I'm Back!

Photos:

1) This is a nearly completed house that Habitat built. Our crew built the steps you see, and shortly after this picture was taken built a fancy railing around the porch. This was taken at the presentation ceremony in which Habitat turns over the keys to the new homeowner.
2) These are the steps that our crew built...
3) The front of the "siding job" that Matt and I worked on. This is what it looks like nearly completed.
4) Address sign
5) Doug working on the siding. You can also see part of the 2nd story that Matt and I were assigned to. We did the siding and got a good start on the facia and soffit.
6) Ron using a powershears to cut the Hardiboard siding sheets. He was Matt and I's sawyer pretty much the whole time we were on that job.
7) View of our first job from the driveway. The house was completely underwater during the storm surge, but is now almost ready to be moved back into. The entire interior was gutted and re-done and the exterior is in the process of being repaired. We framed a porch on the back of it. Notice the FEMA trailer the homeowner lives in to the left of the house.
8) Matt's dad and two uncles getting started on the porch.
9) Matt and Gary working on the Gable
10) The roof, ready for tin.
11) The framed porch. The tin and siding were both on order, so this is as far as we were able to take it.
12) An example of how many people are rebuilding - elevated. Many homes are being rebuilt with parking space beneath the house. This will both conserve space on the compact lots and allow as much as eight feet of water to pass harmlessly beneath.

More pics from this trip, as well as from when I was there in '05 if you click on the "My web albums" link on the right of this page.

Story:

Matt and I returned last night from Biloxi. The trip was great. Unfortunately, I couldn't figure out how to update the blog from the phone, but everything else went well. We were with a great group of people from MN, WI, MA, and the DC area. Almost everyone in the group had already been down there working on houses before, so the skill level of the group was pretty high. We got a lot done, including building a porch on one house, building stairs and a porch railing on another house, and working on siding and soffits on a third house. Matt and I were specifically called over to the siding job because we'd earned a reputation for climbing up on roofs and into rafters. Turns out they had some scaffolding work that needed doing, so there we were.

It was nice to see the progress that has been made down there. While there is still a LOT of work to be done and plenty of residents down there are still getting the shaft from the insurance companies and the government, there has been much improvement since I was there last. Many homes have been repaired or rebuilt, now with greater storm resistance. Most homes have been removed from the lowest and most vulnerable areas, and most of those that have been rebuilt are now elevated anywhere from 4 to 10 feet to allow any future storm surges to pass beneath them. Additionally, most houses are now using steel roofs and cement-board siding. Supposedly these materials can withstand 140mph winds, which would greatly diminish the odds of damage from future storms.

Many people are now living in "Katrina Cottages," which are small, prefabricated homes that were designed specifically for families displaced by the storm. The homes start at the same dimensions as a FEMA trailer and about the same cost, though larger versions are available. What sets them apart from the trailers is that they are drastically more livable (courtesy of some brilliant design work) and much more attractive as a home. They also have the advantages of being permanent, being easily expandable, and helping residents get away from the stigma of living in a camper trailer. This seems to be a huge improvement and I was glad to see so many of them popping up down there.

The bad news is that there are still far too many people in FEMA trailers. There are still FEMA trailer parks, where large numbers of displaced residents now live together, as well as many trailers in the front yard of what used to be the family home. Hopefully, with lots more work from volunteer groups, these people will continue to transition back into their homes as they're repaired or rebuilt.

Commercially, the area is well on the road to recovery. There are huge casinos that employ many residents and draw tourists to the area, there are tons of new and re-built restaurants and stores, and things generally seem to be picking back up economically. Again, still room for improvemenet, but it was heartening to see.

I saw some unexpected, but familiar sites down there. First, the huge Salvation Army operations center and food tents are still right where they were 2.5 years ago and still operating for volunteers and people in need. Second, I ran into Dr. Bob, who is a retired MD from MN that was working at HandsOn when I was down there last. Turns out he was staying at the same church I was. Small world.

So, that's a rough recap. I have tons more info and some great stories, but it's all too much to write here. I'll post pics in the next couple days when I get a chance to go through them.

Off to Biloxi!

Beecher and I are off to Biloxi to rebuild some houses that the hurricane smashed 3 years ago. I was down in the same area a few weeks after the storm, so I'm excited to see what's changed. Here are some pics from the first trip to give you an idea of what the damage was like originally. Let's hope it's different now.

