New York, New York

My Madison, WI associates and I survived a trip to the Big Apple over the Easter weekend. One of the elements in my blog description was beer drinking. If the implication was that it was only beer drinking on Lake Superior I apologize for the deception. One of the goals of the weekend was to sample every cask conditioned ale on Manhattan with a couple in Brooklyn thrown in for variety. I'm sorry to say we missed achieving our goal but only by a couple. The selection was OK but not great and most of the establishments had more than one beer engine but usually only one cask ale tapped.

I know that at least a couple of the folks that read this blog have a passing interest in aircraft so I included a shot of my son Ian (aka SSgt Olson) on the bridge of the aircraft carrier USS Intrepid, which is tied up on the Hudson River, north of Chelsea Piers. They have turned it into a static display with several aircraft, including the Concorde which you could tour. Now that plane IS a flying tube. It does however, simply reek of speed.

So its back to Minneapolis, slightly the worse for wear, and off to northern Wisconsin this weekend. A couple friends are taking a chainsaw course sponsored by the Living Forest Co-op, (of which I am a member in good standing) and I thought it would be a good idea to retire some bad habits. Unlike the stereotype of the tree hugging kayaker, I have been known to cut down a few. I guess I'm an old fashioned Aldo Leopold-style conservationist rather than a Wilderness Society type. The looks of confusion I get as I head north on 35W with two kayaks and an ATV trailered behind my car are classic. My boat will be on the roof and I hope to sneak in a Meyers Beach sea caves or a short hop out to Basswood early Sunday morning on the way back. Dipping the boat in Gitchee Gumee will be the true kayak opener! Paddle smart.