Winter Settles In

Johnny Bo Steppin Out In CDA

Blues Traveler

Me and the Tee Rone went to Spokane on a chilly November night and faced the classic dilemma. Stained or Blues Traveler in concert. We cose the latter due to the fact that I would have been the oldest dickweed in the Stained line. Good call, we had fun and the warm up band Carbon Leaf was awesome. Blues Traveler dude plays a wicked harmonica and threw a lot of them into the crowd, it would be cool to have one without the spit. It was a good time and on the way out we saw a crackhead a whore and a crackwhore so the visit to the city was real.

Hayduke Lives!

Eastern Washington University has an inspiring program that brings authors to audiences in Spokane. The 'Get Lit" series encourages people to read and write, last week the speaker was Douglas Peacock - Green Beret, grizzly protector and the inspiration for the Ed Abbey character 'Hayduke'. Ty and yours truly took the drive to the Metropolitan Theater in downtown Spokane to listen to a living legend.
Like most face to face meetings with someone you have heard about, it was a little bit anticlimatic to see the actual Hayduke as a portly, bald, 50ish cat that was not a great public speaker kind of brought reality in. On the other hand it was very interesting and informative. He is a cool guy that has done a lot of interesting things and has a new book that he is trying to sell, hence the appearance. He talked about Ed Abbeys last days and burying him in an illegal grave without a death certificate on pulic lands. Very graphic and emotional. He gave his imput on the current day status of the enviromental movement. (he thought Ed would be disgusted) and took a few cheap shots at George Bush and the Iraq war. The crowd was an interesting mix of scholarly types, aging hippies and young idealists who havent developed their sense of cynicalism that will come with time. He didn't mention the obvious curse of the planet which is of course too many people and not enough space between them. He talked about the grizzlies and Hollywood and the prospect of bringing The Monkey Wrench Gang to the big screen (it is in the works) he said that the part of Hayduke might be played by Collin Ferill and that brought boos from the crowd. He hopes that it will happen and that he will be a consultant because he could use the money - it all comes down to money - even to Hayduke. Case closed, the world is ending.

Hang On

Well, no one is updating their blog. I think this is a bad sign, a definite malaise that has settled over the world. Hurricanes, wars, high gas prices, man panties on wiggers, yes all a sign of shit storm 05. Stay posted for further updates. If a major earthquake hits California then start storing food and go to church, possibly join the choir and sing like you have never sang before. -Things are gonna get bad, real bad.

The Debut of the Boo

Bry made his first stage appearance in the Legend of Sleepy Hollow. He is Brom Bones and does a great job. He plays a bully that pushes Ichabod around and gets the girl, good work if you can get it. It is community theater and a lot of fun. He looks huge on stage and plays the part of big roughneck real well. It has been six weeks of hard work and we are proud of him. He signs autographs after the play, the girls love him and some of the little kids are scared of him.

Fall on the Couer d'Alene River

The fly fishing is very good. I recommend it.

Sometimes

The reports from the rivers left no doubt, the fly fishing is as good as it gets. So I decided to wait until Saturday so Boo and Farley could go with me. Saturday morning Boo has a sore throat and fever and Farley has a eye filled with puss, to heck with them I'm going alone.
I head for the Couer d'Alene River the head waters, the North Fork to be exact where the cutthroats are wild and hungry. The nice thing about fishing the rivers around here is that they don't stock them, the fish are wild, they are natives and reproduce on their own just like me. (!?)And the fish hit dry flies so you don't have to compromise your own principles by nymph fishing the bottom of the river like a scum sucking parasite. I haven't tied a nymph on all summer and that is how it should be, Nick caught a big ugly whitefish on the Clark Fork when he was here with a nymph and I still haven't got the slime out my net from it, I will probably have to burn it next full moon. Anyone who thinks a whitefish is a trout shouldn't be trusted with sharp objects like fish hooks. I digress.
I fished all day on the river and never saw another fisherman, a few hunters but no one else on over 30 miles of prime river on a saturday no less. Reminds me of why I like it here. The fishing was great, no other way to put it. There was a caddis hatch that kept the fish looking up and I caught probably 40 fish, most in the 10 to 12 inch range but one big fatty, about 17 inches. At one point I stood in the same spot and caught at least 15 fish, when I finally moved my legs were numb and I about fell in. It was a beatiful day sun and clouds alternating, they temperature about 65. Fly patterns varied, just about any caddis pattern worked in size 12 or 14. Parachute Adams was my favorite because it is so easy to see, but a elk hair worked and stimulators, I caught the big one a size 10 orange stimulator, he probably thought it was a hopper. At one point I sat on a big log jam and daydreamed for half an hour, someone has to do it. I finally got tired of catching them and drove home at a leisurely pace through the mountains. I

Johnny Bo

Ty and his family have been up visiting us for the past week. My grandson Johnny Boden is the smartest, cutest, funnest, fastest kid on earth. He kept us running and laughing. We miss him already.

