Camping

So, I went camping at Jellystone.

There was a big group of us. My GF's 2 brothers and their families, and her cousin and his family.  We played basketball, spent some money at the arcade, met Yogi Bear, and Boo Boo, and all kinds of other fun stuff.  A good time was had by all.

My favorite part about camping is in the evening and night.  There's just something about a nice cold beer and a campfire that really relaxes me.

Beer and campfires go together like peanut butter and jelly.

There is a downfall to campfires and kids, for me anyway....and that is marshmallows.  I hate marshmallows! Gross!!  I do love the Stay Puff Marshmallow Man, and would totally befriend him, but I just cannot stand marshmallows.

Let's just be friends.

There were 2 lakes on the campground, but due to an influx in rain during the week, they were both blown out and overflowing.  Now that I think about it, a few day prior to our arrival, a tornado touched down not far away from the campground, and my GF's brothers were worried that they were going to be closed.  I was able to take my GF's brothers fiance's boys fishing, and they even caught fish...at the same damn time!!!!  How awesome of a guide am I, that the boys doubled up on some warmouths.  I was proud.

My lovely GF cooking up some bacon. Can't have enough of that stuff.

Before we left for the trip, I started to put my extensive collection of decals and stickers to use by decorating my Nautilus Reels Yeti Cooler.  I spent more time on this than I probably should have.  There are a few spots open, but they're already reserved. Actually, I have already filled them in, and just haven't updated the photo.

Deeking out the Nautilus Reels Yeti Cooler.

Vise Season

I finally, got most of my things organized at my GF's new place. One of the things I was looking forward to getting cleaned off was my fly tying desk, because, it's fly tying season!!! The desk may look clean now, but don't you worry. It'll be a complete mess in 2 weeks. There's going to be buck tail, feathers, and all kinds of other dead animal fur all over the place, and soon enough, my GF might have me looking for a new place, if I don't clean it up. Haha....we all know there is almost no way to keep a dedicated fly tying area clean, for long anyway.

With that said, I just couldn't wait to get the vise out, and making a mess. I had a few orders that were put on hold while I was in the process of moving, so, that was first on my agenda.

Finished up an order for a local guy who just started out fly fishing, and has been wanting to hook up with some pike with his 8 wt. Tied him up 3 goodies. 2 to his color specifications, and 1 chef's choice. The fire tiger pattern is my go to for my local river, the Des Plains River.

I can already hear my GF yelling for me to get the vacuum.

Let the fun begin! =)

I WON A YETI!!!!

Recently, I took part in one of those "Follow - Like - Comment - Share" contests on Instagram. The contest was put up by Nautilus Reels. I don't always enter these contests, but something told me that I should participate in this one. Luckily I did, because, I WON!! HA!

I now own an awesome Yeti Coolers Tundra 35 with Nautilus Reels and their awesome logo/slogan on it - "Tested on Animals" HA! I love it!! Not only did I win the cooler, I received a t-shirt, hat, hoo rag/buff, and a ton of decals and stickers. 

Looking forward to fill it up with food and beer and take on one of my trips. I'm really interested to see how well this cooler keeps ice. I can already tell that it lives up to "wildly strong" claim. This thing is solid!

A huge "THANK YOU!!!" goes out to Nautilus Reels and their generosity for having such a contest.