I'll do my best to update the blog while I'm down there. Supposedly I can upload pics from my new phone right to the blog, so that will be cool if it works. Stay tuned!

Weekend Fun

Spent the weekend doing a couple of different things. First, Jocelyne was visiting from Cali and I got to see her both Friday and Saturday nights. It was great to get together again and catch up. Kim also came out for a while on Saturday, despite her final exams this week.

Second, I spent a few hours down at the Verm on Saturday with about a dozen other paddlers. Railroad was awesome -- fast and punchy, with great spins, a couple of entry wheels, and some right-handed ends thrown into the river-left seam. Caleb and I surfed until we were too exhausted to paddle anymore. Graeme was rockin in there, dialing his spins steeper and steeper into wheels, but then got flipped and torqued his shoulder again. Nora also spent some time in there and looked great! To add some icing to the cake, rumor has it that the Kettle is opening up!

Unfortunately the rest of the weekend was spent working, but it was good to get caught up on some stuff.

Leave for a week of rebuilding houses in Biloxi, Mississippi this coming Sunday, so stay tuned for info about that!

Mini-Expo

Midwest Mountaineering put on their spring Mini-Expo yesterday down at the Verm. There were tons of paddlers, grilled brats and dogs, loads of boats to demo, and enough water to make the play features a really good time.

Graeme made Railroad look like his second home, spinning endlessly and working into low and mid-angle cartwheels, I managed to hit a couple of single and 2-end wheels as entry moves from the top of the foam pile, and just about everybody got some good rides down in the trough.

Donut was it's usual awesome self and people were rippin' it up. It also proved to be a great level for bodysurfing, so I took the opportunity of getting in the first couple of bodysurfs of the year.

I didn't get any pics with my camera, but I did steal Nora's for a few minutes and took some with hers. The ones you see here were taken off of her blog, but she's got more good ones on there so check it out!

Verm II: Vermilicious

Went back for more vermilicious fun today with Nora, Caleb, Andy (Mac), Dennis, and Aaron. This time, however, we had one heck of a good photographer along with us (huge thanks Lisa) who got some great shots. Lisa also brought along her really great son, who we're trying to brainwash into being a future paddler.

We had another great day down there, but I think I wrote enough about it on yesterday's entry that I won't make you read it all again. The notable differences were 1) Andy made a an awesome addition to the crew today, 2) Huck and another guy whose name I didn't catch were also on the river, though they kind of did their own thing. Unfortunately, that included Huck trying to paddle under the ice bridge, getting hung up, and luckily being able to swim out. He lost his paddle in the process, but considering what could have happened it's a small price to pay, and 3) We've got tons more pictures, both from Lisa and Nora's camera.


Here's the pics from top to bottom:
1) The Hike
2) The ice bridge (Also our put-in)
3) D-Rad
4) Triple Drop
5) Caleb and I
6) Caleb in Railroad
7) Dennis Wheeling out of Railroad
8) Huck with his substitute paddles
9) Nora, Andy, and Aaron
10)Aaron

Season Opener!

WooHoo! Paddling season has officially begun. Today Nora, Dennis, Graeme, Aaron, Caleb and myself made the first Verm descent of the year. There was still a big ice bridge above triple drop, so we technically couldn't run the whole thing, but anybody who knows the river knows there isn't really anything above there anyway. Plus, that ice bridge made an awesome put-in!

Nora and Dennis started off in the pool below railroad and paddled up, but Caleb, Graeme, Aaron and I hiked up to see if we could put in above the Triple Drop. As it turned out, there was a great route down the cliff that, though steep and zig-zagging, had good footing and led us right to the ice bridge. The bridge formed from the ice shelves on either side of the river and spanned right across. The ice was still a couple feet thick, so we decided to use the bridge as our put in. Because the top of the ice was about 4' above the water, and the water below was only a few inches deep, we had to push each other along the ice, then ski-jump off the edge so that we wouldn't just nosedive into the bottom. It worked great - possibly my favorite put-in yet on the Verm.

Triple was decently sized and really splashy, which gave everybody a wake-up as the ice water hit our faces. Because of the huge ice ledges that lined the river, there were no eddies and no route except down the center.

