Congrats Megan!

On Saturday, Megan participated in the American Berkeibeiner in Hayward, WI. I know most of you know what this is, but for those who don't, it's the biggest cross country ski race in the country (haven't fact checked that, but it has to be). Over 8,000 skiers participed. We had a good time. Unfortunately, the battery to our camera was dead, so we weren't able to take any pictures of the eventful weekend (husband should have realized that the charger was in the bag the whole time, but that's another story). Luckily, we got a new computer about a month ago, and it came with two important functions; (1) a touch screen monitor and (2) paint program. I have drawn a few pictures with my left pointer finger in order to help transport the readers into our weekend. Enjoy!

We drove up Friday night and stayed in a town just outside of Turtle Lake, WI. As I'm sure all of you know, there is a casino in Turtle Lake, and we decided that we would check it out (both of us hadn't been to one in years, and also wanted to eat there as we didn't trust our other options in the area). Megan played Blackjack for the first time at the casino and was a natural - she walked away with $1.50 more than she started with. I happened to be a little more lucky, and won enough for us to pay for our dinner. We plan on going back to a casino when we feel the urge (approximately 10 years).

We got up early on Saturday as we were an hour away from the race. It was a relaxing drive through the woods of Wisconsin, and we got to see the sun rise. Once we got close to the race, the cars really started to back up (see illustration above). Getting 8,000 racers and their supporters to one location in the middle of nowhere Wisconsin is a large undertaking. We were directed to a plowed out field approximatley 5 miles from the actual start of the race where we were bussed the remainder of the way.

It was a brisk morning - our car showed negative five degrees when we dropped it off at the lot. We waited in a warming tent for a while near the start. Megan was mostly just wearing layers, as she knew she would get too hot later if she had heavy winter clothing on. As you can see from the picture of her at the starting line, she was a little cold! There were multiple races that day, and Megan participated in the Korteloppet, which is a 25k race. She estimated 2.5 - 3 hours to complete. Since she was skiing off into the wilderness, I was banished back to the chalet to hang out and patiently await her return.

Megan's trusty husband headed down to the race finish a little over two hours later, and started scoping out the skiers coming to the finish. I nice light snow had developed since Megan had left, which made for a pretty scene. He decided to move closer to the finish to see if he could get a better view from up there, and there was Megan on the sidelines!! She had zipped through the course in two hours and eleven minutes - a disappointed but proud husband greeted his triumphant wife with congratulations.

Make sure you congratulate Megan when you see her!

Guide to busy dogs: Part II - Snow Sweater

Wow - there must be a lot of people out there with busy dogs - we were inundated with congratulatory thanks at putting together such useful instructions, with great interest in the video. Some of you were surprised at the size of the stick used in USF. This is unavoidable. The stick must be bigger than the dog to really wear him down. Remember, dear Reader, that your dog never tires. When you arrive home from a long day of work and look forward to putting your feet up for the day, your dog comes to greet you and laughs as he sees you reforming your butt mark in your sofa. He laughs because he knows he has you for a few hours before he actually gets tired as well, and your attempt at a little R&R is laughable.

However, with a little help, you can learn to wear you dog out in no time. Now that winter has welcomed itself into our lives, let's move onto some tactics that utilize snow. Here's what you need to do:

1. Fresh snowfall - while old snow would work okay, fresh snow is probably better. It also gives you the chance to shovel out your driveway while wearing out the dog at the same time.

2. Shovel - the bigger the better - if your dog is going to wear a snow sweater, you need to make sure he is fully covered in snow

3. When you get your shovel full is full of snow, give it a HUGE toss in the air. Try to make sure the snow stays close together so that it is falling back to earth in one big pile. Your dog will love that.

Again, here's a video to help you get the technique down. Notice how quickly the dog returns for more - you're going to have to be quick to wear him down!




Now, dear Reader, did you happen to see a common theme between the two videos? Yes, that's right: beard. It really helps with the throwing techniques (for those of you who know Lynden, he had a huge beard when he was a hammer thrower).

