The Coolest Email I Have Ever Received

Thats Hopefully Me With My New Tilley Hat! Can't Wait

   Last week I received the best email I have ever received it was a letter from the TBEX Press trips and tours group explaining that I had been accepted for A World Class Fly Fishing Trip in Sault Ste Marie and Algoma Ontario Canada. I thought I was reading it wrong, as most applications sent out returned with a thank you, then they would let you down easy. This one thanked me and had great news. Right after TBEX in Toronto, I’ll be flying via Porter Airlines to the "Soo". Here Is the Description they gave me and what the start of June looks like for Real Man Travels.

  After you land in beautiful Sault Ste Marie, your heart will be captured by the small
community feel of this urban centre. Located at the heart of two of the greatest Great
Lakes, Huron and Superior, this pivotal location has given Sault Ste Marie the immense
pleasure of being home to one of the best fly fishing areas in the rapids under the
International Bridge to the U.S.

  After a full day of fishing, you can enjoy all of the amenities this urban centre has to offer,
wonderful cuisine, and accommodations fit for a king! But your fly fishing adventure has only
just begun! A day will be spent in Algoma, one of the most pristine and beautiful regions in our
province. Upon departing from the "Sault" you will be met with the sights, sounds and smells of
this great tourism landscape. Highway 17 from Sault Ste Marie to Wawa, has the
designation of one of the top ten drives in Canada as the highway follows the beautiful coastline
of Lake Superior.

  You will meet your guide, today in one of the bays on Lake Superior and your guide will take you
to fish in one of the many streams that feed into the big lake. Two fly fishing experiences; urban
where you can walk from a shopping centre to your fishing spot in ten minutes, then a full day
enjoying the majesty of Lake Superior. Don't miss out on the Algoma Fly Fishing Adventure
opportunity.

Itinerary
DAY 1 Monday June 3, 2013
Depart Toronto via Porter on the 3:45 PM flight to Sault Ste Marie, Ontario. Enjoy an evening in
Sault Ste Marie by visiting the Canadian Bushplane Heritage Centre, a world class museum
where you can learn the importance of aviation to Northern Ontario history.
Overnight Sault Ste Marie DAY 2 Tuesday June 4, 2013 Spend the day fly fishing under the International Bridge in Sault Ste Marie, Ontario. This world class fishery is only a short walk from our largest mall!
Overnight Sault Ste Marie DAY 3 Wednesday June 5, 2013 Travel by vehicle along the beautiful shores of Lake Superior, where you can see the sights that have given this drive the acclamation of being one of the top ten drives in Canada.
Stop along the shores of Lake Superior for your guided trip to fly fish in the streams that flow into Lake Superior.
Overnight in Batchawana Bay
The Next day I will fly back to Toronto, should be fun considering I haven't Fly fished in a while! I'll keep you up to date with more fun stuff happening this year! Stay tuned!

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The Number 1 Craziest thing I Have Ever Done

                        #1 Becoming a Volunteer Firefighter

That's me #28 and Yes that fire was HOT!

        Many of you already may know this about me. But for those of you who don't, I am a Volunteer Firefighter going into my 13th year of service, I am a proud second generation firefighter with My Dad having 32 years of service and is my Stations District Chief. I am also lucky to have my brother Sam on the department as well. We have a very busy station, on average we run 365 plus fire calls a year, plus weekly training, public education and equipment maintenance(Then our full time jobs and families ). Our emergency calls ranging from Medical Emergencies and Motor Vehicle collisions to full blown structure fires. In my 13 years I have seen and done a lot of crazy things. One thing stands out to me, one memory so vivid and haunting I can actually feel the adrenaline rush as pride starts to tingle throughout my body.

     I felt like I was on top of the world everything had worked out right, the adrenaline was pumping so fast in my veins. I started to get undressed to go check on my partner as another guy started to help me get my gear off, he had a huge smile on his face as I told him what had happened up in the apartment, then as I took off my mask his smile changed to a look of concern. He said, "Chris, you took on smoke" Stunned by what I just heard I replied "What!? I did?." I said as I looked in a mirror. I grabbed a bottle of water and splashed it on my face and rubbed the soot marks from around my face and nose, as if to pretend it didn't happen. I felt sick to my stomach, I wanted to throw up...                    

