[March] April 1999 [May]

Friday 4/2
Dan got up early and worked on the computer. He has been studying a book on HTML programming for a couple of weeks now - he wants to build us our own web site. When I got up at 7 we went out fishing. It turned out to be a gorgeous day - sunny and in the 80’s. We unfortunately did not catch any fish. We did however eliminate unproductive water. (We’ve been doing an awful lot of that this winter, if that’s what you want to call it.) We got home around 5:00, and since we’re camped right on the lake we are leaving the boat in the water overnight.

Saturday 4/3
Finally we caught some fish today. Down in the lower lake, back in the protected pockets, there were bedding fish everywhere. The lake is very crowded, though, with Easter weekend and the first real sunny, warm weather. Most of these fish had seen a dozen or more boats today, and while not particularly spooky, they also were not easy to make bite. Dan worked very hard on them, and eventually found a lizard that they would eat. I tried too, but when my bait is supposed to gently slide in the water, mine seemed to always go "kerplunk"! Dan suggested that I sit down and enjoy the sunshine, so I got a lot of lounging in instead. I’m tanning my lobster for the first time! We came in around 6:00, both sunburned. Dan called a couple of friends with whom he is sharing information, then we turned back the clocks and went to bed.

Sunday 4/4
I went fishing with Dan this morning and we fished very hard. There is to much for me to try and figure out, so here is the story form Dan. We Fished down in the lower lake again today, trying to expand upon the bedding fish pattern established yesterday. No luck. Found bedding fish, but so did everyone else - there were boats everywhere and the fish were real spooky. Moved to a different area after about two hours without a fish. Heading in to another large, flat spawning cove, we stopped to fish at the mouth. Within 5 minutes Annie caught 2 short fish, and Dan a 4 lb’er off a Cypress tree. We circled this area to find out what made it different from other areas that did not hold fish. It appeared to be a ditch or depression, 3-3½’ deep, (perhaps 18" deeper than the surrounding water,) with the wind blowing into it. We searched and found another depression close by, and this time Annie caught a 4 lb’er, and Dan a 2 lb’er and missed one other, off stumps in the depression. Apparently these fish are staging in these slightly deeper depressions, immediately before and/or after spawning. We searched another 2 hours here but didn’t find any similar areas. At our next stop, another flat, shallow spawning cove with a narrow entrance, in the first 5 minutes Dan has landed yet another 4 lb’er. We fished this area hard for 2 more hours, going all the way to the back and then back out again, and back where we started Dan hangs another fish, about 2 lbs, and Annie catches another short fish on just about the very next cast. Analyzing this day leads us to the conclusion that fish are staging at the mouths of major spawning coves, in water 3’ or more deep, and most if not all today were likely positioned by the wind. Together we would have had 5 fish today that weighed 16 lbs. All but the last one were caught on a spinnerbait (Dan’s last was a Rattletrap fish.) We also got to watch a wedding that was taking place at a house on shore. We could even hear the whole ceremony. We were feeling a little under dressed as we were fishing in our bikinis, so we made sure to stay far enough away where we would not be in pictures.

Monday 4/5
I did not go fishing today. My bottom lip is sunburned so bad that it blistered, and I am not even done unpacking from our trip to NH. I finished going through our mail, paid some bills, worked on our budget. Dan went out early today and made the 40 minute run back down to the lower lake. He calls it his morning commute to work. We’re burning $25.00 a day in boat gas. On Saturday we had fished for bedding fish in a large, popular spawning area, but couldn’t get a bite. Today (Monday) Dan started out fishing the mouth of this area, according to what we had found yesterday, and it worked. He quickly had a good fish on, but as there were other boats nearby he let his line go slack so the fish could shake off without drawing attention. Aside from that, he moved around a lot today, covering (eliminating) lots of water and trying to make the spinnerbait work on stumps in 3-4’. It didn’t. He did find one other area with a depression near the mouth of a spawning cove, and sure enough there were fish there, but they didn’t seem to be the quality fish we were catching yesterday. While Dan was out Katelyn called to tell us she was in today’s hometown newspaper as the tennis team’s "most impressive newcomer". She couldn’t wait for her dad to come in from fishing so she could tell him too, so as soon as he showed up I made him call right away.

