At the Wednesday funeral service for his son Hunter, Steve Houle shared with a packed church his family's thoughts and story about Hunter's life.

Click to read parents’ words about their son.

Click to read about the Hunter Houle that I see.

This past week I was part of a group that spent a day at Skime Ranch, the nearly 4,000-acre cattle farm in Skime, Minn. (yes, seriously) owned by Arctic Cat legend Roger Skime and his wife Bernice.

It was a day of watching Roger be Roger. It was perfect.

Click to see a few pix from the day.

Oh man, 2017 started out better than I could imagine, with a 140 mile snowmobile ride on Minnesota's North Shore State Trail with friends.

Either this is going to be the best year ever, or it's all downhill from here?

Regardless, winter is alive and well in Minnesota's arrowhead region. Click to see for yourself.

I'm thankful for the outstanding riding experiences of the past year.

I'm thankful we've made it through the detours, trail closures and rough patches.

I'm thankful we can still hang onto the handlebars while going WFO into the new year.

And I'm thankful it's the last Friday of 2016.

Rideable snow within a trailerable distance for most of us. Pretty good for this time of year.

Click HERE for the NOAA site to get every kind of snow depth info you might need.

Wishing you a genuinely meaningful and peaceful Christmas.

God bless.

This past Tuesday our gang of regulars made VERY last minute plans for a day's ride in southeast Minnesota, where snow depth reports suggested there was just enough white stuff for decent riding.

112 miles, one buried 850 and two disgusting roller-dogs later, I'm here to confirm the reports were correct.

Click to see the evidence.

Glorious fresh-fallen snow, sunshine, brand new snowmobiles...

...plus chisel-plowed fields, fear and white-painted bowling balls littering the ditches.

What's not to love about setting the first tracks of the season?

Last weekend marked the 25th Annual Spirit National snocross in Duluth, Minn. And like every preceding year, it brought chaos, uncertainty, excitement, some great racing and, perhaps, a peek at what to expect for the rest of the season.

Click for a photo essay and the observations of a hack who's been to all 25 of these events.

I'm thankful that on this Thanksgiving weekend, family and friends gathered to celebrate.

I'm thankful that those who celebrated with Canadian Club did NOT have to earn it the hard way.

And I'm thankful it's Friday, Nov. 25, 2016.

This Friday, Team Arctic snocross ace Tucker Hibbert will hit the gas on another season as the absolute commander of professional snocross racing, having won more races and championships than anyone in the history of the sport.

It's GO! time with the 68 team, with just days before the green flags drops.

Yet somehow in-between building race sleds, stocking the race semi, testing and gearing up for Duluth, Tucker found time for an interview.

Click to see how things are shaping up for the champ.

I spent a day at Arctic Cat in TRF last week, where people were fired up about an impending snow storm coming to Minnesota and a winter that was about to begin in earnest.

Engineering...production...test riding...all the good stuff!

Click to see what was going on Arctic Cat.

I'm thankful for joy I feel on a color-coordinated ride over hill and dale.

I'm thankful for the wind-cheating qualities of 100-percent polyester.

I'm thankful the skis only appear to be stuck where the sun doesn't shine.

And I'm thankful it's Nov. 14, 2016.

In the early 1960s, the premier snowmobile race in North America was the Rhinelander (Wis.) Hodag Marathon.

A cross-country race, the Hodag ran through the Wisconsin Northwoods, including going down main streets in towns like Eagle River, Three Lakes and others.

It helped set the stage for the first derby on Dollar Lake near Eagle River in 1964, which would become the Eagle River World's Championship.

Click for some great pix from the 1966 edition of the Hodag, and check out the sweet Model 100 and 140 Arctic Cats!

Today (Nov. 14) would have been C.J. Ramstad's 71st birthday had he not died in a tragic automobile crash with his son, J.J., in May 2007.

C.J. was an outstanding writer because of his ability to capture the essence of whatever he was writing about.

His column (click for it) from the Jan./Feb. 1982 issue of Snowmobile Magazine is a prime example, in which he describes a tribute to Edgar Hetteen, the so-called Grandfather of Snowmobiling.

It's an especially timely column because of the recent passing of David Johnson, Edgar's brother-in-law, who plays and important role in the story.

Happy Birthday C.J.

And thanks for all you gave the sport of snowmobiling.

Seeing this makes me feel good.

Soon...winter will be here.

I'm thankful for the great, extended season of snowmobiling that saw us eke out one final ride on July 4, 2016.

I'm thankful for the incredibly short off-season that snowmobilers must suffer through while #waitingforwinter.

I'm thankful that we'll all (potentially) be riding in continue reading ...

On this day WAY back in 1991, a low-pressure system carried precipitation from the Gulf of Mexico straight up the midsection of the country, where it collided with a massive, cold high pressure system from the north.

Three days later, upwards of 30-40 inches of snow had blanketed a large swath of Minnesota and Wisconsin.

Dubbed the Halloween Blizzard (10 inches of snow fell that night), it was a watershed weather event that paralyzed cities and certainly caused a lot of hardship for some, yet gave snowmobilers the greatest candy of any Halloween ever.

Friends and I snowmobiled all over the Twin Cities (on major roads, highways and even freeways) for two days until the plows finally got on top of the situation. I know of people who did laps around the Metrodome in Minneapolis. It was incredible.

Click for some swiped photos of that storm.

Nothing unusual going on here in the parking lot today at Arctic Cat in Thief River Falls.

Just the same, good ol' passion that's been burning bright since 1962.