12/30/09 Snowmobile Ride...

I went out for a few hours just now. Sled performed well...I am working on getting my suspension setup for my size. It might take a few tries...but I am confident that I will get it. The snow we received over the last few days has really helped the trails. I am still riding on two tracks instead...the trails still have quite a bit of dirt, sticks, rocks and other stuff that pop up from time to time. I imagine the groomers are doing the best they can at this point...but I still say they should have waited a bit initially. Oh well...at least we can get onto the trails now. :) I forgot my camera this trip otherwise I would have taken some pictures of the trip. The rail road grade in Alanson was probably the best. I drove up to Pellston before kicking off to some two tracks...it was in really nice shape.

I would rate the trails...oh I guess fair to good. I would not rate them very good or excellent by any means. Get out and enjoy the snow!

-Derek

12/26/09 Snowmobile Ride...

We got a ride in! Not a very long ride...but we made the Harbor to Pellston to Alanson loop. The trails were bad to fair at best. There was a LOT of dirt mixed in with the snow...and LOTS of bumps toward Pellston. I will say that the railroad grade was the best riding all day. Very smooth, clean snow and overall very well maintained. The rest of the trails were in pretty tough shape though. (Note: If you go off the trail to ride you will find much better results! Just be sure you are not riding on private property!)

There is a note on a local snowmobile club page that there is a 6" base in most spots with some dirt on the corners. I would love to see where they are speaking of. Most areas I saw today (in over a 30 mile ride) were snow with a lot of dirt mixed in on the entire trail...not just the corners. We need a lot more snow to fix the conditions. If you are a die hard though...there is more snow than there was in April when you put your sled away. ;) Check out some of the state land logging trails...we hit some of those today and it resulted in some pretty decent riding...not a ton of snow though.

Anyway...I just wanted to throw my opinion on the trails out there...if you would like to update or differ with my opinion please feel free to post comments. :)

-Derek

No Riding...

I mean the sled has not been started since my last time out bringing it back from Indian River. I am lying a bit...I started it today to get it out of the garage. The gas gauge continued to work...so something must have been loose or stuck in the tank. I am happy it works...and no issues that I had on my first ride exist.

Since our last big snow over a week ago we have received NOTHING. A few light flurries here and there to dust everything have passed through...but there has been no meaningful snowfall. To top that off...we are supposed to see rain Thursday and Friday. This will certainly not help the already weak trails. They were bad enough the other day...combine that will all the traffic and the grooming...not a good combination. From what I see there IS a decent base starting to build...not over 3-5" in most spots though. That should keep the rain from totally ruining the trails.

Tomorrow is Christmas Eve already. Hard to believe that another year is almost over. They keep going faster and faster. I really need to discover how to slow down and enjoy more life instead of just letting it pass me by. Maybe I will find some way to work that into a New Year resolution. ;)

Enough for now...I am sure I will be riding a bit over the next few days so I will update with trail conditions in our area. :)

Goodnight from Northern Michigan!

-Derek

12/16/09 Ride

Wednesday was my day for busy work...I had to wake up early and ride my sled over to BLM to have it worked on. They took the gas tank off and tested everything...and found nothing wrong. I am guess that something just had to be jarred loose for the gas gauge to start working again. The check engine light I had was due to something in the R.A.V.E. system sticking...but they thought it was probably a early season hiccup. I rode it back that afternoon and all was good.

The trails were not terrible...but the trip between Harbor and Alanson is quite dirty. There is snow...but a lot of leaves and sticks poking through. Once you had beyond Banwell Rd. in Alanson going toward Indian River the trails get nice. Not sure about North of HS though...from what it looks like that is where the most snow is. Kind of up the east side of Emmet county.

That is my quick update...probably will give more reports tomorrow or Sunday. :)

-Derek

Any trail reports?

I have no been out since Sunday so I do not know what things are like. (Darn work anyway!) I get to take the sled in for service again tomorrow...gas gauge continues to bother me and the check engine light came on a few times. I did not have problems with either Sunday...but I am not real trusting of the beast right now. From what I am reading online...people are liking the trails. Unless there was a big change from Sunday I am doubting some of the trail reports I have read...unless I am missing something or maybe missing the areas with the most snow. However, our area typically sees higher snowfall than the rest.

So, you tell me. Where are the good spots? Where is everyone riding? Is there anywhere that is particularly sweet right now? I do not want you to give away your secret spots...but some trail info would be cool.

Hopefully I will see some of you on the trails this weekend! I might have the break out the ol' Yamaha for a few days if my Renegade is not done.

-Derek

12/13/09 Trail Conditions

I took a ride toward Harbor Springs this morning...(Alanson yesterday morning) and found fairly poor trail conditions. Where the groomers have gone through already the trail is covered in leaves and some dirt. There is a lot of nice snow in some spots...but overall I was very discouraged compared to where the trails were BEFORE grooming. I think the gun may have been jumped just a little bit on bringing the big equipment out. They probably should have waited until the snow had a chance to pack a bit. Do not get me wrong...the trails can be ridden...but I would not spend too much time in the area if you are looking for good riding. However, the further North I got the better the trails seemed to be...so maybe the Northern sections of the trail system are worthwhile?

Leave comments on trail conditions!

Thanks,

Derek

We Got Some Snow...

That might even be an understatement. Since Friday evening we have picked up around 18 inches of new snow in our neck of the woods. Everything is white...the sleds are out...and I have even made it out for a short ride. Unfortunately, not many of the surrounding areas were as lucky as we were...and the snow levels are far less. Where we had 18 new inches...others only received in the range of 6-10. We rode into Alanson yesterday to hit the rail road bed...and I was tossing up a few rocks and some dirt. My skis did not appreciate the trip. Once we rode back up on the hill though...travel was much better.

I have another problem with my sled...the gas gauge is not working. Hopefully that is a quick fix and life will be back on track by next weekend. If that is the only problem then I will be extremely happy. I am still working on my 10 hours for the new piston...I do not think it will be an issue with all the new snow!

If anyone is up for a ride in the next week or so let me know. outdoorsmi@gmail.com I would be more than happy to ride along!

Enough for now...I think I need to squeeze a quick few miles in before getting ready for the work week. ;)

-Derek

Get Your Sleds Out!

From what it sounds like we are going to see a pretty good lake effect snow event that takes over for a couple days starting Thursday evening into the weekend. Not sure how much will fall...but winds are looking to be from the West/Southwest which provides our area with high potential for LES. Temps look to stay in the low 30s for highs and in the low to mid-20s for lows. This should put us in pretty good standing for a decent event...that will bring enough to at least get the sleds out of the garage. We can only hope I suppose. :P I am no meteorologist...I just go by what my observations have been in the past...and what is general knowledge.

The sled should be ready to rock and roll...it came out of the shop at the end of the season last year...ran it for a few minutes and the house and then winterized it. I have warranty left and will probably purchase the second year warranty toward the end of the month. You never know when something might go wrong I suppose.

Anyway...just wanted to update about the snow. :) Keep your fingers crossed! If we get decent snow I will make sure I get the OutdoorsMI Cam back up this weekend.

-Derek

Snow!!!

Roughly 3 inches and still falling. I will keep my fingers crossed for a few feet by tomorrow. ;)

-Derek

November Is Over?

I cannot believe that tomorrow is the end of November. This month has absolutely flown by...as you probably have been able to tell by my lack of posts. I have been busy getting ready for Thanksgiving, Christmas and winter overall.

We spent Thanksgiving with the wife's family...fun stuff. It was a very quick trip. Down the day before and back the night after. It was a long drive and a bit stressful...but we both made it through. Fortunately the weather held out for the trip...now it can let loose because we will probably not be going down there again for quite some time. I could deal with a few feet of snow to fall tomorrow. ;) I did pick up quite a nasty cold there...my ears and nose are killing me. I have had a headache for the last two days. Today was better...but I am still probably around 50%. Now that I think about it my stomach is actually hurting a bit...I hate it!