Tuesday 4/6
We did not fish today. Dan brought the boat over to the service crew first thing in the morning to have a new prop put on the big motor and a new transducer put on the trolling motor, and that turned out to be a whole day affair. He had time to get all of his gear ready for tomorrow: put new hooks on his Rattletraps, sharpen up buzzbaits and spinnerbaits and attach trailer hooks, and spool new line onto 8 rods. I spent the day at home, worked on business paperwork and finished getting information together for our taxes. We went to the registration & partner pairings meeting in the evening. Dan drew a nice guy by the name of Pete Bruno, from Florida. The plan for tomorrow is to run down to the lower lake and head straight to the shallow bedding fish. If they’re lucky they can get on to at least a couple of fish before this area gets hammered hard by the crowds. When this slows down (or doesn’t work at all) then they’ll back out and fish for those staging fish in the slightly deeper water.

Wednesday 4/7
Day 1 of the Everstart tournament on the Santee Cooper lakes. Dan and his partner raced down to the lower lake, directly to his number one spawning area. They expected to see a number of other boats in there, but there was only one. Still, Dan thought he should head straight to the back, where he felt he could locate a couple of fish quickly, before lots of other boats showed up. In the back was one little "T" shaped section perhaps 50 yards long and 10 yards wide. The water throughout the area was much more stained today, and it was difficult to see the fish and the beds. But they were there. Dan worked a number of them with the lizard, which they were biting back on Saturday, but they wouldn’t touch it today. He switched to a "Guido’s Original" crawdad, made by Gambler Worms, and that did the trick. The same fish that had just ignored both Dan’s and his partner’s lizard repeatedly, immediately chewed on the Gambler crawdad, and Dan stuck him in the livewell. 3 lbs. 20 minutes later he fooled a 2nd fish with the crawdad - 4 lbs. this time, and then another, 2 lbs. They eventually moved out of the "T" and around the corner, where Dan added one more 2 lb. fish to his livewell. It was now about noon, and time to move on to some other places, but Dan had four fish weighing 11 lbs. This was more that he had hoped for from his first spot. They ran down to the little depression where we had caught two four pounders the other day, and here Dan added one more fish to his livewell, just over a pound, fishing a spinnerbait. They fished a couple of other spots, but that was it. At 2:30 they began the run back to the weigh-in. Myself, I had to go out and find a laundromat, the one I found was about 20 miles away. We are not very close to civilization. At 3:00 I drove over to the weigh in and waited on the dock for Dan to come in. When he saw me he gave me the thumbs up sign. That made me smile, I knew that meant he had a good day! I went to get him a bag for his fish so he wouldn’t have to wait in the bag line. At the end of the day Dan officially had 12 lbs. 4 oz., and was in 40th place. If he can catch 12+ lbs. tomorrow then he should make the top 30 cut and be able to fish again on Friday. This made for a good night - we’re within reach, but Dan was exhausted and sore. I gave him a foot massage and cooked him a big stew dinner. He was in bed by 8:00.

