As promised....

YES! It's SNOWING on THANKSGIVING MORNING!

~ Impressively peppy and responsive 1.5L VTEC Engine

~ Reported mileage 34/40

~ ABS standard + 6 airbags

~ Consumer Reports' highest ratings for safety and overall

~ Alloy wheels

~ Direct hookup for my DBYPod

~ The famous "Magic Seats", offering 41 cubic feet of storage space for objects 7'10" long or over 4' high from floor to ceiling in the back seat area (for your bicycle!)

Will test the bicycle theory next summer. I am also considering a set of winters like I had with the Jetta to better handle Minnesota roads.

This officially kicks off the name David's Fit contest; all suggestions should be submitted to david@lakedavid.com. Winner will receive shameless recognition on my blog.

More pictures to come from the new funride!

I have always included highlights of the Minnesota Stats Fair in the historic LDFN. However, the shortcoming of ASCII being the obvious - there were never any visual representations of the insanity of the masses. Upwards of 2 million people will attend the fair (now half over) this year, each one spending $12 on average for food - totaling many millions of dollars on Sweet Martha's cookies, fresh cut french fries, cheese curds, pronto or poncho pups (e-mail me if you don't know the difference and want to be educated!), and dozens of unique foods on a stick (e.g., walleye, alligator, etc.)

Since we now have the luxury of the Lake David Fanclub Blog, the editor has taken the liberty of photo journaling a few interesting things one might see at the fair. It's not just all about food. You'll see animal contest winners, learn about agriculture, education, play games and win prizes and more!

Register to win a free mosquito squad barrier spray!



Running of the Bulls (It's not Pampalona, but this was a new sight for me)

Cheese on a stick!



Leather, Gun Cases, Hats



Cow Comfort - The Dairy Barn



Fish of Minnesota unite



Princess Kay (Made of Butter)



WOOL. . .aww, how cute



CAPY and the Fighter Ride



Honey Bees

Our latest house project is now completed! After nearly a year of talking about this, we finally took on the 1-ton landscape project, and the results are magnificent. To improve the water drainoff slope outside our living room, we were advised to build up the adjacent mulch garden. The idea of a hardscape was appealing due to the lesser maintenance required, and of course, how nice it looks.

After reviewing a dozen or so rock prospects from two garden specialty centers (Gerten's and Herman's) we went with Pink Quartz (aka Pink Sioux Quartz):


We dug out 15 bags of weed-infested mulch, put down 17 40# bags of top soil, pounded and compacted, laid new landscape fabric, and then filled with 3/4 cubic yard of rock. Here is a snapshot of the lovely completed project (click through for more photos):

Over a 4-day Memorial Day holiday weekend, we went to Cathedral of the Pines on Caribou Lake in Lutsen, MN. It is Mt Olivet's camp property on the Superior North Shore which they've owned since the late 1940s.

The annual opening weekend activities included gratuitous eating, deep cleaning the cabins, getting a dozen lawn mowers and whip wackers working, repairing broken screens and screen doors, replacing dead light bulbs and more. This place houses 200 campers per week all Summer long, so the chore list was very long but it was fun team work, and nice being outside of life's daily amenities for a few days.

Enjoyable activities included 2 visits to Grand Marais, a camp fire with s'mores, a softball game, trivial pursuit and a 500 pc candybar jigsaw puzzle.

View my Cathedral of the Pines photo journal!