Got The New Rides!

Dave writes...

Me and Smiley are in our brand new 2011 Siverado HD, heading through the mountains on I-77 North. There’s about 4 inches of fresh snow here and its 30 degrees. It’s hard to believe that we’re in North Carolina, it actually looks like home. My truck is telling me to be cautious, that the roads could be icy, which is cool. It also tells me when there is slow traffic ahead, and so far it has been right every time. Technology today blows my mind.

What an awesome truck! Our new Dually and Suburban were delivered to South Carolina, but since Anne and the kids were not coming to this event I wasn’t sure how I was going to get our new trucks back home. As it turned out, Nene (Anne’s mom) wanted to take a trip, so they loaded up Mithcell and Macy in the old diesel and headed south. They showed up for the day 3 weigh-in along with my cousins who live near Anderson. Cathy, Frank and their sons, James and Joel, and their families attended the final day weigh-in in Greenville, SC. It was there first time seeing a live weigh-in and they were impressed and seemed to enjoy it. It was nice seeing them as we’ve kind of lost touch since they moved away several years ago. I think we’ll probably be going back to Lake Hartwell soon, so we plan on hooking up with my cousins again.

Anne is towing the Frosted Flakes Ranger behind me with the new Suburban. The wrap looks awesome. Nene and Macy are with her for the ride home, so we have the “boy truck” and the “girl truck” as Smiley likes to say, lol.

The diesel is black and has a Chevy wrap, it looks mean. I love driving it, so does Anne. The kids call it the big bad truck for obvious reasons and they like it a lot too. It does have the DVD player in it for their movies and a moon roof like the Suburban, and of course, just like the last one, it has a ton of space in it. I had the 5^th wheel hitch installed and we will be hooking up the big trailer for the next trip to Lake Chickamauga, in Tennessee. The HD has 1200 miles on it now and without the trailer is averaging 17.1 miles to the gallon…that’s incredible, especially considering all the steep hills we encounter on this particular route.

One new feature I noticed is that my new truck has a USB port inside the center console so I can plug my Ipod directly into it. That’s pretty neat, I’m sure there are plenty of cool things we haven’t discovered yet too as there are a lot of unfamiliar buttons, ha ha. 

I finished in 8^th place at Hartwell, my second top 10 in as many FLW Tour Majors. There are 4 more to go and the rest of the schedule suits me perfectly. Needless to say, I’m very excited about the rest of the season and have my sights set on my number one goal, Angler of the Year. There’s a ton of fishing left in 2011 and a bunch of crazy good anglers in hunt, but I’m feeling good this year…really really good!

-Dave

Anne writes...

Well, we just got back from a very short trip to Lake Hartwell, South Carolina.  We didn’t leave with Dave this time because we had business to take care of at home. I talked my mom into going with us for the weekend to see Dave and to pick up our new Silverado HD. My mother broke her leg back in October and has been going to physical therapy for a couple months. She can walk pretty well with her cane but we had to use a step stool to get her in and out of the dually diesel truck. It was a pretty funny sight! That was a very fast and comfortable ride. My mom was amazed at how nice that truck rides.

 Poor Isabella the puppy had to be boarded at the vet. Apparently, she had a wonderful time according to the staff! She is a social butterfly and loves everybody, even the resident catsJ.   When we got her home, she ripped through the house at a hundred miles an hour for 10 minutes straight!  That was pretty funny. There is no place like home.

The weigh-in was awesome! I haven’t seen that many people at a weigh-in since the Championship. The people in South Carolina are so friendly and really get into bass fishing. Dave finished in 8^th place with his second top ten in a row. We are very proud of him! I got to see baby Wiley again, Brian and Allison Thrift’s new addition. He is a cutie! I haven’t gotten to hold him yet because his grandmas never put him down for a minute!

I felt bad for Jimmy Houston. Poor guy had an awesome bag of fish and couldn’t count them because he was late coming in on the 3^rd day. He always smiles and laughs no matter what happens. Not to mention the guy knows more jokes than anyone I’ve ever met in my life!  I love the FLW staff and fishermen. We are like one big traveling family and we take great care of each other.

