Check Out My Rack!!!

Okay...I am posting this blog primarily to show my Grandpa how I solved my canoe storage problem. It has been a long road folks. I had to figure out how to get the canoe stored above our camper so that our car could fit in the garage. Every kit made for this did not store the canoe high enough to clear the trailer or low enough to not get hit by the garage door when it goes up. I worked and worked on this problem all weekend long trying to find the right kit while I was organizing my garage. Then the age old wisdom of "do it yourself" kicked in. So my brother in law Jared and I designed our own system...which is ten times better. We went to Home Depot bought all that we needed then went home to put our carpentry skills to the test. After hours of measuring, drilling, un-drilling what we screwed up then drilling some more we had finished! It is a thing of pure beauty I tell you. I could put up to three boats on this rack now. It cost way less than any other system I found and I will finish adding all the gear hooks to it tomorrow for my paddles, life jackets and other boating toys.

This design enables me to put the canoe up or take it down without any help. Which is really nice. On these three side boards you see there will be paddles and life jackets plus many, many ropes after tomorrow evenings work is done.

What more could a man want in his garage I ask you? Mountain bikes to your right, camper, canoe, X-Terra. In the back ground trekking poles, back packing gear...what a sacred and holy place.

First Canoe Trip

Darby and I went out in the canoe this past Friday for the first time. It was awesome. We spent the night before at the store picking out her life jacket, paddle, and hat. I am feeling much better now and was able to treasure every second of this adventure. I can't wait until Sutton is older then we will have Marta, Darby, and Sutton in the boat!

Darby could not understand why the fish would not bite. I kept telling her the fish could hear her talking THE WHOLE TIME. She just looked at me and said, "dad I can't hear them...so they can't hear me." She is beyond funny. Needless to say we did not catch anything. It's very hard when you cast the line and your daughter yell's, "here fish...take this hook!" at the top of her lungs over and over. She is outstanding.

She did work up a sweat helping to paddle the boat.