Glacier

I decided it was time for Bryant and his scurvy dog to see Glacier National Park so we took the 250 mile drive to the northeast and by lunch time we were at West Glacier. Pretty drive through Sandpoint and Kallispell and along the Kootenai River. Boo had never been there and was in a dilemma about the grizzly bears, he wanted to see one but was scared to be eaten by same. Well, we had no choice but to camp at a park campground. Bry had never done this before and was horrified to learn that there would be other people nearby. (the Larsen mentality has been engrained in him and he has only camped in seclusion unitl now) The campground was heavily treed but still offered little privacy but we didn't plan on spending much time there. The highlight of the campground experience was a toss up between the garbage truck that emptied the dumpsters at 5:00 a.m. or the guy who blew his nose for five minutes with the pitch and volume of a mexican trumpet or possibly the whistledick who pulled in at 10:oo p.m. and proceeded to build a cabin on top of his van that was so ridiculous that me and Boo couldn't stop laughing at him, he could tell and shot us looks of hatred every few minutes. ( I think he was scared of the bears) National Parks are generally overcrowded and full of so many dipshits that you develop a renewed sense of disgust with the human race and Glacier is no exception, although not as bad as some just because of the remoteness of the park.
We drove the 12 miles to the top of the Going To The Sun Road. Like its name suggests this road goes straight up the mountain. It is crazy where this thing is built. Hanging on the side of steep mountain slopes it climbs up to Logan Pass. It is a little shaky in some spots and goes to one lane where there are trying to fix it, my truck barely fit through some places. It was incredible scenery and it is easy to see why it is a famous destination. It was my first time up the road, when Lisa and I went to Glacier 2 years ago it was the end of June and it still hadn't been cleared of snow. We saw mountain goats, a big horned sheep and kept looking for bears. The next day we got up early and put the dog in the tent and hiked up to Avalanche Lake, it was a beautiful 5 mile hike and was well worth it. We then went back up over the pass to East Glacier, we had a good time seeeing the country on that side and at the Many Glacier area we saw a Grizzly loping across a meadow, we got a good look and then drove up the road a ways and saw it again. It was cool and I was glad Bry got to see it, if you don't see one while you are there it is disapointing. Ironicaly we saw this griz about in the same place Lisa and I saw one two years ago.
Then we stopped in Babb Montana at the Babb Bar and had a gigantic steak dinner. This place is on the Blackfeet Indian Reservation and is famous in some circles for having the best steaks in the country. It was listed in Playboy magazine as one of the roughest bars in the U.S. so naturaly you take your son there. A few years back they scalped someone in the bathroom there, never found the guy just his scalp. It was a good dinner and Farley was rewarded for staying in the truck with some prime steak scraps that he swalowed whole although he carefully spit out a piece of zuchini, he's no dummy.
One interesting thing about Glacier Park is that the glaciers are disapearing, due to global warming, low snowfall and a vast right wing conspiracy. There are pictures of the glaciers from fifty years ago that show that they are about a fourth of what they were. Just another place you can add to the list of things that are good but use to be better. I think if I hear that one more time I will freak. The problem in most places is simple - too damn many people, the planet is badly overcrowded and it is just going to get worse. Don't let it get you down it's just a fact.
The next day we broke camp early and headed home, Bry said two nights were his limit. I called him a wuss but sadly that is about my limit for sleeping on the ground too. We drove home a different route south through Montana and Flathead Lake ( neat area ) and through Plains and over Thompson Pass which I had always wanted to see. Ended up on the Couer d'Alene River and was home by afternoon. It was a good trip.

A week later I read in the paper that a man and his teenage daughter were attacked by a grizzly at the Many Glacier area. They are in critical condition, they surprised a sow with two cubs, they do not plan on doing anything to the bear. When I told Bry he said 'holy crap'.

