Friday, April 16, 2010

4.11-4.14.10 Work at the lodge, fix truck, fish, get drift boat


If that sounds like a busy three days, it was. I had a few day window to get a bunch of stuff done. However if one thing did or didn't happen it would send the whole plan into a spin. I left New Jersey with my friend Sunday night and we got into Ausable Forks around 2 am. Monday morning I took my truck up to Excel Transmissions in Plattsburgh to have the rest of the transmission work done on the truck after blowing the trans last month. I grabbed a rental car and drove back to the Forks to find Steve emptying contenst of the future Fly Shop and yard into a pile awaiting the delivery of a 30 yard dumpster. That dumpster was ordered for 9 am but didn't arrive till 3. After it did Steve and I worked late into the night filling it. On Tuesday I drove back to Plattsbburgh to renturn the rental car and pick up my truck in order to drive to Saranac Lake to pick up our future DRIFT BOAT !! Well the truck wasn't ready, and they needed a part from Dodge in Saranac Lake. So they let me drive my truck in four wheel drive high to Saranac Lake to get the part and the boat. Got the part, went to the boat and to DMV. Stalled picking the boat up to Wednesday, drove back to Plattsburgh. On the way back we heard this horrible sound coming from the truck. Back at Excel I have the owner take a ride, he says something is wrong. I take his truck and we head back to the Forks. We have some time to kill, so I gear up and go fishing. West Branch of the Ausable is cold and rumming high. I start with a wooly bugger to no avail, switch to a friend Paul Fleming bead head creation and then to his Jack Gartside sculpin fly that picks up fish right off the bat. My business partner calls me and I continue to fish, getting into a real healthy brown, only to snap him off as I reached down to get him. I also fell on some rocks along the river, surely fracturing my knee cap, blacking out, and cutting my nose. Packed up at the Forks, drove back to Plattsburgh. Truck still not ready. Took the owners truck to Saranac Lake to have dinner at my sisters and future brother in laws, which was AMAZING. Woke up Wednesday morning, washed the guys truck, had breakfast at the Blue Moon, picked up the boat and drove back to Plattsburgh around 430. "Colin, I have some bad news." The drive shaft didn't fit right, it broke the transfer case, it's not done, I have

to go back. So, we loaded up the drift boat onto my pickup (which has no four wheel drive) and headed back to New Jersey. WHEW!!! That was it, plus tons of food, laughter, aggravation, and good times. Oh yeah, on the way home the lights on the trailer went out. So we had to drive with the flashers on the rest of the way. Got pulled over once- NO TICKET!!