Sundown on Pentoga Road Saturday night

November 27, 2016 - Sunday

28 degrees/clouds-fog/calm winds

Pentoga Road

Happy birthday to my second little guy, Luke. Luke and his beautiful wife, Melinda, live in North Waterboro, Maine, along with my my oldest granddaughter, Abigail and oldest grandson, Coleman. Happy birthday, buddy. The big Four Oh is getting nearer and nearer. I love you!

I'm excited this morning. After seven years of searching, I finally found an old school Skidoo Tundra snowmobile for sale in northern Wisconsin. Skidoo quit making that particular model in the early 2000's. I rather imagine it was because they weren't fashionable or trendy, but had gained the reputation as being practical and reliable machines. LL Bean or Cabela fashion models wouldn't have been interested.

I've owned two Tundras previously. The first was purchased in northern Maine many years ago and is still used by my son, Luke, who appropriated it for himself after I left for Alaska. 

Those who've been with me for many years might recall that the Tundra was my snowmobile of choice during my arctic circle days. My position with the university was such that I rode ten to fifteen thousand miles yearly on my machine to the different Inupiaq Eskimo villages in northern Alaska. 

No trendy patched sleeves or curved pipe for this professor.
Three hundred miles away from home between Point Lay and Barrow, Alaska.

The original Tundras float over loose snow, do a fairly good job of skimming over slush, and best of all, with average maintenance, they are reliable. 

Taken in 2001, I was on my way back to my cabin from ice fishing

The Tundra I'm looking at today was built in 1989. It's a one lunger (one cylinder), 250 cc, oil injected, ugly, gorgeous, little beast. If the price is right and it's in as good a shape as advertised, I'll buy it.

Meanwhile...

I was out in the shop fairly early Saturday morning, mostly freezing to death. With the propane heater broken, I tried to get by with the much smaller one used in the fish shack, but it was simply too small. I managed to turn another snowman on the lathe, but after two hours of blowing on my hands and chilled to the bone, I came back inside.

Sargie and I went to town later where she purchased some Christmas wrapping and other goodies at Insurance Liquidators. I found a new heater at our local hardware store. 

Sargie continued her quest to decorate the house last night. I sneaked out to the shop to make sure the new heater worked and magically, found myself sitting in front of the scroll saw, working on a Christmas present... and, oh yes, the shop warmed up to sixty-five degrees in about ten minutes.

While outside, I hooked up the trailer to the Blazer and did a pre-flight check on our old SUV to make sure it was ready for today's four-hour round trip journey to Park Falls, Wisconsin.

It's about time to wake Sargie and get this day started. Yooper Brother Mark and Sheri are riding with us, so there'll be no lack of conversation. We're planning on leaving around mid morning and should arrive at our destination shortly after noon. I rather imagine if there's any place that looks promising to shop between here and there, we'll do that too.

Time to get rolling here. I ain't getting any younger.

After all, a man's work is never done.

Mississippi Brother Garry sent this picture of his family.
Eric, Kari, Miss Jody, Garry, and Kevin
Good looking kids you have there, folks!

So are the tales from Pentoga Road...

I thought we had a lot of Christmas decorations.
Garry has mentioned for the past thirty-five years about how long it takes to carry the totes of Christmas goodies to and from the attic in his barn. I now understand why.