The Christmas decorations are going up...we had some lights put up by my parents while we were gone...and I finished up some today. We bought our tree today and will probably put it up in the next few days. We picked up a wreath too...that was my final decorating activity for the day.

My sled is ready....I will note it again that it is a 2009 Ski-Doo MXZ Renegade 600 E-Tec. The sled is for sale but only for the right offer and is not listed anywhere but here. I can send pictures and info if you are interested. I can deliver within the Emmet County area...otherwise you will be responsible for picking it up. Whether I sell it or not...I look forward to a good winter of riding. :)

It looks like we might be in store for a bit of snow for the beginning of this week...we should see temperatures in the mid to upper 30s for highs...and lows in the upper 20s bumping up to around 30. The best part? It supposed to be SNOW...not rain. I might be able to at least ride down our trail on the property for a quick few minutes. It might be wishful thinking...but it sure would be cool to get the sled back out!

Anyway I just wanted to let everyone know that I am still here...I will start posting a bit more once the riding takes place...certainly more pictures will go up.

Goodnight from Northern Michigan!

-Derek

Welcome To November...

I am proud to announce that all my outdoor work is done for the fall. I have no more leaves to pick up, no more wood to cut and no "stuff" laying around outside. I would say the only thing I have left is to move my weather station. I am going to mount it onto the garage...I believe the location that it currently resides results in poor wind readings. So my job for the day is to get that moved. I also heard rumblings that I might be working on a computer for somebody...but I have not heard anything yet.

So I am starting to run some snowmobile video ideas through my head...nothing real impressive yet. I know one of my goals is to do more than still shot YouTube videos. I want some action! Unfortunately, there really is not room for that around here. I am hoping that some of the logging they completed over the summer will leave me with a few nice trails and open areas to explore...without other people knowing about them. For once I would love to be the one to break some powder...I love trail riding but that just does not make for good video. :P Especially on a hybrid sled!

I am continuing my tradition of keeping the deer away from hunters...the apple tree dropped its fruit for the year and I placed it at the back of our yard. It should take the deer a few days to find it...and then hopefully will keep them happy until hunting season is over. I am curious about the baiting rules this year...I have not heard of any bans but I could be wrong. I suppose in my case I am not baiting but just disposing of yard waste. The deer are here anyway...I am not trying to get them to come here. :P A couple years ago we did the same thing...we have a LOT of pictures of them. One in particular has its tongue curled out...which reminds of the commercial on TV for those Fruit Rollup stickers or whatever they are called. The commercial with the deer and some other animal sticking their tongue out to lick the kids face. That is great! I would post a link to it but it appears that YouTube is having trouble.

I did just think of another thing I have to do before winter! I need to get the OutdoorsMI cam back up. I have a network card for the computer that will run it...and I believe the camera should work for the meantime. That will be my second or third project today. It is almost winter...time to stop being so darn lazy! :P

Enough for now...I will try to post something tonight if I get the cam up. :)

Derek

By The Way...

I did clean house and got rid of those stupid graphic ads I had on here. Only a few people used them to get discounts at retailers...so I figured I would just get rid of them. If you did happen to use them and would like a link let me know.

Derek

Happy Halloween!

It is hard to believe that I have been doing this for two years now. The original posts came a couple days before the end of October. I will be the first to admit that I have been a bit off topic for the last year or so...especially in 2009. My focuses have shifted and time was running short. BUT...no sense in getting down on myself...I did that a couple months ago. Instead I would like everyone to jump over to the right hand side of their screen...scroll down a bit and look through the two years. Look for your favorite story or post. I did have a number of fairly good stories last year from camping with a couple friends. I tried to throw as much negative humor into them as I could...but I did really have a good time each time we went out. You can post a comment on any of them...or shoot me an email at outdoorsmi@gmail.com to leave a note. I would enjoy some feedback! :)

So anyway, Happy Halloween! It sure does look like Halloween today...the leaves are completely stripped off the trees (in just a couple days) and it is WINDY! We were under wind advisories last night...and AccuWeather warned of wind gusts up to 40 mph. All night long it sounded like a large machine was running outside the bedroom window...but it was just the wind blowing past the house. I imagine the kids will have a quick trick or treating experience this evening. Sadly, in Petoskey we do not have any malls or indoors arenas for them to go...in Traverse City they have the mall. Honestly though, how much fun would it be to trick or treat inside? Those will be the parents that get their kids immunized and use timeout for discipline. I am not against immunization...but take it easy! Getting sick once in a while is not the end of the world! Remember? What does not kill us makes us stronger? Yeah. That is why we all die from the flu...we cannot fight a simple virus. As far as timeout goes...forget that. Nothing better than "red dot" to make them behave. I am not saying beat your kids....but I know I learned not to do things by getting a spanking once in a while. So...take your kids into the wind and cold! Teach them to be real people and not the babied mush puppies that you have been teaching them to be.

Wow...a rant! :P My last post was about an ORV ride. It turned out that I should NOT have been out that day! I hope I did not cause anyone to get into trouble. The Emmet County ORV Ordinance was scheduled to be enacted 60 days after it passed. Well, it turned out to be 65 days. The ordinance took effect on 10/18/09. I have been out a couple times since then...just taking two tracks and roads through the area to make sure the Suzuki is going to live. :P All seems to indicate that it will be around for years to come. The two tracks around here are perfect for riding...most are fairly straight and easy to ride on. If you happen to meet another ORV or a car it is easy to take action and get out of the way. There should be a few good days of riding left...one goal I have is to go ride the Tomahawk Trails over in Cheboygan county. Roads are nice...but trails are even better. :P Once Emmet county defines a trails system with the DNR (hopefully that connects to Cheboygan county) we should be in a bit better shape to take on the ORV tourism industry.

Knowing that outdoorsmi.com has been possibly hijacked until March...I have started the design again. If I cannot get the domain back I have been considering other possibilities. I have a new logo created...possibly with a few adjustments I will make the change on the blog first. I would like to re-brand a little bit and start doing a but more 'production' of material instead of just rambling on and on about things I do. I will certainly still have that on a blog section...but the rest will probably consist of different features...possibly on a weekly basis.

So with that...I will get moving for the day. Pumpkin carving awaits! :D

Good morning from Northern Michigan!

10/14/09 ORV Ride...

It went MUCH better than yesterday! :P No blood, no pain and no bandages. I made it just over 12 miles just poking around the roads in the area. It was fun...but weird. I am so used to NOT being able to ride on the roads that I feel like I am doing something wrong. I have my ORV sticker...and my ride meets all the requirements of the ordinance...but it just feels wrong. ;) I am glad it is not though! I am curious to see a map...or at least some additional information regarding what is considered a county road. Are seasonal roads county roads? Seems like it...they just are not maintained. That will be the big thing in my neck of the woods...if seasons roads are off limits the riding will be rather boring. All the paved roads are nicely mowed to trail width along the side up our way...I assume that was to make travel a bit easier? Or maybe it is just that time of year to mow for the last time. If anyone wants to hit the roads and shoot over to the Tomahawk trails in Cheboygan...shoot me an email at outdoorsmi@gmail.com. Anyone heard about the different township ordinances? Did any of them create their own set of rules? The Emmet County has done a ridiculously poor job getting the word out about this stuff...they have had two months and I have not heard a word about it. The only things I have seen change are some of the signs on the seasonal roads...they actually have road name and stop signs now. Weird! :P

The four wheeler seemed to work just fine...I noticed that it kind of smells a bit like oil burning but I think it is probably just from rarely being used...or maybe where I spilled a bunch of it last summer without burning it off. Hopefully getting some gas and oil moving through it will soften everything up or burn any excess off. :)

Well, that about covers it for now. I have the bug to get the OutdoorsMI cam back up...stay tuned for that update. I have a PC to run it...just need to get it hooked up. :)

-Derek

More Snow...

We had some more snow last night. :) It was falling pretty good for quite some time...but by the time I went to bed we started to see more rain than anything. I got a bit over excited and turned all of the outside lights on so we could watch the white stuff fall...it really got me in the mood for some outdoor stuff.

