We got back a little bit ago from Geneva, IL. We got to Gander Mountain and the parking lot and the parking lot entrance was PACKED. We still had not had lunch, so we decided to find a place to eat and then come back to see how the crowd was.

We ended up eating at a Chipotle's. I got a chicken burrito, no rice, but both black and pinto beans. Sheri got a steak burrito, no beans, but rice. We also split an order of chips and guacamole, and an iced tea.

After a nice leisurely lunch we decided to head back to Gander Mountain and see how the crowd was. Almost nonexistent! We got a spot only about 10 cars from the front door. It must have just been weird timing.

Inside had a comfortable crowd too. It wasn’t empty, but we weren't bumping into people at every turn.

My impressions of Gander Mountain: Cabela's has a very impressive "wow" factor; a two story mountain covered with stuffed wild game; a huge fresh water walk-through aquarium stocked with bass, blue gill, and other game fish; a restaurant, etc. Gander Mountain doesn't have those kind of attractions, but I do think it has just as much, if not maybe even a little bit more, of actual merchandise. The fishing section was huge. There is a live bait shop at the front of the store that opens at 5:00 AM before the rest of store. The have very large gun section with shotguns, rifles, and pistols. A good sized clothing section. Overall, lots of good stuff.

We bought three cotton chamois shirts for $12 each! It was 7 ounce fabric; a nice heavy cloth. Sheri got a 4XLT olive colored one to wear around the house as almost a bathrobe. I got two 2XLT shirts; one in burgundy, and one in the traditional yellowish leather chamois color. Now I have to wait until next fall to wear them though.

I also bought this lure, these Hook•A•Loop things to hook the hook at the end of my line to when I am not fishing, and a package of buffalo jerky. I just got into the buffalo jerky, and it is delicious. Very tender, a nice mild meat flavor, and the right amount of seasoning. Per one ounce serving there is no saturated fat, and only 0.5 grams of total fat. I think the United States would be much better of off if it switched from beef to buffalo. Buffalo is much lower in fat, and higher in protein. Also, you don't have to feed buffalo a lot of expensive grain. They a perfectly happy, and develop normally just grazing on grass and hay.

I wanted to buy a Gander Mountain ball cap or tea shirt, but didn't find anything I liked. Most of their tee shirts were trying too hard to be cute. For example there was a really neat tee shirt that had detailed drawings of about a dozen different reels. The artwork was really nice and detailed, and if they stopped there I would have bought it. But at the bottom they added the words "Get Reel!". That was the deal breaker.

After Gander Mountain we went to a Trader Joe's that was across the street. We don't understand why people get so excited about Trader Joe's. The selection is not all that exotic, or fresh, and the prices are nothing super-low. I think Anderson's back in Ohio, Carfagna's in Columbus, or Whole Food's is much much better. I was excited to go this time because the article I read about mold cured San Francisco salami said Trader Joe's carried it. The only thing I found was some pre-sliced packages from CANADA. Oh well. I did find a really nice lavender shampoo with really strong tea tree oil type smell.

When we got home I got to work on replacing the screen on the sliding door. We have a big folding table made out of an almost full piece of plywood that previous owners left behind. I set that up in the middle of the garage. Perfect! I peeled out the old spline from the spline groove, and then unrolled the new screen fabric over the frame. I had Sheri hold the fabric to keep it from moving as I used the roller to tuck the fabric into the groove. At this point I was a little worried because there were some waves still in the fabric, but when I started to force the rubber spline into the groove, it tugged more of the fabric along with it and took up most of the slack. It is not as professional looking as the hardware store does it, but you probably wouldn't notice it unless I pointed it out to you. The roll of screen fabric cost about $6.00. The 25" of spline was almost $3.00, and the rolling tool was about $3.00. I think the hardware store charges between $30 and $40 for a screen door. Yeah Brad!

We rented Road to Perdition last night but didn't watch it, so that is what we will watch tonight. It stars Tom Hanks as a hit man. His son doesn't know what he does for a living, and then by accident catches him offing someone. The story starts from there.

I didn't know what the word perdition meant. It means "eternal damnation" or "hell". The title makes more sense now.

While we are watching the movie I am going to restring one of my reels and play with my new fishing stuff, and nibble on some buffalo jerky.

Goliath hasn't really eaten anything in about the last 48 hours except for stuff we nag him to eat. Sheri got him to eat a couple of pieces of bread. He wouldn't eat a pretzel. He ate half of a dog biscuit but wouldn't touch the other half. He won't even look at the canned dog food now. I think I have seen him a little wobbly on his back legs, like he has low blood sugar, but I could just be imagining it. We try to get him to eat some more things tonight. He loves carrots. I will try those dipped in a little peanut butter for more nutrition.