                                                
                                                               Twenty Minutes Earlier

   Long Weekend Monday in September about 4:00 in the afternoon, our station received a call for a structure fire with occupants still inside, just off the main street. I made it to the station to make the Aerial, it happened to be the last truck leaving the hall. My heart was pumping big time as I grabbed my gear and hopped into the tight back seat space. I knew it was going to be tough to get dressed quickly but that day for some reason it went smooth and I was fully dressed by the time the 5 minute drive was over. I hopped out of the truck to a 3 story Apartment building with Heavy Black smoke coming from the second story apartment. I quickly made my way to entry control. One of the firefighters was undressing he had forgotten to put his balaclava on and was stopped at the stairs, I came up fully dressed and just like that I was the new Senior Firefighter on the first entry team. I felt like I was in the Foo Fighters video for "My hero" going up the 2 sets of stairs to the apartment.

     Reports from other building residents was that they heard a scream and a thud come from this apartment. We busted down the door that entered in to the kitchen. On our left was the oven and it had a radio on it that was on fire, giving off the blackest thickest smoke I have ever seen, we proceeded with a primary(quick) search and left the fire for the next crew in,so we could search for the possible victims, we went with a left hand search which means we followed the left side of the kitchen to look for this person. We found ourselves at a small door entrance. It lead into the bathroom it was 4ftx8ft with a tub and a small linen closet on the left. The smoke was really thick and black I could barely see and it got worse as I stuck my hand in a kitty litter box.(YUCK!) . All of a sudden, my partner in front of me stopped at the bath tub and starts yelling to me "I got a body! I got a body!" In disbelief I jumped over to help him. We grab on to this person (A Male) to get rescue him, until he started attacking us!(That wasn't in the training manual!) That's when I got my first clear look at the victim, as my partner and I grabbed his arms and his legs and we lifted him up and started for the door, those seconds went by so slow, I remember still not believing what was happening. I also remember this guys eyes were very very white and his skin was filthy black from the smoke and soot. Things took a turn for the worse when we were steps from the door, my partner tripped over a vacuum that was in the middle of the floor. All 3 of us were on the ground. We had bumped both of our face masks pretty hard and my partner was no longer calm, he had taken in a deep breath of the black smoke and had begin to panic. I yelled at him to calm down. Thankfully by that time help had reached him and our as other firefighters were waiting to help us at the door.  They grabbed my partner and pulled him out, as I stood up and grabbed the victim with two hands and ever so gently placed him into the arms of the other awaiting firefighters. I felt like I had just won 1 million dollars, my training had paid off. I had a smile from ear to ear. My partner and I with some help had just saved that mans life.

Article from Alliston Herald.
Pictures From Flashover Training. 

     After realizing I had took on toxic smoke,the adrenaline wore off. I had developed more of a cough and was worried. So I went to the hospital to get checked out by a Doctor just like my partner did. Thankfully both my partner and I were treated and released from the hospital that day.

   The pride I feel re-telling this story far outweighs the concern I had for my own well being following the incident. They say to be a volunteer firefighter you have to be a mix of brave and crazy. I can proudly say volunteers everywhere serve their communities in ways people will never understand or even know about. This call is 1 of near 5000 we have responded to, and luckily a life does not hang in the balance everytime we respond, but when it does this is how we like to see it end, "everyone goes home".

Score one for the good guys

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Exciting News!!.Guest Post for Trip-Logic

        Exciting News! My first guest post is out!    
          It is based on my most prized souvenir 

                             Check it out!!
              My Guest Post here at Trip Logic
             Thanks to Kate for the Opportunity
        Thanks to Sam and Amanda for their Help!

A Royal Thanks for all of the support and kind words.

