First, a message to Scubatim from shorthaul...."Na,na,na,na,na! We're at Gates Lodge and you're NOT! Na,na,na,na,na!"

We arrived at Gates Lodge around 10:30 p.m. Thursday night, dumped the gear in the room and had sammiches made with Doughgod's Italian herb No-Knead bread and Sopraseto Italian sausages. Urp! Wash that down with an adult beverage, catch the follow-up to the VP debates by the talking heads who like to hear themselves talk, and sat down at the vise to get comforable tying some "Guide Flies." Shut down the idiot box at 1:30 following a nightcap, and serenaded each other throughout the night with tunes from a deviated septum and other assorted notes (you fill in the noises here:_____________________ ).

0700 and Doughgod has the room filled with the fragrance of fresh coffee following a short walk down to the dock. Now we're just waiting for the rest of the lodge to wake up and for someone to show up in the kitchen. Glad I remembered to bring my own coffee maker. Temperature at 0730 is 30F with clear skies nad no wind. Got the makins of a great day on the Au Sable.

More to come (with pictures) as the weekend progresses.

Joe