....Well...we pulled it off one more time !
...For 8 years now we have been throwing this lil Q in de woods for our friends
who have slowly become family to us now. Every year we always stress over a
million little details...the weather being the biggest worry....
..But as usual...things have a way of coming together at the very last moment and
everyone seems to enjoy the day. This year was no different....I watched the
weather like a hawk right up to the very end and my heart sank as it slowly went
from 87 degrees and sunny predicted about 2 weeks ago....to 80 and sunny...a few
daze before the big day....to scattered thunder storms for all 3 daze of
Memorial Day Weekend !
...But Mother Nature had mercy on us at the very last second....and as storms were
raging all around us...we had partly sunny skies and 75 degrees all day long and into
the night....*perfect*
. ...So this is the Story....of the Day....of...The 8th Annual Q in de Woods....
. ....wade on in and enjoy. ...as usual. ...you are among friends..
. ..You see...it all started Friday afternoon...Chili and I had gone out food shopping
for the Q, and not long after we got back a good friend of our showed up...
...Yep...MR Blackdog hiz bad self had arrived safely from Wisconsin. And it wasnt
long after that, that a few more folks from out of state began to make their way into
the Norther Woods....TP and his lovely wife Nancy from Minnesota and none other
then...Strider...All the way from Louisiana !! Chili and I had a feeling right there and
then, that this was gonna be...One Awesome Weekend !
...So after they got situated at their motel, and moseyed over to the house, we
formed a caravan and traveled over to a place called Freds for dinner.
Now..Friday Nights are "All You Can Eat Fish Night at Freds...and Strider and
TP decided to lower their profit margin for the night..
. ...So they ordered the All You Can Eat Fish and went to ....and every time that
waitress would come around ...Strider would gaze up at her with those ...
...Puppy Eyes...and say....I Love You ! ....Yep....4 helpings later....they were
fatter n fuller !! ..
. ..After a fine dinner...we wandered out into the parking lot and shot the breeze
with one of the owners for a while, before heading on out. Chili and I hit the hay
early that night, as we knew we had a LOT to get ready the next morning....
...We were up at 7 Sharp...got coffee going....did a quick to McDonalds for some
breakfast on the fly..and got down to work ! Now..I wanna make something clear
here...very year ALL kinds of folks chip in and lend a hand...and thats one of the
things that not only makes this thing special...but it also makes it possible !
Ya see...as hard as we try ..Chili n I just cant do everything !. ..And its so nice
to have friends that come here and lend a hand to get this thing grooving...
....And one friend in particular that we want to thank...and thats Black Dog..
..Ya see he comes just about every year and we "give" him room n board..
...and he basically becomes our....indentured servant ! ..
...But seriously...if it wasnt for Steve pitching in the way he does and helping us
out in sooooo many ways...this thing would be wayyyy harder for Chili n the Wolf !
...So thank ye Steve...you are like one of the family to us !! ..
....That morning Steve and I got the back yard ready...while Chili was busy at work
...whipping up some bodacious home made potato and pasta salads and other
goodies.....
....and soon....the deck and yard were set up and ready to go ! ..
....So I got busy making plates n plates of BABzzzzzzzz !!!! ..
.....Folks began showing up and milling around the in the front drive way...
....and saying their hellos....and I fired up the grille !!! .
...and before ong...the burgers were szzzzzzzziling and folks were laughing and
carrying on...
. ....Thats what Im talking bout.....Yeeeaaaaahhhhhhhh !!!!!
(Photo taken by Strider)
...like I said...everyone was chipping in ..one way or another...
...and heres my good buddy Dennis....Professional Cheese Un-Wrapper ! ..
....meanwhile...down in the yard...the party was starting !! ..
...and before long....the burgers were ready and folks started lining up ! ..
..one of my favorite parts of the day...watching all our friends chowing down ! ..
..and everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves...Merlin and his daughter Rhiana
....Jim...a good friend of ours that we met last year through Dale and Maryanne..
...TP and his wife Nancy and Strider...chowing down..
....our good friend Black Dog....enjoying a well deserved feast..
....Shauna who is Bad Asses girl friend...and her mom Kat...unfortunately Bad Ass
had to work...
....And our good friends...Fudgie and his wife Kit...who just got her own bike
and made her longest journey yet...to our Q...thats so cool ! ..
....we are very proud of her !!!! ..
. ...Black Dog manned the grill for me when I was done and cooked up some burgers for the...Late Comers..
....and of course....My Chili Gurl ..
(Photo by Strider)
...and after Chili got done munching...she got the Idea to go around...
.......and get a "mug shot" of everyone ! ..
....Merlin... "Al"
...his lovely daughter Rihana
....Fudgie from Indiana
.....and his lovely wife..Kit...(I love this shot of her)
......Shauna
...and of course.....Strider ..all the way from Louisiana !
....and this guy....the one that apparently no one knew who he was...
...our good friend Bill !. ...Yeahhh....THATS Slick Willy !! ..
...and of course...his lovely wife Renae ..
. ....nice shot Dale ! ..
. .....his better half. ...Maryanne
...another shot I really dig....our friend...Black Dog ! ..
. ....Ummmm...Tom ?...yep...thats our good friend TP ...he and his wife flew in from Minnesota just for the Q !!
...and his lovely wife..Nancy ! ..
...and lets not forget....Scott !
...and his wife...Lauri ! ..
....Hey Dennis....when we going riding ?!?!? ..
...and this is our new friend Brad...definitely a cool...laid back dude ! ..
....and ..oh yeah....thats me...Timbr...glad to meet cha,s !! ..
....(Photo by Strider)
...and this was my my platter ....Ohhhhhhhh Yeeeaaahhhh !!!!
