WEBVTT - Ep. 478: This Country Life - Air Canada and the Lost Baggage Blues

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to This Country Life. I'm your host, Brent Reeves

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<v Speaker 1>from coon hunting to trotlining and just general country living.

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<v Speaker 1>I want you to stay a while as I share

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<v Speaker 1>my experiences in life lessons. This Country Life is presented

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<v Speaker 1>by Case Knives from the Store More Studio on Meat

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<v Speaker 1>Eaters Podcast Network, bringing you the best outdoor podcast the

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<v Speaker 1>airways have to offer. All right, friends, grab a chair

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<v Speaker 1>or drop that tailgate. I've got some stories to share.

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<v Speaker 1>Air Canada and the Lost Baggage Blues. We need an

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<v Speaker 1>introduction to this episode about like I need an excuse

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<v Speaker 1>to cook fish. I don't need it. I am bear

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<v Speaker 1>hunting in one of my most favoritest places on earth.

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<v Speaker 1>So join me at the fire. Let's get started. My boss,

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<v Speaker 1>Garrett Long called me after the first of the year

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<v Speaker 1>and said, be thinking about what projects you want to

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<v Speaker 1>do this year. And by projects he meant what we

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<v Speaker 1>call long form films like the Manitoba moose Hunting my

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<v Speaker 1>good friend, the cinematographer Dave Gardner, and I shot last

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<v Speaker 1>October where the northern lights danced above our heads for

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<v Speaker 1>a week. That's a big question and one that I

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<v Speaker 1>didn't take lightly. My mind raised around the globe was

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<v Speaker 1>I thought about places I wanted to go and the

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<v Speaker 1>animals I wanted to chase. The working at Meat Eater

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<v Speaker 1>is not a free ticket to hunt wherever and whatever

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<v Speaker 1>you want. We're in the storytelling business and that weighs

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<v Speaker 1>heavily on the decisions that we make about the content

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<v Speaker 1>that we produce. It's not just closing your eyes and

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<v Speaker 1>chunking a dart at a map to see where you're going. Oh,

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<v Speaker 1>there are emails and meetings upon meetings about getting the

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<v Speaker 1>storylines approved, as in what the Hunt is really going

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<v Speaker 1>to be about? What story are we telling? Then we

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<v Speaker 1>have meetings to get the budget approved. Following that hurdle,

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<v Speaker 1>licenses and permissions not just a hunt, but for filming

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<v Speaker 1>the hunt and moving people plus their equipment to remote

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<v Speaker 1>areas is tackled by the producer and associate producer, whose

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<v Speaker 1>job it is to ensure that all the eyes are

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<v Speaker 1>dotted and all the t's are crossed. Traveling to another

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<v Speaker 1>country to work, even a neighboring one, comes with a

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<v Speaker 1>lot of paperwork and documentation. By producer Jason Rarig and

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<v Speaker 1>associate producer Omar Lopez worked their hind ends off to

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<v Speaker 1>ensure that Dave and I had everything that we needed.

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<v Speaker 1>Now I call them mine, but I don't want to

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<v Speaker 1>infer that they work for me, or better yet, infer

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<v Speaker 1>that they answer to me. They work for me, all right,

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<v Speaker 1>but in the sense of coordinating all the moving parts

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<v Speaker 1>of a big production that takes a focused attention to

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<v Speaker 1>detail to be successful. One unsigned document, one negated fee

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<v Speaker 1>or permission, and the folks at customs will look at

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<v Speaker 1>you like they finally caught the dude that was breaking

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<v Speaker 1>wind at the supper table. They will turn you around

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<v Speaker 1>and send you home and will have forgotten you even

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<v Speaker 1>existed before you can get out of the airport. And

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<v Speaker 1>when you see Jason and Omar's names at the end

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<v Speaker 1>of the Schauffeur less than a second in the credits,

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<v Speaker 1>it's pretty easy to look over their participation. But you shouldn't.