It was neat to see the change in scenery driving from northwest PA, down south. Once you get to Virginia, its like spring has sprung! The buds on the trees were so beautiful! The sun is finally out today but it’s only in the 30’s. It’s the kind of day to sit in a sunny window to warm your soul.

I hope everyone is well, healthy and happy. Think Spring!

Anne Lefebre

Gramps Lost His Cane

Dave writes...

We just returned home from the second event of the season on Beaver Lake in Rogers, AR. where I finished in 7^th place.

Hooking up for the long trip home.

We, as usual, drove both the Siverado HD and the Suburban and towed both the boat and fifth wheel trailer. Anne and the kids usually follow me, but this time we had the “boys” truck and the “girls” truck. Me, Mitchell and Gramps occupied the Dually and Anne, Macy, and Izzy (our dog) rode in the Suburban.

We left home a couple of days early because I had to pick up my new Ranger boat in Flippin, AR before heading to the Beaver Lake. That last 3 hours of the trip to Flippin makes you appreciate driving a Chevy. It is up and down, round and round, and it never seems to end, it’s totally crazy. But the tow package and breaking system makes climbing the steepest hills a piece of cake and coasting down those ridiculous grades with the 25,000 pound trailer effortless.

If you can tow on those roads in that part of the country, and in driving rain too by the way, you can tow just about anywhere.

My Gramps was my copilot most of the way. This was the first time he’s spent so many hours in my dually and he couldn’t say enough about the comfort and roominess. He also noticed how quiet it was compared to my old diesel truck. He couldn’t even talk on his phone in the Ford F-350 because it was so loud inside the cab.

Gramps is also a map guy, he likes to follow where we are on our trips with an atlas. He was blown away by the GPS system in the truck too. He’s seen it before but never got to play with it. On this trip he learned how to use it and now he’s the GPS Master! We had a great time on this trip. Gramps said that in his 84 years he has never seen roads like the ones around Flippin, and I believe him.

We did have a small mishap however on our way back home yesterday; Gramps left his home-made walking stick in a restroom somewhere in Missouri. He didn’t realize he had forgotten it until we were about an hour north, so we couldn’t really go back. Fortunately, we were able to find the phone number from a receipt, so we called and the manager said they would ship the cane up to Erie for us. Gramps was pretty upset about the idea of losing that cane. He actually found it out at our old house when I was a little kid. Many years later he re-found the old stick in his basement and cut it, sanded it down, and then stained it. It was actually a cool looking thing that got a bunch of compliments, I hope nothing goes wrong and it shows up in the mail soon.

Talk to you after the next event on Lake Hartwell, SC!

Dave
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Anne writes...

We have just returned from Beaver Lake in Rogers, Arkansas. It was an awesome tournament. Usually, Dave does horrible there but this year he did fantastic!  We are very proud of him even though he is disappointed he didn’t win.

We took Grampy with us on this trip. It was good to get him out of the cold and snowy weather for a little while. We took him to the War Eagle Mill which is a real working mill. There are two stories of gift shops and a really great restaurant on the third floor that serves some of their sandwiches on homemade bread they make from scratch right at the mill. Delicious!  They have a ton of old farm tools hanging on the walls which Gramps enjoyed. He said it brought back memories of his childhood where he remembered seeing and using most of them. Gramps is 84 years old and still movin’! The kids and I (and Isabella) enjoyed his company.

We camp at the Hide-A-Way campground which is WAY up on top of a hill in Rocky Branch (still Rogers) every time we go to Beaver Lake. The owners are so nice and the area is beautiful, especially in the spring when the dogwoods and other trees are blooming. If you are looking for a peaceful getaway I highly recommend this area.

The weigh-in show at the arena was awesome! If you haven’t been to one you should check it out. All of the sponsors have booths set up and they give away a lot of samples.

There is also a ton of things for kids like coloring tables, giant blow-up bouncy slides, casting contests and games with prizes. Mitchell and Macy always have a great time at the Fun Zones.