...And...this is what its all about my friend ...The Big Azz Burger !!!! .
....mean while...out in the front drive..
....Black Dogs ..Sleek Machine ..
....Striders....600 LB "Suppository" ...
....Fudgies ...Fine Baby !
.....And....Kits new Baby !!!
. ...Yep....they come from all over now ! .
...out back..ther was still LOTS of munchies left...but Im thinkn everyone was
satisfiied...for a while ..
. ...Sooooo...we got the fire pit going...and every one sat around.."digesting".
....everyone was laughing and telling lies and having a good time...but...
.....it seemed like....something was missing....I know...Smores !!! ..
....Apparently...Strider likes his...Flaming !!!
...Okay ....now he seems to be getting the hang of it..
. ..mmmm....these puppies shurrr are *sticky*
. .....wait...I think....he got it !
. ....Hay Strider....tell us some more bout your good friend...Jim !
...and it seems...he wasnt the only one diggin on the smores..
....its okay baby...just wash it down with some more wine...you,ll be fine ..
..yep..and I finally got to sit down around the fire and relax with a nice Capn n Coke
. ....now...if I can just get Nancy to stop taking my picture ! ..
...Meanwhile...Black Dog was busy telling some....Tall Tales ! .
...and believe it or not...people still seemed..hungry...so we broke out some
....Hot Dogs !!! ..
....Strider and me had a ...small skirmish...over the best spot to roast a dog..
.....but I edged him out ! ..
....and as the sun slowly went down....TP was showing folks on his lap top...
....the storms that were all around us...
....Hey Fudgie.....Shut Up Will Ya ?!?!?!?
...it was slowly getting dark...the music supplied by our DJ...Black Dog...
..was jammin in the back ground and the Tiki Torches were all lit around the yard...
...thats when someone noticed that one by the Boat House was all up in Flamezzz !!
...so folks were all...Huffin n Puffin....and blowing their hardest !
....they even took turns....trying to blow it out !
.I guess it worked...cuz the Boat House was still there in the morning ! ..
and so it went...everyone just hanging out through the night as the liquor flowed
....my buddy Steve was as relaxed and having a good time more then I had ever
....seen him do before...
...we were all pretty buzzzzzed and just kicked back until around mid night...
....folks said there good byes and headed back to the motel...which luskily was
right down the road....and Black Dog...Chili and I ...wandered up to bed...
....the next morning I rose around 8 am and made a pot of coffee..and wanderd
out onto the deck....The Q was over...done and gone....and all I could do was smile
....because this was with out a doubt...probably the Best one so far !!! ..
....After a while everyone slowly moseyed back to our place and let out on another
caravan ...this time to the Grayling Restaurant...that seems to be a "Tradition" now
for folks that come to visit us...we all woke up and tried to shake off our respective
hang overs ...as we shared a nice breakfast..
...now all weekend the conversation turned again and again...to the maitainence
man at the motel they were all staying at...a guy named "Jim"...seems old jim was
a lonely guy and he had latched right onto Strider and Fudgie and Kit and TP
and his wife when they checked in....he had endless stories about his adventures
....and went on and on about them, whether you wanted to hear them or not..
....hed been to jail..."just a little mistake"...and banned from ALL the bars in town..
..."another little mistake"....and the rumor was that he was now....
. ...Striders ..New Best Friend ! .. . ..So Chili and I and Black Dog decided
that we just had to meet this famous guy ! .. ..so we followed them back to..
....the motel !
...we hung out for a few minutes and as they packed their bikes for the long trip
back home...but we didnt have to wait long before the door to one of the rooms
suddenly swung open and....There Was Jim !! ..
. ....SO we all introduced ourselves and shook his hand...and JIm not one to
..disappoint...immediately began to tell us a tale of how...he used to own a bike
and was a biker too !!. ..So we politely listened and then I told him how we wanted
to have our picture taken...to which he replied...Oh...You want me to take it ???
...Ohhhhhh No Jim ...we said....YOU,RE going to be IN the picture !!. ..
...And so we summoned the maid and had her takes some..."Shots"..of the group..
.....right along with our good friend...Jim ! ..
...After that...we said our sad goodbyes to Fudgie and Kit and TP and Nancy and
....Stirder....and drove off back to the house...
.....There....Black Dog opened the garage door and backed his sleek black steed
...out onto the drive way and donned his rain suit...the sky was already dark and
threatening...lighting splitting the sky...and we told him to stay another day...
...but he wanted to get home so we said our goodbyes and hugs and watched
him slowly ride off. ....
....Chili went in and pulled up the video camera on the Mighty Mac and diligently
watched until she yelled out...I think its him !...I think its him !!!
..and sure enough...that one of kind black fairing rode into sight.....
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
...Chili and I would like to take a minute to thank everyone that bought some
bodacious gifts to give us..there were so many fine things..I hope I dont miss anyone
..Stirder....those Cajun Spices are awesome...and we will add them to our collection
...Dale and Maryanne..we really dig the duck basket with all the minature booze
...Tom and Nancy....the nut goodie candy...wild rice and that really cool knife
and fork...were going to mount on the wall somewhere...awesome !...Thank You !
...Brad...That bottle of Bulliet Bourbon Rocks !...and will be put to good use !
. ...And Jim from the woods who gave us the hand carved pirate...what can I say...we will display it proudly !!!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
....Chili and I estimated between 25 and 30 folks would show up ....and we had 27 people and 9 bikes....3 of them from out of state....the farthest being Strider....who rode 800 miles the first day of his two day adventure to get all the way to Northern Michigan...from Louisiana !!!!