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<v Speaker 1>They made it easy for me and Dave to get

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<v Speaker 1>ourselves in all our gear from different locations in the

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<v Speaker 1>good old US of A, across the border at two

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<v Speaker 1>separate crossings, only to link up in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. I

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<v Speaker 1>would be in three different airports before I went wheels

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<v Speaker 1>down in the fourth at Saskatoon. But the hiccup came

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<v Speaker 1>in the third when I checked in through customs in Toronto.

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<v Speaker 1>With my passporting hand and hope in my heart, I

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<v Speaker 1>made my way through the maze of rope lines to

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<v Speaker 1>be met by a Canadian border agent who flagged my

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<v Speaker 1>boarding pass with a purple highlighter. When I answered her

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<v Speaker 1>question of had I brought a weapon with me? And

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<v Speaker 1>I said yes, ma'am, she looked at me all over

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<v Speaker 1>and said as if she was looking for it, and

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<v Speaker 1>I told her that I didn't have it with me.

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<v Speaker 1>It was urchier equipment, and that it was locked in

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<v Speaker 1>a case and it had been checked in my baggage

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<v Speaker 1>when I left Little Rock three flights ago. She held

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<v Speaker 1>her hand in front of my face and said, wait

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<v Speaker 1>here now. I looked at my watch. My next flight

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<v Speaker 1>would start boarding in an hour. Hopefully this wouldn't take long.

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<v Speaker 1>Upon her return, she said, take this paper and go

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<v Speaker 1>downstairs to the customs office to declare your weapon. Have

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<v Speaker 1>taken it off the aircraft? All right, Well, this shouldn't

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<v Speaker 1>be a problem. Just follow the painted line on the

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<v Speaker 1>floor down past the other border edge and hit the

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<v Speaker 1>stairs at the lower level. How long could it take

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<v Speaker 1>to check a bowl in a half a dozen arrows.

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<v Speaker 1>When I got to the top of the escalator, the

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<v Speaker 1>den of noise from the lower level grew more intense

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<v Speaker 1>as I descended into the depths of that airport. Halfway

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<v Speaker 1>down the wall, petition to my right disappeared, and I

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<v Speaker 1>saw a sea of people and baggage carousels. It was

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<v Speaker 1>utter chaos, and I assumed that this would be the

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<v Speaker 1>place where I died. No Jason or Omar to help

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<v Speaker 1>me get through this one. I was all on my own,

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<v Speaker 1>and there wasn't a soul in this Canadian fire drill

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<v Speaker 1>that was taking place before me. They gave two hoots

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<v Speaker 1>in hades whether or not I made my next flight

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<v Speaker 1>much less. Eventually jobbed to hole in one of their bears.

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<v Speaker 1>I was absolutely lost the agent id who made it

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<v Speaker 1>seem that there was someone waiting for me at the

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<v Speaker 1>lower level. But when I stepped off that escalator, the

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<v Speaker 1>only folks I saw were travelers like me, most of

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<v Speaker 1>them that were speaking languages that didn't remotely sound like English.

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<v Speaker 1>At first, I wondered what language they were gibber jabbering

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<v Speaker 1>back and forth in that congestion of humanity. Then I

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<v Speaker 1>remembered how I almost felled Miss Glenetta Burk's Seventh Great

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<v Speaker 1>English Class, a language I'd have been speaking for over

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<v Speaker 1>a dozen years to that point. Didn't matter, but they

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<v Speaker 1>were speaking. The only thing that mattered was me finding

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<v Speaker 1>someone who would say, Brent, you're all checked in, not

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<v Speaker 1>gonna get on that airplane and get ready to poke

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<v Speaker 1>a hole in the old black Bear. But I did

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<v Speaker 1>not see that person. I thought about going back upstairs,

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<v Speaker 1>but those clever canoocks had already thought of that. That

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<v Speaker 1>escalator was a narrow one way street and set at

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<v Speaker 1>a speed that I don't think Carl Lewis could have

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<v Speaker 1>been fast enough to get back up. No, sir, I

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<v Speaker 1>was at the mercy of my wits and navigating worked

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<v Speaker 1>this problem. I started to sweat. I hung a right

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<v Speaker 1>and walked toward an open area with fewer people, to

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<v Speaker 1>the only empty baggage carousel, numbered eleven out of thirteen.