One of the difficult things about being on the road is being away from family, especially when they need you and you need them. Saturday, the second night of the tournament, my step-dad passed away. He and my mother live next door to us and have taken care of our house and everything while we traveled for the past 8 years. Last year, I wrote in one of my blogs about how Papa loves his Chevy Suburbans. He did! He always had one and took such great care of them. When we got our first Suburban, it was amazing to see how much they changed over the years. Papa’s Suburban parked next to ours looked like a perfectly preserved dinosaur!  He had a great time looking over our truck but he still loved the look of his old one. It is hard to look at that Suburban parked in the driveway next door and know there will be no more long drives for ice cream and exploring the countryside with Papa. We love you forever Papa Hank!

Looking out our window at Papa's old Suburban

Love and Blessings to all of my friends out there and we’ll see you down the road,

Anne Lefebre

FLW Tour Kicks Off In Florida

Dave writes...

The first tournament of 2011 is in the books and it was real slug-fest. I have never seen weights like this in my experience and I’m just glad to have survived it with a 36^th place finish. I had the chances to make the cut but I’m happy that I at least got a big check and a solid start to the year.

An Okeechobee Pig!

Anne, the kids, the dog, and I all traveled together to Clewiston, Florida in the Silverado HD dually. We towed the 5^th wheel and camped at Okeechobee Landings. It’s funny, we packed the Suburban too the day before we left, but when we started driving south, I suddenly realized that we didn’t need to take both trucks. We had been planning on picking up my new boat in Florida and towing it home, but at the last minute I found out that it would not be done in time. Somehow it slipped our minds that we only needed one vehicle, so in the -10 degree wind chill, we unpacked the Suburban into the camper and all piled into the diesel. We were actually about 20 miles into our trip when I called Anne, who was following me, and told her we should be riding together, lol.

We pulled off at the next exit, unpacked everything, and then Anne took the Suburban home and got a ride back to Wendy’s where me and the kids were waiting with an early lunch. It was quite a fiasco, but well worth it in my opinion. The only bad part was not having the Suburban when we finally got to Florida. It’s cool because it has the sunroof of course. Both trucks have air conditioned leather seats though which is awesome when it’s hot like it has been.

Speaking of hot, it was 1 degree on our truck thermometer when we pulled out of the driveway, well actually my Gramp’s driveway. We stayed at his house the night before we left, there was chance that he was going to come with us, but he had some doctors appointments in the way, oh well, we’ll drag him to another one later.

As usual, the HD never missed a beat in the snow and ice and in the mountains of West Virginia and Virginia. This was the first time we’ve all ridden together in this truck, so we never really realized how big the cab was. The kids had a huge amount of room in the back and because the diesel engine is so quiet, they never complained about not being able to hear their movies, which was a problem in the old Ford. And it’s cool, the HD is a beast of truck, designed to work and tow, but it actually rides really comfortable, almost like a car. We enjoyed the 22 hour trip in Daddy's big truck, as Macy calls it.

Florida is great, hot, but great. We went to Palm Beach for a couple days before the tournament started to relax and watch the kids play in the shark infested water (read Anne’s blog to find out more, lol). It was nice to get away from the cold while the nasty winter storms covered the rest of the country, the timing couldn’t have been any better for us. But we are anxious to get home as always and get ready for the next trip in a couple weeks to Beaver Lake, AR. On the way home we plan to stop at the KOA just north of Jacksonville, FL to watch the Super Bowl on Sunday. Then on Monday we’ll start the long journey back to Union City, PA. GO STEELERS!!!!

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Anne writes...

It is good to be back in Florida! We left three feet of snow and temperatures in the negative to be here.  We decided to come to Florida a couple of days earlier to thaw out!

We had an awesome drive down towing the camper with our Chevy Diesel. It is so comfortable, quiet and roomy. The kids and the dog had a lot of room to spread out in the back seat.

Everybody asleep in the HD.

