You Know You're Old When....

In this particular case, I'm not referring to myself.  Although I am rapidly approaching my 42nd birthday, which seems inconceivable to me.

In this case, however, I'm talking about the fishing boat named Martha.  We took her out on Lake Kegonsa for a few hours last night after I got home from work.  We loaded up the gear, a cooler stocked with beer, and off we went.  What a great way to spend a Friday evening.  It was dusk when we loaded up to come home for the night.  Boat launches at dusk are busy places.  Apparently boaters, ourselves included, like to soak up every bit of daylight possible out on the water.  Then, when it starts to turn dark, people head for the shore in masses.

Anyhow, our boat is a Lund, which I've been told is a generally respected brand of fishing boat.  Last night as we were loading up, 2 dudes in a newer, fancier fishing boat than ours pulled up.  One of the guys, who had kind of a 40-ish, grown-up surfer dude vibe to him, spoke to me as I was holding the boat at the dock waiting for Scott to get the truck.  He asked me, in a rather fascinated tone of voice, "Is that the first Lund ever made?"

Ouch.  And then quickly, LOL.

He immediately followed up by asking if the boat was a 1972.  Me, in a joking tone like an exasperated teenager:  "No.  It's a nineteen seventy three."  I also shared with him that the outboard was built in 1969, the same year I was born.  I think he was really fascinated by that.  Now that's old.

In the meantime, Scott had pulled up.  Surfer-like dude was still chatting with us a little bit.  Here is a small snippet of the conversation (keep in mind we're both on fishing boats).

Surfer-like dude:  Did you guys catch anything?
Me:  Yeah, we caught a buzz.

I amuse myself sometimes.

Even though Martha is old (classic??), there is no shame to our game.  We're just happy to have a boat.  Last night, we drove her to a restaurant named Springer's.  Springer's is right on Lake Kegonsa.  You can get there by land or water.  We pulled up and docked our boat so we could grab a bite to eat and a drink.  Here is poor little old Martha at the dock.

She's so little, you can hardly see here there amongst the big pontoon boats.  (If you can see that bit of light blue color in the picture, that's the inside of Martha.)  I'm not sure the picture does it justice.  Martha was in stark contrast to the other boats that were docked and that came and went while we were at Springer's.  I'm pretty sure that in the world of boating, we are considered low-class losers.  Quite frankly, we're fine with that.  We're just happy for what we have.

It's pretty much super fun to get to a restaurant by pulling up in a boat.  Here is Springer's as we approached.

Springer's has a nice patio right by the lake.

The food was surprisingly good.  Really, really good actually.  I had a roast beef sandwich with cheddar.  It was toasted on sourdough bread.  Delicious.

It was Friday night and this is Madison, Wisconsin, so of course Springer's had a fish fry.  This is the most fish-fryingest place I have ever been.  Scott did order it up.  It was good.  One of the better fish fries we've experienced actually.

 
You can see Scott's food, his Bud Light, his body and then the water right behind him.  That's how close the patio at Springer's is to the Lake.  We love being on or near the water.  Springer's is the perfect place to dine and have that lake experience at the same time.

I was in the mood last night for something a little lighter than beer.  I had a vodka something-or-other that the waitress recommended.  It was tasty.

That was our Springer's experience.  After dinner, off we went back out on the water.

Not many people were out last night on Lake Kegonsa.  It's a big lake; I think the second largest of the four main ones around here.  The picture above is my vantage point when I look out from inside the boat.  Expansive sky.  And miles of tree lined water.  It's amazing and one of those things that has to be experienced to be fully appreciated.

It strikes me funny to see a "gas station" right out on the water.

Scott went out fishing by himself on Thursday while I was at work.  He launched from this public ramp within Lake Kegonsa State Park.  The launch was quiet when we drove by last night.  I just think it's so beautiful nestled there amongst the big trees.

We saw quite a few people fishing, including these folks on and around an old bridge. 

That was about it from last night.  It was a gorgeous evening.  Sunny.  Warm.  Nice breeze blowing.  It was a perfect summer night.  One last shot of the sky as we headed in for the evening.  What's that saying?

Red sky at night,
sailors delight.

I caught a glimpse of a sailboat in this shot.  The word that comes to mind is tranquility.