1/2 Iron Man

My brother, Brian is officially half an iron man. Friday, Davis and I drove up to MN
to camp and see my brother race in the Square Lake 1/2 Iron Man Triathlon. We camped at William O'Brien State Park on the St. Croix river.

It was C. O. L. D. Friday night, Saturday morning and again this morning as well. We borrowed an air mattress (yes, I am selling out...it's car camping, not backpacking) from Shawna. Friday night, I must have not screwed the cap on correctly that covers the place where you attach the pump. At about 2 AM, the mattress was mostly deflated. So, I blew it back up Saturday evening and must have managed to get that cap on correctly. I slept quite nicely and according to David, I snored...so I must have been comfortable.

Miner had fun of course. There were hunting dog trials in the area this weekend, too. So he had plenty of chances to get worked up about other dogs. We all three still have issues with him and other dogs. I met a guy who works in a different division of Deere who does dog training on the side...I think I might ask him about helping us with Miner. Here's a shot of Miner and David chilling in the back of the Tundra. Note: David had to pick Miner up to get him in there...


So, Brian got up at 5 this morning and was packing his stuff up when I woke up and realized a) I needed to go to the bathroom and b) Brian didn't have a flashlight. So, I gave him my headlamp, helped him dismantle the tent from hell (that we used to own and gave to him) and sent him on his way. David and I wound up sleeping until 7:30, made coffee, broke camp and drove to Square Lake, thinking we'd get to see Brian make his first loop on the bike ride (it was two, 27-mile loops). And we did.

We knew Brian had a blue bike, but didn't know helmet color or what his unitard looked like...so every time we saw a blue bike rounding the corner with a rider about B's size, I got ready. David decided that he would yell, "Way to go, Poo Poo" which is what Brian's law school friends called him. I thought for sure he'd know it was us, then. So we took his picture, and headed back home. He called us later to tell us how he did (he finished, which I think was all he really wanted to do) and said he had seen us.

So, that was our weekend. I am off to bathe the dog and give him his flea and tick treatment...he spent a lot of time in the tall weeds.