Before the snow can stick we have a few things to finish up outside. I have a row of wood to cover, some more lawn furniture to put away and LOTS of leaves need to fall to be picked up yet. It is a bit depressing knowing that we probably over two months before the actual riding will happen. Last year when the trails opened on December 1st we were able to ride. I am really hoping for the same this year. :D

In other news...today was the first day that the ORV ordinance was in place. I took my first legal ride down the road! Sadly, I injured myself in the first five minutes. I met a car and pulled over to talk for a few minutes. I dropped my goggles and bent down to grab them. My hand slid down the side of the four wheeler and a sharp piece of plastic tore the skin behind my thumbnail off. OUCH. It hurt...hurts a lot. I looked at my hand a moment after leaving the car behind...blood was running down my thumb and down my wrist. I was like "you have got to be kidding me..." Unfortunately, there was no kidding. I turned around and headed home. A quick bandaging and I was good to go. I did not though...I figure I will wait until this weekend to do some riding. :)

Enough from me for now...my creative juices just are not flowing tonight. :P

Goodnight from Northern Michigan!

-Derek

First Snow!!!

It is getting late...but the first snow was seen tonight! Just a few flakes were falling...but my wife verified that it is in fact falling! :D

-Derek

Cutting wood...

I hate it. :P I really do not hate it...but with the rain and cold that we have had I just do not care to do it. We cut a bunch of trees for the new satellite dish and all of them need to be picked up now. I chunked them up a few weeks ago...but I have had no motivation to get them moved, split and stacked. Dang it! So now that it is raining and cold I get to do it. Sweet! To top that off...the tractor battery will not charge so I am having to use the four wheeler. It moves faster...but it just does not have the stability that the tractor does. It is difficult to steer and I have to shift. :P

Hauling wood is not done in vain though...to walk in the house and have it be warm and dry is really a change from the last couple weeks. I have been keeping it fairly cold and with the rain it has been fairly damp. Getting the furnace going, even though it sucks to use it in October, is not such a bad thing. Especially since the gas tank just cost me $325.00 to fill. :( I should start taking donations. ;) Anyone who feels bad about me not buying a house can donate to my fund to help me get into something for next year!

The rain has stopped for now...and it looks like it will keep its distance until Saturday. Finally! Some sun will do everyone here some good. Temps are going to work their way into the mid-40s for highs through the weekend and into next week...lows down in the mid 30s. Yay! You know what mid-30s means...we MIGHT get to see some of the white stuff...at least maybe some thick rain.

Well, enough from me for tonight. 10/13/09 Emmet County ORV ordinance takes effect!

Goodnight from Northern Michigan!

Welcome To Seattle, MI...

Not really. We are getting enough rain you would think you were sitting right next to the Space Needle! :P My rain gauge is still out of commission...not sure what the deal is. It has been a very soggy start to the week though. It rained on and off yesterday...today it was raining when I went to work and has not stopped since. The roads on the way to the house are starting to look more like rivers will all the water pouring down off the hills. When I got home I was greeted by a small lake at the end of our driveway so I went out to push some dirt around so the water goes into the woods. It is a really good thing they keep building the road up...that way our driveway floods more and more each year. Way to go Emmet County! By far we have some of the most brilliant minds designing our road systems. I am not saying I could do any better....but yes I could.

My quick glance leaf color report...on the hill we are probably 75% green still. I would guess that is because of all the rain we have had. In the next week or so though...I predict these puppies will start falling with a fury. Yay for raking leaves in the rain! I do hope it dries up a bit...I desperately need to get the rest of the wood split and stacked. This rain is not helping the drying process at all!

Anyway...this will be a quick Tuesday update...the cat is bugging me and will not stop crawling on the keyboard. :)

Goodnight from Northern Michigan!

P.S. Only a few more days until the ORV ordinance is effective! Have you seen any signs being put up? Any word on a map? If so, email me at outdoorsmi@gmail.com. Thanks!

-Derek

Go State! / Feels Like Fall!

I am happy to announce that MSU beat Michigan in OT...26 to 20. That is a beautiful thing...two years in a row baby!

The cold is here and summer is gone. We have not had temperatures much above the high 50s for the bulk of last week...and so far mid 50s today. It has been raining a lot too. On Monday/Tuesday I believe we had just over 2 1/2 inches of rain. On top of that it rained most of the day yesterday and for a little while today. My rain gauge stopped working yesterday so I am not sure of the totals today...probably about time to change the batteries.

I have been taking care of the typical fall "stuff " that has to be taken care of in Northern Michigan. I shaved the lawn down, drained the pool, picked up all the lawn furniture and now all I have left is to pick up the rest of the wood so it will be dry by winter. I admit I am cutting it a bit close...but the wood has been cut up for the last few weeks. I should be able to finish that up today into tomorrow. Overall there really is not a heck of a lot going on up here in my neck of the woods. I imagine we will be going to buy pumpkins for Halloween soon...and maybe some other decorations for the yard.

Other big news: I have the wood furnace going. We still need to do a bit of clean up to do on it...but it works and we are warm! Possibly too warm. ;) (Me anyway!) It was mid-June when I finally turned it off...so things are pretty much up to par. Can you believe that? Just a short 3 1/2 months ago I stopped burning wood for the summer! Sadly, there were many days during the summer that we probably could have burned wood to stay warm. Overall, it was a nice summer if you like cool and dry. We may still see some nice warm days...but rolling into October we would really be pressing our luck.

Well, that covers most everything I have for now...trust me there will be a lot more updates as winter approaches. I am a bit disappointed that I am not going to be able to move over to outdoorsmi.com now...that was going to be my early winter project. Hopefully I can get that domain back. Keep your fingers crossed!

-Derek

Doh!

It looks like maybe my ideas for outdoorsmi.com might be slightly hijacked for right now...the server that I hosted it on is down...the domain was registered by the owner...and I have not been able to get a hold of him. Fortunately, the domain has a one year renewal...so maybe I can try to pick it back up if I do not hear from him.

I noticed it was down the other day...I will keep everyone informed. I know there was not any content yet...but it server as a good advertisement for the blog meanwhile.

-Derek

What a week/end!

I will start a bit backwards tonight...describing this week and then last weekend. Just to change things up a bit. :P

Overall, things have been fairly quiet around here. People are starting to leave the area for the summer...though I suspect we will see an influx within the next few weeks for the leaf color tours. It is nice being able to drive through town without having to make my steering wheel blush! We have been on a bit of a stay at home kick...it has been very nice to just lay back and enjoy some of the remaining beautiful weather that we have been having. The temperatures have been in the mid 70s every day for over a week. The better part? We have had 0" of rain for two weeks to match the warm temperatures! The last two weeks have been better weather-wise than the entire summer.

We have had the auditors at work for our annual exam...good times. They have been busy in back and really have not asked me for much this year. I believe they are more concerned about financial information than they are the rest of the exam...but I feel my time will probably be coming. I have most everything I need for my part...and have been working to get everything that I do not have in order. I have been extremely busy getting reports and other items ready for everyone else...it has not been bad. It sure makes the days go by faster.

As for last weekend...I cut wood! I hoped I was not going to have to...but when we had our DirecTV gear upgraded we had to cut down a bunch of trees around the house. They have been sitting around for a couple weeks and I figured I had better get them picked up. So I hacked them up with the trusty ol' chainsaw. They are ready to be split and stacked now. More good times! I am thinking that over the next two weekends I will get it all finished up. I also discovered that bees have it in for me this year. Not only did I get stung nine times a month or so ago...I flipped over a piece of lawn furniture over the weekend...what do you suppose I found? A stupid bees nest. They swarmed up a bit...but I ran (like a little girl) to the other side of the house to get inside. A disaster avoided. These bees were bigger than the last. ;)

I think that pretty much updates everything for the last few days...I will start posting some information on the ORV ordinance as it draws closer to the live date...and of course snowmobiling as we come up on winter. There is a lot of fall left...so plenty of good pictures should be on their way! I did find a number of my pictures that I had lost with a software program called Flobo Photo Digital Photo Recovery. It works EXTREMELY well to get corrupt files off of removable media. I restored over 300 pictures in just 15 minutes or so. Very useful tool if you can still buy it.

