Napa and NASCAR

 

My wife and I have a weekend trip that we do every year for our anniversary in Napa. It is a really fun, social, weekend as we stay with our friend who live there, drink good wine, eat good food, and on Sunday attend the NASCAR race in Sonoma. The races are actually a lot of fun and you will be surprised to know that not everyone who attends is a Hillbilly. Admittedly the first race that we ever went to was the most exciting because seeing it for the first time live it almost looks fake. It is hard to comprehend how fast they are racing, and seeing it on TV does not do it justice.

It was an all Grandma weekend at my house this weekend. My Mom drove down from Oregon to watch the babies while we were out of town, and Lisa's Mom was there as well. Big thanks to my Mom for making the long drive.

I told myself that three days completely off from exercise would be a good idea as I have been feeling a little drained lately. That was a dumb idea. Two days into that three day stretch and I was about to go crazy. I can hardly wait to get some exercise today.

Big congratulations to everyone that ran in the Western States 100 this weekend. It looked like the weather cooled down just in time for the race and the finish times were insane. I have said it before and I stand by my statement that those guys, and gals, (ultra marathoners) are the fittest athletes on the planet, hands down. Very inspiring stuff.

This week we are moving. I have excepted that it is going to be a terrible experience, but we will be happy with the result when it is all over. I am going to try to get as much exercise for myself and the dogs as possible this week, but it is not going to be easy. Knowing that I was going to be out of town last weekend, and anticipation this week of moving is why I decided not to run the Tahoe Rim 50 in a few weeks. With the move, and the babies, and going out of town next month for work for a week, it is just too much right now. I know,..... excuses......

The pit area.

Lap 1

 Getting ready to start.

PUPPIES

I bred one of my dogs, Cash, to a really nice female named Bradi a few month back. Brandi is the kind of quality hunting dog that I would want to keep a puppy from. She is a hunting machine, but is also good natured and very friendly. If I didn’t just have twins 7 months ago I would be keeping a puppy out of this litter, for sure. Hopefully I can talk Ken (Brandi’s owner) into breeding her again in a year, and at that point I will definitely be keeping a dog.

Brandi and the puppies.

Many of you who read my blog know Cash. He is many things to me: Simply he is the best pointing dog that I have ever hunted with (though I could be biased), he is a physical freak, he is good natured, he is friendly, he is gentle with my children, and he is a valued part of my family. Either at home or in the field he constantly amazes me, and I am very lucky to have him in my life.
I would like to think that I taught him to be a good hunting dog, but the reality is that I really didn't teach him anything. I gave him a lot of opportunities to learn and Cash turned himself into a master of his craft.

At this point the puppies are still only a few days old. Some are already sold, but at least right now there is 1 female and 3 males still available. If you are looking to add a quality pointing dog to your family and you live around, or are willing to travel to the Reno area, please call Ken @ (775)750-5078 or email me with any questions – jay(at)glacierglove.com (I changed the @ for spam purposes)

Jay Kincaid

Busy Week

I fished a couple days last week. Monday I slipped out at lunch to try to hook a carp on a fly rod, but despite the fact that there were lots of carp cruising, none of the carp seemed interested in feeding.

Tuesday evening I fished the river and it was going off. Lots of bugs in the air and the fish were eating on the surface like crazy. I have never caught so many trout in one evening, but I didn't take a picture of a single fish. I caught one pretty good one, but like a Jackalope, it slipped out of my hands right as I was posing for a picture. None of the other fish were really of a size that would get you excited to take pictures. The deer pictured above was my only photo from that evening. They always seem really red this time of year on the California side.

I got some good running in this week, but still nothing longer than an hour. It is now officially hot, so I have to stay really close to good water for the dogs.

Stopping at one point to empty some sand out of my shoe I was surprised to be standing on a gazillion tiny little ants. I had to do the quick one foot shuffle to keep them off me while I put my shoe back on. I was glad that nobody was around to see me because I am sure that I looked like a goofball.

As much as I try to keep the dogs away from quail this time of year, there is really no stopping them. They are pointing dogs and pointing is what they do. I have a lot of control of my dogs though, so it is not a big deal. I just tell them to "leave it", verbally pull them off point, and we are off and running again. It isn't their first rodeo, and they know full well the difference between just being out running, and hunting, as they do a plenty of both.

This is where I run the dogs when it is really hot, like it is now. Because there is cold deep water I can run them at temperatures far higher then I normally would. I usually just make a point to stop every mile so that they can get fully submerged. The "Ditch Trail" is a really popular place to run, and fortunately 99% of the people using the trail are nice people with friendly dogs.

Other than that it has just been packing up and getting ready to move. Next weekend my wife and I are in California for NASCAR, then the fallowing weekend we are moving. It is going to be a very busy next few weeks.

Jay Kincaid

All About the Dogs

Dogs run like children, for the pure joy of running. Maybe that is why I am always content to run with the dogs and have never had a human running partner. Or maybe they are just better company. We put in a lot of trail miles last week trying to take advantage of the cool weather and that consumed basically all of my free time. I couldn't find the motivation or time for any long runs, but that aside, with consistent 8 to 10 mile runs almost every day I still managed more miles than I have ever run in a week. This time of year I tend to stick close to areas that have good ground water for the dogs, and that limits the places that I can run. With the cool weather I was able to get out on some of the trails on Peavine that I generally only run during the colder months of the year, and that was a nice change.

Porter and Cash posing for a picture up on Peavine Mountain.

Enjoying a cool evening on Peavine.

Some great single track running.

I am thinking about taking this week off from exercise (other than running the dogs) and maybe seeing a doctor to get some blood work and a basic exam done. I have not felt quite right for a few weeks now, like I have Mono or something, and I think that it is time to break down and see a doctor as things are progressively getting worse. The plus side to this is that I will have a bit of time to go fishing, even if it is just trying to hook a carp with a fly during lunch time, which I am planning on doing today.

Jay Kincaid

Just Plain Busy

We are in the process of moving, and as everyone knows, moving kind of sucks. Once it is all over with it is going to be a good deal, but right now, and for the next few weeks it is not going to be a lot of fun. There are a lot of bonuses to the new home, but one worth mentioning is that I will now be just one block from the river, so I can walk right out my front door and be fishing within minutes.

I have been running with the dogs quite a bit, though for the most part the runs have been short (under 10 miles). Bird season opens in September in most western states, so I am always sure to have the dogs acclimated to the warm weather and in good condition prior to that. Plus, they just like to run, and to be truthful, if it wasn’t for them I might not be motivated to run at all right now.

Other then packing up around the house, getting some miles in with the dogs, and getting to the gym to wrestle as much as possible, I have obviously been spending lots of time with the babies. They are more and more fun every day.

Enjoying time with my little girl, Addison.

I am really not sure how much fishing I am going to get in this month with everything else going on. Mentally I have kind of switched over to hunting mode as the excitement of getting a good big game tag is still there, and I need to get my muzzle loader all dialed in, although I think that I have given up in the new load that I was working on and am going to go back to the old one that works great. Also, bird season is only three months away, and with the move and everything that goes along with that, those 3 months are going to pass quickly.

Jay Kincaid