It’s official. The weight loss has reached the fifty pound mark. Now it’s time to celebrate a little. From Wednesday to Sunday, I will be in Clear Lake, Iowa (just west of I-35 near the Minnesota border) to do some camping, biking, fishing, and who knows what else.
Located near Mason City, this popular tourist destination has a beautiful lake, great fishing, numerous campgrounds, trails, and other fun things to do. I have not been to this region for a number of years but it used to a favorite place to go to catch bullheads (member of the catfish family) near the late spring spawning time. If the fishing is half as good as it used to be, there will be a lot of fish to clean.
The first time I was in Clear Lake was in the early 1990s – about 20 years ago. A person could barely keep two poles going – the action was that quick. The fish were decent sized, too.
That first visit was a near perfect trip. The weather was warm, sunny and windy. I can almost smell the breeze blowing off the lake that day. This skinny guy (back then I was 170 lbs) was sitting on the dock, enjoying the sun and a healthy wine cooler buzz. A conservation officer approached and checked the fishing license and cooler contents. It was kind of funny seeing the look of shock on her face when instead of fish in the cooler she saw a number of empty adult beverage bottles. I was looped but thankfully she had a heart. The officer advised me that it was illegal to be intoxicated in public but since I was being peaceful she didn’t want to cite me. She cautioned me to be careful so close to the water. That is the kind of peace officer you want to run into. Surely, the memory would be a lot different had I landed in the drunk tank. 🙂
Moderation has helped a lot adopting – and becoming accustomed to – a new lifestyle. So far it’s worked out well enough that I put together a list of tips followed daily. Hopefully, this collection will be beneficial to others. I had not reviewed it for some time – even re-reading it tonight helped me. Most are simple, common sense ideas you see in the various “diets”… No magic… But it’s nice to have them in one place for reference to review and remember.
Time to run. Please excuse me for a while till the next post on Thursday or Friday. If you’re not busy, stop out to Clear Lake, and as the sign says and …..
Have a good one!
V.T.
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Congrats Brad!