That is it for now.

Goodnight from Northern Michigan!

-Derek

Urban Living...In The Woods?

During my travels over the weekend I discovered an apartment that was made to bring your mind out of the boring and monotonous lifestyle that apartment living can cause. I was very impressed with the decor and the attempts to make it more "up north". The apartment indoors is just an apartment...though there are a number of things that make it livable. Some creative lighting, pictures and other wall hangings make the inside feel very homey and comfortable. The deck outside is what I was impressed with. An area of roughly sixty four square feet became an apartment dwellers outdoor escape.

First, the plants cover three of the four walls on the deck. They range from vegetables, grasses, ivies and flowers. All of which were brought in

for a particular reason. The ivies climb the walls against the apartment to get rid of the vinyl look. The vegetables provide wall covering, color and food. The grasses are placed along the exterior railing so there is a camouflaged feel. It really makes a guy feel like you are sitting in a desert oasis! (minus the sand of course!) Second, there is plenty of space for people. The middle of the deck is completely open with a small grill off to the side. You can BBQ and sit back and enjoy the evening in

peace...without bumping elbows. Finally, the attention to the "up north" details is incredible. By "up north" I do not necessarily mean

decorations...but more or less the "feel" that you get when you are sitting next to the camp fire with good people enjoying the food,

company and beverages. So to make

this "feel" come to life, the

apartment dwellers purchased a small citronella burning fireplace.

The thing is probably no more than a six by six by six cube...with a small bowl in the center for burning the fuel. You can burn a non-citronella fuel in it for odor free flame. I did not think to ask what type or brand of fuel they used...so be careful if you find one! As the sun sets and dinner comes to and

end...is there anything better

than a camp fire? I think not. Pour the fuel into the bowl, light it up and there you have it. A camp fire that will burn 2-3 hours when full. You are probably thinking to yourself..."What is a campfire without the smell?" Well, there is an answer for all things...and they have found it. In many rustic style

stores you can find incense that often smells like cedar, pine or another wood. In this case they use the pine incense. They bought a miniaturized version of a pot belly deck stove to burn the incense in. Light that sucker up with the small fuel oil camp fire...along with some "mood lighting" provided by some dim hanging lights...and you have

yourself an "up north" camp fire experience

right outside your deck door! The also have

a small fountain sitting hidden in the plants to provide a trickling stream noise...and down off the deck in the pond there is a large fountain that sounds like a nearby rapids or falls.

I apologize for pushing so many pictures into such a little amount of text. I just wanted to show you what kind of setup they have. It was a lot of fun hanging out on the deck while we were there! I did not have a chance to take evening pictures to show the flame from the "camp fire" or the lights that are hanging behind leaves to provide some evening light. I really try to keep images of people off the site...since I do not want to make anyone mad. The deck was full the night we were there. :)

This is proof that there is hope for those living in apartments. You do not have to feel so urbanized. You can just make a few changes to your environment...as long as your complex allows...and you can really give your place the "feel".

Goodnight from Northern Michigan! (I also apologize for the horrible formatting that Blogger gives this post...I swear it looks good in my posting window!)

-Derek

Happy Day After Labor Day!

Sorry I did not get to post yesterday...we were traveling and I did not have much, if any, access to the internet. We visited Farmington Hills for a day and evening...and then drove to Holland to enjoy some of the Labor Day festivities. Unfortunately, there was not much going on! We did visit the Holland State Park and boy was it busy! There was barely a spot to walk down to the water!

Enough about that...another post will follow with some information regarding some people who have taken true advantage of all resources to make apartment living more tolerable.

Stay tuned!

-Derek

Cold, Rain and Blah...

Most of the last week was fairly decent. Not a ton of weather and temperatures remained fairly warm. Much cooler than we could have hoped for though. :P Along with this weekend came lots of changes. It has rained non-stop since yesterday afternoon. Temperatures made it into the low 60s yesterday and have no made it out of the high 50s so far today. We have received well over an inch of rain since yesterday afternoon and it does not look to stop until sometime tomorrow.

Looking out the window...you sure can tell we have had a lot of rain this summer. Everything on the ground is still extremely green. The trees are starting to show a bit of tint away from the green...but for the most part they are hanging onto the chlorophyll. Away from the house there are quite a few trees that are already losing their leaves...I am curious what that might mean for us weather-wise. I did see everyones favorite winter indicator the other day. A wooley worm was crawling on the sidewalk here at the house. It was black from head to toe! From what I read on the Farmer's Almanac website, a black wooley worm means a tough winter. That is a fairly different forecast than what all the long range meteorologists are saying. They say that El Nino is going to grip us through the winter causing a warmer than normal winter...possibly with less precipitation. I wanted to make sure I am not lying so I just went out and did some research. The Climate Prediction Center (CPC) has a few maps related to their winter forecast. Our area is going to be right on the edge of the above normal/normal temperatures. It also is in the equal chance area for above or below normal precipitation. They sure are not very clear...but guessing that far out is impossible. My research was done here. I did not spend much time on it...but I summed it up pretty good I think. :) So...it is looking like Winter 2009-10 might not shape up that bad for us. I REALLY hope it is warmer than last year! We had some incredibly long stretches of extremely cold if you remember. :P

I have been getting the bug lately. The snowmobiling bug. My wallpaper on my PC at work is a picture of my new sled sitting in a sunset...and all I have done this weekend is watch riding videos on YouTube. :P I have to say I really have not seen any that truly impress me. Everyone just wants to jump their sleds...show me some carving and scenery too please. ;) My goal this winter is to make some videos to place online. I just need a decent video camera before I can do that. ;)

It took me longer to write the last paragraph than it did for the rest of the post...so I am quickly losing focus. :P One note before I leave for tonight...I will try to get the OutdoorsMI webcam back up soon. I have a PC to run it now...I just need to put it somewhere that will not get in the way. ;)

Goodnight from Northern Michigan!

-Derek

100 Day Mark!!!!

I am getting really stoked for this snowmobile season! There are only 100 more days. That really is not much reason to be excited...but MAN my favorite time of year is finally approaching. Fall cools down (even though the whole summer has been cold, the leaves turn, Halloween shows up, then Thanksgiving and finally some snow (hopefully)! How can you not like this time of year? All the good holidays and weather are just on the horizon! Not to mention I will be married three whole years in December. Hard to believe it has already been three years!

The week was fairly slow outside of work. It was a busy week in the office for sure. A lot of projects are wrapping up and a lot of new projects are getting rolling full force. Some old projects are just finally getting moving quick too! I must admit my project management skills were seriously lacking...but I think I have a pretty good grip on what I need to do in order to get things done. I think in the past I had trouble getting a bit upset about things...and in turn I let all the projects step all over me. Not anymore baby! Enough about work.

Every day this week was HOT except for Friday. The humidity was killer too! Wednesday the rain started...and it kept falling through last night. We saw some breaks and occasional sun...but most of the week was cloudy and rainy. This did not help with getting outside! :P So instead we spent the evenings packing a lot of our "crap" that we do not use. It will go into the back room and not be touched until we buy a house. Things were just getting a bit cluttered.

Well, obviously I do not have much to write about since I am blabbing about packing up all of our old stuff. I will stop for now...hopefully I will have some interested posts or some pictures to post. Speaking of pictures...I was supposed to upload a bunch to Picasa the other day. Unfortunately, my SD card crapped out and I lost a ton of my pictures that I had taken over the last few months. Dang it! So I will start a collection again and get them uploaded ASAP.

Cross your fingers that the clouds move soon!

-Derek

A Quiet Weekend...

