Spring?

Man, it's been awhile since I have posted anything on line.  A friend of mine, Newly Glasford sent me a note "did you give up on your blog"?  My only excuses are that both Matt and Ben have been hogging the computer for the last two weeks doing school work and I have been very busy.
I have some catching up to do, but will try to be brief.

May 21st was the annual Fargo Marathon.  I have run the half marathon every year and I for sure was not going to miss the largest one day event for North Dakota in 2011.  Over 23,000 runners for all events!  The weather was scheduled to be a deluge which did not matter to me but I run in crap weather all winter, what is another day?  That being said, all of the visitors coming to Fargo deserve a nice day.  The rain did hold off but it was warm and humid, something I was not use to.  People lined the streets throughout the course. Living hear and participating in an event like this is outstanding!  Good job Fargo!

Memorial Day weekend!  Matt and Ben are done with school and we had three days to do as we pleased.

Saturday morning Matt, JD, LC and I headed up to Paul Bunyan State Forest for a ride in the woods.  5 miles in Matt snapped the derailleur hanger on his bike.  When I say 5 miles in I mean 5 miles in.  We were not even close to a road or near a vehicle.  If you click on the photo you can see that Matt has the fix going on.  Took two guys to get the job done.  One guy to do the work, one guy to swat the mosquitoes.  Damn, some of the swats you were able to smack 5 in one shot.

The view from Steam Boat Forest Road looking south.  Its hard to tell in the picture, but I tried to show the area topography.  Deep ravines.  If you slide your vehicle off the road it would be tough to get it out.  Beautiful part of Minnesota.

Matt on an easy road back to the truck with his single speed.  Parts are ordered, he will be up and running wide open soon.  Another awesome adventure with one of my sons!

Sunday things dried out enough for Matt, Ben and I to start a two phase fence project.  A motorized fence post drill is the way to go, but you can see that I am not the operator.  Good to have two strong "backs" take care of things.  Serious work out but we managed to drill 13 holes in a couple of hours.

This is fence phase 1.  The project is taking place for a couple of reasons.  For one, Piper dog is in a wandering stage and we want to make sure she stays closer to home.  Reason two is that our neighbor to the North is mean.  I could use a number of adjectives to describe the whole deal with the neighbor but will keep it clean.  Kriston was lobbying strongly for a fence and for her I could not get it up fast enough.

Things taking shape.  I could not have done this without Matt and Ben. I am sure they learned something and are seriously good help.  Of course Kriston keeps us fed and happy along with a number of comments on how we are doing....

Phase 1 completed from inside the yard.  Everything is level and plumb.  We took our time and added the extra touches that would not have happened if we would have hired it done.

The view from the outside.  I am not a real fence guy but this will work.  Too bad our neighbors bad attitude coerced us into doing so.  Life is short and neighbors are suppose to be an asset to your life.
Big storm rolled through Fargo last night. Ripping winds which resulted with tree damage all over the city.  With the cement for the posts still not completely set I was a bit worried but all is well.
Cheers!