Thursday 4/8:
The wait is awful. I can’t stand not knowing whether or not he is catching fish. Sometimes I think these days are harder on the wives than on the fishermen. At least out in the boat Dan knows if he’s catching fish or not - back here I don’t have any idea until I see him at 3:00. I try to keep myself busy, so I packed the camper up for travel and went out to run some errands. Dan’s fishing: we expected it to be better than yesterday. Yesterday we had clouds all day, today it was bright sun. The sun should have made it easier for Dan to see the fish on beds, and should also position fish tight to the stumps out in the staging areas he is fishing. Well it didn’t work that way. For some reason, Dan couldn’t find a single bedding fish today back in yesterday’s area, even though he knows he left some there. Back out in the stump ditch it didn’t work either. He was throwing a jig at the stumps, and hooked one 3 lb. fish but broke him off. His partner caught two fish out of the back of the boat on a Carolina rig, but they were smaller - 13". Dan needs to catch the bigger ones, so he stuck with the jig. Eventually they left the stump ditch and started "scrambling", running to a number of different areas and fishing each for a short time. They still couldn’t get a bite. With an hour and a half of fishing time left, Dan acknowledged that he wasn’t going to catch the 12-14 lbs. that he needed. This was an all-or-nothing day - catching 8 lbs. of fish would do nothing for us - it wouldn’t get us a check, we wouldn’t make the top 30 cut, and we’re not fishing for year-end points. On the other hand, since Dan’s partner Rusty already had two fish in the boat, he needed perhaps only 3 more lbs. to make the cut on the non-boater side. Dan changed tactics and spent the latter part of the day trying to help Rusty catch one more. He went back to the stump ditch where they’d caught the 2 Carolina rig fish, hoping to fool one more, but were unsuccessful. It was a very disappointing afternoon, but we managed to postpone the depression by keeping busy for the next few hours. We had to get the boat out of the water, clean it up, and prepare for a thousand-mile ride to our next destination. All of this kept our mind off of things, at least for a while. It’s after you start driving, with no one to talk to and too much time to think and reflect, that the blues really set in. We drove for only 80 miles before stopping, so it wasn’t too bad. Tomorrow though, will be a bad day for both of us. We drove as far as Columbia, SC and slept at a truck stop. It was 9:15 when we got there, and we had not eaten dinner yet.

Friday 4/9
We left the parking lot at 9:30am and were on our way. It was a very long day, and the outcome from yesterday’s fishing is taking its toll on us. I broke down first. We had just crossed over into Georgia, and had stopped at the rest area. We talked for a little bit. Usually I am the one who has to console Dan, but not today. I just don’t understand. We work so hard at this, and sacrifice so much, like being away from my family, and from Dan’s kids, and not having a real home, and we keep thinking that our turn will come. But we’ve been at this for four years now, and have yet to get the "big break", or experience anything resembling a spectacular finish. We hate to think about it, but we would be really upset if we had to give this career up. Dan reassured me that God has a plan for us, we just don’t know what it is yet. I know that is true, but it is still tough. We put in so much time, and work so hard. It is like if you went to a job all week, put in overtime hours and worked extra hard, and then at the end of the week you did not get paid. And all you have to look forward to is working even harder the next week, again with no guarantees for getting paid for that. That I guess explains my feelings. We finally started driving again. We drove across the state of Georgia and through Birmingham, Alabama. We stayed in a Walmart parking lot for the night.

Saturday 4/10
Arrived in Memphis, Tennessee mid-afternoon. We’ll be here fishing an FLW tournament in another month, so our plan is to scout out the area today and find a campground to stay at when we return. Also, once we find a place, we want to leave our Bronco there, starting today, until we return. We can travel faster with just the camper and boat, and on our way back we really need to make some time. We looked at four different campgrounds, and are not at all excited about this area. We like a nice quiet campground, on the water with a launch ramp and dock facilities, and near the tournament site. We found none of the above. We ended up across the river in West Memphis, Arkansas at Tom Sawyers Mississippi River RV park. Driving time is probably ½ hour from the tournament site. It is a decent campground with spacious sites. We figured we should test it out, so we set up camp and spent the night. They were very accommodating to us. We can leave the truck here, and if we bring back a group of people back with us to camp, they’ll let us stay for free. We took about 50 campground brochures and will distribute them next week to other camper/fishermen at Beaver Lake. Some of them will appreciate us having done the leg-work for them ahead of time.

Sunday 4/11
We left the Bronco at the campground for a month, and proceeded on our trip across Arkansas to Beaver Lake with just the motorhome and the boat. It was nice to b able to drive together again. We arrived in Fayetteville around 7pm, and stayed overnight in a WalMart parking lot.

