walleye weekend

I was recently informed about an event happening in Fond du Lac Wisconsin called Walleye Weekend. This is happening during the weekend of June 12. Walleye Weekend is a fish tournament on the lake to catch as many walleye as possible. The winner gets a big cash prize but not everyone is in it for the fishing.

My dad has told all the guys in the Pierce family and about 6 of us have confirmed. We've decided to split the cost in a house on the lake so we can enjoy the weekend event. At walleye weekend we will listen to live music, eat great seafood, drink a lot of good drinks, and hangout by the lake. Im excited for this because this will be my first year at walleye weekend because i am now 18 and legally allowed in. Ive heard great stories of walleye weekend and i can't wait to experience it for myself!

Summers Approaching

The seasons are a big determinant on when most people want to visit Green Lake. It is common to find much more people in Green lake during the summer time. This is because winter takes away most of the outdoor enjoyments and makes it a little less pleasant. On the hand, when summer arrives, people visit from all around the country and Green Lake Campground becomes the town's summertime hotspot.  

As May comes to an end, the annual summer campers begin to pack their items and station themselves at their camp sites. Opening Day is always a big day for the campground because the annuals return and many new campers come to enjoy their first summer at the campground. The kids immediately go play in the pools and the put put course while the adults play golf or drink at the bon fires. You see people walking through the streets and catching up with their campground neighbors and friends. This year Im not visiting until July, but ill still be super excited to run out in the campground and say hello to all my old friends. 

Madison and UW

One of the major airports in Wisconsin is located in the capital in Madison, Wisconsin. In Madison, the University of Wisconsin takes up most of the city enrolling about 30,000 people. Sometimes when I fly to Wisconsin to visit my cousins, I often spend a couple days in Madison and enjoy the college town. My favorite part about Madison is Camp Randle. This is the stadium where the Wisconsin Badgers football team plays. This stadium is one of the loudest and filled stadiums in all of college football. I really enjoy watching badger games in Camp Randle because it was always my dream to play for the badgers football team. Unfortunately, i was not able to get recruited by the badgers but i will still always be a fan. Recently my brother Chris took a job in Madison working as a medical salesman. This gives me the opportunity to visit Madison more and enjoy the college town and especially the badgers play next season.

What Happens In July

July is the biggest month of the year for me. On July 14th I leave to college and start summer workouts for football. I am going to move into a dorm and start an important part of life. College is going to require a lot of hard work especially because I am fighting for a spot on the team. Workouts are going to last through the rest of the summer and it is very important that I show I can power through them. Also, depending on how I play once we get out on the field, will determine if I will red-shirt my first season or dress out and play my freshman year. I hope my talents are good enough to show that i can play my freshman year and compete. Red-shirting isn't such a bad idea because it gives me the opportunity to play an extra season. For example, even if I am given a jersey to dress out on game days, but not getting much playing time, i could just give it to another player and  red-shirt the season instead of dressing out so i can get an extra season. However, it all comes down to how i play at the college in July.

Maxene and the Chipmunks

My uncle Ron is super cool. Everyone in and around Green Lake knows Ron and have legends about him and his dog. He lives in a neighborhood home with his wife Jackie, and two kids, Sean and Alacia, and dog Maxene. Ron used to be a serious hunter in the Green Lake woods and has taken down some of the area's biggest bucks. Maxene (we usually call him Maxy) was always Ron's hunting partner and helped with the majority of Ron's kills. Besides hunting birds and deer, Maxy was extremely good at controlling the chipmunk problem in the backyard.

When I'm not able to go to the woods at 5 a.m. I can be found in the bushes of Ron's house hunting chips. The chips dig through my uncle's yard  making holes and destroying the grass. So, I become Maxy's assistant and we strategize how to find and kill the chips. I use a pump BB Gun and pop the chip as soon as i have sighting. Next, Maxy sprints at the chip and grasps it with its jaw before it limps down its hole. Once Maxy delivers me the dead chip, i toss it in the meadow so it wont smell up the yard. 