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The 2nd Craziest Thing I Have Ever Done

                               #2  Extreme GT sledding

                This one is really silly and very dangerous. So please don't try this!

     Before my twenties my friends and I were bored and starved of  fun. We were tired of driving around town in my old pickup night after night.  It was winter time and there wasn't much to do.  That night my friends Brad, Jason and I decided to make our own fun, we grabbed 3 GT snow racers and some (not very safe) rope and headed out to a distant quiet back road. Little did we know how crazy this idea would be.

     When we made it to our desired location, we were gitty with anticipation and my stomach was in knots from nerves. All  of us knew this was a bit on the crazy side and one bit of bad luck could end all of our fun. So we carefully tied two of the GT's to the bumper and tested it out slowly at first pulling them over snowy gravel. Seemed ok to us!

    Thumbs up! Green light! The next run increased in speed, you could hear the guys hooting and hollering.  The odd spark would fly off the sleds. Then Bam! Brad was off the sled I seen him tumbling across the road in my mirror so I stopped as safely and as quickly as possible. When I got out of the truck Brad was upright and appeared to be ok. He was smiling ear to ear "Let's do that again!!" he said.  I was relieved that he wasn't hurt but I could barely stop laughing because all I could picture in my mind was his him rolling across the road. Still to this day in my mind very funny

     The next run I gently made my way up to a good speed. The radio was turned down so I could hear the guys yell. I could hear them just fine. They were having a blast. I was feeling a little nervous so I slowed down. They  weren't scared one bit, you could tell the guys were having fun from their girl like screams and manly hoots. They felt comfortable going that speed. 

     During the next turnaround, we spotted 2 snowmobiles approaching us."It's gotta be the cops!" I thought. Time to turn on the "Williams charm." As they slowed down we realized they were just normal people. They slowed down to talk to us.  Turned out these two guys recognised us from school and stopped to chat. After a few minutes of talking they had found out what was going on and of course they wanted to join the craziness. 

           What is it about a man or boy that makes them want to do stupid fun things?

      So we got them saddled up for the ride. Brad and our 2 new riders were ready to rock. It was our first time doing the three wide setup. Jay was sitting up with me watching the guys out the back keeping me updated. They yelled up to me "I wanna go fast!” I yelled back. "OK! Hold on to your hats!". Brad should have listened, I hit the gas and we were off. Slowly climbing in speed 25 35k. Sparks started to shoot off the sleds like Clark Griswold in Christmas Vacation we reached 45 55 60k. All of a sudden Jay yells "Brad lost his hat!!" knowing there was little I could do for his hat I punched it one last bit to 70k I could hear those guys loving every second. We were all laughing. 

                                                         It kind of went like this

      I started to slow down for the sign ahead. When out of nowhere this truck turns the corner. The guy in the truck is staring right at us, then we all heard a crunch and the truck slammed on the breaks and the driver looked pretty mad.  See what had happened was the three guys on the GTs bailed in to the ditch sending the 3 sleds forward and one sled went right into and then under this persons Truck!

   BUSTED! Boy did I ever feel guilty then. I hopped out quick and got the sled out from under the truck and I apologized to the man. He advised us to leave the area and drove off. Everyone was still hiding in the ditch waiting for the all clear. I yelled "guys you can come out now! Wussies!" They all slowly poked their heads out and made their way out of the ditch. Everyone was safe and still smiling so we called it quits.

   Would I ever do this again? No.  This may have been fun. But it could have ended a lot worse. I mark it down as #2 on this  list. #1 on the list of stupidest things I have done.

What are some crazy things you have done that you won't do again?

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The 3rd Craziest Thing I Have Ever Done

                                 #3 - Jump off an Olympic Diving Platform

    Do you think your last grade school trip was quite possibly the best thing that ever happened during your years in grade school? 

     My Grad trip to Ottawa was one of the best things I could ever have done as a kid. I believe that every kid that lives in Ontario should be able to experience a trip similar to mine. Why? Well I hold a lot of very special memories from that trip. Exciting memories of being away from home for one of the first times in a very different place. Memories of good times had with school mates and one particular memory just so happens to make the list.