Monday 4/12
Dan started driving while I was still asleep. He must be anxious. We arrived at Prairie Creek State Park, and found a nice site. Dan worked all morning on the boat and I worked on all kinds of projects. We will be here for 10 days so it is nice get organized right away. Dan was already getting edgy. Fishing withdrawal symptoms - it’s been 4 days now on dry land. We put the boat in the water around 3:00 and he went fishing while I came back and parked the camper. Just as I settled in, knock, knock: company. John & Laraine Hobbie. They just got in town today also, but are staying at another campground. Just came to visit. Dan came back in a much better mood than when he left because he caught some fish. We ate and spent a nice quiet evening together, which we really needed.

Tuesday 4/13
We had a very productive fishing day. We drove about 25 miles and started fishing our way back. Dan was flipping what I call the "junky water " (water that has a film cover on it of sticks, leaves, pine needles, and trash.) I was pitching to the nearby beds, of which there are many. I like to choose my own bait colors and Dan pretty much lets me. I pitched lizards all day. Red ones, pumpkin ones, fleck ones, all colors. I caught my first ever "sight" bass - which is a bass you can see on the bed, and you pitch repeated to that fish until you eventually see him eat the bait. It was such a trip - I loved it! When we fished water that had no beds around I threw my pretty pink & white spinnerbait. Men, listen to your wives when they want to throw something pretty. I had a fish on that pulled the drag out of my reel, and we fish 30lb. test Spiderwire, so our drags are cranked down pretty tight. I was hooting and hollering and then…he came off. AUYGH!!! Dan said he was around 4lbs. When I tell the story though he will be bigger. In fact, I think Dan owes me his last fish. I had just had two spinnerbait bites in one little area, including that 4 ½ lb’er, so Dan picked up his spinnerbait rod and BANG, he puts a 4 lb’er of his own in the boat with it. We fished a very long day. We came in to our boat slip at 7pm. We had to walk up the hill to our campsite, and now we are exhausted. The weather is supposed to be nasty tomorrow, so I might make it a clean-the-house day.

Wednesday 4/14
Dan went out alone today. It was not a nice day. We had rain and wind all day. He fished from 8:00 am to 6:30 pm, and I was starting to get worried about him. John & Laraine Hobbie came over around 4:30 to take us to dinner, but Dan was not in yet. I finally walked down to the dock to see if he was at his boat slip - he wasn’t. I waited about 20 minutes and just as I started walking back, I could hear his boat coming. It was 6:30 at night, and a very nice sight. Later, I cooked dinner and we had more company: Sonny Lee and Dick Bowman, also pro fishermen. I have been corresponding via email with Dick’s wife Lena this past week, so I knew they were here. They left around 8:30 and Dan was ready for bed. Dan’s fishing: After the success with the spinnerbait yesterday, Dan threw it more today. In fact, he threw MY spinnerbait - pink. (He calls it "Rainbow Trout"). Well guess what - he caught a 5.9 largemouth on that pink spinnerbait today. He then had two jig bites right afterwards, so he knows he’s in a good area, but unfortunately there were four other boats in there with him. Overall it was a decent day - the second day in a row in which he could have weighed about a 12lb. limit.

