Steve is still chuckling about it. There are even pictures on Facebook now, posted by others.
We weren't sure there would be time on our hands. I scoped out our estimated travel time, Steve added almost another hour, but there were three stops along the way after the only planned-for-sure one was filling the tank. We did know we raced a deadline. All along the way everything conspired to slow us down: extra stops, a couple of heavy downpours, heavy Sunday afternoon return-from-vacation traffic.
The event was his fishing trip with his oldest son, Lance, out on the launch on Lake Mille Lacs. Catching walleye was the stated goal. Seeing his son after two years and spending the evening fishing together to celebrate Steve's birthday was the real prize. I was along to drive, so Steve could take any necessary pain meds and still travel safely. The dog came along because what else? We Heathers stayed in the car most of the time, because after bumping my tailbone the car seat is the only really comfortable place to sit for any period of time. I wasn't fishing. This was Steve's event. I brought magazines to read and a dog to walk. There was always MPR to listen to, a few pictures to take along the lake, and eventually what I'm pretty sure were noctilucent clouds after sunset. (Look them up. I recommend NASA's site SpaceWeather.) It wasn't boring.
Our deadline to show up at Twin Pines Resort was 5:30 PM to pay for the 6:00 departure. We got there a bit before 5:00. Steve headed in, and 10 minutes later came back out laughing.
He loves t-shirts with fishing themes, particularly when fishing. This particular one was black with white lettering saying, "If fishing was meth, I wouldn't have any teeth." Turns out he doesn't have any teeth - another story. As he related what happened to me, he couldn't stop laughing, but luckily I also heard it later from others who were inside as it happened later, while I ordered a hamburger for my wait. As Steve approached the bar, one of the women read his shirt and told him, "I need that shirt!" Steve stopped, started stripping off his shirt, and replied, "Give me yours." Without hesitation, she ducked down behind the bar, peeled her (outer) shirt off, and they swapped. A photo was taken, shirts were returned, and after much laughter and finishing his business, Steve returned.
It wasn't quite over. I had a chance to chat with her a bit later, resulting in an exchange of information so we could get a copy of the photo, and the story being repeated among the new set of customers lined up paying for their trips. Finally, a second photo was taken, both of them side-by-side just like the original photo, this time in their original shirts. After Steve was out on the launch and things had settled down inside the bar/restaurant, she came out to the car and let me know they were posting the pictures on Facebook. After his trip ended, Steve returned to the car still laughing, saying he was now "famous" on the boat. So for those of you who want access, look for Twin Pines Resort out of Garrison, MN. Or you can contact Steve, giving him another chance at laughing about it. It's going to be one of those stories for him to relate forever.
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