Not a heck of a lot was going on in Northern Michigan over the weekend...at least that I was interested in. There was the Kid Rock concert...I would not pay to see that if it were the last entertainment on earth...there was the Festival by the Bay in Petoskey as well. We drove through town but it was too busy for our liking. I am sure there were a number of other events going on...but I only had one thing on my mind. I wanted to fly my new stunt kite! :P

The kite strings that came with the kite worked their way into a tangled mess when I first tried to fly it, so we got in the car on Sunday and shot up to Mackinaw. On the way there we ran into a bit of excitement. Just North of Pellston a bunch of emergency vehicles were making their way through traffic and pulling into the airport. Naturally, I pulled off to the side of the road to let them by me. Once they passed I drove a bit further and there were probably 30 or so cars lined up along side the road. My first thought, since people were watching, was maybe it was some kind of drill...or maybe even the end of some kind of parade. I pulled into the township hall and asked a bystander what was going on. She replied "I think this airplane is going to crash in a minute." So I looked around...and everybody was standing outside of their cars with cameras and cell phones pointed to the sky. All I kept thinking to myself is "How can all of these people...when someones life is in danger...stand here and gawk and stare like they are watching a movie on television? How is it that no one seems concerned for those in the plane?" So we turned the car around and started out the driveway. Another thought came to mind. "What if the plane hits us?" Hehe. That scared me a bit...but as we were about to leave the plane gently glided onto the grass next to the runway. As we watched it come down I realized there was no landing gear. So apparently the plane had some issues and the guy flying it was pretty darn talented and new how to land his plane without wheels. :P I congratulate him for that! There was no fire, smoke or explosions...so I am sure all the people who were ready with video cameras were a bit disappointed. I am very happy for all who were aboard the plane though. I read the article in the paper today and everyone was just fine. The plane had apparently taken off from Harbor Springs shortly before experiencing electrical issues and having to land without gear in Pellston. I am just glad to know that everyone was okay...including a 79 year old man.

Anyway...to the kite strings. We went to Mackinaw to the Mackinaw Kite Co. and found some strings with some help from one of the women working. She was very nice and even showed me how to properly tie the strings to the kite. It all made sense once I saw it done... :P I felt a bit stupid for trying to get them tied the way I did the other day...but I was not discouraged. We made our way to Sturgeon Bay by way of Carp Lake. We wound our way to the state park and found HUNDREDS of people...and cars...lined up along both sides of the road by the beach. That was a bit disappointing because we could not even find a place on the beach to sit for a few minutes. We crossed over onto the dunes side of the road and got the kite ready to rock and roll. Within a few minutes it was in the sky...and then *THUD*. Not bad for a first try. Next try...up in the air...*THUD*. Dang it. Third time is a charm...up in the air...maybe for a minute and then *THUD* again. It was kind of a never ending process until we both got frustrated...and on the last flight it stayed in the sky for a couple minutes. Of course then...*THUD*. So we packed it up...feeling extremely accomplished...and hit the road to Cross Village. We took M-119 all the way back to Harbor Springs and went home.

So the weekend was not a complete loss...it was relaxing and gave us a chance to just hang out.

Goodnight from Northern Michigan!

-Derek

Emmet County ORV Ordinance Passes!

Well, everyone did it! Unfortunately I was not able to make it to the meeting...but everyone that did voiced enough opinion to get the ordinance passed. There is a 60 day waiting period before the ordinance goes into affect. That part is kind of hokey since we will be into the middle of October before anyone can ride. BUT it will be here in time for everyone to get hunting gear setup. There are more details to follow from the county...and a map of ORV trails/roads. I just wanted to drop in and let everyone know that it DID pass. More this weekend.

-Derek

Countdown To The Ride!

Help me count down to the first ride! You can keep an eye, down to the minute, on the clock to the right of your screen. I am looking to gather comments to start getting excited about the upcoming snowmobiling season. Trails open December 1st and I am pumped! My first full year driving the 09 Ski-Doo MXZ Renegade! This year it had better work as intended! As you remember I had it in the shop for nearly a month last year to get part of the engine rebuilt due to a factory defect.

If anyone wants to put together a Northern Michigan ride for the better days of the season...email me at outdoorsmi@gmail.com. Maybe we can even beat the Moose Jaw numbers? Possibly we can take donations for a non-profit or something. I know John Dee does something very similar in the U.P. and he does very well with it. It would be nice to show support through something we all love to do. Shoot me an email if you would be interested in helping to put something together.

-Derek

I Said I Would Be Busy...

Note: 120 days until trails open! (Dec. 1st)

Note: Aug. 13th ORV Meeting @ Emmet County Fairgrounds.

It turns out I was right. :P My last post was July 17th! Here it is...August 2nd. Getting things back in line after vacation took a bit longer than I expected...and it has actually been fairly nice out so I have been spending much of my time outdoors. Since most of my pictures are now dated...I will just throw them up to my picasa site for everyone to view. They will be categorized by date...and I will try to put in a brief description of what was happening when I took them. That really kind of defeats the purpose of having the blog...but I do not have time to go through and right all the posts it would take to explain everything. My picasa site is http://picasaweb.google.com/dallerding.

This weekend was fairly uneventful. My parents were up to help me cut trees down around the house so that we can get upgraded DirecTV equipment (and for fire wood of course!). Good times! So yesterday morning we woke up fairly early and started hacking them down. Everything went very well! When we were done I decided that one more tree should come down...but on my way back over to my saw I was stung somewhere in the range of 7-9 times by bees. There was a ground nest where my saw was. So my leg was a little bit sore yesterday...and even when I woke up today. I am just glad I am not allergic to the little demons. I sprayed today to either kill them or get them to move. I feel bad doing that...but I just cannot have them where I need to be. It had been many many years since I had been stung by a bee until last Sunday when I was disc golfing at Boyne Mountain. I was walking in some taller grass and got nailed on my left shin. Then yesterday I got one on the calf of my left leg...and roughly 7-8 on my right leg. We decided that was enough wood cutting...it was starting to rain by that point anyway.

So I mentioned disc golf...last Sunday was my second time out for the year. We shot over to Petoskey's course the weekend before. Boyne Mountain is a great place to play. As far as difficulty goes...it is not too easy. The course is very well kept so the chances of losing a disc are minimal. Usually you get to right the chair lift to the top...(as I probably mentioned last Fall) but this time we were shuttled by van because the lift was closed for the day. It was the first time I had seen others playing that course the same time that we were. There were two other groups that went ahead of us. I hope to get some more disc AND ball golfing in before the summer is over...Fall is quickly approaching.

I believe I am going to start my winter hobby up soon...I have never done it but I am goinig to try to make some beer. If I get good at it...my beer cost basically goes right out the window. It is also a decent skill to have so when they ban alcohol again...my basement will be ready. *laugh* In my retirement years I would absolutely love to start a small brewery. By then who knows what will be legal and what will not. Only three more years until we start deciding who our next president will be. Anyway, if anyone has any good beer making tips...post them to the comments section. :) I am sure I, along with others, would love to hear them.

That about sums things up for now...I really will try to post more frequently so I do not just give up like I did with this post. ;) My ambition level today is low due to my wife being fairly sick. She has some kind of swelling behind her ear...and it sounds very painful. She has been dealing with it for two days now...and started meds yesterday. I am really hoping that by tomorrow things start looking up so we can get back out and enjoy some August activities. Last year this weekend we were in Paradise, MI camping. I would love to try and get out to do some camping.

Thats it from me for now...watch for new pictures being uploaded.

Goodnight from Northern Michigan!

-Derek

Emmet County ORV Ordinances

Check it out! I am really hoping that support for the passing of these ordinances will result in us finally being able to use our ORVs in Emmet County! I get to ride in my woods...that is it. It is fun...but being able to get out and about would be a great time!

Check out the links section on the right hand side of the page to see information about the public meeting and the actual draft of the ordinances.

Let your friends know! Write or call the county...and maybe even show up at the meeting. Let them know that you want this to pass!

-Derek

Cold!

Luckily this time I am not sick again. It is just going to get COLD over the next couple days. Tomorrow we are supposed to see highs in the high 50s! Over the weekend it gets a little better...we should see mid 60s into low 70s. We should also see a few rain showers through Saturday. Sunday looks to turn out okay with highs in the 70s and no rain...yet.