Thursday 4/15
The high today is supposed to be 50. At 9am it is raining, and pretty cold. We were pretty edgy with one another this morning, so I am not going fishing. I think it is a combination of things. He is really trying to figure something out on this lake, it is tax day (not good news), and I am overwhelmed with things to do around the house. We do not have the truck here, which we have had all winter, and I guess I got spoiled. Laraine Hobbie took me out in her car to run some errands - this so I would not have to take the motorhome out. We got a lot done, then went to lunch. Jeff & Chris called me today after they got home from school. Chris has his first baseball scrimmage tonight, and Jeff is the fastest sprinter on the track team. Dan fished until 6:00 tonight, and I was down at the dock to greet him when he came in. We walked up the hill to the camper, and cooked dinner out on the grill. Laraine stopped by with Elaine Smith. We are planning a big laundry day tomorrow. They left and 3 minutes later John Hobbie came by for a visit, not even knowing his wife was just here. Dan’s fishing: Tougher today. He caught only one keeper (on MY spinnerbait again). Water temps keep dropping (now 53-56) and winds were at least 30mph all day. Dan is very glad he has the new boat. It’s a Ranger 519 - 20 ½ feet long with a 225 hp Johnson motor, and just eats up that rough water out there. He says he’s never been in a boat that handled the big water as well as this one, and he spends a lot of time in boats!

Friday 4/16
It was supposed to be another cold morning, so Dan & I lounged in bed until 8:00. It was wonderful to have a little quiet time together. Later, Elaine Smith, wife of pro Bobby Smith, came to pick me up and we met Laraine Hobbie and Carol Wright at the laundromat. It made laundry day much more exciting with all the wives doing it together. From there we went out to lunch and did a little shopping. I got home around 3:00, and at 3:40 Dan called me on the VHF radio to come pick him up at the launch ramp. We took the boat out to get gas in town, rather than here at the marina for $1.89 per gallon. It’s a hassle unhooking the camper, loading the boat and maneuvering around a small town gas station with a 60’ rig, but for a savings of $40.00 each time, we’ll do it! For dinner, we went out to the Italian place with Mike Watson, who placed third here on Beaver Lake in last year’s FLW. When the check came Mike grabbed it and said "I’ll buy tonight, seeing as how you’ll be feeding ME supper tomorrow night!" Oh. Dan’s fishing: Even worse today. Not one bite. Even though he’s been fishing all new water, and no surprise after the winter we’ve had, it snowed on us again today, one fish in two days is pretty scary, especially after the good start we had here. Tomorrow though we’re going to make some changes, and we’re going to catch ‘em!

Saturday 4/17
Temp about 40 when we started out this morning, and the wind was blowing pretty good. Today we went in the other direction, up the lake, into the colored water. This is where Dan fished last year, and finished around 50th place. Dan said we were going to run to every spot where he caught fish before, and fish today kind of like a tournament day. It worked. He caught his first keeper on the second cast of the day, and by the end of the day had caught a total of 34. Most were small, and we didn’t catch any keeper (15") largemouth, but still it was nice to know that we can catch a limit of spotted bass if we have to. I on the other hand, only caught one fish. It was freezing out and so windy that I was more concerned with not getting frostbite. Mike came for dinner (he’s camped right next to us) and he and Dan shared information about the day’s fishing. He was glad to learn how Dan was catching spots (crankbaits in the submerged bushes) and in turn told Dan how to catch the big largemouth again. Mike said he could have caught almost a 20lb. limit today.

Sunday 4/18
What a difference a day makes. How many times this week have we caught ‘em one day and then blanked the next? Well today wasn’t exactly a blank, but close. Dan went out with a local fellow who was going to show him some of his spots, and between the two of them they caught maybe one keeper. It was a tough day all around, though, with high, blue skies, and everyone we talked to struggled to get bit today. Me, I worked my behind off all day. I cleaned the whole inside of the motorhome, including some places I found which had never been cleaned before. And I didn’t stop there: I then washed the whole outside of the camper, and I don’t know which is worse. It was worth it though because it looks awesome now - like new. Dan got home around 7:00 and I had a campfire going and expected to spend some quality time with him. I was wrong. We had to unhook the camper and pull the boat out of the water, to make some adjustments to the trolling motor and check the spark plugs. It was 8:30 by the time we ate dinner, and then we sat outside under the moon and the stars for a little bit.