     On our trip to Ottawa we stayed in a University Dorm just off campus. The one of the 2 nights we stayed we were able to go swimming at the university's Olympic Size pool with 4 diving platforms. The diving platforms were a big hit. The odd time we would watch someone gracefully dive off of the top platform which in my eyes was HUGE, after watching one of us would do a cannonball or something else cool off of the lowest platform. I would watch and think "that is so cool I want to jump off of there" In reality I think the top platform was 40 ft high.

  I went up a level and jumped off the second platform a dozen times. I became more comfortable and more daring, which can be a dangerous combination at times. With those feeling I went up to the next level for more. 

     After much hesitation and feeling like I was going to miss out on an opportunity of a lifetime. I finally worked up the guts to walk up to the top platform,  I started to feel woozy standing there looking down at everyone telling me to jump so I brought my attention up took a deep couple breaths and jumped off as far as I could, the air rushed past me only for a few seconds until..... (BIG) Splash! I hit the water hard!

Tip - If one does not dive off of a diving platform, make sure that one puts legs together and points toes down! Without doing so could result in THE WORST WEDGY OF YOUR LIFE!!

   Yep I landed with my legs open, and received the biggest and worst wedgy I have ever had and it made the next couple of days. Let’s just say a "tad bit uncomfortable." 

   Would I do this again? Why yes I would! Even with my legs open wide. What a rush it was! What an unreal feeling. Even though it would still be scary, I would definitely do this again!

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The 4th Craziest Thing I Have Ever Done.

          
                                                
                                                                                   #4 Jump off of a roof

   I know this could be a hazardous thing to be posting. So folks... Don’t try this one at home.

     I was in the Haliburton Highlands with two friends Atom and Ryan and we had a plan. It was to shovel the 2 feet of snow off the roof Atoms family cottage.  It was a great plan I thought, 2 nights at the cottage for a little hard work.

      When we arrived it was night time and the road was not maintained during the winter and we had to walk to the cottage from the road, sounded simple enough. Right?...  Wrong! This is not an easy feat, not when you are over 200 pounds carrying a case of beer. Every step I took I broke through the ice crust into snow up to my knees and I mean every step I recall saying "Just leave me here guys. Leave me for the bears! But first come and take this case of beer!" While my somewhat lighter friends skimmed right across the snow top.  Later as we settled in, we laughed about me yelling "to leave me for the bears" Having remembered bears hibernate in the winter.

     So getting back to how and why I jumped off this cottage roof.  Well, it was a beautiful day, sun was shining over the frozen lake and trees, the temperature was a balmy -2 degrees. (Northern Humour)The cottage radio was maxed out and so was my back. We had been shovelling the snow, for a few hours and we were tired. What made it worse was the beer was calling our names like a temptress. So we decided to let nature take its course with the other half.

      When we finally did quit I decided to do a Fred Flinstone type of departure from the roof. I had purposely made a pile of snow at the corner of the cottage trying to keep it off the deck. As I made my way over to the edge and looked over, I felt the urge to jump. Have you ever had that urge?  Like jumping off a cliff in to water, it’s a calculated risk. So I figured in my risk calculation that there was a big pile of snow. Snow is soft like a mattress I thought. So I figured chances were slim that I'd get hurt. (I may have been pushing my chances and luck too far)

      The adrenaline was pumping (I was shaking) and without hesitation I hopped off the roof, feet first. 13 ft straight down into the packing snow below! The fall was a lot quicker than I had thought. Luckily I was right and I did not get hurt. The snow cushioned my fall just enough, although I did bend awkwardly when my feet touched rock. I still give the landing a 7.0.

  What an adrenaline rush and a story worth telling. But... Would I do it again? Heck no people..... After ageing and becoming a parent, I have settled down a bit and take better calculated risks. I no longer try to put myself in harm’s way for the heck of it. (Key word being TRY.)