At the bottom, Railroad hole was rockin'. It was at just the right level - big and retentive enough to keep things interesting and allow some tricks, but not so huge that you couldn't get out. There was some spin-o-matic action on the River Left shoulder, a couple of ends thrown in the pile (mostly by Graeme, who showed no rustiness at all), and a variety of interesting exit moves.

The ice really narrowed the channel through S-bend and forced you to ride right over the rocky area, but nobody got hung up too bad and everyone avoided the overhangs. The wave at the bottom was silky smooth and even allowed a couple slow spins.

That was in perfect contrast to Donut, which was raging. Because of the restricted flow from the ice shelves and the lack of plant growth and algae this early in the season, the water speed at Donut was unreal. I don't think that I've ever surfed faster moving water. To make it better, the foam pile was almost shoulder high and punchy. It would toss you around and pop you up in between your spins. Speaking of spins, wow. If you got into the right groove, you could get motion sick you were spinning so fast. The water on the shoulder was going fast enough that it would grab you ends and twirl you like a top. It was really a riot. The problem was that the river right eddy was largely blocked by an ice bridge, so if you couldn't catch the left one you were in Fisherman's before you knew it.

After that it was more ice-shelve dodging down to the take out, where nature had mercifully collapsed the shelf at the take out. Thanks to that, we could climb out pretty easily. The best news, however, was that our stairs at the top of the hill held up perfectly over the winter, making and area that normally required ropes to climb an easy walk.

All in all, it was an amazing day. Warm temps, good water, and good friends. Tough to beat. Check out Graeme's new British flag helmet! I'll try to get some on-river pics tomorrow. Until then, I think Nora should have some posted on her blog, so check it out!

Bedrace for Bridging!

Matt, Danielle, Kressen, and I spent Saturday evening on a bed together... Don't worry - it was for charity. Actually, we were racing on an inflatable mattress down the tubing area of Buck Hill to raise money for the Bridging foundation, which helps low income families get beds, tables, and other household necessities that they can't afford. There were 150 teams of 4 people participating in heats of 5 or 6 beds going head to head down the hill. To make it all way more amusing, nearly team was in costume. There was one group that went as the Jamaican bobsled team, the Blue Man Group (except with 4 members, instead of 3), some crazy guys who went shirtless as Chip 'n Dale dancers, and one really cool group that each wore 1/4 of a truck costume so that when they were all arranged on the bed it looked like a truck going down the hill. It even had functioning head and tail lights. We went as Barbie and the Rockers. Notice Matt in drag. We did pretty well, making it through 5 heats before being eliminated in the quarter finals.

The funniest part of the night, however, was our first run. We were inside the chalet having some drinks and checking out the other costumes. What we didn't know was that they weren't announcing the races inside. We went outside just to find out when we would race. Much to our surprise, we were supposed to be racing at that very minute. We ran up the hill (no chairlift), slamming our drinks along the way. We got to the top to find about 20 teams waiting on us. There was a bed waiting for us in our lane and as soon as we got to it the official said "Go!" Away we went. We had no idea of what the rules were, no strategy, and no time to think about it. We took a couple steps forward and flopped onto our mattress. Kressen didn't fully make it on the mattress and kind of dragged down the top half of the hill and yelling. I tried to reach back to pull her up, but the only thing I could reach was her huge blonde wig. By luck, she managed to climb on just as one corner of our bed caught the edge of our lane and we started to spin. I think we made 3 complete revolutions before we finally came to a stop. By some miracle we came in 3rd, which was enough to bump us up to the next round. We went 4 more rounds before getting knocked out, so it was good that we made that one.

All in all it was a really good time for a good cause. Highly recommended.

There's more pics you can see if you click on the "My Web Album" link on the side of this page. Also, for pics of the various costumes, check out http://homepage.mac.com/djdalsin/PhotoAlbum1.html

Climbing!

Wednesday night I went over to Vertical Endeavors with Nora and my three nephews. We were there for about 4 hours and really had a good time. Nora going for Ironwoman status by climbing for her 3rd straight day, the boys were all progressing nicely, handling a number of 5.8 climbs. I'm still working on a couple of the prolonged overhang 5.9's, but making progress. I brought my little camera, or at least what's left of it, along. Unfortuanately it's been knocked around, dropped, and even flooded with water on a dive trip when a small pebble kept my housing from sealing properly. To it's credit, it still works. The only problem is that there's a film covering the inside of the lense from when it was flooded. So, here's a few mediocre pics of the night. There's Nora on Belay, Zach on the 5.7's and 5.8's, and one of Neil taking a run at one of my favorite 5.9's. Unfortunately Connor seems to climb to quickly - all of the pics with him in them blurred in the low light. Aside from that it was a great night, and big thanks to Nora for all the help.

