Business and Pleasure...

On the pleasure side, Grandson Oliver came to visit last week. We picked him up at Boise Saturday afternoon and went straight to the Speedway to see the weekly races. After all the real races were over, they had their famous Trailer Race of Destruction - which has been chronicled here before in the past. It is quite a spectacle to see and Oliver was impressed. Then, on Sunday, we went to Canyon Crest for brunch and spend the day packing up the Jeep for a camping trip to Bliss - not a feeling - a location...

We spend three days in Bliss (see above) and didn't see any other humans while we were down there. We did see one truck for a second, but then it was gone. We went down to catch a few Big Ones, and in all three days of mostly full time fishing, we only caught one 6 foot fish. They were doing a 'flush' of the river to help the migrating Salmon far upstream and I guess it was bothering all the local fish, or making the water dirty or something. The one big fish we caught was a real fighter. I started with him because he was on my 'special' reel that no one else knows how to use right, but after I felt how much of a fighter he was, I handed it over to Oliver and put a safety line on the rod. Oliver said he almost had to let go of the rod because of the fish's hard pull, but he was able to keep hold if it and brought him in after a while. As I said, that was the only fish we caught there, but he was a good one and a good time was had by all.

The camping was great. We have been adding a lot of new equipment and it really makes it a lot nicer when you have the right hardware. The only problem we had was with our air mattress air pump. It wouldn't work, and after I couldn't get it to work, Oliver and I went to a local town to get another one and by the time we got back, Pam had the old one working - Grumble, Grumble... I guess she used some of her Dell Troubleshooting powers on it or something.

Speaking of Pam, she was just great all the time we were camping. She did a lot of reading while Oliver and I were fishing and fixed all the great meals. We did not want for anything in the food department and it was always done and done very well. Pam was hoping to catch another big fish also, but it just wasn't meant to be this time.

We took the little Honda Minibike with us on the camping trip and it was used by all. I rode it to search for new places to fish on roads that I couldn't get the Jeep over. Well, I didn't do too well with the minibike either. I ended up dumping it three times and broke the brake lever before I finally got it back to camp - Nasty roads...

We finally wrapped up the camping trip on Wednesday and got it all home and unpacked. We were all a little parched as it was 104 deg the first day of camping. We spent the next day recovering and watching all the stored up Olympics TV shows.

Then, on Friday, Oliver and I went fishing again in Hagerman. They have trout and even a few smaller sturgeon in their stream. Oliver did some fly fishing and I went for the Sturgeon. I use much lighter tackle for these smaller fish and we ended up catching a 3'er and a 4'er. We also caught some trout with a large golden trout being the trout prize. I had been trying to catch one of them all day, in my spare time. The water where we were dumps into a large stream and there is a hole there where a bunch of these golden trout wait for 'treats' to come down into the hole. I could see them chase and look at all the lures I was throwing all day. I finally got one to bite a big fly - after about 4 hours of trying.

Then, on Saturday, we again went back to the Speedway. This time they were having another special - The School Bus Race. It was different this year. Usually, they have a bus with a guy in the back shooting paint balls and throwing eggs at 2 or 3 cars trying to turn it over. This time, they just had three school buses racing and trying to turn each other over. But, before they turned them over, they let all the kids there watching the races, ride in them a few laps. Big School Bus Fun...

Sunday, we had a good meal and went home and watched a movie we had got a few days before. It was the National Treasure 2. Oliver had seen it on the plane coming back from Switzerland and recommended it. We were really into the movie and I looked up and it was 3:20. We would have to leave at 3:30 to get him to the airport. Luckily, the movie wrapped up and we were out the door in a matter of moments. Luckily, Oliver was already packed and ready to go. He now has his license and drove us to the airport in plenty of time.

It was a great trip, but just way too short. Oliver is a great young man, as he always has been. A lot of kids start having 'issues' when they get older, but Oliver has always been one of the best - Period.

O, ya, Business... Well, we picked up another great distributor and are working with a large hollow spectra line manufacturer and a large fishing party boat service down in San Diego, so all is going better than expected. It just seems that there is a constant need to expand our capabilities and perception of the business. More on it later as I have got to get back on it...

Well, that is about all that is going on here in DaHo...

Lots of Happenings and Blue Angles...

Sorry for not writing for a while. There has been a lot happening around here. Last week, there was a big annual air show at the local Twin Falls airport. There were about 25,000 people a day watching the Blue Angels perform. They aren't quite like they use to be when I use to see them in San Francisco a few years ago, but they were still exciting. Here is a picture of one of them...

There has been lots happening in the DaHo Products business that has been keeping us real busy. We have acquired a new distributor from the old homeland, in Huntington Beach, California. We have also been getting a lot of new sales, from both distributors and the web site. We also have developed a new very small loop splicing needle that has required tracking down new tools to be able to work on them. There is nothing like them on the market and they are going over well. They are only .025" in overall size and the stainless steel wire used for the loop on the end is only .004". It will go right into your fingers if you let it...

Besides all the new business stuff, I have played in a couple of weekly tournaments and won one. My back as been bothering me a lot and I have had two more shots in it this last month. It seems when my back is good, I play well, and when its bad, so is my pool. Right now its good, but I don't have much time to play much.

I haven't been fishing yet. Between the weather and my 'work' schedule, I haven't had a chance, but grandson Oliver is coming next weekend for a week, so we will be fishing a lot then. Pam has taken some days off of work, so we will probably camp for a couple of days and fish.

We have been working on the Estate grounds in our spare time. Well, actually, we are having other folks work on it, but it takes time and energy to keep track of it all. We have to get it all sprayed now that its under control if we can ever get a good day with no wind.

I am becoming a mechanic on Pam's helicopter in my spare time. It seems to break often and I am replacing some of the stock parts with 'upgrades' as needed. I think we are both getting the hang of it as time goes on.

Pam had a big dinner party for a few of her work friends. She prepared Beef Wellington to son Aarons 'recipe' and it turned out just wonderful. It was the best dinner party we have had, I think.

Our time has been full of lots of little things. Now, with the Olympics on, we are watching them when we can. Those opening ceremonies were pretty amazing, huh?

Well, that is about all I can think of that is worth writing about here in DaHo...