Monday 4/20
We were up early, and since the boat was on the trailer from last night, drove the motorhome and the boat far down to the dam to launch there. This would save on boat gas. We had to drive about 40 minutes, over this mountain on twisty, turney roads, to get there. When we arrived, we stopped and got the boat ready to launch, and when we were ready to go: the motorhome would not start back up. Unbelievable!!! It had been making a funny noise the last few times we had started it, but we were trying to get through this week before dealing with it. Wrong. Deal with it now, guys. Dan played with a few things under the hood, but didn’t go so far as to get his tools out. The engine compartment of a class A motorhome looks nothing like that of an automobile, so he was just checking battery cable connections and that sort of thing. Well that didn’t work. Dejected, he went over to the picnic table and sat with his head in his hands. I did the same inside the camper. THAT WORKED! When he came back in he cranked and cranked and cranked, and the engine finally started! Well now of course the big decision, what to do? We decided that with only a day and a half left, fishing has priority over everything else. We launched the boat and Dan went fishing while I sat in the camper with the engine running. Dan returned in a couple of hours. The fish we had found a week ago are now gone. We’re not going to start the search again down here in the clear water, so we loaded the boat up and drove back towards town. On the way, we discussed what to do about the camper. We decided to re-launch the boat back at the campground. Dan could go back up the lake, trying to expand upon the little crankbait pattern he had going the day before yesterday, while I drove around town begging people to drop what they were doing and fix my camper, since I couldn’t shut it off! I ended up at Ron Blackwell RV Center, where the people were so nice. I really think that if they had turned me away, I would have burst into tears. The manager, Tim Wise, even left to go get the part they needed somewhere else, as they did not have it in stock. They put a new starter in and had me back on the road by 4:30. Thanks so much to Tim Wise, and John Camper, and the wonderful mechanic there, they are my new best friends.

Tuesday 4/21
Kind of a strange day for us. The plan for today was to have a TV camera crew follow us around all day as we go through the final day of preparation for an FLW tournament. We met the camera crew at WalMart at 9am, where they wired us up with microphones and loaded their gear into the camper. We then drove out to the tournament site, while they videotaped from every conceivable angle. At the lake, we launched the boat with the cameras rolling (think there wasn’t pressure there? Backing the boat down the launch ramp with the cameras on you?), then went out fishing with a camera boat chasing us. When we came in we each did a little interview, and then they left us alone for the last couple of hours before the registration meeting. We didn’t get much practice fishing in, but we did have time to string new line on our reels, put new hooks on crankbaits, and make sure the boat is ready to go in the morning. At the meeting, we got to see a great video - highlights of the first three FLW tournaments. Later, Dan got paired with his partner for tomorrow, Rick Marsh. All in all, it was an exciting day for us.

Wednesday 4/22
Take-off this morning was at 6:30, and Dan was boat # 54. I could hear them, but decided to sleep in. After I got up, Dan’s mom called to check in. We’re supposed to be in Florida on Sunday to see them, but she is hoping that we can’t make it on time, which would mean that Dan is fishing in the Top 10. Later on Marty, the camera man from yesterday, stopped by for a last minute shot he forgot to get yesterday: me typing this "Life On Tour" journal into the computer! Laraine Hobie and a car full of other wives came to pick me up for the weigh in. We looked like we were trying to make it into the Guinness book of records the way we were piled in. Dan’s fishing: They ran up the lake into the stained water to catch some of Dan’s crankbait fish. Three days ago the ratio was about 5 short fish for every keeper; today it was more like 2:1 and Dan had a limit (5) at 10:00. He caught a 15" largemouth 10 minutes later and began culling. He had a couple of barely 12" fish that he wanted to cull out, so he stayed on this pattern until almost noon. At noon he made the switch, and ran about 30 miles down, back into the clear water cove where he caught the 5.9lb. largemouth last week. Here, the wind was blowing directly in at about 25mph, creating areas of cloudy water along certain sections of the bank. This should be a perfect setup for a spinnerbait bite. Instead though, while Dan was slinging the blade into towards the bank, his partner Rick got three bites in 15 minutes throwing a finesse worm out into deep water. Dan switched up again, and began throwing a Carolina rig parallel to the bank in 10-15’ of water. It was non-stop action for the next hour. Between the two of them hey had 15-20 bites. Dan culled one or two more fish, and Rick caught two keepers, including one largemouth about 2 ½ lbs. At the end of the day Dan ended up with a limit weighing 6lbs. 5oz. The Top 10 cut right now is 12lbs. even, and the Top 75 cut (i.e. those who get paid) is 7lbs. 8oz. We figure that Dan needs to catch 8 ½ lbs. tomorrow to get a check, or 17 ½ lbs. to make the Top 10. Dan has decided to run directly to his clear water, big fish area tomorrow morning, and pass up the crankbait fish. We ate dinner and John & Laraine came over with dessert. Mike Watson also came by to visit and join us for some dessert.