Kiting at White Bear

White bear earned its name today, as the afternoon was blanketed in mist and fog. That didn't stop Caleb, Jackie, Nick, Jeni, Tim S and I from getting out and having some fun. We took the kites out and spent some time skidding around between the drifts and ice patches. Nick and Jeni were trying out Nick's new 3.6m trainer, Caleb and Jackie were taking on turns flying the 15 (while the other was chasing them around to help relaunch when the wind died), and I was having fun shuttling people back upwind with the truck, pulling minivans out of snowdrifts, and trying to get some pictures. Unfortunately I only got pics of Caleb before it started to mist/rain and didn't really want to take my camera out after that. Despite the crazy weather, I think that everybody had a good day and I had a blast just being out there with everybody. As an added bonus, Jackie got to show off both her driving skills and the off-road capabilities of a Passat. We did a few miles out on the lake caravan-style dodging (and sometimes just smashing through) the drifts. I was amazed to see some of the things that little car went through.

Pool Session

Well, I made it to my 2nd pool session of the year on Sunday. I went purely as an instructor this time, though, and didn't even bring a boat. I really enjoy teaching, though, so it was easily as much fun as practicing my own techniques. The only problem is that all of the students were first shown a video that outlined the Sweep roll, and I use (and teach) more of a C-to-C style roll. Dennis had to bail me out with my first student because I just didn't know how to explainthe way to keep your center of gravity low in that roll. I think that for the next pool session I'm going to spend some time working on my own sweep so that I can actually teach it properly. In the meantime, thanks to D for helping a fella out.

Lately...

Few posts lately, but plenty going on. I always have trouble getting motivated to put something up if I don't have pics to go along with it, and lately all of the pictures have been on other people's cameras. That said, here's the news.

Fun stuff: Audrey is back visiting from Ireland so we've been doing our best to keep up our standards for fun and crazy during her visits. Last weekend was spent up by my parents' cabin snowmobiling through Northern MN. Sunny, warm weather and freshly groomed trails made it an amazing experience. To add to that, there were two snowmobile rallies that were going on up there at the same time, and one of them included a free concert by G.B. Leighton. So, we rode up to the casino/hotel where they were playing, watched the concert, spent the night, then did some more riding the next day. Really fun weekend.
In addition to snowmobiling, I am getting back into rock climbing. I've gone a couple times in the last month and am finding that I enjoy it more than I did in college. Plus, it's a great thing to do on a frigid weekday evening. Last night I took Audrey and my nephews to Vertical Endeavors to let them have a shot at it. They did great and all of them were climbing 5.8's and above by the end! Really cool.
News-In-My-Life stuff: For the past 3 weeks I've been working as a contract (read: temporary) attorney for a firm downtown reviewing documents. Not super exciting, but I'm working with some cool people and making new friends. At the same time, Pat McGuiness and I are working on starting up our own firm! We're going to be focusing on residential construction/landscaping and homeowners association law. It will be a part time thing at first, but hopefully we'll get enough business to someday do it full time. Wish us luck, and feel free to send us business! When we get a website built I'll put a link up.

Kiting Weekend

This weekend proved to be a great kiting weekend. Saturday Caleb, Jackie, and myself headed out to Calhoun to get some kite time in, only to find the lake perfectly calm. With no winds to fly in, we tried heading over to the skating rink at Lake of the Isles for some hockey. Since I didn't have my skates along, I got to try out a pair of ancient leather skates that had no support in them at all. Anyone who's played hockey with me would have gotten a kick out of it because my ankles were constantly buckling as if I'd never skated before. Mercifully, the wind came up after about an hour at the rink so the three of us headed back to Calhoun. The winds were light, but workable and Jackie wound up getting in some great riding and learning how to squeeze every ounce of strength out of the kite. Caleb didn't have his board along, so got his flying skills dialed on the trainer. Though off to a slow start, the day turned out to be really good.