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<v Speaker 1>I went back and forth like a metal man in

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<v Speaker 1>a shooting galler until I heard the voice of an

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<v Speaker 1>angel say, Sir, can I help you? In an accent

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<v Speaker 1>I didn't recognize or care to desire. All I knew

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<v Speaker 1>was that I had just drafted my first confidant to

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<v Speaker 1>Tim reeves. Out of eight point three billion people on

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<v Speaker 1>this planet, I had somehow managed to find one of them,

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<v Speaker 1>taking an interest in my obvious look of confusion and

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<v Speaker 1>my old panic. I didn't know what kind of uniform

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<v Speaker 1>she had on, but I think she worked for an

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<v Speaker 1>airline that I wasn't even flying. But she had a

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<v Speaker 1>radio and she wasn't scared to use it. She asked

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<v Speaker 1>me how I got there. I explained as best I could,

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<v Speaker 1>how I started out up in Southeast Arkansas at nineteen

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<v Speaker 1>sixty six and just hit the highlights until I got

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<v Speaker 1>to the park. About meeting her here today, And after

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<v Speaker 1>she came to she asked form, I checked back receipts

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<v Speaker 1>and told me to wait right there, and she hurried off,

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<v Speaker 1>out of sight in a mass of people moving in

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<v Speaker 1>every conceivable direction. I looked at my watch forty minutes

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<v Speaker 1>until my next flight started boarding, and she told me

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<v Speaker 1>to wait right there. And I promise you had that

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<v Speaker 1>airport caught on fire while she was gone. The pile

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<v Speaker 1>of charcoal with a Southern accent beside carousel number eleven

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<v Speaker 1>would have been yours. Truly, I wasn't moving. I checked

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<v Speaker 1>my watch, and with thirty minutes left until the Air

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<v Speaker 1>Canada flight eleven twenty five started boarding out of Gate

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<v Speaker 1>thirty four. I saw my most favorite person in Toronto

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<v Speaker 1>making her way back to me like an Olympic downhill skier,

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<v Speaker 1>bobbing and weaving like she'd done this many times before.

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<v Speaker 1>She walked right up to me, handing my baggage claims

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<v Speaker 1>and said, you're good to go, mister Reeves. Your luggage

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<v Speaker 1>wasn't even removed from the plane. Okay, nice, So it'll

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<v Speaker 1>be in Saskatoon when I get there, right sir, it's

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<v Speaker 1>already loaded on the plane. Thank you, ma'am. I appreciate

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<v Speaker 1>it so much. Now, how do I get the gate

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<v Speaker 1>thirty four from here? Well, unfortunately, you have to go

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<v Speaker 1>back through security. Go back the way you came until

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<v Speaker 1>you see the customs agents just outside of carousel nine.

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<v Speaker 1>Go through that checkpoint, then up the stairs and you'll

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<v Speaker 1>see the security that you've already been through and the

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<v Speaker 1>signs for the gate that you're looking for. Well, I

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<v Speaker 1>thank her, and I took off like I knew where

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<v Speaker 1>I was going. I did not. The customers agents beside

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<v Speaker 1>carousel number nine snatched me out of line. I was

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<v Speaker 1>still holding that paper slip but the purple highlighter marks

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<v Speaker 1>on it, and he saw it immediately. Can I help you, sir, No, sir,

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<v Speaker 1>I got all my questions answered, just trying to get

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<v Speaker 1>Tom the gate my flight boards in twenty five minutes.

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<v Speaker 1>Well you have to take that form you got there

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<v Speaker 1>with you. Down to declared weapon, sir, Go to the

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<v Speaker 1>see the customs agent down the hallway. Well, I don't

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<v Speaker 1>have a weapon to declare, sir. It's archie equipment and

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<v Speaker 1>it's already on the plane that leaves in twenty four minutes.

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<v Speaker 1>You have to go see the duty officer, sir. After that,

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<v Speaker 1>I was not about to argue with anyone who could

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<v Speaker 1>make me doing about face, and told my person back

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<v Speaker 1>to the other side of the border. I think back

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<v Speaker 1>to the untold hordes of folks over my thirty two

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<v Speaker 1>year career as being a police officer who could have

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<v Speaker 1>stayed out of jail by practicing the same thought process.