Hammer Time

Our grandson Johnny Boden. We gave him this toy and he immediately grasped the concept of using the hammer to beat the hell out of the wooden balls to push them through. By them time we left the top of it was beat up pretty good. It was good to see him but now we miss him even more.

Heatstroker

Just returned from a week in the sun burnt wasteland just south of the seventh circle of hell, the locals call it "St. George". I am not exagerating when I say it was a bit warm. Sure it is over 100 degrees everyday and with the monsoon moisture in the air it is humid too, but to compensate the people who live there set their air conditioners at a frosty 83 degrees, perfect for sweating and steaming. A dip in a warm swimming pool is the highlight of the day and leaves you a bit lethargic but wet at least, the evaportive cooling effect last for several seconds until your dry and start to shrivel. I lived there for 18 years but don't know how I did it, I guess I didn't know any better. Yea, yea I know the winters are mild and it was probably really green this spring before the fires burnt everything up but come on. Danish ancestry prevails, we aren't made for this crap. So after the 1000 mile drive north into the panhandle of Idaho it was 93 degrees when we got here. Shit. But at least it cooled down when the sun set and this weekend it is supposed to rain and top out at 78 degrees. I might live.

Going Swimming

Boo and Farley the damn dog heading down the road to Hayden Lake.

DMV Blues

I had a lovely and delightful visit to the local DMV office to update my drivers license. How in this world of high technology and streamlined processing capability can this f****** place still exist? If you tried to in your wildest demented dreams to come up with a system that is slower, less logical and more likely to induce maniacal rage you could not top this place. I have done more than my share of time in these offices lately, I worked in California last winter and was required by my employer to obtain a CA license. I did this in Suasanville CA at a small office that wasn't too bad considering I had to take five tests to get my commercial drivers license with tanker, air brake and hazmat endorsements. I didn't drive truck but as the manager I had to hold all these licesnses so I killed the better part of day getting it done. The office wasn't too crowded and their was a nice picture of Arnold the Terminator hanging on the wall. But soon after that I left CA and the job and needed to get back my Idaho license, so one otherwise fine summer morning I dropped in at the Coeur d'Alene offiice to see what I needed to do. Well the first thing you do is look at a bunch of sorry assed people who all turn in unison and glare at you when you walk in the door, bad sign. Next step is to take a number, a really bad sign. My number was 002, after five minutes they called number 81, I quickly was able to figure that the numbers started back over at 100 and I was a long freaking way from being called. And there were 2 guys working the desk, 2 I said 2 that's right 2. Six computers there but 2 dudes. They could have used 10 people easy. These guys had to be on Valium, how else could they even pretend to cope. They were the picture of calm and tranquility while a horde of people stared at them with undisguised hatred. After an hour and 15 minutes my number was finally called. I went to the counter and told them my needs he says ok sit down and well will call you. OK what could I do, so I went to sit back down but of course someone has taken my seat, starting to get a little riled but I take it and find another seat. 10 minutes and they call my name I go up and they say I need to take a test to get the license - fine, I haven't studied the book but I take the test and sit down. I am pretty impatient and blow through the test without really reading it. It says you can miss six, so I feel confident and stick the test in a basket on the counter where it gets ignored for about another 10 minutes, finally a guy grabs and grades and call my name, I walk up and he says you passed (yippee) but you missed three do you want to look at them- no. You don't want to see the ones you missed? No. He doesn't like it but something in my eye prompts him to let it go. He says sit down and I will call you, another 10 or 15 and they call me to sign my name and get a picture taken. Sit down they say, another few minutes. I can see the machine that is processing the license and my card plops out, but one guy is on the phone and the other is talking to some people and so I have to sit there like an impotent jerk until another 10 minutes go by, finally one of them hands me the prized piece of plastic. I dont say a word for fear of my head exploding or the bare handed pummeling that I would not have been able to supress. I take the license and walk out with the envied looks of the doomed crowd still waiting, I would have felt a little smug but I had been emotionally buggered and had nothing left. Alone at last in my truck I cried a little and hugged myself and told myself that it was over and I was going to be OK. Next I went looking for a bar so I could chug-a-lug a liter of tequila but it was still 11:00 am and nothing was open so I went home. A couple days later I was feeling better.

