind one bit. Sitting on buckets in the middle of this stunning, pristine lake was a great way to spend an afternoon.


Steve (a.k.a. The Fish Repeller) drilling a hole.

March 21, 2008
Canoe spotted!
The surest sign of spring is when the canoes begin to emerge from the many feet of Northern Minnesota snow. The snow is melting at a steady pace but there is still at least another month until the ice is out on the lakes up here...

March 17, 2008
Copia Pics.
I finally got a chance to look at our photos from Canoecopia. We had an awesome show and our booth was filled with paddlers pretty much the entire time. Many of our models were completely sold out by noon on Saturday!

Spring Fever was definetely running rampant at the show. Being surrounded by so many canoes and paddling gear was getting us all extremely anxious for ice out. This year I actually got a chance to see some of the lectures, which I enjoyed tremendously. I saw one on BWCA fishing techniques (somebody always knows more...) and another on a paddling expedition on the Yukon River in Canada. Both were great. Barb was able to check out a presentation about paddling in Provence. She said it looked like a MUCH different way to paddle than our usual BWCA/Quetico trips...

As always, thanks to all of the amazing staff at Rutabaga!

Dan talking paddling with some new Whiskey customers.


Barb is the hostess with the mostess...