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<v Speaker 1>I hot footed it down the hall and stepped up

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<v Speaker 1>to a row of desk where three customs officers stood

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<v Speaker 1>shooting the breeze. I showed one of them the paper

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<v Speaker 1>and he said, you're already cleared. Go down this hallway,

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<v Speaker 1>up the stairs and back into the security. Apparently they

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<v Speaker 1>didn't even offload your luggage, so it's on the plane

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<v Speaker 1>that leads from Gate thirty four in twenty minutes. Already

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<v Speaker 1>there pal good deal. Back through security, I went, we're

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<v Speaker 1>regardless of if you're pre checked or not. Your shoes

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<v Speaker 1>are coming off your feet. I did all of that

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<v Speaker 1>again and made it to my gate with five minutes

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<v Speaker 1>to spare. A fellow traveler stood nearby as I collected

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<v Speaker 1>my wind and began to calm down from the near

0:11:28.080 --> 0:11:31.000
<v Speaker 1>calamity that I thought they wrecked my trip before it

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<v Speaker 1>even got started. Good you an American, Yes, sir, I

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<v Speaker 1>am having a little issue with Airic Canada. Well I

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<v Speaker 1>don't think so, just a little confusion going through customs

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<v Speaker 1>with a bow and arrow. But it's all good now.

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<v Speaker 1>They assured me my luggage is on the plane. He

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<v Speaker 1>smiled at me, and he leaned in as if taking

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<v Speaker 1>me into his confidence. He said, I've been flying Airic

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<v Speaker 1>Canada for years. You know their motto is We're not

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<v Speaker 1>happy unless you're not happy. Well that was funny, and

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<v Speaker 1>then it brought some levity to what had been a

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<v Speaker 1>stressful fifty five minutes of trying to get myself positions

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<v Speaker 1>for the last three hour flight of the day. It

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<v Speaker 1>had been a long time since three point thirty that morning,

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<v Speaker 1>and I had been zigzagging back and forth through time

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<v Speaker 1>zones like a man possessed all over North America. The

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<v Speaker 1>route from Little Rock to Saskatoon had been anything but direct. Now,

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<v Speaker 1>with one last hurdle before me, I could rest. Once

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<v Speaker 1>I got the Saskatoon, gathered my bowcase and duffel bag,

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<v Speaker 1>and met Dave at the Saskatoon in for a late

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<v Speaker 1>supper before our five thirty departure the next morning. Once

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<v Speaker 1>on the plane, I found my seat, and I filled

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<v Speaker 1>my ears full of electronics and dozed on and off

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<v Speaker 1>as a movie played on my phone while fourteen hundred

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<v Speaker 1>miles clicked off below me. From thirty six thousand feet,

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<v Speaker 1>I could finally relax. The whole custom thing was but

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<v Speaker 1>a mere anecdote in this story that had really only

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<v Speaker 1>just begun. That flight went faster than I expected. I'd

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<v Speaker 1>been snoozing through the most of it, so when the

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<v Speaker 1>pilot came on and said we better get all our

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<v Speaker 1>plunder in order so he could land and caught me

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<v Speaker 1>by surprise. I checked my watch, but I really had

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<v Speaker 1>no idea what time it was. I'd lost track of

0:13:33.320 --> 0:13:36.240
<v Speaker 1>which time zone I was currently in, but it didn't matter,

0:13:36.720 --> 0:13:39.160
<v Speaker 1>and I didn't really care. I was about to see

0:13:39.200 --> 0:13:42.040
<v Speaker 1>my buddy Dave and get some supper. I hadn't had

0:13:42.040 --> 0:13:44.240
<v Speaker 1>anything to eat all day, and I was hungry as

0:13:44.280 --> 0:13:49.520
<v Speaker 1>a hostage and ready to relax. Twenty minutes had gone

0:13:49.559 --> 0:13:53.120
<v Speaker 1>by since we went wheels down in Saskatoon. We all

0:13:53.200 --> 0:13:57.720
<v Speaker 1>deplaned and gathered at the baggage carousel like expected ranchers,