Stay Tuned for #3 Next Week

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The 5th Craziest Thing I Have Ever Done.

                                                               

                                                     #5  Toronto to Vancouver by BUS!

     This may not be crazy, but. It definitely could make you crazy. When I was in high school a good friend of mine moved to British Columbia. The decision was made to visit our now distant friend, by bus. It sounds fun and exciting but only for a bit. 

 The pluses of buses -It is affordable.You get to see a lot of things and meet new people. The Downfalls - No showers!  It is very timely stopping in every town waking up at every stop. 

     With the companionship of my friend Jason, we set out July 1999 on a Greyhound bus. Making new friends with fellow riders along the way, we were headed north to Thunder Bay, then due west through the prairies, until we got to the beautiful Rocky Mountain towns of Banff and Canmore. We were so lucky going from Calgary to Banff late afternoon, our driver acted as a tour guide pointing out the interesting facts as we enjoyed our first mountains ever. 

    80 plus hours later and about 60 bus stops later we arrived in Vancouver, with only a few friendly faces still there, we said our goodbyes and found out our luggage was not with us. We had to do some laundry to get by, until they found it. In need of a shower and a good night's sleep, we set out for our hotel. After a seemingly quick 2 day stay in Vancouver, we kept on moving.

   

     

     From Vancouver we took the hour ferry boat ride to Nanaimo on Vancouver Island. Explored Nanaimo's beaches looking out into the Pacific Ocean and spent the night in a hotel. In the morning we yet again hopped on another bus for another 15 hours, to a little seaside town named Port Hardy. We explored the quiet town, and stayed at a cozy Bed and Breakfast. By the time we reached this destination we were starting to feel the craziness of constant travel.

  

      The following morning we were Prince Rupert bound on a BC Ferry heading up the beautiful Northern BC coast. The views were magnificent. The odd whale was spotted too. I found myself with my first touch of sea sickness. Thankfully it wasnt until the evening. We spent 18 hours on the ferry. After that long day at sea, we retired to a hotel near the port.

     The next day we were picked up by our friends and it was a short 3 hour drive to their home in Kitimat, British Columbia.   We had a fantastic time. During our 5 day stay, we explored the surrounding forests rivers and trails of Kitimat.  Stumbling into a family of Black Bears, Mom Dad and 2 cubs, had to be the highlight of the trip. It definitely got the adrenaline pumping!

    At the end of our stay, our gracious hosts and friends dropped us off at the bus station we had about 78 grueling hours of bus time left. We knew we could do it. It just wasn't going to be nearly as fun, just like going home from any trip. One highlight on the way home was a day spent wondering around at the West Edmonton Mall. 50 hours later we were back home.

   

     Would I do this again? No. Lots of good things came from this trip. Three years later I did it again, this time meeting my friend in Edmonton and spending a few days there before heading to Northern British Columbia. So if you so choose to go great lengths by bus, break it up a bit or you might go crazy.

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The Five Craziest Things I Have Done Intro

                 Im No Stranger to Going Out of my Comfort Zone

Oh Me? Just saving this dudes life! Just another day...

       Hey everyone, I'm launching a little miniseries of the craziest things I have ever done. This is not your typical type of list. It will be a top 5 list and I will be releasing the posts individually, one story for each of the 5 crazy things.

      It’s not your typical type of crazy, like getting married young and having three daughters like I did, some may think that is crazy, and at times it is. I think of it as one of the best things that has ever happened to me.  

     It is not bungee jumping! Why not? Like most, I have a fear of falling.  I don't mind the height. (Little known fact about me, I am very allergic to pain.)

     
      I want to tell you the most interesting but also crazy things that I have done. Some of it is travel related and most of it I did before I was 20 years old. These things definitely have had an impact on the person that I am today also these 5 things have made me stronger, wiser, and I believe happier.

    Hopefully you get to learn a little bit more about me and I hope you enjoy the posts.

