A Good Weekend

Our View From Camp

Not being able to take a vacation, we have decided to park our trailer up at Horseshoe Lake on the Apache Reservation. We went for our first 3 day outing this weekend. With monsoon season being in full force, it rained quite a bit, but we had a great time. Camping, I think is one of the best ways to spend together as a family.

The lake is only about a 25 mile drive from our house which is perfect for a quick get away. It's a small lake that sits at about 7800 feet. We left Friday afternoon in time to just miss the earlier rainstorm. That evening was spent mostly getting things set up and of course getting the fire going for roasting marshmallows.

Coby Getting In Some Riding Time
The next morning, I got up before everyone else and headed down to the lake for some early morning fishing. I think the saying goes "A bad day fishing is better than a good day working." I had one bite in one hour so needless to say I didn't catch anything. I headed back up to camp about an hour later and found my wife and oldest son sitting around the campfire they had started. We had an awesome breakfast and then me and the boys headed back to the lake for more fishing. It was much more successful this time. I managed to catch 4 and Ryan (my oldest) caught his very first fish as well. Coby our youngest hadn't caught one yet but was having a good time casting his little SpongeBob fishing pole. Ryan Waiting Patiently For Something To Take His Bait
Coby Learning How To Work His Spongebob Fishing Pole

The next day started out the same. I had no luck in the morning. My parents drove up to spend the day so my Dad, my boys and I did some more fishing. My dad as usual out fished all of us. He had 3 before any of us had a single bite. I missed about 3 once my dad hit number 5. The best part though was Coby. He had earlier thrown out his line and just let it sit there. About 30 minutes later he came back over to reel it in. He kept saying, "Daddy I think I have one". I just shook it off thinking he like the rest of us had caught a bunch of moss. Once he got it about 5 feet from shore, sure enough he had a fish on the line. I couldn't believe it. Either could he. I have never seen him so excited. Needless to say, he was hooked. Every single moment after that, he wanted to be fishing. He never caught another one, but he sure enjoyed himself. That alone made the whole weekend worth it.

Being away also gives you time to reflect on things. I've been reading the book, "Raising The Bar" which is about Clif Bar Inc. This is the second time I've read it and I really admire this company. They are a "small" privately owned energy bar company competing with the likes of Hershey (they own Power Bar) and other large corporations. Though I don't use much of their products on the bike, I value the way they do business. They are a company that have kept their priorities straight. It's not all about money. Taking care of the customer as well as keeping up the quality of their product has enabled them to remain competitive. Anyway, I spent some time reflecting the way I want our company to continue going and how I want to get it to the next level. I'll discuss it in a later blog, but I have learned that small get aways can be very valuable in becoming refocused on what's important. Even when it comes to work.

That's it for now. I gotta go get ready for an early ride tomorrow morning.