Gear: Oliso Pro -- Vacuum Sealing Made Simple

No, I don't intend to cook soft-plastic lures, and I'm not looking at vacuum sealing as the new key to compact lure storage. In truth, I was just eager to try out the Oliso Pro VS97A Vacuum Sealer to see for myself it was as elementary to use as it appears in the demonstration videos. If you're like me, you've watched a few demonstrations of things that appeared effortless in the hands of experts but that weren't quite so simple at home! I also had some little people around me who were pretty eager to see just what that thing did.

Turns out the Oliso Pro really is that easy. We followed a few simple steps, and the inaugural attempt resulted a perfect seal with zero added challenges encountered, and in reality there really doesn't appear to be much more to learn. Of course, if you're someone who likes to test something a few times to gain confidence that you have it down, there's nothing to loose with this system because each bag is good for as many as a dozen uses, and the dishwater-safe bag remains full sized and fully intact. The new seal just goes in a different place.

Stand-out features of the Oliso ProVS97A are its "moist" setting, which allows you to seal fresh fish or marinated meats with no risk of ruining the machine with moisture, and extreme portability. The machine itself is compact, and it comes with a 12V adaptor, with everything packaged in a water-resistant carrying case. It also has adaptor for sealing special upright pantry bags and can even be used for canning; however, I'm guessing that I'll mostly be sealing Louisiana redfish, Santee Cooper catfish and such that's getting ready to travel back to Georgia and various jerky or fresh meat that I want to keep marinated or protected from elements on a camping, rafting or fishing trip.

Actually, my first real-life uses are probably only a couple of weeks away, which is part of why I wanted to do a test run with the plastic worms. Nathaniel and I will be camping, wading and fishing from a raft in just a couple of weeks, which means we'll have plenty of reason to have fresh food nicely sealed. Now I can feel confident that the vacuum sealing part  of the trip preparation will be quick, simple and efficient. In fact I'll most likely stick the sealer case in the back of the truck, just in case we want to prepare some more stuff while we're traveling!

Of Boys and Boulders

All the boys in camp reacted the same way upon arrival. Their eyes went straight to the boulder that towered behind our campsites, and they really couldn't think about doing anything else until they had ascended its sides and stood atop it as conquerors, looking down.

Five dads brought eleven boys, ages 3 to 15, and at times all the boys were on the rock. As dads, we couldn't have asked for anything better than to have such a feature at the edge of our camping area. We needed not ever wonder where our boys were. If they weren't around the campfire (which, of course, had its own draw to the men and boys alike), they were atop the rock. Simple as that. It was far more interesting than any playground that any man could have built in the same space, and its appeal was the same for every age of boy in the group.

When I think about it, any time Nathaniel and I go trout fishing and he disappears from view, all I have to do to find him is look to the top of the biggest rock that's nearby. Of course, my yearning to climb a big rock hasn't gone away. I just can't run up the sides of them the way Nathaniel or Asher can. I have to climb carefully, taking care that my glasses don't fall off and planning my entire route so I don't end up like a cat, stuck in a place where I can't get down!

It would seem God made boulders for boys to climb because it's obvious he's put within boys a desire to climb to the top of a really big rock.

Nolichucky Bound

Truck's about packed and we'll soon hit the road. Over a couple mountains and into East Tennessee, where we'll camp and explore within the Nolichucky River gorge and the mountains nearby. Camping in the truck. Fresh fish or squirrel for dinner? If not we have other junk to keep us fed.

Birthday Outing

"Asher didn't get to paddle," Nathaniel remembered, just after we all stepped out of the canoe. "Come on, Asher," he continued, handing a paddle to his 6-year-old brother and turning back toward the beached boat. The leftover pizza we'd brought to the pond for dinner could wait a few more minutes.

Nathaniel held the canoe in place while Asher walked to the back and sat down in the "driver's seat," and then he pushed the boat off and took his place on the front seat, facing backward on the seat to he could better coach his brother.

Once quick lap around the pond with patient instruction from his brother was all it took to give Asher a great sense of accomplishment and a bigger thill than he gained from any of the six fish he had caught. I saw it as a gift from Nathaniel during Nathaniel's birthday outing.

For the second year in a row, we camped at some friends' property on Nathaniel's birthday, fishing that evening and the next morning as well. Asher joined the first part -- fishing, paddling and eating pizza -- before his mom came and picked him up. Then Nathaniel and I moved the boat to a beaver pond on the same property, where we fished till dark and then camped, with him in a backpack tent and me in the bed of the truck.

The weather was as pretty as the frogs' and crickets' songs, and the fish bit well. It was a great outing for all.