0:13:57.760 --> 0:14:00.760
<v Speaker 1>waiting for that stainless steel animal to start pushing out

0:14:00.800 --> 0:14:03.360
<v Speaker 1>luggage babies for all of us to pick over and

0:14:03.400 --> 0:14:09.439
<v Speaker 1>take home. We waited and waited. Finally, that creature buzzed

0:14:09.520 --> 0:14:12.400
<v Speaker 1>loudly as the yellow strobe light flashed, announcing to the

0:14:12.440 --> 0:14:16.360
<v Speaker 1>world that the last activity of the day had begun.

0:14:18.360 --> 0:14:20.960
<v Speaker 1>I watched the deformed portion of that belt make lap

0:14:21.040 --> 0:14:24.600
<v Speaker 1>after lap through that curved track as one by one

0:14:25.360 --> 0:14:28.600
<v Speaker 1>passengers claimed their property had made their way outside with

0:14:28.720 --> 0:14:33.760
<v Speaker 1>their possessions. Stared at the deformed panelwin When the belt

0:14:33.800 --> 0:14:38.360
<v Speaker 1>stopped moving and the light stopped flashing, I looked at

0:14:38.360 --> 0:14:43.360
<v Speaker 1>my boarding passing corroborated again what I already knew. Air

0:14:43.400 --> 0:14:45.880
<v Speaker 1>counted a flight eleven twenty five to run through the

0:14:45.960 --> 0:14:50.960
<v Speaker 1>Saskatoon baggage area one. There was no more luggage. My

0:14:51.040 --> 0:14:54.120
<v Speaker 1>bowcase and duffleback had definitely not been on the same

0:14:54.200 --> 0:14:56.600
<v Speaker 1>plane as me, as I had been assured by no

0:14:56.720 --> 0:15:01.600
<v Speaker 1>less than three people in uniform. Well, Eric Canada should

0:15:01.600 --> 0:15:07.600
<v Speaker 1>be happy now, because I wasn't. As I stood there alone,

0:15:07.640 --> 0:15:10.320
<v Speaker 1>staring at the empty baggage collection point, knowing that in

0:15:10.400 --> 0:15:12.680
<v Speaker 1>less than eight hours I was supposed to be back

0:15:12.720 --> 0:15:15.760
<v Speaker 1>in that airport on another flight with those two bags,

0:15:16.040 --> 0:15:20.960
<v Speaker 1>one of which contained my bowl, Joscelyn said, having trouble.

0:15:21.000 --> 0:15:24.840
<v Speaker 1>Ah why I knew her name to be Joscelyn, because

0:15:24.840 --> 0:15:29.280
<v Speaker 1>that's what her Airic Canada name tag displayed. Yes, ma'am,

0:15:29.640 --> 0:15:34.200
<v Speaker 1>I'm missing two bags. Then I briefed Joscelyn on everything

0:15:34.280 --> 0:15:36.240
<v Speaker 1>she needed to know, plus something that got us to

0:15:36.280 --> 0:15:38.760
<v Speaker 1>the point where she found me sadly sending alone like

0:15:38.840 --> 0:15:41.160
<v Speaker 1>I'd been stood up at the altar waiting for the

0:15:41.240 --> 0:15:46.440
<v Speaker 1>bride who wasn't coming. Joscelyn took my baggage receipts and

0:15:46.520 --> 0:15:48.640
<v Speaker 1>walked to the opposite end of the airport, where she

0:15:48.960 --> 0:15:52.480
<v Speaker 1>took her position at a computer terminal and began machine

0:15:52.480 --> 0:15:55.960
<v Speaker 1>gunning that keyboard like her life depended on it. I

0:15:56.000 --> 0:16:00.560
<v Speaker 1>suddenly felt relaxed, and with Joscelyn handling the issue, she

0:16:00.720 --> 0:16:04.360
<v Speaker 1>turned a stressful moment of panic into a solvable problem,

0:16:04.400 --> 0:16:07.080
<v Speaker 1>assuring me that she was going to ride the storm

0:16:07.120 --> 0:16:11.320
<v Speaker 1>out with me. Mister Reeves, I found your bags. They're