Stay Tuned,

Cheers, 

Chris

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50 year old (NASCAR) virgin

                                                                          Dads 50th

                                            

     Have you ever had someone you care about say they wanted to do a certain something more than once, but they keep putting it off. In 2009 I had enough of hearing my Dad, Hank who was turning 50 in August, saying he wanted to go to a NASCAR race. It became my mission to do make this race happen & bring it to life for him.

 

     With research I discovered Bristol Tennessee was where we should enjoy our first race. It had everything I wanted! It was an August Race and we could drive there in a day, Night Time Race (no sunburn) and we could watch the whole race from our seats.

     With my brother Sam on Board. We bought tickets in April for the Foodland 250 nationwide race and the Bristol Sharpie 500 race and gave it to him on father’s day so he could plan around it. We knew it was possibly the greatest gift of all times. For those who have never been to Bristol it is a small city (POP. 29000) along the Virginia and Tennessee state border.

     Bristol Motor Speedway is known as the world’s fastest half mile, and holds 165,000 fans, nearly 6 times the city's population. So you can just imagine how much the people of Bristol and surrounding areas depend on these races to bring revenue to the city of Bristol.

     We left one early August morning with plans to see the Transport Parade. What is a Transport Parade? It is a parade of Transport trucks that are hauling the cars and equipment of most of the drivers that are in the race. (Best of all, it's FREE!). They shut down the highway next to the track and the trucks stroll in honking their air horns. If it is your first time to a NASCAR race, I recommend putting it on your list of things to do.  This happened to be one of the things my dad had wanted to do, although it rained it was still really cool see and it got us pretty excited for the races.

     We left for the Nationwide race early in the afternoon. As we neared the track we were in awe of what seemed like hundreds of thousands of people and thousand of trailers, trucks, campers and cars... (Get the picture)

    

     When we finally parked we enjoyed some beers on the tailgate of my dad’s truck. We were taking pictures of the area and stadium, but what we really wanted was a shot of all of us in one picture together. We decided on asking our tailgate neighbors who were happy to do it. Turned out they were from Kentucky and we enjoyed a couple hours with those guys having a few beers. They were telling us stories about their past Bristol expieriences. They were pretty funny guys

    

      We then headed over to the Transport Flea Market (which is the souvenir trailers of all the drivers with BBQ pits surrounding the area) I can almost smell the pulled pork right now. After a bit of shopping and a steep climb to our seats we were there! For our first ever NASCAR race we had awesome seats! We could see the whole race track. That is why Bristol is one of the best; every seat is a good one. That night the military brought in 2 huge helicopters for the fly over.

      We made ourselves friendly with our seat neighbors who were from Indiana. While talking to them (2 men and 1 woman) during one of the cautions and I had an idea! "How about you trade me your beer for my beer?" I asked." Why would I want to do that?" the one man replied. "Because it’s the same thing (Coors Light), except mine is Canadian so it's stronger, by half a percent!" After thinking about it they agreed. After they tasted it, I asked "So what do you think?" "Well... Nope. No sir I do not like it" They replied. I could barely hold my laughter in, "That’s what I thought you might say!" as I burst into laughter...

     That night David Ragan won the race and there were some pretty awesome wrecks. It was almost just like watching the race at home. Only being there in Real Life Super HD and it is so unbelievably LOUD!

It was a good Nationwide race but it was no 500 race!

     The next day we made our way into Bristol earlier than the previous day. This time only to park further away in someone’s backyard. So here we are freshly backed in to our spot and we hear someone yell at us. "What, are you following us or something?" We looked over and it was our friends from Kentucky, Amazingly we had parked beside them for a second time in a row. Those guys were hilarious, the only time I seen them frown was when Sam went on a booze filled rant and forgot where he was and indirectly called them rednecks! After I cleared the air, everything was cool.

   After a glorious afternoon of tailgating we stumbled are way up to our seats. The hill and stairs seemed endless. Our seats were the same as the previous race and we had the same neighbors, and no they still didn’t like our beer.

