1997 Manitowish Waters Vacation Page

• Voss' Birchwood Lodge, Box 456, Manitowish Waters, Wisconsin 54545, (715) 543-8441
• Greer's Pier, Manitowish Waters, (715) 543-8456
• Freyder's cabin, Manitowish Waters, WI, (715) 543-2388 (1000-2200 CDT)
• Steve Freyder's boathouse, Manitowish Waters, WI, (715) 543-8335 (0900-2200 CDT)
• Ham radio info (2 meter): 144.33 simplex, repeaters: 145.43- Tomahawk, 145.13- Sayner
• How to find us...a clickable map.
• Email list: jeff.schramm@brite.com lightner@metaflow.com dafuller@sequent.com David_Helland@cpqm.mail.saic.com mhunt@hamilton.ucsd.edu pdp@mcs.net freyder@wave.saic.com tomki@microsoft.com

Wednesday, August 14, 1997

• Jeff Schramm wimps out and gets slammed.
• Dave Helland heads north...then east.

Friday, August 15, 1997

• Bruce, Evie, and Mark head east.

Saturday, August 16, 1997

• We made it to brother Marty's house in Esko, MN (near Duluth) last night. We all slept in and are now doing the "vacation thing"...nothing. Check out the photos.
• Made it to Manitowish Waters at 6:20pm. Found the "party boat" soon after.
• The duplex (Clearview East/West) is great. Two kitchens...we can go two days before we have to clean up.
• The girls immediately put on their swim suits and jumped off of the foot-bridge.
• Evie and Jenny failed to follow Dave Helland's Manitowish vacation rule #1...eat whenever you see food...or starve. At 10:00pm they told us...we're hungry! So, we went to the local road-house and ate hamburgers to loud (but good) live music. (Steve told the girls: Don't ever come to a place like this unless it's with your father!)

Sunday, August 17, 1997

• We slept in...it was raining this morning. Bought food and are about to head to CWA to pick up El Davo...since we aren't convinced that Jeff will. Weather's gray, but it stopped raining.
• We got Dave...he was late...thanks Jeff!
• Made BBQ outside the duplex...check out the photos. The girls held a poetry reading while we BBQ'ed.

Monday, August 18, 1997

• Found an active phone jack in the bedroom of Clearview East...bonus! Fixed up the Web page...weather's great. We have plans for dinner...are trying to eat before midnight today!
• Went cruising in the Bayou Queen in the afternoon. Greer's daughter Carlin joined us. Ended up at a sandy beach. The girls went swimming. Weather was fine...broken low clouds with just enough sun.
• Dave Helland made chicken "catch-a-torry". We actually did eat before midnight...10:00pm.
• The girls told scary stories after dinner...complete with programs.
• Took a few pictures.

Tuesday, August 19, 1997

• Made the morning run to the bakery (Michael's) for their 16-oz muffins. Worked on the Web Page again and checked the e-mail. Dave Fuller sent us an especially useful link if you need to process any mice.
• We BBQ'ed outside the cabin in the rain...chuck roast, mushrooms, zuc's, green onions, potatos, and garlic bread. After dinner, Steve BBQ'ed up some "dessert meat"...it was good.
• We took a few more pictures.

Wednesday, August 20, 1997

• Heather had to go back to work at dawn. Dave Fuller is due in today. It looks like we're in for a rainy day.
• Marty Lightner arrived with Dan and Greg (a friend) at noon. We bought pork chops...plus a bunch of fire-crackers. The kids went swimming...but it looked cold.
• Made a field trip to find a Manitowish coffee cup for Dave, but the UPS strike fouls up his plans. We did find a giant loon.
• The weather stayed rainy most of the day.
• Marty BBQ'ed his famous Lightner pork chops. He had to head back to Duluth (with Dan and Greg) at 9:00PM.
• At 10:00PM Dave Fuller (finally) arrived.
• Around midnight Steve and Pete fired up the BBQ and grilled the pork loin...second night for the new concept: "dessert meat".

