I made it to Baton Rouge.  They are still pretty beat up over Gustav.  I have been without Internet at home now for five days.  I have been using my mobile phone for Gmail and Facebook for those five days.  It is interesting to see what you can and cannot do.  The Gmail has all the features available but Facebook has some weird limitations.  The main two is that you cannot write wall to wall or leave a comment.  The comments would be great.  I got my TV listings, news, email, Facebook, and the kids homework page.  I may try Craig's List to see how that works.  I can't wait until I can get everything done on the cell phone.  It gives me a certain freedom away from the computer.  I am going to see about adding blogging features to the BlogEngine.Net.  It provides a great reading layout and flow but you cannot write a post.

Anyway, I have to update my laptop and get everything patched up since I haven't used it for a few months.

Thanks to everyone who got in touch with me while I was traveling.  It felt good to be connected even when your not physically connected.

HOLY COW!  What an amazing day outside of the park.  I paid $3 in parking and no tags.  We went straight out of the park.  First cast was by Ken and it was a catch on his new Schweba.  I am trying to get him to post some pictures on his site.  Soon, he will unveil it. We caught an amazing amount of fish.  I caught at least 12 and hooked 18 rainbow trout.  I caught them on the Schweba (one variant), light Cahill, olive blue dun, and an Adams.  My buddy Ken, caught at least 24 and hooked another 24 rainbow trout.  He caught them on the Schweba (three variants), light Cahill, and an Adams.

We caught an amazing flurry of top water trout.  It was unprecedented for me to see something like that on the Meramec.  I end up having to fish the guide bug, nymphs, worms, etc.  Not today however.  It was amazing to see the dry flies that I tied up from a picture in a book hit them like there was no tomorrow.  It was my first time catching a trout on a dry.  One thing is for certain I will always want to be hitting the top if I can.  Fishing under water is fine.  I learned a today about dries.  I mean a size 20 hook is so small I did not know how to hook the fish let alone bring it in.  What was amazing is that the fish barely get hooked, I crimp all my hooks so they are barbless, and when they come up to you, you just grab the fly and make a small rounding motion and plop the fish is gone.  I did not even have to touch the fish.  Why is that so important to me?  I have decided to go catch and release except in farmed streams.  I did not want to touch the fish unnecessarily or tire them out too much.

It was awesome.  I have to give a special thanks to Ken who has been showing me all the trout holes these past two years.  Without him, I would not have had the experience.  If you are ever looking for a Missouri trout guide email me and I will pass it on to him.

Water: 62 degrees (approximate)
Weather:  Overcast/Partly Cloudy
River: Up
Wind: 0 to 10 mph
People in Party: 2
Longest fish: 15-16 inches
Caught: 36
Hooked: 42
Fun Factor: 9.4
Flies:  Schweba (black, brown, pheasant on size bead head 14), Light Cahill, Adams, Olive Blue Dun (All hand tied on size 18 & 20 hooks)
Time: 730 to 1230 non stop

I am wishing I was picking up this board and heading out to sea.  I did not get to try and surf this trip to LA but I will next time.  And I will make it to Mountain View to go skiing.  It will be a blast.

Want to talk about a great time.  No?  How about a phenomenal time?  That's more like it.  I have no idea where to start.  I tell ya, Chicago downtown was like an absolute dream.  Coming from St. Louis, Chicago is a mecca.  I loved it.  In fact I am going back this Decemeber to holiday.  That doesn't sound to pompous does it?  We are going to go for a few days and hang out.  Maybe this time I will get to see the Sears tower from the SkyBox? 

I went to Nordstrom Racks, Radio Shack (funny but cool story), Miller's pub, Damen stop on the blue line, Flash Taco, Sears Roebuck, Club Quarters, the set of Batman 2007 (Sears tower area), Library, Art Institute of Chicago, Grant's Park, some other park just out side of it. 

Anyway the trip was fantastic and I am still riding the wave of enthusiasm for it.  It is definitely a town to visit, but I don't think I could live there with a family near the downtown.  Do families even live that close?

Oh yeah, shout out to the taxi cab driver who gave us a free ride to Sears Roebuck so we could buy new luggage.