Every once in a while I sit down and think about where I should take the blog. It is during those times that I realize that I REALLY neglect the actual content that I promised from day one. Survival, Outdoors, and Other Essentials. In that title I mean encompass not only those...but everything that I find of interest under each of those subjects, and hopefully catch on some bits that other people will enjoy as well.

I looked at my tracking stats today. There are a number of topics that bring people in to read. By far numero uno is my article on using potassium permanganate and glycerin to make fire in a survival situation. It really amazes me that so many people are interested in that! I have to admit...it is a really cool way to make fire. The others are not as popular...but people come to my site for the Ruger P345 article, articles on my 09 Ski-Doo MXZ Renegade and Northern Michigan. Some seasonal articles that I wrote, which I admit were not of high quality, brought it people looking for information on wild leeks and morel mushrooms. Finally, and this is kind of wierd, but people are searching directly for my name. I did not know I was that popular! :P In the past some of my top searches were from knife making, North Country Trail, and survival in general.

I always get down on myself for not keeping the blog on topic. However, I realized by looking at my stats today, that I really have done a 85% good job keeping on topic. When I do not have anything to write about...I usually keep it short or do not write anything at all. When there is something I feel like I need to talk about I will write about it...but most of the time I just keep my mouth shut. ;)

Anyway, with all of that, I want to thank everyone that visits the blog. I do not get an incredible numbers of hits...so I do thank all of you that take the time to glance through what I have written. I will continue to write and hope to get a bit more on topic.

I decided at the beginning of this week that some changes in my life were needed. Through the last two years I have put on a decent amount of weight. It has not kept me from doing anything by any means...but it has made it a bit harder to get out and have energy. That also comes from stress, sitting at a desk all day, and having just a general disinterest in everything. No, I am not quitting my job, but I am going to get out and do what I can to take the weight off so I can enjoy the outdoors again. I get winded just walking up the road! So I am going to walking and getting out as much as I can. While I am doing this...I hope to bring pictures and stuff to talk about back to the blog. I was thinking of featuring some sort of gear on the outings...possibly shooting some video of a survival technique or just an outdoor technique in general. This should get me started back on the right track with the blog and possibly inspire me to hurry up and get www.outdoorsmi.com up and running.

Okay, now that I have all of that out of my system, big news for Emmet County. On August 13th the county will meet to discuss allowing ORVs on the shoulders of county roads. That would not mean MUCH out this way I suppose...everyone already rides out here...but it would mean that we could do it legally. It would also mean that I could drive my four wheeler right to the gas station! How great would that be? The limitations are fairly great though. The townships in which the county roads lie can determine whether or not the roads are ORV friendly. State and US highways are exempt...so I could not ride my four wheeler to work. :P Forest roads and forest trails are off limits. No complaints I guess. The only thing I would change...not even change but plan for...would be a designated area for ORV use on state land. Cheboygan county has their Black Mountain Recreation Area. Why does Emmet county not have something like that? Maybe this will be something for the state and county to look into in the future.

When I left for vacation I promised that I would provide images of my shelter during the early stages. You can see those here: http://picasaweb.google.com/dallerding/WoodsShelter# and here: http://picasaweb.google.com/dallerding/WoodsShelterP2#. With my new found enthusiasm...one goal I have is to finish the shelter off. I will make sure I keep really close tabs on the progress and list all the pictures as I take them.

Well, this is a long post compared to most that I have written in the last couple months. I feel better about how things are going to go...and certainly about getting outdoors more.

Goodnight from Northern Michigan!

-Derek

Happy Independence Day!

Just wanted to wish everyone a happy 4th! I hope everyone has a fun but safe time! I know I would kill to go out on the boat today...but there are no lakes big enough for boats near here....AND I have no boat. :P

-Derek

Ask Me Where I Am...

The great state of Kentucky is my home for the next week. I have visitors at the house and decided it would be a good time to take some time off of work and head down here. I woke up at 5AM...on the road at 6:30AM...and I pulled in the driveway at 7:30PM. That was with an hour lunch break and a couple stops. About 12 hours of grueling drive. Traffic was not that bad though. I was expecting much worse.

I am going to try to post each night I am down here to show the area and what I get to do. It is very pretty in Eastern KY. The mountains are beautiful this time of year. They have been getting rain so far this summer...which has kept everything nice and green.

On another note...I had a request to show some of my early shelter pictures. I will do that as soon as I get back home. If you would like to email me... outdoorsmi@gmail.com.

I am absolutely beat down...so this is my very quick post for the evening. Stay tuned for my stories through the week!

Goodnight from Kentucky...err...Northern Michigan!

-Derek

I am SO HOT...

Well, the wife MIGHT agree (no guarantee)...but I am not talking about physical appearance. It is absolutely miserable up here! Some beg to differ...crazy heat lovers. Temps were in the mid-80s today and the air is still a bit on the heavy side. I prefer winter as you know...so I have some trouble adjusting to the hot months. July and August are killers for me...but as September rolls around I know cooler temps and snow are on their way. So I sound like I am rushing the summer away. I do not get to enjoy it at all because I am always at work, doing chores, or side work of some kind. So really I wish summer away as fast as possible.

Tonight was a good night though. I made a typical "picnic dinner" with hot dogs, chips, beans, corn, and a cold pop. Afterwards, we drove into Petoskey and got a small ice cream at Murdick's and walked through the Pennsylvania Park. We decided to meander down to see how the break wall is coming along (they are rebuilding it this summer). It appears that good progress is being made...but it is going to be a while before the project is done. The air was a bit hazy but sitting on the boat dock was a great place to catch a peek of all the boats floating around. We walked passed the softball game and got out of there.

I did not have my camera otherwise I would have a better story and some pictures to go along with it...I need to get better about that.

Enough for tonight...goodnight from Northern Michigan!

-Derek

Got Cold? Part Deux

I am not talking about weather...it has been a beautiful beginning to the week! In fact, even the weekend was nice. The sun has been shining and temperatures have been in the mid 70s every day. Nights are still getting cool...but they are very tolerable. The house has been staying very warm at night so I do not need the wood furnace anymore! It has been so hot in the house that I opened the window in the middle of the night a few nights ago. Unfortunately, a few hours later I felt a raw feeling in the back of my nose and throat. I got sick again. I guarantee the window being open did it to me...and I have pretty much been miserable the last couple days. Today was a bit better...it is turning from the raw feeling to an actual cold. My nose is running and I have been sneezing all day. Well, I will pull through as usual and get to my usual activities.

In other news...I started working on my shelter again! I went out Sunday and got about half of it finished up. The walls being up really strengthened up the sides that are done. I do have a bit of thinking to do regarding how the doorway will be finished up...but I will come up with something. The whole shelter is turning into a bit different shape than I expected...and really than what I was hoping for. It was supposed to be more of a round shape but it is turning into more of a mohawk looking thing. I even took some pictures of my work! I continued to stray off of my original design by not weaving all of the sticks into the wall cross bars. I weaved them through on the center portion of the wall but as I got to the edges decided that it was just too darn hard to try to bend the dead sticks into the shape they needed to be in to finish up. I think it is really coming along nicely though...and once covered with some camo (pine bows probably) it will blend

in nicely. Hopefully anyway. The darn thing is probably close to 12 feet tall in spots...so it would be hard to miss honestly...especially this winter! ;) I do not have many pictures to share but there she is. It should be fun this fall and winter to mess around in. As long as it does not cave it I will be in good shape for some winter events out there.

Anyway...that about covers everything for the past few days. I plan to do a bit of golfing over the next few afternoons...as long as the weather pans out. I have some coupons for Chestnut Valley and Marsh Ridge. I have played Chestnut before...very poorly...and I have never been to Marsh Ridge. It should be a good time!

Goodnight from Northern Michigan!

-Derek

Got Cold?

