Final Rally of the year Part 1

Not to use this blog as a personal message board, but Tom, the deck photos are coming. I just want to get the extra materials out of the yard and things kind of looking good for the photo and there has not been any time to make that happen. As they say in Jamaica; "Soon come"

I hitched Anna up this past Thursday and headed to the WDCU Installation Rally. Beth and the girls would drive up Friday after work and join me. The day was beautiful, but all the radio stations were saying it was going to rain all weekend long. Even the Jesus stations were forecasting rain. Good thing I had picked up some jig saw puzzles and the bar was fully stocked, for it did not sound to be promising for a rally.

By the time I reached the campground in Shartlesville Pa. it was overcast and totally clouded over. Rain looked eminent. I found my spot and set up planning on making the best of it. Now as a few of you know, I cook breakfast for everyone that wants to come. There were 33 trailer registered and I was trying to figure out how that many people were going to squeeze under my awning along with my griddle. Thankfully the next morning the rain held off until after breakfast was served. I needed to make sure people could get out of the rain the next two mornings. Cabela's was six miles up the highway and they sold easy up awnings. So off to Cabela's I went.

For the past twenty or more years Cabela's has been the only place I buy my my Carhartt work clothing. I have been a very loyal customer over all those years and truly enjoyed looking at the Master Catalog that comes every year. However, to see all that stuff in the catalog is nothing compared to seeing it in the flesh all under one roof. You name it, they have it. A truly unbelievable experience it is walking around the store. I was there to buy an awning and I stuck to my mission. I found a nice 10 x 15 Easy Up and made the purchase. However as I walked through the store I saw countless photo opportunities and decided to come back in after I visited the loading dock for my pickup.

Cabela's must have a full time staff that does the taxidermy for their stores. Everywhere you look there are mounts of every animal that walks, crawls, or swims the earth. They even have a museum of deer racks. You name it, it is stuffed and mounted on the wall here. Some mounts are set in these natural settings. The trout in the pond were alive though. They were bigger than anything I have ever caught in my life.

I asked a store manager if it was okay for me to take photos. He said it was no problem and that I was welcome to photograph anything I wished to. I had a field day taking photos in the store. The only place I found any resistance was in the gun section. The gun shop manager thought I was some kind of anti gun type due to my long hair and due to the fact that I was not taking "regular pictures like normal people do" I assured him I was just taking abstract photos and if there was anything he objected to on my blog that I would change it. So Rodger, do you see anything wrong with my photos or description of your department?

Cabela's has the biggest selection of everything. The shear number of fishing rods alone is hard to come to grips with. I was fascinated of how they crossed over the tops of the displays and were an endless sea of lines. I know I see things a little different, but next time you go to a place like this stand on you tippy toes and look across the room through all the fishing rods. It really is an unusual perspective to see the space.

The colors and repetition of shape and size was all a feast for my artsy eyes. Andy Warhol could have come up with a great painting of bobbers. Who needs soup cans.

Warhol didn't need Marilynn Monroe if he had had Cabela's jig heads to paint.

My Cabela's visit was a great time for me. I got a new awning and had a lot of fun taking pictures. The funny thing though was that it did not rain the rest of the day and the next morning it was absolutely gorgeous out. The awning was totally not needed. I bet if I had not spent the money on the awning it would have poured the entire weekend. Good thing the Jesus Radio had not predicted forty days of rain, I just might have bought a boat while I was at Cabela's;