So, how do you know when you've given your dog a snow sweater and that he's probably starting to wear down? Well, he should look like this:










Notice how the snow covers his entire head except for his eye sockets. The spookier your dog looks, the better. Also notice how the snow weighs down his whiskers - this is an important clue to whether or not you've created a heavy enough snow sweater. Good luck!

Guide to busy dogs: Part I - USF

Have a busy dog? Does he never seem to run out of energy? If you see yourself saying "yes" to both these questions, this guide is for you! We've got multiple solutions that will wear you dog to the bone! This first part of the series will take you through Ultra Stick Fetching ("USF").

1. Go to the dog park. And when we say dog park, we actually mean the wilderness. Our best suggestion would be the "dog park" at Minnehaha falls in Minneapolis - you have free reign to a large chunk of the Snelling State Park. Your hyper dog can frolic freely through the woods.

2. Find the biggest stick possible. Your dog really only wants to fetch sticks that are bigger than him. So the bigger the better. This is also a psychological technique - by playing to your dog's ego now, he will feel more satisfied and will not bother you as much when you get home.

3. Have someone with a beard do the throwing. The big sticks are hard to throw - you know a man with a beard can give it a good hurl.

Here's a video so you can get the technique down. Notice that the dog has some difficulty in fetching the stick because it's so large. If he's having trouble, you know you've got the right size stick, and you have mastered USF.

Vote Day 2010

HENRY VOTED.... Did you?

In other Henry shenanigans we have exhibit A...Henry learning that he can be a much more effective watch dog if he stands on the table.

AND exhibit B...Henry finding out that the big bad bag of food will in fact not eat him- to his delight.
Keep your eyes out, I have lots of pictures so a few more posts are in order for this week. :)

Summer in Review

This summer has been very busy for Casey and I. As you've probably noticed we've been "Walking with the Incans" for a very long time because there hasn't been any time to sit and write!

Here is our summer in review:

1. We participated in many birthday and wedding celebrations this summer. Congratulations to Jenny and Jeff Erickson and Betsy and Blake McKibbin! I apologize but there is only one picture I can share of one of those events. (See below)
2. Team SherPlante participated in our first sprint relay triathlon. Unfortunately we did not beat Adam even though he ran the whole thing himself. Our next event will be our own Turkey Day 5kish run.
3. The Sherwood clan rendezvoused in McHenry, Ill to see Uncle Bill and Aunt Adele for the weekend. We had a great time relaxing and watching the fireworks shows from the dock. (As well as having our own fun)
4. Casey and I spent a week driving out to Montana to see his Aunt Pam and Uncle Dave. I spent much of the time holding on to bear pepper spray but I had a blast hiking in the Badlands, Black Hills and Yellowstone. Thanks Pam and Dave for such a great trip!
5. Near the end of the summer we went with our friends to a cabin in St. Croix State Park. It was another relaxing weekend with good company, canoe floating, group runs and delicious food.

Much more happened but those are some of the highlights. We hope you all were able to enjoy the 2010 summer months as much as we did. Now it's time to get ready for fall!

Our love to you all- Casey and Megan

Walking with the Incans

Here are a fraction of the pictures taken on our recent trip to Peru. Bottom line is that it's good to be home but we miss the fresh air and adventure. Enjoy the sample of pictures!

My Little Garden

I took the day off and my Dad came over to make a little planting space for me in the back yard. It was a really fun day. We went to Home Depot together and got all of the ingredients (or I suppose you would call them supplies). Then I hauled bags of soil and dug the trench while my dad cut and connected all of the pieces to make the box. Then we went to Bachmanns together to pick out some great things to try to plant, followed by a trip to Dairy Queen in recognition of a hard days work. ;)

This year will be tomatoes, cherry tomatoes, snap peas, peppers, cilantro, garlic chives and curry. We never gardened much growing up so this will definitely be an experiment (especially the whole idea of growing something from seed- it's hard for me to believe something as little as a seed can get to grow into a nice plant). Wish me luck. And if there are any tips out there I'll definitely take them!!!

By the way, wasn't it gorgeous out today?