Route Of The Hiawatha

Yesterday me and the Boo decided to see what all the fuss is about and went and biked the Hiawatha trail in Montana. It is an old railroad that winds through the Bitteroot Mountains and has numerous tunnels and trestles. We drove about an hour to the Montana border and stopped at Lookout Ski Resort where we got info on the trail and shuttle. We then drove to the trailhead and started our 15 mile ride. Right off the bat we headed into the Taft Tunnel which is 1.1 mile long. We had our headlamps but it was still hard to see exactly where the hell you where. It was very cool inside (you could see your breath) and wet with water dripping everwhere and running down each side. It was a blast, we pedaled way too fast and were lucky not to run into the rock walls, after a few exhilerating minutes we broke back out into the sunshine. This bike trail is one of the many old railroads that have been converted into bike trails in the Northwest, it was built around the first of the 19th century with a lot a hard work and money, it winds through some fantastic country and has 7 tunnels and 8 large trestles in the fifteen mile stretch that we rode. We had a great time but finished too fast and caught the shuttle back to the trailhead. We both agreed that next time we will skip the shuttle and bike back ourselves (uphill this time) The trail get its name from the train that use to run this route, The Oympic Hiawatha. See more pictures at the photo gallery on the Larsen Web Site www.cool-larsens.com

Family Guy

This is the picture I will use when I run for Bishop next year.

No pants - No problem

I had to put on pants today. Really cramped my style. The thing is, when it is summer and you don't have a traditional "job" per se, you don't need to dress up much. So it is getting a bit warm in the daytime, nights are still cool and comfortable but shorts are the perfect attire. In fact I think I have been wearing nothing but shorts for about 3 weeks. Alas, today I had to go play "realtor". Lisa has some big deal going with some developers on 1100 acres here. She told them I worked with her and so they wanted to have a meeting with me. (Woa, slow down there girl) Well anyway I put on some pants and went and played along, acted like I knew what I was talking about and I think they bought it. These people have money and are going to develop a large project, we might get lucky and get this deal done, I don't know. If we do I might get some new pants - leather ones baby.

Boo and Farley at Hayden Lake

There's Your Sweet Spot

Near our home in Hayden there is a parcel of National Forest property that has some nice trails in it. It is thick forest with lots of undergrowth and it is green and pretty. We take Farley the damn dog there just about everyday for a run. You can choose from a variety of trails from 5 miles to under 1 mile. They go through thick shady vegetation and have several dramatic overlooks of Hayden Lake. Few people go there and if we pull up and see other vehicles we are ticked off and put out, although chances are you will never see anyone on the actual trail. The trails themselves are nice and if you want a good workout you can jog or walk it fast, the dogs can run without a leash and covers ten times the mileage. Andy's dogs had a great time there and I'm sure they terrorized the wildlife which includes squirrels, chipmunks, whitetail deer, racoons, black bear and other animals.
After looking at a map I saw that the Forest Service property went right to the lake and was much larger that I first thought. The trails go nowhere near the water so I looked for a place to go down the hill, I followed a small steep deer trail for awhile but this is way too thick of stuff to bushwack for very long, but I stumbled onto an old overgrown road that headed in the direction I wanted to go. I followed it for about a half mile and then found a small trail right to the water. This was an empty stretch of shoreline for as far I could see in either direction (which is rare on the lakes in this area ) I had found the route to some private waterfront. Farley had a great time fetching sticks I threw in the lake and we stayed until the sun starting going down. The hike out is a bit of a leg burner but well worth it. I am glad that the trails stay well away from the lake now and I hope they leave it that way. But if past experience has taught me anything it is that nothing this good can last. I have been back twice already, Boo is going to like it and we can swim and fish. There are several ancient docks that have washed up there and you can go out on them and I can see a lot of small mouth bass and a few pike and trout. I kind of think I like it.

Rain Day

Its raining for the second day in a row. I like it. Besides being real good for the new lawn it is also nice and cool. High today of about 6o - perfect. The older I get the less I like the heat, I don't think I could live in St. George again too freakin hot there. Of course we are going there in August of all times, Sherry apparently wanted to give old uncle CJ a heat stroke.
So I am trying to decide wether to go fishing or not today. I took Farley the damn dog fishing with me for the first time a couple of days ago. After teaching him to stay behind me he wasn't too bad. After I caught the first fish he really got into it. He would stay right at my side and watch the fly drifting in the current. He was totally fascinated by it, and he would get excited when I landed a fish, he would give it a little sniff and it would flip him in the nose and I would let it go. It was nice to have him around actually, maybe he will make a good fishing dog after all.