     This race was why we made our way to Bristol, Tennessee to commemorate my dad’s 50th birthday. The "Bristol 500" "Rubbing and Racing" "The Fastest Half Mile" We were told it was THE race to see. I think they were right. The sounds of those cars starting up, the sounds of the military jets flying over the race track. Almost made me feel American. Almost, until just before the NASCAR Sharpie 500 race, 160,000 fans came together and sang "Friends in Low Places" by Garth Brooks all at the same time which is a Guinness World Record for most karaoke participants. Then we really felt American.

      The race was very memorable. High points being Mark Martin's 1000th start, which he came in 2nd place behind Kyle Busch who is very talented but I didn't care for him. Kyle's brother Kurt was in a wreck and we heard every hilarious cussword he had to say on our headphones over and over and over again we even let our neighbors listen.

     When were leaving the track there was fireworks being set off in a nearby trailer park, I remember 2 losers going the opposite direction that everyone else was going, yelling this way for free Kyle Busch autographs. I found this quite amusing because no one was following them, no one.

                              3 things that enhanced our race experience at Bristol:

· The NASCAR approved radio headsets so you can track your favorite racer or the leader of the race. These came with a special screen that aloud you to track multiple drivers, listen to the broadcast of the race, reply transmissions, and view in car camera's. Definetly something worth it for any race fan. It provided lots of entertainment during cautions.

·  Canadian Beer you are allowed to bring in your own cooler filled with canned beer at most tracks thankfully Bristol is one of the tracks that allow that. (I’m not saying you need beer to have fun, but it certainly helps!) With that beer we had picked up at the duty free shop on the drive down. !

·  The NASCAR Fans and the people of Bristol. We had a great time and even with all the booze, everyone pretty much police's themselves. We felt safe and welcome our entire stay. 

    Please feel free to share some of your favorite NASCAR memories with me,

Cheers,

Chris

    

                             

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Monday Night Bachelor Party '04 - Green Bay

Yep that's us. We made it home from Wisconsin. In time for my wedding No hangover story, but almost...

     After going to Green Bay the previous year (Story told here), we were hooked. We were heading back to title town, with new purpose. This year I was tying the knot with my longtime girlfriend Amanda, Which meant I was going to have a Bachelor Party. Not your typical bachelor party this was SPECIAL. It was Monday Night Football in Green Bay!  I asked my groomsman if they would go.... Of course they all said YES those wonderful guys. We planned it 6 months in advance so we could get a good seat. We chose the Monday night Game of October 11 versus The Tennessee Titans. We booked the Gold Package with Packer Fan tours, which meant we would meet a couple of the Packers Players and were staying at the Tundra Lodge, which had a Water Park!!!

                                 Tip - Water Parks are AWESOME for Bachelor Parties

     My brother Sam, My good friends Mike and Sean and I were up at 2 am getting ready for our 12 hour road trip to Wisconsin. Having driven the route before we knew the drive was nice. Driving around Lake Michigan was more amazing with the fall foliage in full effect.

Sean doesn't like to snuggle :(

      When we arrived at the Hotel, we found ourselves feeling like kids again, with the Arcade and the Water Park. The room was a little small but we didn't really mind because we liked snuggling. (Except for Sean).

                                                 The three things I had on my must do list

                                                        1.Tour Lambeau Field

                                                        2. Brett Favre's Steakhouse

                                                        3. Witness A Packer win

     So we booked our tour and sniffed out Favre's Steakhouse which was delicious, we filled ourselves with delicious expensive meat. The Menu.

      After we picked up 36 cans of American beer and relaxed in the room, we could feel it. This was going to be the best Mancation EVER

      The Next morning we went to the water park when it opened. I didn't feel awkward being the only 22 year old "kids" there. My friend Sean he did though he promptly and awkwardly told every female life guard "We're not gay." Every girl had a different reaction but none of them believed him, it was very funny.
 What wasn't funny was the heckling I got from an 11 year old kid who was better at the "floating pads" part of the park or as I call it Sinkers and Floaters except when I went on it everyone was a sinker. The kid said "It’s so easy and you can't do it" I responded with my pride wounded "hey little kid I'm just trying to have fun, this takes a lot of agility and I drank a lot of beer last night so leave me alone". After i was done crying I had a great time.

