Visiting the Clasen's

I joined the U.S.Navy during August 1972 and headed for Bootcamp in Orlando, Florida in January 1973 for basic training. It was there I met a young recruit from Minnesota named Paul Clasen. He and I, along with two other new recruits who were also Ocean Systems Technicians, were assigned to Company 030. Over the next nine weeks we worked through Basic Training and graduated together. From there we proceeded to Fleet Sonar School in Key West, Florida for "A" school to learn our military occupational specialty (MOS).

After "A" school, I received my orders to Naval Facility (NAVFAC) Adak, Alaska. Paul was headed for NAVFAC Midway Island and the other two Ocean System Technicians (OT's) were ordered to Barbers Point, Hawaii. Over the last 50 plus years, Paul and I have kept in touch and during our travels this year Karen and I made plans to meet up with Paul and his wife Cynthia at their beach house in Herbster, Wisconsin.

On Tuesday, May 27, we were on our way to the Clasen's on the south shore of Lake Superior for a three day visit. The trip to their home was complicated by a trailer tire issue that added another three hours on the original two and a half hour journey. We were on a 2 lane state highway in Michigan when this happened:

The valve stem on the passenger rear side started to fail and our TPMS picked up the leak. Unfortunately I wasn't able to pull off the road quickly enough to save the tire.

Insult to injury: we had a leaking valve stem on the spare! So I disconnected the truck from the trailer and drove both tires into town about 10 miles up the road. Got the spare fixed and drove back to the trailer to re-install the spare.

Fortunately, we were able to get the tire issue resolved and arrived around 4:30 PM at the Clasens home in Herbster. We parked the rig in their gravel driveway and hooked up to 30 Amp service they have on the property.

We've spent our time together catching up on our life stories, hiking the lakeshore, playing games and eating. Paul and Cynthia are avid Pickle Ball players, so we had them introduce us to the sport. We played mixed doubles and had some great fun and fellowship. Karen and I are sold on the idea of learning to play more often; I think some Pickle Ball equipment is in our future.

Thursday evening we drove back into Washburn, WI with Paul & Cynthia to have dinner at the Fat Radish restaurant. I ordered Dan’s Boo-Yah a dish made of rich wine + citrus broth + vegetables + salmon + shrimp + New Zealand mussels + house salad + crostini which was delicious!

According to Wikipedia, "Booyah (also spelled booya, bouja, boulyaw, or bouyou) is a thick stew, believed to have originated in Belgium, and brought to northeastern Wisconsin by Walloons (people who speak a French dialect and live in southern & eastern Belgium). It is now made throughout the Upper Midwestern United States. Booyah can require up to two days with multiple cooks to prepare. It is cooked in specially designed "booyah kettles" and usually meant to serve hundreds or even thousands of people."

"The term "booyah" may be a variant of "bouillon". It is thought to have derived from the Walloon language words for "boil" (bouillir) and "broth" (bouillon). The spelling with an H has been attributed to phonetic spelling by Wallonian immigrants from Belgium. The Dictionary of American Regional English attributes the term to French Canadian immigrants; others attribute it to a derivation from the Provençal seafood dish bouillabaisse."

Karen, Paul and Cynthia ordered the Lake Superior Whitefish Piccata (a lemon-butter-caper sauce) and served with Israeli couscous or on a bed of fresh herb & roasted red pepper quinoa along with asparagus. We all had delicious meals!

After dinner we did some grocery shopping for the trailer. Friday afternoon we ventured back into Cornucopia for lunch and also purchased some frozen Lake Whitefish fillets. On Saturday we will say goodbye and head to Duluth, Minnesota for an appointment at the Discount Tire store to replace our blown trailer tire and switch out the spare on the trailer before continuing to Sandy Lake Corps of Engineers Park in Mcgregor, Minnesota.