Road Trip

Hi Folks!

Took the week off from this blog thing but I had a good reason. Told you last time that my granddad on my mom's side dropped in for a visit. Well while he was here we talked about this and that and before long we kinda of settled in and talked about fishin. No two fishermen ever agree on exactly what kind of bait or lures or flies are the best for catchin a particular kind of fish and me and granddad weren't no different. We traded stories about which ones we use and how to use it in differing kinds of water. Shoot... before we knew it a couple of hours had passed and we hadn't reached no agreement on which of us was right about this stuff.

Well granddad up and said that there was only one way to settle any of this. We'd just have to go to his place up north and spend a week out in the back country. Out there we could use all our skill and knowledge... not to mention a heapin helpin of luck... to see who was right. Hadn't really taken a break lately and what with the challenge and all I just figured it would be the right thing to do. Course it didn't hurt that I'd get to spend a week with that old man. The fishin would just be a side benefit...

We up and packed in a couple of hours. Lucky thing I'd just restocked my fishin equipment and stuff a couple of weeks ago. T'weren't too hard to gather everything up and pack the car. Granddad still had a load of Naugas to sell but we put 'em in a spare pen I've got for breeding purposes. Thelma Lou said she'd take care of the place while I was gone and so we just hopped in the car and set off. Nice long drive... took turns drivin... only stopped for food, to stretch our legs, see some of the sights, and for the basic necessities.

One of the highlights was when we stopped to see the world's biggest stew pot. By coincident theyse was havin a cookin contest to see ifn they could break the world record for the biggest pot of Nauga stew ever made. Had folks from Guinness there and everything. Boy oh boy theyse must of had a hundred folks just runnin about chasin Naugas and stirrin the pot and adding all sorts of ingredients. Theyse had to stand on them big long ladders just to see over the rim of that pot... had them real long ladles and spoons... must've custom made them just to use in that thing. Quite a sight I tell you... quite a sight.

Oh they got the record. Theyse were over the old one by about 300 quarts of stew. When theyse were done they had enough to feed about three thousand people. Course there was just about that many there what with the local townsfolk, tourists, the usual hangers on, and the news folks. Yeah, I betcha that a whole bunch of news programs will have a little feature about that stew pot sometime this week. Seems to be an irresistible quality about that sort of stuff. That report will probably start with a nice broad shot of the whole shebang. Then it'll focus in on the folks actually doin the cookin. After that's done they'll get around to talkin to the people watchin the event and maybe even talk to one or two of the Guinness officials. Then that report will finish off with a close up shot of the reporter standing there with a nice heaping bowlful of the Nauga stew. I've seen a thousand of them reports... all tied up nice and neat. Good human interest stuff.

After we helped ourselves to a couple of bowls of that stew... and it was good, ifn not as good as Thelma Lou makes, we hopped back into the car and continued on our way. Finally got to granddad's place. It's a cozy little five room cabin... not counting the new indoor plumbing that replaced the outhouse a couple of years back. I gotta tell you, it must've been pretty nippy to have to get up in the middle of a hard freeze and go outside to use that thing. Quite honestly, I was glad to see that he'd got it all in and working fine before this trip. I've got nothin against roughin it, but I guess I've kinda gotten used to one or two of life's little pleasures, if you know what I mean.

Well we got out of the car and stretched our legs a bit before unpacking and lugging all our gear into the cabin. That's when we saw the spoor. It started just in front of the cabin door and trailed all around the cabin. Big tracks... lots of scat... might have been a Greatback Long Snout... maybe even more than one. By the looks of it they circled round the cabin trying to find a way in. Good thing it's got a nice thick reinforced door. There'd a been one heck of a time trying to get them critters to leave ifn they'd gotten inside and taken a fancy to the place. Granddad said that it happens from time to time. Them things just wander by on their great migration... only really lookin for something to eat. They've learned over the years that an open cabin just might give 'em that and maybe even a place to hole up in for a couple of weeks while they fattened up on whatever was in the vicinity.

Fortunately for us, them critters were long gone by the time we got there. Granddad's big gun was in the cabin and we didn't have anything in the car that was near big enough caliber to be able to handle one of them things ifn it had a mind to bother with us. Granddad said they didn't tend to stick around long ifn they didn't find nothin of interest. So them Long Snouts were probably nowhere nearby... probably. We didn't take no chances though. It was gettin near dark so we just moved our gear into the cabin as quick as could be. Locked that door behind us using the nice big crossbeam granddad installed when he'd built the place years back. Probably didn't need to but... better to do that than to take the chance of wakin up with a Long Snout rooting through all your stuff.

The rest of the evening was taken up by doing a little cleanin up and gettin settled in. Then granddad started a fire in the fireplace and we relaxed with a nice glass of Nauga Beaujolais before turnin in. Granddad told a few of his stories about the great north and huntin Grey Flecked Red Breasts... thought he might still have one in the freezer... figured he'd make us a meal or two from it ifn it was still there. Real quiet night... you could hear the Coomers from miles away. Only excitement was when I found a Hollowback in my closet. Course I knew what it was right away... don't mean I didn't jump a foot back when it dropped onto the floor though...

Anyways... I suppose that's it for today. I'll catch you up on the rest of the trip next time. See you then. Jon