0:16:11.320 --> 0:16:13.840
<v Speaker 1>coming in on the next flight, which gets here at

0:16:13.840 --> 0:16:17.520
<v Speaker 1>one am. We will have the courier bring them to

0:16:17.600 --> 0:16:21.400
<v Speaker 1>your hotel. Now we fly out in the morning at

0:16:21.400 --> 0:16:23.960
<v Speaker 1>five thirty. No worries, mister Reeves. Your bags will be

0:16:23.960 --> 0:16:26.400
<v Speaker 1>at your hotel when you get up in the morning.

0:16:27.440 --> 0:16:30.960
<v Speaker 1>They told me in Toronto they'd been saskintooned when I

0:16:31.040 --> 0:16:36.520
<v Speaker 1>got here. Well, sir, that was them, not me. I

0:16:36.640 --> 0:16:40.560
<v Speaker 1>like you, Joscelyn. I also believe you. I'm going to

0:16:40.600 --> 0:16:44.200
<v Speaker 1>eat supper and go to bed, so your bags will

0:16:44.240 --> 0:16:47.320
<v Speaker 1>be waiting for you at the front desk. So that's

0:16:47.320 --> 0:16:50.240
<v Speaker 1>what I did. I walked out of that airport with

0:16:50.240 --> 0:16:53.440
<v Speaker 1>my full faith and confidence in Joscelyn, a lady I

0:16:53.480 --> 0:16:56.040
<v Speaker 1>had only just met, but that had taken an interest

0:16:56.040 --> 0:16:59.480
<v Speaker 1>in helping someone she didn't know in as professional and

0:16:59.600 --> 0:17:03.840
<v Speaker 1>personal manner as I could have hoped for. By the

0:17:03.840 --> 0:17:06.240
<v Speaker 1>time Davi and I met up, had a short visit,

0:17:06.280 --> 0:17:08.640
<v Speaker 1>and gone back to our rooms and finally laid down.

0:17:09.440 --> 0:17:13.720
<v Speaker 1>It was after midnight. I stepped off the elevator and

0:17:13.760 --> 0:17:16.360
<v Speaker 1>into the lobby the next morning at four point fifteen,

0:17:16.400 --> 0:17:19.240
<v Speaker 1>and their stack, securely behind the front desk were my

0:17:19.320 --> 0:17:24.320
<v Speaker 1>two missing bags. When Jocelyn tells you something, you can

0:17:24.400 --> 0:17:27.879
<v Speaker 1>believe it. That morning, David and I did the whole

0:17:27.960 --> 0:17:32.480
<v Speaker 1>routine again, shuttled to the airport, baggage, checked security, waiting

0:17:32.480 --> 0:17:35.639
<v Speaker 1>at the gate. Then everything but moving like the cattle

0:17:35.680 --> 0:17:38.640
<v Speaker 1>we were simulating as we moved and heard form from

0:17:38.680 --> 0:17:40.840
<v Speaker 1>one point to the next. At the direction of our

0:17:40.880 --> 0:17:45.640
<v Speaker 1>handlers from Saskatoon, we shed our earthly bonds tracked almost

0:17:45.760 --> 0:17:50.679
<v Speaker 1>due north for five hundred miles. We stopped off in Faudelat,

0:17:51.200 --> 0:17:54.440
<v Speaker 1>a community formed one hundred and fifty years ago by

0:17:54.520 --> 0:17:58.679
<v Speaker 1>the Dunessa Lein or Dnay First Nations people, some of

0:17:58.680 --> 0:18:03.920
<v Speaker 1>whom still lived the subsistence life and fishing there. First

0:18:04.000 --> 0:18:07.400
<v Speaker 1>Nations man who introduced himself as Floyd and sat down

0:18:07.440 --> 0:18:11.480
<v Speaker 1>behind me and Dave on the long pull mort from Saskatoon.

