Mad Men style

For Halloween this year, we dressed as Greg and Joan Harris of my favorite show Mad Men.

2010 Canada Hunting Trip

This morning (3:00am) I got back home from a week long duck and goose hunting trip with my Grandpa, Dad and Bailey the black lab near Margo, Saskatchewan.

We had a great time despite the lack of geese in the area due to excessive rain which wiped out most grains fields in the Margo area. We brought home 47 birds for the week (13 Canada Geese and 34 ducks including; Mallards, Gadwals, Pintails, Blue Bill, Golden Eye, Widgen and 2 Shovelers for Baily to train with).

The picture above is from the first goose hunt of the trip.

10/17/2010
We arrived in Margo at the house we had rented at around 12:30pm. We unpacked our stuff and went out scouting for a field to set up in for the next day. Along the way we stopped at Ducks Unlimited land and tried to jump some birds. We also stopped at "the corner" to sneak up on a flock of geese. We were unable to make our way through the brush in time to take any shots. We found birds in a field East and North of Margo were we would set up the next morning

10/18/2010
We set up at the field we had scouted the night before and barely made it back to our blinds before sun rise. The geese arrived in small bunches for the entire morning. We got 10 Canada Geese for day. The remainder of the day was filled with scouting for the next day.

The picture above is from this hunt.

Dad calling in a flock of Canada Geese.

10/19/2010
Against our cardinal rule "never set up where you haven't seen geese," we followed the advise of the fellow hunter and hunted an oat field were we had not scouted any geese. The cardinal rule proved to be true as we didn't see any geese the entire morning. We were able to get 2 Mallards because we set up with a pond behind us and a field in front.

After the unsuccessful goose hunt we started looking for a spot to set up the next day. We met some local farmers and made our way to a lake where they said geese we sitting... they were right! There were thousands of geese sitting on the lake. We hid in the car at the top of a hill and Dad and I got out and hid in weeds watching the geese. When they eventually got up we followed them to a field where we decided we would set up the next day

10/20/2010
We hunted geese in the morning and got a couple, but that was not the highlight of the day. We decided to cut our losses and stop hunting geese and switch to ducks. We drove south of Margo to a slew between two lakes (Usinneskaw and Whitesand). As we walked out into the slew we kicked up a bunch of ducks and because of the wind they came right back. It was absolutely crazy how many ducks were buzzing around. Grandpa and Dad didn't shot, they let me take them all. The ducks were coming almost too fast and often to pick one to aim at. After many missed shots I ended the session with 6 ducks including hitting 3 in a row. Dad and Grandpa both agreed that they had never seen anything like that before. We decided to set up there again the next day.

10/21/2010
We hunted the same slew in the morning and afternoon. It wasn't as crazy as the day before but we did very well. I got my second Pintail of the trip (I was excited any time I got a duck that wasn't prevalent in Southern Minnesota)

10/22/2010
Again, we stuck with a good thing and hunted the same slew. The morning hunt was highlighted by a great shot I had on a flock of three Golden Eye that were flying between the two lakes. I caught them out of the corner of my eye and grabbed my gun. Without thinking about it I aimed and fired one shot and down went the center bird. Dad ran out into the shallow water in front of us searching for the bird, it had dove and was trying to get away. He tracked it down 15 feet away from where it had splashed and reached into the water and grabbed the bird (he got his jacket wet in the process). I was extremely excited because I had been trying to get into a good position to get a shot at one for the last day and a half! I'm planning on getting the bird mounted so I can remember that shot every time I look at it.



Grandpa with the Green Wing Teal he shot in the afternoon.

The Golden Eye I shot at 9:30am

10/23/2010
We hunted the slew one more time. We were planning on hunting from 7am to 8:30am, but as time to pack up got closer I wanted to stay a bit longer and see if we could get one more bird. At 8:40am we got a Widgen. It was a great way to end our hunt.

We then went back to the house and packed the car and headed out on our 14 hour drive back to Minneapolis.

I had a great time on my first trip to Canada and can't wait to get back next year and get a Snow Goose!

Macho.

Josh was looking very macho after he rented a power drill to get through the 14 inches of concrete and stucco of our foundation.

The last 2 weekends Josh and my dad have been installing our new furnace and central a/c! We're so excited to have brand new mechanicals in our house and can't wait to try out the air next summer.

This weekend they'll finish everything up and we'll be ready for the winter.

3 Years.

Since moving into our house, life has been pretty crazy. For our anniversary on Tuesday, I celebrated by heading over to the DMV to get my Minnesota Driver's license and plates. Then when Josh was home from work we worked in the kitchen. I'm not complaining or anything, because Josh and I rarely exchange any gifts. We just try to do something fun with each other. Working in the kitchen together was our present!

Since everything has been so crazy, we're having a hard time keeping up with posting, so everything will be a little delayed. You can see above, the floors have been refinished, and I painted the cabinets. Friday, our new appliances were delivered, and Josh took down the tile back splash. Saturday, my Mom, Dad and Shelby came up to help out. Dad and Josh installed the dishwasher and put on the new oak counter top with our new sink and faucet. I don't have the pictures off my camera yet for the latest changes, but we'll post again with more updates soon!

