And the winner is . . .

We attended the annual Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation auction and dinner this past Saturday. We have been going for the last 3-4 years with our friends the Petri's. It's usually with guys that Dale hunts with and wives. Every year they have a silent auction, raffle and oral auction of all kinds of outdoor, hunting, fishing, camping items that are donated to raise monies for the conservation and restoration of Elk habitat. So like every year we enter the raffles for the smaller items and the last couple of years we have been the silent auction winner of Mariners tickets with an overnight stay at the Marriott on Lake Union. It was a great item to bid on and win, it always fell on our anniversary weekend and the seats to the game & hotel room was awesome, looking over the lake, real cool. Well, this year there were no Mariners tickets to bid on :(. So we bid on a "key" item, that is an auction item that has a special key attached to it, there were only 6 of these in the whole auction of hundreds of items. The reason we bid on this particular key item was because it was something we can give our grandson when he gets older..much older :).. a Red Rider BB gun (no he will not shoot his eye out!). Happily we end up being the highest bidder and our name goes into the drawing for the "big" prize. At the end of the auction all 6 bidders are called forward..so we cheer on Dale as he goes to the stage with the other five keyholders. Slowly each person attempts to turn the key and open the case..Dale is the 5th person to attempt..as each person tries and is unsuccessful our table starts going crazy....It gets to him and OHMYGAWD..the case opens...he wins..now all of you that know Dale know that he is not big on outward displays of emotion, well not tonight he was sooooo excited (we are talking Price is Right excited)....huge smile..when he came back to the table he was shaking..."It's all because of our grandson" he says, so what did he win you ask..a custom 7mm SAUM rifle (elk/deer rifle) made by Oregon Gunsmithing, 200 rounds of factory ammuntion, loading dies and brass..estimated value $2800.00. So it was a good night....he went home with a new rifle, a Red Rider BB gun, a flyfishing rod, and I won a new sleeping bag. All "including dinner" for under $400. Maybe I can talk him into taking me to Spirit Mountain Casino for a lucky slot pull. . . . or two..