February 21, 2021 - Sunday morning

3 degrees/clear skies/calm winds

Pentoga Road

As you can see, a wild and wooly time was spent zooming down the old Caspian ski hill Saturday afternoon. More about that later.

Saturday morning dawned clear and cold. With the thermometer showing -21, Yooper Brother Mark and I set out for the Brule River Bridge. Frigid temperatures had turned any moisture to ice crystals that clung to the trees and bushes along the way.

The ice covering the river has reduced it down to a trickle of water on the surface that's open only in the middle. A few more nights of minus degree temperatures should see it completely covered.

Back home, Mark headed to town to join Sheri in painting their bedroom.  Lucky guy. I told him to get lots of practice so he can paint our dining room.

I checked the pond pump then headed inside to find Hambone still sound asleep. Grandma Sargie and I can still wear out the best of them. 

Breakfast eaten and dressed in heavy clothes, we made our way to the Caspian ski hill. The temperature was a bit over 20 degrees with no wind and lots of sun. Perfect.

Hambone received an important lesson in physics yesterday, at least when it comes to sledding.

What comes down, must go up, at least if a person wants to slide down again.

I found out yesterday that all the daily walking I do has put me in pretty good shape and trudging up the steep ski hill was no problem. I'll return this summer with a loaded pack to continue my conditioning for next year's AT hike.

We made multiple runs down the hill. Initially, reaching the halfway point, Hambone turned around, looked over the valley, and said he didn't want to get on the sled. 

After spending the vast majority of his time indoors this winter, he was afraid. 

Grandma Sargie and I convinced him that he'd be perfectly safe. Summoning up all his courage, the boy hesitantly got on and away he went.

Most of the time, the three of us rode together. Grandma Sargie turned back the clock many years to when she was a little girl, laughing and screaming while sliding down Milligan Mountain on a two runner sled.

I enjoyed watching and listening to Sargie as much as actually riding. God, I love that girl.

Fun. Just plain, good, old fashioned, fun.

Like all perfect sled rides, most of ours ended tipped over and in deep snow. 

Sargie and I were usually laughing so hard that we had a difficult time wallowing out of the snow. I'm sure Grady thought his grandparents had completely lost it.

Come to think of it, we probably did.

Sargie and I have decided that we'll go back to the ski hill in the coming days when all the kiddies are in school. If you're seven or seventy, sledding down a steep hill is just good, old fashioned, fun.

We stopped at the McDonald's drive through for a special treat before coming home. 

St. Patrick's Day is around the corner and when one is married to an Irish lass with a grandson who has Irish blood flowing through his veins, it's obvious that only a Shamrock Shake will do. 

Grandma Sargie had gotten a couple of math workbooks and she and Hambone spent the late afternoon working on problems.

Determined that I will learn the video functions and editing process on my GoPro 8 and iPhone, I spent a couple of hours working on the short video above. I finally managed to move some raw footage from the GoPro to the iPhone and make a simple movie.

I have a lot to learn, but it's a start.

It's daylight and time to head out for my morning stroll. I think Hambone and I will do a bit of snowmobiling later today. That boy needs to get some fresh air and exercise. At some point, we'll have to get him home as he has school bright and early Monday morning.

Time to rock 'n roll.

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

So are the tales from Pentoga Road...

A girl named Milligan enjoying a Shamrock Shake.

It's a match made in Heaven.