Target Field

Last night I attended my first Twins game at the new Target Field. I went with my coworkers and got to sit in the General Mills suite. The Twins came back from a 7 run deficit to almost win the game. The highlight of the night was Joe Mauer's foul pop up catch where he had to reach around the backstop netting to make the catch. It was a lot of fun checking out the ballpark and watching a close game.

Au Gratin Open

Yesterday was the first annual Au Gratin Open at Wedgewood Cove Golf Course in Albert Lea. The course has a special deal where you can play as many holes as you want for $75, so I decided it would be fun to get a bunch of guys together and play 54 holes in one day, the winner receiving a case of Betty Crocker Au Gratin potatoes that I got from work. The tournament format was "best ball" with yourself (after playing all 18 holes 3 times you take your best score on each hole to come up with a "best ball" 18 hole score). We had a great time playing golf all day and the scores where pretty close between us except for one player who ran away from the pack and brought home the case of boxed potatoes.

Matt Forsman -6
Josh Jones -1
Matt Tubbs -1
Drew Anderson -1
Josh Tubbs +1
Geoff Anda +4

I can't wait to for next year's Au Gratin Open!

Harding Park

Today I celebrated President's Day the best way I know how, I played golf. For the second year in a row Kyan and I took advantage of our day by hitting the links. This year we played Harding Park in San Francisco, home of the 2009 President's Cup. The course was amazing, lined with old cypress trees.

I played arguably the best round of golf since moving to California today. I shot 40 on the front nine and followed it up with a 37 on the back nine. At one point I had it to two under par before making two straight bogeys.

3rd Time's a Charm

Last week Matt flew into Sacramento for his third visit. We played golf three of the five days he was here. Saturday we drove south of San Francisco to play the Links at Half Moon Bay. The course was amazing, perched on the bluffs overhanging the Pacific.

Above: Matt's tee shot on the 16th hole with the ocean all the way down the left side with the hotel in the background.

Matt and I standing on the 18th tee at Half Moon Bay. This hole was a long par five that wrapped around the bluff and ended in front of the hotel.

Saturday after golf we drove down highway one and stayed overnight at a hotel just outside of Monterey. Sunday we got up and made our way to the Links at Spanish Bay for our second round of the weekend. The scenery and golf course was just as amazing as the day before. After our round we drove the 17 mile drive stopping at Pebble Beach again for one more look before heading back to Sacramento.

Above: My tee shot on the par four 16th hole at Spanish Bay.

Monday I took the day off and we played some more golf at a municipal course in Sacramento.

Scores for the three days of golf where...
Matt (81,86,77)244
Josh (86,86,86)258

We had a great time playing golf and reminiscing about our California golf adventures. In total we played 8 times at 8 different courses.

Mare Island Golf

Saturday I played golf at the oldest course west of the Mississippi, Mare Island Golf Club, in Vallejo, CA.  The course was located on an island in the San Pablo Bay and was home to a World War II Naval base.  I enjoyed great views of the bay and surrounding hills as well as the remains of a once active base.  Sporadically I stumbled upon gigantic fallout shelters carved into the hills.

I didn't play that well but enjoyed the history lesson.

A Year in Review.

Yesterday was our year anniversary of living in California. We can't believe that it's already been a year. We've had some really bad times (us freaking out), but we've also had some of the best experiences of our lives. Above is when Josh and I drove up to Tahoe the first time on Hwy 88. Here's looking back to some of our other favorite moments...

Having Matt and Brie out was really fun. This was at Sterling in Calistoga.

Here are Josh, Christine and I at Stinson Beach. Although my favorite moment when Steve, Deb and Christine were here was going over the hill on Divisadero Street and Christine screaming like we were on a roller coaster!

We waited until my parents got here to go out to Alcatraz and it was worth the wait. It was so gorgeous out there with everything blooming in the spring.

Then Matt and I planned to surprise Josh in April. We got him good. And I think they had a really great time in Monterey together golfing.

And most recently was our road trip down to see Christine, Anna and Ryan in LA. It was so fun to see familiar faces and a whole new city.

We can't wait to see what the next year has in store for us, and we're so excited to have more adventures in California and hopefully back in Minnesota!

2 Years.

Today is our anniversary. I can't believe that it's been 2 years already! I love you Josh.

Apple Mountain Golfing

This weekend was hot! Both Saturday and Sunday were in the triple digits, ending our HVAC free streak at 8 months!

I went golfing today with Kyan at Apple Mountain Golf Resort in Placerville, CA. The course was carved out the the foothills and surrounded by towering pines. There were many beautiful vistas, including snow capped mountains. I played well carding an 79 (41-38).

Flea Find

We haven't been to the flea market in Alameda since February when we found our buffet, so I was really looking forward to going this weekend. This time we found this old blue watering can. I can't wait until I can actually use it!

After the flea market, we checked out Point Isabel north of Oakland. There were tons of people out with their dogs enjoying the weather.

Buzzed

Track My Game

You can now track Josh's golf game from the comforts of your own computer. Follow the link in the "additional links" section. Search either; Joshua Tubbs in California or GHIN 8653852

Saddle Up 'n Drive

Today at work we had the annual "Forklift Rodeo" which consisted of a timed race through an obstacle course. Turns out I'm a naturally talented forklift driver because I won the amateur division!

Your so vain you probably think these plates...

I finally got my car registered in CA.  I got vanity plates and I really like them!