Summer 16

The trip is finally official! My cousin Tom finalized the payment for a mansion on Green Lake in the summer of 2k16. We have the house for two weeks following the weekend of July 4th. The house has 20 rooms and and can fit all 22 Pierce members. It is required for all Pierces to attend this vacation for at least one day. If anyone from our family is unable to attend the lake house, then the trip is off. Green Lake is such a cherished and memorable town for the Pierces because it gives us all the opportunity to unite as a family and do the things we love to do. My cousin Tom has reserved two boats for the vacation which i expect to spend all my time on. One of the boats is a pontoon boat which we just hangout and relax on. The other boat is a wake board boat which we use to water ski and wake board.

Candice

To be honest, mostly every time I visit my hometown in Wisconsin I'm not out hunting or fishing on the lake. I usually visit during the summer season where the only things to do are hang out in the campground and stay in the small city. My uncle Rick owns this campground thats called Green lake Campround. For the past 20 years he has been improving and expanding the campground which has brought in people from all around the country The campground has many nice people that stay there all summer long.  At the age of 12, I was at a Wednesday movie night in the park and was introduced by my brother to this group of kids. I hung out with them and they were very nice so i hung out with them the next day too. I got along with this girl Candice and we spent nearly every day of my visit doing anything we wanted at the campground. The day I was leaving back to Miami we got each others phone numbers and said bye. We contacted over the entire year and video chatted to keeping touch. We planned a visit to meet at the campground the next summer and we had so much fun. We went to the Wisconsin Dells which is one of the nation's best water parks. I try to visit to Wisconsin as much as I can but I'm lucky if ill get there even once a year. However, Candice and I have done a great job contacting each other and are always excited to visit each other whenever we can.

Sports For Days

In the Pierce family, there isn't one male over the age of three that hasn't participated on a sports team. The most time consuming and self interest activities involve many simple sports and serious competitiveness in my family. We love to play basketball because it is the easiest and quickest to play and the winners of each previous game always brag about who has the champ belt.  Other then basketball, we enjoy getting in the yard and tossing the football and if we feel aggressive one day we might even play tackle. The experience of one Pierce member on any sports team, usually brought the sport and competitiveness to the backyard or whoever we anted to play with our family. 

Some activities we don't consider sports but enjoy, involve much athletic ability. For example, activities  such as wake boarding, hiking, golfing, or skiing, are very common interest to us. My family even gets competitive doing this stuff but we always enjoy doing them with each other. Wakeboarding is my favorite thing to do in my free time. I try very hard on the water and will take nasty falls trying to do big tricks. I hurt myself sometimes but the pain doesn't linger for long. usually just like a face plant to the water or my knee hitting me in the face. 

Around Town

Besides the small town of Green Lake, the state of Wisconsin has many others great attractions in and around the state. Almost every time I fly to Wisconsin, I always visit Green lake to see my extended family and friends. Unfortunately, Green Lake does not have an airport and the biggest and busiest airports closest to Green Lake is either the Milwaukee or Chicago airport. I actually enjoy arriving in these cities because they are big and have many things to do. Fortunately, i have extended family living in Milwaukee also which helps because Milwaukee has some of the greatest food in Wisconsin. I especially love how they always take me to these low-key fire restaurants. Flying into Chicago is also pleasurable because it is on of the biggest cities in the country and has many attractions such as the Willis (Sears) Tower, Chicago pizza, and world famous Linkoln Park Zoo. As you can see, flying to Wisconsin is my favorite vacation because I also get to visit other places many people would dream to visit to. I hope to visit God's Country before the summer begins and maybe take a drive around all the attractions near Green lake like the cities of Chicago or Milwaukee. 

Green Lake

Wisconsin is a state that holds a lot of land, woods and especially, lakes. The town and city that some of my family currently lives in is called Green Lake. This is because the city is named after an enormous lake that spreads across 27 miles! This lake is also known for being the deepest lake in the state of Wisconsin. My cousin Greg lives nearly a mile away from a ramp dropping down to the lake and owns a 25 foot boat that he keeps on a trailer. One of my favorite things to do on a summer day in Wisconsin is go out on my cousin's boat and do many things on Green Lake. Our most common thing to do on the boat is do water sports such as wake boarding, tubing, and water skiing. Even in the Winter, when going in the water is physically impossible because of the 2 feet of frozen ice on the surface, their are things to do on the lake.  A couple of things that I personally enjoy are ice skating and ice fishing. Although both activities require much warm clothes for the cold weather, it is still fun to get out on Green Lake and enjoy the many privileges of this amazing lake!

