Cowboy Zebra

We got a flier in the mail yesterday for a guided beach walk going on today. It was only 5 minutes from our house and we decided to go. We learned a lot and got to see all sorts of things we hadn't seen before. We got to see Horse Clams sticking out their big necks from the sand, giant moon snails and also the egg cases of these snails which look like plunger heads. The guide showed us several different species of crabs and he found a Midshipman Toad Fish under a big rock in a tidal pool. The Midshipman fish have photophores to attract prey in the deep parts of the sea, but they come up near the shore to lay eggs under a rock which the male then guards until hatching. Of course the boys caught many little crabs and hermit crabs. There were also plenty of sand dollars and a few sea stars and Ian found a Chiton on one of the rocks he picked up. I learned a lot and I'm glad that we went!

For those that might be interested. View original for full size & details.

I'm guessing the part where the torque(dark blue line) shoots straight up is where I made it to fourth and gave it full gas to start the test.

All torque, all the time. Amazing.

I found this in one of my bibles.

This is the main drag of the show, with the XXX Rootbeer Drive In on the right... Lots of people, cars, and good food. I ended up winning two tshirts but none of the Vipers won anything. It seems to be heavily tilted to older cars... We usually win something at the Mopar only events. It's fun regardless.

We had 14 out of the 56 Viper Club cars in the state attending.

The boys helped me find rocks around our property to make this little rock wall (the big one behind it was already there). I got some new strawberry plants and also dug up some old ones to put in it. The old ones had been planted in a mostly shady area, and so were not doing well.

What do you do when it's 8pm and the thick heavy snow just knocked out power?

Build a Snow Stig!

Beretta 686 White Onyx

Champ and TJ's turn.

Notice the turquoise shotgun.

We estimated this one rack had at least $50,000 worth of metal on it. The short gray Remington 1100 Competition Master is mine.

Poulsbo Sportsman Club(http://www.pscnet.net/) is a very nicely organized and laid out rifle/pistol/shotgun club up near Bangor submarine base. Last weekend I, my current boss, and my former boss shot true trap and 5-stand for the first time ever. I did really well. Obviously for those that know me, it wasn't my first time with a shotgun. We saw that they were going to hold a Turkey Shoot today so we decided to attend. I showed up and my coworkers had already signed me up. It was $25 for a total of 5 separate matches in any one of several types of shooting. The first was straight trap, I guess. There were so many people (~75) for the turkey shoot they cut it down to 10 shots total(from a standard 25) in order to speed things up. When it's your turn you call out "pull", or some other sufficiently loud noise, and the automated system picks up your voice and sends a clay down range in one of several directions. That first match ended in a no-miss tie between me and a nice older lady with several "25" and "50 in a row" patches on her vest. Her turquoise colored shotgun looked very expensive. I think she had done it a few times before. In a shoot-off they let the first shooter pick anywhere on the field to shoot from. I started off closer to the trap because I had no idea how she'd do under pressure and I didn't want to push it too quickly. I shot, and hit. She followed up with a hit as well. So, she moves all the way to the back of the station and fires. I follow, and take it. On my turn I shoot, and hit. She follows with a miss so I won. The first turkey.

After that I signed up for a poison pill match on the 5 stand range. Again, it's 5 guys shooting together. Upon call they send an orange and a yellow clay down VERY close to each other. You have to shoot the orange first(+1 point) and then follow up with the yellow(+1 point). If you shoot both together it's 0. If you shoot yellow first it's -1, then you hopefully follow up with the orange for a zero. The highest score wins. I won my 2nd turkey by two points.

I then signed up for my third round of plain trap with other shooters who had already won a turkey. I knew that I had to hit every clay. I missed the 2nd, and from there hung on but lost that match.

Fourth round. Poison Pill again. It's really a lot of fun. By now I was familiar with things. I won my third turkey. Now is when my coworker mentioned he had heard 5 separate conversations about me between the office and the 5 stand range. Many of the guys had seen me shoot last weekend.

Fifth round was 2 shot Continental. The clays are 10mph faster than the other games. Upon call the clay comes from a single trap but can go in ANY direction. This one ended in a three way tie requiring another shoot-off. One of the other guys already had three turkeys, as did I. Both of the other shooters were club regulars. Also, I'm shooting my standard IPSC shotgun with a 22" barrel. The other guys had standard trap/skeet over-under shotguns with nice long barrels. I'm at a disadvantage the farther away from the trap we move so of course that's where they go for their shots. After 4 separate tries one of the other guys missed his attempt and was out. It was down to two of us. I make a point of talking and laughing with the other guy about how much smaller my barrel is... After I make his shot I move all the way up to the front, and to the right, as close as I could get. I shoot, and hit. He misses. I won my fourth turkey.

I think one other guy had four. Most people had none, or one.

I had to have help carrying my four turkeys to The Car.

I have a reputation now.

Necessity. Mother of invention. Etc.