Just a quick post...nothing big happening lately. It has been cold and rainy. :( It is June 8th and I am using the wood furnace still! That is sick! Hopefully things warm up soon so we can get some camping and state parking in. I am going to start planning a light house tour for a weekend...but that probably will not happen until later in the summer.

Enough out of me for now...otherwise I would just be wasting your time. :P

-Derek

Happy Belated Memorial Day...

I have been slacking a little bit since my last post. Last week was fairly rough...and thus far this week is even worse! However, I will spare you the details and just write a quick bit.

Over the weekend we celebrated my moms birthday along with Memorial Day. I avoided most other contact with people since I wanted a nice quiet weekend to enjoy. We started the weekend at a local bar called The Side Door Saloon. I had an olive burger! You must get one if you go there. They are one of the cheapest items on the menu...but they are pretty darn good. Had a few beverages and took off for home.

On Saturday we did nothing but work on the pool. The sand filter water valve cracked in MANY different places over the years. I spent last week sealing it shut so we could get it up and running. So Saturday we got the pump and filter going and start clearing out all the algea and other sludge (dead frogs) from the pool. It was pretty gross. A bunch of pool shock and a day later it was looking pretty good. There is still a bit of sludge in the bottom...but it will be crystal clear in a few days.

On Sunday I...I have to take a quick second to make note of something Andrew Zimmern just said. "It tastes like a rabbit that mated with a chicken and had a baby." Yup...take a second and picture it. :)

On Sunday I played golf for the first time of the season. I would like to think that my game improved over the winter...magically. It was pretty bad...but it was fun. I played with my dad at Maple Ridge in Brutus. A somewhat challenging and nice course. It has certainly improved over the last few years. It may help that it is spring too! That night we had a camp fire and celebrated my moms birthday with burgers cooked on the charcoal grill. They turned out pretty good!

On Monday I played another round of golf...this time with a couple of my friends. The wife tagged along too. We played in Vanderbilt at Black Bear. That was a nice course. We played all 19 holes...my arms were noodles by the end of the day. The first 9 holes went well...but after that I let my mind get the best of me and I could not hit anything. We went home from there...and I was asleep by 8:30 PM. :P

Well, that is pretty much the update for the week. I will possibly write a bit tomorrow since it is supposed to rain and be miserable. Stay tuned!

Goodnight from Northern Michigan!

-Derek

NWTF

I had never heard of the NWTF, when Friday afternoon my buddy called and asked if I would like to go to a dinner for them.  I asked, "What does NWTF stand for?"  He replied, "National Wild Turkey Federation."  Ahhh that made sense.  I did not know Northern Michigan had a NWTF chapter.  They are the Little Traverse Bay Gobblers.  It was some free food so I snagged the wife Saturday afternoon and we met my friend and went to the dinner.  It was not that bad!  We were very over dressed for the occasion.  We had been to a Roffed Grouse Society dinner a few years ago...there is a big difference in the crowd that each group brings in.  However, there were still many upstanding people at the banquet...and none of them were afraid to show their passion for the NWTF.  Most of the auction items went for between $200 and $300.  The dinner tickets were $60 for single and $90 for double.  There were other little sales/auctions in between the major items and they went well as well.  Overall, I imagine they did very well.  Even I won something!  Nothing big, but a door prize of $10 for the new Parks Place Cafe in Conway.  In one of the blog postings I wrote about our North Country Trail trip...and we passed a place called Beach's Log Cabin.  They sold and now the place belongs to Charles Parks.  (Sorry if I am missing an E in Parks.)  He owns the funeral home a couple miles south from the restaurant.  I imagine we will be checking it out soon...I will give a full review once I have been there!

It has turned out to be a beautiful day.  For a few minutes last night I thought I was going to regret putting my snowmobile away!  We had a few flakes of snow falling around 9:30 PM last night.  It was in the mid 30s and trying to rain...but a little bit of the moisture fell in frozen form.  I did have to get the wood furnace fired up again today...I was hesitant because of how windy it is but I let it rip anyway.  I do not want to use any more gas than I have to this year.  We have lasted the entire winter on one tank of propane.  That includes a few days of laziness, all the times we were not here for a couple days, and all of the mornings when the fire had just used itself up overnight.  I personally think one tank is not that bad!  They came and filled it I believe in September or October last year.  So 8-9 months on one tank...not too shabby.  We did put a note on the tank not to fill it during the winter...it was a constant reminder to me that I needed to use wood and not burn the gas furnace.  I would say it worked!  On a normal winter we would probably have gone through 2-3 tanks.  I am proud of us because this was one of the longest and coldest winters in quite some time.  It was a darn good thing that I cut and extra row of wood though! ;)

I got wind of some potential golfing today...I have not heard anything yet but I will see how it pans out.  I have been trying to get something together for a few weeks now...I have not practiced at all yet. :P  Why ruin what might be a few good hits by confusing myself with how to hold the club all over again?  I was going to spend this summer having fun...golfing (both ball and disc), hiking, camping, etc.  If I end up buying a house...probably disc golfing and hiking will be my only spots to partake in.  They are free! :P

Anyway, enough out of me for now.  I am going to try to get the OutdoorsMI Cam back up at some point...my computer that runs it has been out of commission for a while.  I will hurry that process along if I can.  I might try to do something wireless so that I can put a cam in the woods.  That would be fun.  

Good morning from Northern Michigan!

-Derek

New Site...

I have still to work on the new site...it will happen though.  Once I get settled on something and move forward with it I will have it up and running.  My primary computer is not hooked up due to some fan issues...and I would much rather work on that PC than this one.  In fact, I think my web software is installed on that computer.  If so, this will be a quick build. :P

-Derek

Conficker...

I did forget to mention that I received the Conficker virus.  All is taken care of now...but it was a nuisance not being able to make it to any security sites to get rid of it!  Luckily everybody puts their tools on CNET for us to download! ;)  I only had it for a couple days...it came from North Central Michigan College.  The wife uses her flash drive to bring files back and forth...and the girl sitting next to her at NCMC said that she got a virus from the college.  Well, wife brought it home and infected us.  How grand!  BUT atleast it appears to be gone and all is good again in the world.  

I did use Norton Security Scan and AVG Free AV to get rid of it.  I assume this will surely help me decide to get a paid subscription to an AV service.  I believe in free...but I do not believe in how well it works. ;)  When it is free there is nothing to lose if you suck! 

-Derek

Rain, Cold and Not Much To Do...

Another week has gone by without much excitement in Northern Michigan.  Maybe I am just not looking hard enough for things to do...but with work and all the extra curricular stuff I have going...there is just not enough time in the day.  However, things are looking up around here.

The leaves are really starting to poke their heads out now.  When the wind blows it actually sounds like summer as the leaves rustle.  The ferns have lost their curly shape and are standing at full attention.  The woods is carpeted with green foliage and beautiful wild flowers.  We will soon be entering the full blown "pretty period" of spring.  That is where absolutely everything is flowering, the leaves are full, and the temperatures are warm enough to walk around without a coat on.  (Those that know me would say the middle of January is warm enough for me...but you get what I am saying.)

I did not make time for much outdoors this week.  I spent a couple extra minutes at work each day and by the time I got home I was ready for dinner and a nice quiet evening.  I look forward to a quiet weekend too. :P  If the rain stops I may go out mushroom hunting...but it just seems a bit to chilly for that right now.  In fact, I fired up the wood furnace this morning!  After nearly a month of being out of commission because of the dry weather and no green on the trees it gets used once more.  I usually do not use it this time of year because of the dry leaves on the ground.  I do not want to be responsible for a forest fire.  BUT it is raining nicely today so I figured it will not hurt much to get a small one going.  The chimney is over nearly 30 feet tall anyway...so most everything should be blown out by the time it would reach the top.  I suppose anyway...that is just my guess. ;)

Anyway...I think that about covers it for this morning.  If anyone out there rides ATVs in Cheboygan county shoot me an email.  outdoorsmi@gmail.com.  I would love to head out for a couple hours on the beast to see what it can do!

Good morning from Northern Michigan...