We are so proud to be a part of the Chevy blogs again this year! Chevy is such a wonderful company and their staff at the tournaments is fantastic!   Kellogg’s is back and Dave will be sporting the Tony the Tiger/ Corn Flakes jersey this year as well. THEIR GRRREAT!!

We stayed at Okeechobee Landings which is on the southern end of the lake in Clewiston, FL. It is a beautiful place with a heated pool, shuffleboard and a recreational room with games and a pool table. It is also close to town and Roland Martin’s Marina, very convenient.

We went to West Palm Beach a couple of days to swim and hang out at the ocean. Thank you to Randy and Sara Tharpe for puppy sitting Isabella. She got to play with their two Beagles, Riley and Cooper for two days. They were 3 tired dogs after that! We saw Portuguese man-o-wars washing up on the beach and black tip reef sharks swimming very close to shore. It was unbelievable! We counted 5 different sharks. Obviously, we didn’t go very deep into the water after that. The kids are learning so much traveling the country. Every time they see something new, we have to run to the computer and Google search to find out more information. I love how inquisitive they are.

Mitchell is 8 and we are half way through 3^rd grade. He is doing great in his studies and is very bright. He loves gymnastics and building Lego’s. Macy is 4 and just learned to swim under water with her goggles in the swimming pool here. A big accomplishment for her! We work on school with her also. We have a sight word wall in the camper for her which she can read 20 words and is also learning to add. They are both doing wonderful in school.

 

We had fun at the beach while it snowed back home.

Last but not least our puppy, Isabella! I don’t know if any of you remember when we got her last year while we were at the Dardanelle, AR tournament. We drove to Missouri to get her. She went to puppy school and did pretty well. She's still a little high strung because she is a terrier, but I think she is improving...well, kind of!  Anyways, she turns 2 this year and I’m hoping the puppy stage will disappear soon! She is a good girl, very sweet with the kids and loves everybody and every dog. I’m very thankful she is an awesome traveler. She is the first one in the truck wherever we go!

           

The first day of the tournament Dave came in with a 23lb-12oz bag.  He had a great practice and even took the kids and I out for a boat ride to see some alligators the last day. Unfortunately, day 2 of the tournament he lost a 10lber on a bed 3 times! It was hard for him to swallow being on winning fish and not making the cut. He ended up 36^th which I think is great, but to these guys nothing is good unless you top 10 or win. I guess that’s what makes them the best!   

 We are leaving Sunday morning to get to the Jacksonville/ St.Mary’s KOA. It’s on our way home and the owners are HUGE Pittsburgh Steelers fans. Almost as huge as we are! We wanted to watch the Super bowl surrounded by black and gold and terrible towels.  GO STEELERS!!!

That’s about it from Lake Okeechobee, in beautiful, sunny, warm Florida! I will miss it and shed a tear every time Dave and I set foot outside to shovel the walk and snow blow the driveway. (Dave could care less as long as the ice is still thick enough to go ice fishing!)    

We will see you at Beaver Lake in Rogers, AR for the first FLW Tour Major event in two weeks! Don’t forget you can watch the weigh-ins live on www.flwoutdoors.com . They have the full tournament schedule and times not to mention "on the water" up dates throughout the day during the tournament. AWESOME! (Many of the fishermen’s wives are glued to the computer during the tournament to check on their husbands!)

Take care and we’ll see you down the road,

2010 OFF SEASON

We are currently in the middle of our longest break of the season. Our last trip was in mid October and our first trip next year will begin toward the end of January. The FLW Tour will kick off 2011 on Lake Okeechobee in Clewiston, Florida. We always look forward to heading south in January and getting away from the snow and ice, not that we don't love the cold, but by the end of January it's always nice to sit on a nice beach somewhere while the kids play in the sand. We also miss our many friends who we only see while at the tournaments.

Easter egg hunt with friends..Jacob, Candie, and Jared Browne

 I have some new and exciting sponsor news to announce soon and cannot wait to start a brand new season on the FLW Tour. Anne and I will also continue to write blogs this upcoming year, keeping you updated on our activities while we travel from place to place. We hope you all have a blessed holiday season and a Merry Christmas! 

Talk to you soon,