0:18:11.560 --> 0:18:14.520
<v Speaker 1>He was a fishing guide in a trade and had

0:18:14.600 --> 0:18:19.159
<v Speaker 1>recognized us back at the airport. Now, having someone like

0:18:19.240 --> 0:18:22.600
<v Speaker 1>Floyd tell you he enjoys watching what you do on

0:18:22.640 --> 0:18:27.600
<v Speaker 1>YouTube was quite a pleasant surprise. We had a great visit,

0:18:27.880 --> 0:18:30.160
<v Speaker 1>and once he and the rest of his family deplaned

0:18:30.240 --> 0:18:33.040
<v Speaker 1>in Fond of Locke, the fifty mile hop over the

0:18:33.080 --> 0:18:37.159
<v Speaker 1>Stony Rapids was a quipment Stony Rapids would be our

0:18:37.280 --> 0:18:41.119
<v Speaker 1>jumping off spot. Situated fifty one miles south of the

0:18:41.160 --> 0:18:44.840
<v Speaker 1>border of the Northwest Territories. Stony Rapid sits on the

0:18:44.880 --> 0:18:47.840
<v Speaker 1>south side of the Fond of Locke River, the river

0:18:47.920 --> 0:18:51.520
<v Speaker 1>that our last flight would leave from, a floatplane flight

0:18:51.560 --> 0:18:54.640
<v Speaker 1>of a little over half an hour in Assessina. Caravan

0:18:54.800 --> 0:18:57.439
<v Speaker 1>would be the final time for a week that we

0:18:57.520 --> 0:19:00.520
<v Speaker 1>had to load ourselves in gear and to an air

0:19:00.640 --> 0:19:05.919
<v Speaker 1>worthy conveyance. Nick Goffs met us at the airport. Airstrip

0:19:06.160 --> 0:19:09.600
<v Speaker 1>I'm not sure which one better describes that particular area

0:19:09.600 --> 0:19:13.080
<v Speaker 1>where aircraft come and go. But don't get the idea.

0:19:13.119 --> 0:19:16.800
<v Speaker 1>I mean that disrespectfully. On the contrary, in a world

0:19:16.840 --> 0:19:21.639
<v Speaker 1>where long driveable roads only appear when water freezes, the

0:19:21.720 --> 0:19:24.440
<v Speaker 1>aircraft is king and the quickest way to get from

0:19:24.480 --> 0:19:28.119
<v Speaker 1>one spot to the next. Those two paved and well

0:19:28.200 --> 0:19:31.120
<v Speaker 1>kept airstrips and fond of lock and stony rapids were

0:19:31.119 --> 0:19:35.040
<v Speaker 1>the literal hub for everything coming in out of those communities.

0:19:36.000 --> 0:19:38.680
<v Speaker 1>Nick got a squared away and we loaded our gear

0:19:38.760 --> 0:19:41.680
<v Speaker 1>for the short drive over to the floatplane base, where

0:19:41.680 --> 0:19:46.720
<v Speaker 1>we packed it and ourselves on an aircraft piloted by Wayne.

0:19:48.600 --> 0:19:51.159
<v Speaker 1>Wayne is a local legend with a million hours of

0:19:51.200 --> 0:19:54.840
<v Speaker 1>experience flying in the Canadian North in all kinds of weather,

0:19:55.480 --> 0:19:57.920
<v Speaker 1>and just the guy you want driving you on the

0:19:57.960 --> 0:20:03.240
<v Speaker 1>most treacherous portion of the trip. Its takeoff was buttery smooth,

0:20:03.240 --> 0:20:06.480
<v Speaker 1>and at thirty six hundred feet ten times less than

0:20:06.520 --> 0:20:09.119
<v Speaker 1>what I'd been cruising at from Little Rock to Toronto.