Brutal Cold

One of the many reasons I love the state of Wisconsin is because of its dramatic seasonal weather change. The Spring is easily everyones favorite time of the year when it just starts to warm up and all the green and life comes back to nature. The summer can be as hot as Miami reaching temperatures off 100 degrees.  The fall gives the prettiest and most colorful changes in the leaves and forests. Honestly, the views from the hilltops and big lakes are the most scenic sights I've seen. But the winter is probably the toughest part of living in the state of Wisconsin. 

A cold winter day in the state of Wisconsin can reach below -10 degrees. Anyone that is not used to these temperatures will never step foot outside of a heated house. This is because once outside, your face becomes numb, your ears hurt more then ever, your toes feel as if they are falling off, and your hands are pretty much useless. However, if you were raised or lived around this type cold for a good amount of time, the feelings or effects of the cold don't affect you as much. In fact, their are many to do outside if you can withstand the cold. One of the most common things to do is gather around a bon fire and share stories and enjoy s'mores or drinks with friends or family. My family would do a bon fire at least twice a week which gets us together and helps us enjoy each other. 

Its a Lifestyle

In God’s Country, it really comes down three basic cultural enjoyments; traditional football, great drink and superb food.   The Green Bay Packers are one of the greatest football franchises and have a tremendous following of fans and supporters.  During the season, the Packer Airways are full of interviews, articles, debates, etc.  The games are unbelievable to attend and they are always sold out.  Part of the Packer celebrating and cultural enjoyment includes an abundance of Wisconsin beer, brats and cheese.  The state is know for brewing fabulous barley malt drinks such as Pabst Blue Ribbon, Old Style, Leinenkugel and Schlitz to name a few. 

Being America’s Dairyland, the state also develops some of the best Cheese in the world.  The local people tend to enjoy the nickname “Cheeseheads” developed by Chicago Bear fans, since the Bears have a hard time every beating the mighty Packers. Finally, “Packerland” is full of meat packing companies that makes some of the best sausage in the world called Brats.  One of the largest company’s in Wisconsin is Johnsonville Inc, know for some of the best Brats in the state.

So come to Wisconsin on a brisk, sunny, fall day and experience the Green Bay Packers, by enjoying a tailgate party filled with Leinenkugel, Johnsonville Brats, and plenty of Cheddar Cheese.  Don’t forget your Cheesehead hat!

Buck City

Just in case you were not familiar to the exact location of "God's Country"most of the world knows it as the state of Wisconsin. Known for its whitetail deer, Wisconsin is believed to have the best hunting in the United States. As the season of fall approaches (and the cold weather) in the year 2015,  I embark on one of my yearly visits to God's country. One of the most exciting parts of this hunting trip is arriving to the Buck Headquarters. Headquarters is located on the most southern part of the woods and inside you will see the best sight if you are a true hunter. On all four walls you will see the best trophy bucks and turkey that were hunted in these woods. Once I step foot in the Buck Headquarters, all the hunters gather around and plan the morning hunt. As opening morning of deer season begins, the hunters wake up at 5 a.m. to walk very quietly through the woods to their assigned tree stands. My tree stand on opening morning was deep in the heart of the woods and us hunters refer to this stand as the Eagle's Nest. Wisconsin deer hunting regulations prohibit any hunting shots to be fired before sunrise, so as the minute strikes 7:00 a.m. the sound of gunfire spreads throughout the woods. Two minutes pass by and my heart begins to race because an 8 point buck runs nearly 30 yards from by location. I clap my hands one single time to shock the buck hoping it would stop running, and it does! I raise my shotgun and pull the trigger taking down the biggest buck of all hunters on opening morning!