We went skiing tonight and boy is that water getting cold. It reminds me of the summers I spent skiing in the UP. That is when I thought it was normal for my driver and observer to be wearing their winter jackets! I am not sure how much longer we will be able to ski. How late does everyone plan on skiing/boating? No fair rubbing our noses in it FL and CA.
We used to ski in October with full sweatsuits up in northern WI. It was great - until you fell. Otherwise, the drill was to ski right up to 12" deep water without hitting the dock so you didn't get wet. I'm jealous. Wish I could have waterskiied today.
I usually do a dock start and a beach landing so only my toenails get wet, but today I decided to be a show off and go sans wetsuit. So, of course I fell! You mean waterskiers have to get wet? Oh well.
My dad always said that if you don't fall you aren't pushing your limits. Of course, skiing when it is freezing cold IS pushing a limit of a sort!
Mark, I think I have pushed the swivel envelope as far as it will go. I would like to take up wakeboarding next summer. I'm holding out for the right board to come along on e-bay. Who knows maybe I'll make some money instead of paying to compete! <img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/icon_wink.gif" border="0" alt="Wink" title="Wink" />
I just noticed for the first time that your plate is from the great state of IL. Are you on a lake up here near the burbs somewhere? Must be nice!
I have lived all over the beautiful state of Illinois. I grew up in the Chicago area (Bartlett/Elgin) and skied on the Fox River in Elgin. Then we moved to Southern Illinois near St. Louis for 7 years and I skied on a river there. This spring we moved to the Peoria area and we are finally on a lake. It is really nice to be on a lake and I don't worry about my son skiing in it. Although we do have some snakes in it. That's a story for another day. <img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/icon_wink.gif" border="0" alt="Wink" title="Wink" /> I was thinking about my last post, and really I was working on a few new tricks this summer, but I put them on the shelf when the water got cold because living in southern Illinois turned me into a wimp. I don't ever see myself trying a quad unless my dad can build me some bionic arms. Until then I will leave that trick to Chery Orloff. So, your brother was a Skiing Skiter? Gotta love that name. Wasn't a mosquito their mascot? Greg and I caught one of their shows a while back. We had to check out the Skimmers competition.
We always split our time between the Skeeters and the Minocqua Bats. I haven't been to a Minitowish Ski show in many, many years but I went to two of them in Minocqua this summer. In my humble opinion the shows are not nearly as good as they used to be. Of course there is the joke about the mosquito being the Wisconsin state bird.... I'm not sure what the Skeeter mascott is. I spent my summers on Wild Rice Lake, Boulder Junction - it is between Trout and Alder lakes, on the Manitowish chain. That is still were the family "compound" is. The Manitowish ski team kept a slalom course on our lake for many years and I skiied some behind their hydrodyne. I always resisted joining the team because I'm a fair weather fellow. Didn't feel like going out in the rain and cold to entertain the "berrypickers" (the summer tourists). I had a brother who did the canoe paddle deal and a sister who did balet and the 360's, headstands, etc. on the disk. I think she tried out for the Skeeters too at one point but decided she didn't like the deal. None of us were at the level you've skiied at. I enjoyed the videos of your performance. It is really awe inspiring. I showed them to my doughter to inspire her, although at this point she is so little that I need to constantly adjust the throttle at near idle speed just to keep her up. Peoria is very nice. I've had some cases in federal court down there. I know attorney David Mueller of Cassidy & Mueller very well. Don't know if you know him or not. That is a pretty big firm down there, I think. One of my sisters lives in Sleepy Hollow near Elgin and my other sister lives in Geneva, IL. My brothers are both cheeseheads now (Sorry, Wisconsin people). We grew up in DeKalb - corn country - but we were upstate 8 so we played Elgin/Larkin in sports. It is fun meeting everyone on this website. I suggest that we plan a big Hydrodyne meet somewhere in the midwest next summer (big surprise that I'd pick the midwest). <img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/icon_confused.gif" border="0" alt="Confused" title="Confused" />