0:20:09.920 --> 0:20:14.040
<v Speaker 1>The world didn't look any smaller, but it did look

0:20:14.119 --> 0:20:18.000
<v Speaker 1>more remote. I was reminded of eight months earlier, when

0:20:18.080 --> 0:20:20.119
<v Speaker 1>Dave and I were sitting on a similar aircraft in

0:20:20.160 --> 0:20:24.560
<v Speaker 1>the neighboring province of Manitoba, surveying the vastness of what

0:20:24.760 --> 0:20:28.160
<v Speaker 1>appeared to be an endless patchwork of water and rocks,

0:20:28.240 --> 0:20:33.240
<v Speaker 1>separated by undeveloped tracts of jackpine, willa, aspen, birch, and

0:20:33.320 --> 0:20:36.840
<v Speaker 1>spruce trees. This would be our home for the next

0:20:36.960 --> 0:20:40.400
<v Speaker 1>nine days. For nine days, we would be traveling by

0:20:40.440 --> 0:20:45.119
<v Speaker 1>boat in search of Ursus americata, the American BlackBerry, a

0:20:45.119 --> 0:20:47.879
<v Speaker 1>monikered beast whose name would lead you to believe it

0:20:47.960 --> 0:20:52.520
<v Speaker 1>referenced the United States, when in reality it identifies its

0:20:52.720 --> 0:20:58.080
<v Speaker 1>vast and growing distribution over North America, which keyed to

0:20:58.119 --> 0:21:01.879
<v Speaker 1>a stop at the floating dock at Camp less than

0:21:01.880 --> 0:21:03.920
<v Speaker 1>two hundred yards away. In the center of that camp

0:21:04.000 --> 0:21:07.320
<v Speaker 1>set a log cabin built in the nineteen sixties by

0:21:07.359 --> 0:21:12.240
<v Speaker 1>our fur trapper and floatplane pile, a man that lived

0:21:12.240 --> 0:21:14.560
<v Speaker 1>the kind of life I dreamed of living while growing

0:21:14.640 --> 0:21:19.560
<v Speaker 1>up in Arkansas. Over eighteen hundred miles southeast of where

0:21:19.600 --> 0:21:25.200
<v Speaker 1>I currently stood. This was bear Country and we were

0:21:25.440 --> 0:21:31.359
<v Speaker 1>just getting started. However, y'all that have been watching the

0:21:31.400 --> 0:21:34.280
<v Speaker 1>clock new we weren't going to be doing this all

0:21:34.320 --> 0:21:37.920
<v Speaker 1>in one episode. I only know one way to tell

0:21:37.920 --> 0:21:39.879
<v Speaker 1>a story, and that's to tell it all and the

0:21:40.040 --> 0:21:43.560
<v Speaker 1>rest will have to wait until next week. Brent, that

0:21:43.840 --> 0:21:46.920
<v Speaker 1>is a terrible thing to do. You did that the

0:21:47.040 --> 0:21:49.120
<v Speaker 1>last time you went to Canada with Dave Gardner Hunt

0:21:49.200 --> 0:21:53.359
<v Speaker 1>moose Well. Blame it on Dave. Regardless, we're in Barry

0:21:53.440 --> 0:22:00.200
<v Speaker 1>Camp now and next week the action starts pretty quickly. Now, oh,

0:22:00.240 --> 0:22:04.280
<v Speaker 1>you would be world champion. Squirrel chefs out there, You've

0:22:04.320 --> 0:22:07.639
<v Speaker 1>got an opportunity coming up on September the twelfth to

0:22:07.760 --> 0:22:11.600
<v Speaker 1>be the world champion. Get on Facebook or Google World

0:22:11.680 --> 0:22:15.600
<v Speaker 1>Championship Squirrel Cookoff. Fill out the forms, get your team together,

0:22:15.680 --> 0:22:19.080
<v Speaker 1>get your recipe together, and join me and some other

0:22:19.160 --> 0:22:21.359
<v Speaker 1>folks that you know and love at the JB. And

0:22:21.480 --> 0:22:26.640
<v Speaker 1>John L. Hunt Ozark Highlands Nature Center in Springdale, Arkansas,

0:22:26.800 --> 0:22:30.520
<v Speaker 1>September the twelfth. Get your recipe, get your folks together,

0:22:31.040 --> 0:22:34.760
<v Speaker 1>get your permits filled out and your fees paid so

0:22:34.840 --> 0:22:38.200
<v Speaker 1>you can come have a great time with dolls until

0:22:38.240 --> 0:22:42.159
<v Speaker 1>next week. This is Brent Reeves signing off. All be

0:22:42.160 --> 0:22:42.560
<v Speaker 1>careful