Well I did something today that I can't remember ever doing before. I drilled a hole in the ice! (but there's more)
It rained this morning putting a thin coat of slick black ice on everying. Before I knew it the Gunflint Trail Amublance was on standby because the Grand Marais and Grand Portage ambulances were all out on accidents. Word had it that there were head-on crashes and roll overs not to mention simple slide into the ditch accidents all over the county. Luckily Bob left early this morning before it got icy. He had to go down to Duluth as he sits on the Moose advisory comittee.
Guests were scheduled to leave today, but as they pulled up with their truck packed and snowmobiles loaded I informed them of the weather conditions and offered them to stay an additional night if necessary (complimentary of course). I myself have been a victim of an accident due to icy conditions and I really couldn't see them risking their lives. They checked out the conditions, made some calls and arrangements and thankfully will try again in the morning.
Later the school called notifying me they would be sending the kids home early due to the icy conditions. By the time they arrived home the gravel side roads were fine, but the kids said there was a layer of ice in town. Anyway… What this boils down to is Wyatt . . . getting home early, decided he wanted to try a ice fishing with a new hook he made with aon a piece of line and stick the way he saw the on Man-vs-Wild. So he asked me to drill him a hole.
I know how to drill a hole, and was pretty sure it was still safe, but I have been away for the better part of a week of warming. We still have a fair amount of snow, but there has been melting and slush. It has almost all refrozen lately, still I'm not too trusting of the ice without my Ice guage to tell me the current safety factor (Bob is my ice guage). So off we set to the lake to drill a hole - Jaret, Wyatt, Myself and the trusty hand auger - from who knows what year. I felt like Kevin Costner in "Dances With Wolves" when he was grinding the coffee. I kept going round and round, then stopping to check the progress. After a good 35 minutes, I "took a break" to sort the recycling - telling Wyatt - I'll do the recycling then come back. He never forgets anything - so 40 mintues later I was back at it.
Round and round I went. Honestly how many times do you have to go around to get through the ice anyway? Now I know why guys want power augers. I bet if I had new blades it might have gone a little quicker, of course being in better shape strengthwise might have helped too. I guess I'll pick up where I left off tomorrow. I know I was at least 13 - 15 inches down but I'll bring a ruler to check it if I get all the way though. I guess I don't have to worry for awhile about falling through. –Shari
the kids out to the bus this morning, it was a little overcast but no new snow had fallen yet. Then wow! Whiteout! It came slowly at first, but we now have a good 3 inches and it's snowing heavily. School just called and it's worse in town so the kids are on their way home early. 
Sunday Bob took the boys fising for Whitefish. Whitefish is a rough fish but they are great if they are deep fried fresh, and I love them when they are smoked. Not so good to refridgerate or freeze before using as they taste fishy quite soon. They came home with dinner and some to smoke. After the boys had gone to bed, Bob was telling me about the day and laughing. He said the boys had 6 fish on the ice before he even got to start fishing. The Minnesota slammers slammed their dad!