Beautiful Fall Day at Lambeau

We arrived early for our tour of Lambeau Field, we played the Arcade games, to pass the time. We all wondered if the Pack would win On Monday night. "It sure would be nice. " I thought.

 When they came and got us for the tour they take u around the whole entire facility and tell you little stories or interesting facts about the different parts of the stadium.

In a Nutshell these are the most important parts of the tour.

The Player Tunnel was so cool.

1: Our tour guide made note that "The Vikings play in a dome so God can't watch them play. Because they suck so bad. (Note* Packers 1-4 at the time, finished season 10-6. Lost to the Vikings in the Wild Card Playoff Game)

2. The Boxed indoor seats are Amazing and expensive.

3. The Path that the Players take to the field is quite powerful and the field is amazing it gives me goose bumps just thinking of it.

Player meet and greet.

That evening we had the player meet and greet with running back Najeh Davenport and Packer Great William Henderson ! They were really nice guys . 

     The next day was the big day we slept in and got our party on early. I remember fondly waking up watching everyone else stretch and wake up. Sean sits up grabs a beer. The sound of the can opening grabbed every ones attention. Sam says walking out of the bathroom "Oh it’s this kind of a party is it?" and grabs a beer. a smile appeared on Sean’s face as he says "That's how we do it" as all four of us opened the beer. All of a sudden Mike like a flash of lightning runs out of the bathroom "It’s gonna overflow!!! I didn't do it!" talking about the toilet someone may or may not have plugged... (We know who it was....)

     We had a great time getting primed for the tailgate party, we knew there would be tonnes of food and beer and cookies!.

     When we arrived at the tailgate party it was beautiful weather and they had a DJ playing some good tunes. We met some people our age. We danced from the beer to food to the beer and then moon walked to the Porto potty (Mostly from the beer to the Porto potty, Damn American Beer).

     We had a great time before we knew it, we were en route to the stadium with a little bit of Stagger Swagger in us. The All of a sudden I'm shaking hands with the Governor of Wisconsin Jim Doyle as he is trying to get me to vote for him he gives me a sticker I put it on one sleeve. Then two seconds later I'm talking with his opponent as hey gives me the vote speech, I take a sticker from him slap it on the other sleeve. As I walk away shaking my head laughing to myself thinking "I am Canadian I can't vote for you." The Joke was on me though because those were some kind of super stickers and the glue is still stuck to my Favre jersey.

     That game started out as amazing, we had really great people around us they even bought me a beer because it was my bachelor party. The crowd was electric When Favre came out of the Tunnel I savoured that moment as i thought it maybe my last time seeing it live. Long Story Short they lost. My most triumphant moment came when I FINALLY got on the Jumbo Screen, "Hey camera guy I'm 13 rows away from you I know u can hear me, put me on the screen!!!" I yelled. "There I am! There we are!!" I squealed... So I took the bounty that I had off of the camera guy.

     After the game we stopped at the hotel bar for one more beer as we drank it this nice looking lady sits  beside Sean and starts chatting him up. Sean puts his country boy charm to work and has her laughing and I was like "Holy Shit, that's a cougar and she is on the PROWL!" Honestly enough she was probably just looking for conversation....  Us guys were tired and walked back to the room laughing about Sean getting picked up randomly.  The night ended well, sure we were mad about the loss, but we had a great time.

 

On the way home we were interrogated by the border patrol and I felt as if I wasn’t going to be coming home. But after paying a bit of duty we were on our way.

                                              Tip-  Always declare something at the border.

Looking back on that trip, I realize how lucky I was to have 3 people in my life that I was able to share that with. Even though they lost, Even though I love Purple now (Reason #1, Reason #2)  I still love Green Bay and think about going back often. Maybe if they retire #4 or #80....

Follow me everywhere on Twitter @RealManTravel

Enjoy your Super Bowl Weekend!


 

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