Thursday 4/23
I got the campsite packed up and ready to go. Elaine & Judy picked me up to go meet the wives for lunch. Afterwards we stopped and I bought the men some cookies for when they came in. Once again Dan came in without having eaten anything all day. He gets so involved in work, that he does not have time to eat. You never know when the fish will bite, and it might just be while you are eating. Sometimes he just doesn’t take that chance. Dan’s fishing: He and his partner, Willie White, ran the half hour down to where Dan had finished up yesterday. Things were not so hot today. Dan caught two 13" spots, but the action was slow. He would fish the Carolina rig for a bit to see if he could catch the fish that were biting yesterday, and then move back to the banks with a spinnerbait. Today was windy and overcast, with rain threatening - just the weather in which we had a good spinnerbait bite working last week. He quickly caught a 15" largemouth on his first pass with the blade, and afterwards had a number of fish dash up and slap at the bait, but he couldn’t get them hooked up. He kept alternating between the Carolina rig in deep water, and the spinnerbait and jerkbait on the banks. Willie caught a spot, and Dan caught another spot, but at this point he acknowledged that even though he had four fish in the boat, his weight was only about five pounds. He needed to catch at least one more big largemouth in order to get the 8 or 9 lbs. he needed to get a check, so he abandoned the Carolina rig, which would have guaranteed him a limit, and put all his effort into fishing for the big bite. It never came. He finished the tournament with 10lbs, 15oz. During the day today, Jerry McGinnis tracked me down. He wanted to tell me that he had just seen the finished segment they had done on Dan and I the other day, and it came out so good that we just couldn’t leave without stopping by the trailer at WalMart to see it ourselves. That, at least, was some exciting news that I could use to boost Dan’s spirits after yet another disappointing finish. We got the boat loaded and headed out, but stopped first at WalMart to view the video. It was incredible - we loved it. We really didn’t know what to expect, but they did a great job. I just about cried, I liked it so much. Right after this, we hit the road. The northwest sky looked very threatening, and it was headed this way. We drove south, stopping in Fayetteville for fast food. While there we learned that a tornado, with golf ball sized hail, was right now passing through the area we had just left! The storm chased us for the next hour or more as we raced south. Lightning flashing continuously in the sky behind us. Dan drove until just about Little Rock, where we found a Flying J truckstop and stayed the night. We had been lucky - through all of this, we never got one drop of rain.

Friday 4/24
I was up and out of bed first, for a change, so I opened up the camper made Dan’s coffee, then pulled the motorhome over to the gas pumps. We filled both the motorhome and boat with gas, got our propane tank filled, and were on the road before 8am. I drove the first 115 miles and then we took a break and had breakfast. Dan then drove the rest of the way to West Memphis, Arkansas. I did the laundry while Dan found a boat dealer to store the boat for us and a kennel to keep the dog. Seeing Cooper go was not pleasant. At times like this you realize how much a part of the family he really is. We are not telling the kids until they get here that Cooper will not be spending vacation with them. They will be very upset. We left Memphis and began the drive to Orlando, Florida. It is now just Dan, myself and the motohome - no dog, no boat, no Bronco. It seems strange without the dog. We keep feeling like we’ve forgotten something. We stopped for the night at a rest area near Montgomery, Alabama.

