Baily at Two Months

Well, the pup has totally ingrained himself into our lives.  What more can one say?

Going to try and keep taking this shot to document his growth.

Baily

Well we finally got over with the fact that Smudge was a "one of a kind" dog who couldn't be replaced, and decided the time was right for an addition to the family.  After much research on Macy's part we decided on a Labradoodle.  Baily was born on August 13 and we picked him up last night.  Lots of change in the last 24 hours for the little guy, but he's doing fine, and follow's Macy everywhere...and he poses for the camera.

Parade of Beef

See the previous post first.  The parade is the highlight of the day.  All the competitors parade their roast down the main drag.  Crowd is now well primed, many have pitchers in hand not just mugs.  A small contingent of the UW marching band lead the way.  Save the date...last weekend in September, you're welcome to join us!

Where's the Beef?

Beef-A-Rama

Beef-A-Rama is an annual event (48 yrs) held the last weekend in September in Minocqua.  Follows the Wisconsin plan for community events...beer gardens open at 10 am, beef gets served starting at noon, parade at 2 :30, awards, more beef, more beer, music, etc.   Local merchants compete in a beef roast competition.  Main street is closed off, the cooking begins.  By the time of the "parade of beef" a good time is being had by all.  Macy, Jane, and I went this year, a good time was had by all.  Here's the pre-parade activities...parade post to follow.

Big time grilling, over 10,000 attendees this year

Judge's make the rounds along Main Street.  Jane was not a judge, just a critic.

Grilling roasts for the masses.

Since the beer gardens open before the beef is served guidance is needed.

Let the beef begin!

Main drag is closed off and the crowds are huge.



Wisconsin "artists" do their thing.



Yes, there were Packer fans there too.

Pup Update

We pick up our pup on Wednesday, a move up in the original schedule...a suggestion by the breeder to begin "bonding".  Stay tuned, but here's some pics of a 1 year old Labradoodle we met at Beef-a-Rama in Minocqua on Saturday.  Same coat color as  our pup.  More pics and name Wednesday...or maybe Thursday.

Woof, Woof

Our family just keeps growing this year.  Stopped by the breeder on my way up from Milwaukee today to meet our new pup.  He can come home in early October, they were born Aug. 11.  No name yet...suggestions welcome.  He has 11 siblings, and when I was there they were all very active.  Total chaos, getting a decent shot was a challenge...no poses from this crew until the very end, when it was nap time.  He's a Labradoddle, his mother is a Labradoddle, half lab and half poodle; father is a registered poodle.  This mix is supposed to produce an allergy free and non-shedding offspring.  We'll see.  We've also decided, since Jezebel and Smudge, we'd try and find a name that was not a self fulfilling prophecy.  We'll see on that count as well.  Can't wait until he can come home.



On the run




On the sniff




Rest time




Wrestlemania, our guy is in the center.



Most of the brood, our guy is on the far right.  The gap between this pic and the one above is 2 minutes.

My Birthday Dinner

During our recent trip visiting with Karyl and Doug we went to the Union Pacific Museum in Council Bluffs.  Great museum, among other things they had several reproductions of the interiors of passenger cars.  One was the dining car, and on display were several menus.  I commented that somewhere with all my train stuff were a number of dining car menus that my Dad had saved when he worked for Pullman.

So, on my birthday as we sat down for dinner I was pleasantly surprised to find one of those train menus next to my place setting.  Macy had done some searching and found the menus.  The meal was based on the daily special, highlighted on the first page of the menu below.  It made the meal very special.

I need to get these menus on display, they are fascinating, and help describe an era of travel that is long gone.  This menu was from the Union Pacific's City of Portland.  The train ran from Chicago to Portland via Omaha, Cheyenne and Ogden, Utah.  I couldn't find any indication of year on the menu, but I'm guessing early fifty's.  By 1960 air travel would be taking over, and US passenger service would begin it's painful decline.

The menu cover...Mt. Hood



The back page




The menu interior



My birthday dinner



The other dinner options...as well as desert.  Notice the Deluxe Dinner Salad Bowl included soup and cocktail in the price!