Sunday had a better wind forecast and Caleb and I headed out to Calhoun again. This time Caleb had his board and I had all of my gear. The winds were light, but enough to zip around with the 15m and even get some small boosts. After struggling to get the 5m to pull him, Caleb gave the big kite a shot and did very well. It's a lot of power to get used to, but he got the hang of it quickly. Unfortunately the hard surface made edging the snowboard more difficult, but he did get some solid runs in and is definitely ready to go when conditions improve. All in all it was great to get out on the lake, really fun to see the newbies riding, and nice to get some rides in myself.

Gotta see this...

OK, somebody posted this on the Lakawa forum and it's pretty darn cool. I'ts basically an ad for subaru, but it's still amazing. Here's the link. You'll have to copy and paste the address because I'm not smart enough to put a real functioning link here.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wB4RSKvufak

Oh, and if you don't believe that the guy's really making those jumps, check him out on this:


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qDi0MZJZ-w0&feature=related

Off the hook!

The really good kiters spend a fair bit of time riding "unhooked" (using only arms to hold on, not their harness) so that they can do some awesome spins and cool tricks. I found out yesterday that this style of riding is no longer just for the ultra-good riders - it's also for those dumb enough to forget their harness at home. Yes, I headed out for a quick session on White Bear Lake yesterday sans harness. I drove up, drove out to a good spot on the lake, set up the big kite, and only when I was about to launch did I realize I was going to be having some really tired arms. I have a 15m kite (really big) and the winds were 8-12mph (moderate) and those combined to show me that my arms that are really out of shape. I did get in about 40 minutes of riding, with frequent rest stops, but I eventually had to put the kite down because I was afraid a gust would come, yank the bar out of my hands, and send me running after it down the lake like the fool that I was. On the upside, the riding I did was fantastic. There wasn't alot of snow, but enough that my skiis could hook up. It was a beautiful day and it was really cool just being on the lake. The lake was full of people doing everything from ice skating and snowmobiling to snowshoeing and fishing. Cool day, sore arms.

How Swede It Is

Caleb, Jackie, Nicole, Nora, and I headed out to Swede lake today to check out a Snow Kite festival that was going on out there. There were probably 50 cars there and well over 60 people. As soon as you got near the lake you could see kites zipping around everywhere. I don't think there was ever a time when there weren't at least a dozen in the air. To make it even cooler, there was a terrain park set up out on the lake that included a wooden ramp that was about 9' tall. Kiters were flying off of it and over the crowd of people gathered at its base. It was really cool to see. I didn't spend much time watching, however, because Caleb, Jackie, and Nicole were all out for their first time kiting. All three of them did great - they each mastered the 3.6m trainer kite (even in really unsteady winds) and moved up to the 5m. By the end of the day Caleb was making short runs on his snowboard, Jackie had a couple good runs on her skiis, and Nicole was zipping around like a pro. If we'd have had more time I'm sure all three of them would have been practicing boosting. It was really fun to watch. I do have to apologize for not taking advantage of the amazing photo ops that were everywhere and people flying all around - all 3 newbies were progressing so fast I barely had time to pick up the camera. Nora got some good pics and videos (as usual), so check her blog for better pics.

As an added bonus to a great day, I got to try out the 4wd on my new truck! After 13 years of rear wheel drive, it sure was nice to be able to scoot across the snowy lake without worrying about getting stuck.

Great day, great time. Huge props to Caleb, Jackie, and Nicole for absolutely rocking!

Amazing kite day

I headed out to White Bear Lake for a couple hours on New Years Eve and was treated to one of my best kite sessions yet! Steady 15mph (or so) winds, untracked powder snow, and a bunch of other kiters out buzzing around. For a while the wind was actually fast enough that my lines were whistling when I was standing still. Pretty cool. I didn't do any huge boosts, but I took my time getting comfortable with some 3-4 footers. I also got some practice in with high-speed, one-handed runs as I zipped across the lake. In a switch from my normal wind luck, I managed to get there right as it picked up and rode until I was exhausted. I got in about 2 hours of continuous riding on my 15m and finally quit when my legs were burning and my feet were frozen. For the first time ever, the wind died as I was putting my kite away instead of when I was setting it up. It was great.

Unfortunately, I got very few pictures. By the time that I was done kiting and had my camera out the wind was dying fast and there weren't many kites left. It's a shame because there were some great riders out there (like Kurt) who were really hitting some sweet tricks. That aside, it was an awesome day.