Thursday, August 21, 1997

• Pete gets busted by the Lodge Police for yesterday's fire-cracker action (thanks Dan and Greg!) when he checks his messages in the morning.
• Yesterday's photos are now available for your viewing pleasure.
• We went to the toy store...and the food store. Evie found Beenie Babies. We also found giant fish.
• It was cold and windy most of the day. In the late afternoon the girls went swimming, Pete and Dave Fuller raced their RC sail-boats. A lot of keyboarding was going on.
• Steve made BBQ'ed chicken for dinner...Kim joined us. (No dessert meat...too much chicken.)

Friday, August 22, 1997

• Weather looks promising!
• The Manitowish Attendance Police formulate a greeting for the missing vacation club member. (Thank you Bart Simson.)
• Lot's more photos are available for viewing.
• The weather was excellent...we all went BBQ boating.
• At 4:30PM Steve helped Greer and Kim order new computers from the PC Club in San Diego.
• The girls ran amok with a $20 bill and the Greer's Pier stuffed doll vending machine.
• Kim joined us for BBQ'ed chicken appetizers around 9:00PM. At 10:00PM Steve started dinner...his famous Hungarian "Ghoul-lash" (chili?)...we ate at midnight. (Dave, Mark and the girls had soup before dinner was started!) Steve's "chili" was worth waiting for!

Saturday, August 23, 1997

• Bummer...checkout day.
• Dave H. made a run to Michael's for muffins.
• Weather looks good for the second day-in-a-row.
• Checkout time was 10:00AM...we were out by about 11:00. (Audry said that was OK). Total cost: $1793.50 (including the $200 deposit) for one week.
• A few more photos from yesterday are available for viewing.
• Dave's Helland and Fuller are spending the night at Kim's place before their return to civilization on Sunday.
• Mark, Bruce, Evie and Jenny headed back to Duluth to visit with Bruce's brother's family. It rained off and on the whole drive back, but the weather held after arrival in Duluth at 3:00PM.
• Marty had to move a ship...so we visited The Depot in downtown Duluth. (It's a railroad museum.)
• We finished out the day with pizza and a video...Fargo. The film reminds one of Pulp Fiction...with more blood. It was filmed in the area.
• After Pete, Bruce, Mark and the girls left, the remaining Dave's took the pontoon boat over to Steve's hangout. They ate the previous nights barbequed chicken for lunch with "an awesome mixture of chile garlic paste and barbeque sauce". It started raining so they moved the boat over to Kim's dock. Steve slept, DF took a drive, and DH "computered". They hit the Highlander for dinner.

Sunday, August 24, 1997

• The Dave's headed south on Hwy 51 at 7:45AM, with Dave H. being dropped off at CWA for his flight home.
• In Duluth, Lori decoded the famous Lightner pork chop marinade recipe for us.
• Metaflow's Web server is down...no upload of new stuff.
• Bruce, Mark and Evie are off to the Twin Cities to catch a 4:40PM flight back to San Diego...then it's back to work for Bruce on a 6:20AM flight to SFO the next morning.
• Mark, Bruce, and Evie made it back to San Diego...on time. It's hot and muggy...but it's great to be home again. More pictures when Bruce get's back from Intel bashing at Hot Chips IX...probably on Wednesday.

Wednesday, August 27, 1997

• 300+ accumulated e-mail messages were waiting for Bruce this morning...don't expect those photo updates today! Dave Fuller promises to send in his electronic ones as well. Stand by for the upcoming release of the 1997 Manitowish Waters Uneeda-Rest interactive CD-ROM!
• Pete laments that we have to wait 12 months for more fun. Bruce suggests a mid-winter retreat in warmer climates...San Felipe, Baja California? Dave H. concurs: "Let's teach the North Woods Weenies about Baja! They need to eat shrimp tacos and drink cerveza...."

Thursday, August 28, 1997

• Dave Fuller sent in his digital photos from Manitowish Waters.
• One can now view a "clickable map" of all of Bruce's original, unedited Manitowish vacation digital photos.

Sunday, November 9, 1997

• We finally found Jeff!

Last updated Tue Nov 11 18:17:09 PST 1997 . All photos copyright ©1997 by Bruce Lightner. All rights reserved. All opinions expressed here are solely those of the author, Bruce Lightner, and not those of his employer, Metaflow Technologies Inc. Click here to view full disclaimer text.

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