Saturday 4/25
We showered here in the parking lot of the rest area before driving because there was a dump station where we could empty our holding tanks. We were just about to leave when Katelyn called. She was packing and could not wait until tomorrow. We still have quite a drive ahead of us. I started out in the driver’s seat, and before long my keen eyes espied an Old Navy clothing store. Since I had control of the wheel, I took it upon myself to make a Captain’s Decision, and steered it on in. Dan went to the bookstore next door. There was also a grocery store, so when I was done at Old Navy, I did some groceries for our week ahead with the kids. We were on the road again and drove about a hundred more miles when Dan (Captain now) spotted a store HE wanted to check out. It just so happened there was a Dairy Queen next door, and I twisted his arm. We got an ice cream and were on the road again. We made it to Orlando at about 9:30pm, where we cooked some dinner and stayed overnight in the airport parking lot.

Sunday 4/25
We had a busy morning. We had to pack for 3 days at Disney. What to bring? We look like there are 10 of us, we have so much stuff. We were in the airport early of course, anxiously awaiting the kids arrival. They arrived just before noon, then it was off to the Disney resort where we met Dan’s parents for lunch. We could not check into our room until 4:00, so we went to a pool and spent the afternoon there. We met up with Dan’s parents again in the early evening, and went out to dinner and then back to our rooms, where I took a spa in my suite before bed.

Monday 4/26
Dan’s parents left at 6:00 am. We never heard them leave. The rest of us got up at 7:00, and were out of the house by 8:00 and headed to Magic Kingdom. We only did Tomorrow Land at the Kingdom, and then spent the rest of the day at MGM Studios. Kate and I did Tower of Terror for the first time. We were the only willing candidates from our group, and it was incredible. We stayed until the park closed at 9:00, and were exhausted. We had a blast, and this is a great break from fishing. We have not even mentioned it for two days now. I don’t know when the last day was that we did not mention the F word (fishing).

Tuesday 4/27
Katelyn’s friend Meredith was going to met us at noon and stay the night with us. She is also in Florida on vacation. Everyone decided to stay and hang around the pool while waiting for her. Everyone except me, that is. I went to MGM again all by myself to see a few of the shows that I did not get to yesterday. We all met back at the pool at 12:00, then took of for Epcot for the rest of the day. Later, the kids went back in the pool until 10pm and we got into bed just before 11.

Wednesday 4/28
Today we went back to the Magic Kingdom for the day. The lines aren’t too bad this week, but still it helps to get there early in the morning (before 9) to get some things done before it gets real hot. We left around 3:00, dropped Meredith off at her grandmother’s house and continued on towards Vero Beach. Katelyn wanted to get Alfred a T-shirt from Ron Jon’s Surf Shop, so we detoured over to Cocoa Beach and spent some time there. We arrived at Dan’s parent’s house at 10pm, and quickly retired to bed. Tomorrow is a sleep-in day.

Thursday 4/29
Jeff, Kate and Chris took advantage of the sleep-in day, getting out of bed at 11:00. Soon after it was off to the pool. It was in the 90’s and beautiful. We came home around 2:30 for lunch, then I went out to get my hair cut (no more blond). Later, Dan threw the football with Jeff, while Kate, Chris and I played tennis. In the evening Dan’s aunt Patti came over and cooked for us her famous spaghetti with meatballs. We hung out until midnight when we all went to bed.

Friday 4/30
This morning we all went to play tennis for a while. It started raining, so we played in the rain. After lunch the 5 of us, along with Dan’s parents and Aunt Patti went to the movies. Dan’s mom had already decided that we would see "Life Is Beautiful," an Italian film with English subtitles. It was a good movie. When we got home Kate & I went in the Jacuzzi and had a nice little ladies night by ourselves in there.

Link to: May 1999