-Derek

Morel Mushrooms And Wild Leeks...

I went hunting today!  What I was hunting could not run away from me...and it did not take a gun, trap, or bow to kill it.  I was hunting for morel mushrooms and wild leeks.  I had success...sort of.  In all today I found 78 "caps" in around an hour.  They are also known as false morels...but from my research it turns out they are just an earlier species of morel.  Everyone has their own stories about false morels I guess...how they can be poisonous.  Well, all morels are poisonous if not prepared properly.  I have been told by a number of people that as long as they are cooked properly they will not pose a problem.  I did go out the other day and found 30 others...so my total for the weekend is 108.  There were only four "black" morels in the entire batch.  I am thinking that within the next week or so we will start seeing a number of black morels popping up.  I have discovered a couple new spots this year.  Others had been through as well...but missed a LOT of mushrooms.  I doubt some of the spots we went had been touched by foot in many years.  It was pretty cool.

My other hunt was for the wild leeks.  We have some growing back behind the house...but the supply is limited.  I wanted to find more.  I took to the woods after mushroom hunting and found a HUGE patch of them.  I need to find out about the property they are on though...if they belong to someone I do not want to touch them.  I may hit the state land around the house and check for them too.  I do not want to sell them or make money on anything from the woods....I just want to cook with them! :)  Nothing better than walking into the woods and coming out with a meal.  It is just too bad I feel weird killing squirrels. ;)

My spots will remain a secret...but certainly not undiscovered by others.  In fact, I saw some others on Friday night foraging through the woods near where we were hunting.  Weird for being so late...but I wished them luck and they went on their way.

Anyway, that is what I have been up to.  Nothing much more.  The leaves are just barely popping out but the ground is really starting to turn green.  Many of the early flowers are already nearing their peak.  Crazy!  We will see more popping up as the temperatures warm up.  We have been stuck in the cool region for a few days...in fact we are under a freeze warning for the next two days...then some rain and thunderstorms look to move into the area.  Certainly no snow though! :D  However, I was thinking about the snowmobile yesterday...I am kind of looking forward to getting back on it!!! :P  I will be summerizing all of the sleds today or tomorrow. 

Enough for now!  Pictures of my mushrooms can be seen http://picasaweb.google.com/dallerding.  They are not in the wild in the pictures...but it was my first days haul. (30 of them.)

-Derek

Signs Of Life...

After a couple weeks a extremely "blah" weather and scenery, things are really starting to look up.  The sun is shining today, the flowers are starting to pop out, and even the trees are start to bud!  So just in a short period of time this area has gone from the dullest and lease entertaining spot to a life creation "mall".  I use the word mall because there is a variety of different spots, just in our yard, that you can see different things.  In the back yard we have flowers.  They are either budding our have already popped.  You walk a bit further around the house and you will see a number of trees starting to pop their leaves out.  You will then run into the area that ditched the snow fastest and you see green grass that will be needing a good mowing soon.  Then finally you arrive in the front yard and there is a Robin nest right outside of our front door.  Literally ten feet.  They were a bit smarter this year and built it lower on our pine tree.  Unfortunately, we have had a number of cats around, but I think they have moved along.  So as long as the birds stay vigilant and do not get into to much trouble we should see some eggs soon.  Then of course we will hear the ungodly cry of baby birds 24 hours a day...but atleast they are not crows or ravens.  :P  Those are by far the worst.  

My projects lately have been fairly limited.  I cleaned up the yard just a little bit...I am extremely proud of my accomplishments from last fall.  98% of the leaves were picked up this year...so all I had to do was wake the grass up and pick up some leaves and stones that got thrown with the snow blower.  The snowmobiles are locked away in the garage, waiting to be summerized this weekend, and the four wheeler is in excellent riding condition.  I cannot wait to get that thing over to Cheboygan county to ride a bit.  

Anyway, no big updates for now.  We are still looking at houses and may have found one that will work out for us if they seller is willing to work with us.  We shall see!  It would put us a bit closer to town...and certainly take away my woods...but the convenience factor of it would make up the difference I believe.  There would be very little maintenance of the property and I could ride my bike to work in the summer...maybe even snowmobile in the winter.  That would be a good time.

There is a Gun and Knife show in Cheboygan today.  If anyone is over there...check it out.  Oh!  Speaking of that I did think of one big thing to talk about.  If you visit any of the local sporting goods stores...check out the ammo area.  There is absolutely NOTHING on their shelves.  I have very popular guns too...not anything obscure that would sell out fast.  9mm and 45.  It is pretty scary...I wish I could have stocked up when I started to buy last summer.  You have all heard of the ammo shortage...but I cannot even buy bullets for my guns!  Yay for Obama! 

http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2009-03-29-ammo-shortage_N.htm

Let us see how scared everyone can get in the second 100 days. :)

Good morning from Northern Michigan!

-Derek

Removing IE7...

I know IE7 is quite stable and works for most people...but I found that it is not supported for an application at work. To remove IE7 (or atleast stop it from working) do this: (In Windows XP)

1. Go to Control Panel and remove Internet Explorer from Windows Components.

2. Reboot.

3. Uninstall IE7 with the uninstall utility included with it. (C:\Windows\ie7\spuninst\spuninst.exe)

4. Reboot.

5. Go back into Control Panel and Windows Components...and add Internet Explorer again.

When I did this IE6 took back over and my application worked just fine.

I wanted to add this online before I forgot what steps I took.

-Derek

What Was REALLY Wrong With My Sled?

The problem was that no one really knew until they had it all torn to pieces.  The truth came out...and it was a pinched oil line.  It came that way from the factory and eventually got worse as everything settled.  The motor was bolted down on top of the oil line and it squeezed shut.  It caused damage to one of the cylinders and a piston.  I tried it out a bit yesterday and everything seemed just fine.  Unfortunately, there is not enough snow left to do any real riding.  Dang it!  I might buy a couple years of B.E.S.T. coverage from BRP next winter just to make sure everything goes well since I was not able to run it through the ringers this spring.  Rest assured I will be riding the crap out of it next December.  

The only thing I have left to do to ALL of the sleds is get them summerized.  I have been doing it myself for the last couple years and everything seems to go well.  Fog the engine and stabilize the gas.  I might have the Yamaha looked at this summer so I can get it back in running condition.  It'd be nice to have another sled so a few of us can go out.  Now that I have a bit of an understanding about how two stroke engines work (from the demonstration of what broke on my new sled) I might even try to do it myself.  We shall see.

About 95% of all of our snow is now gone.  I took the four wheeler out last night and took a quick glance around...most of the trails around our house are 100% clear.  In some of the valleys there might be a bit more snow but it did not stop me on a 250 with bald tires. :P  I will certainly be needing some new tires if I plan to do any real riding this year.  I am looking for another 250 that my wife could drive.  So if you know anyone with a lightly used 250 I might be interested.  

I am having a heck of a time getting started on the new site...I need some room in the house to work.  ;)  Just a little cleanup and I will be able to get moving on it.  I also need some good software.  I have tried a few publicly licensed programs but I am not a bit fan of them.  My favorite WYSIWYG program is Dreamweaver.  I had a copy of it but my CD broke.  I have been trying to find a replacement for it...but have had no luck.

Anyway...I have some pictures from Weber Lake that I took yesterday...I will upload those tonight and post the link.  

-Derek

The Second Most Boring Time Of Year...

Spring in Northern Michigan is probably the second most boring part of the year.  The time between fall and winter is horrible because it is cold, rainy, and miserable.  Right now it is atleast warming, the snow is melting, and the sun is out most days.  There just is not much you can do outside because there is still a lot of snow in spots.  In areas of the woods we still have nearly a foot of snow...in others it is wet...and yet others are bone dry and great for walking.  

The one thing I did do over the weekend...is get the four wheeler out!  The battery is new and charged...and everything is working as it should.  I have had it out twice just putting through the woods.  Unfortunately it is two wheel drive...so I cannot ride through deep snow.  Not a problem...it was free. :P  

The cam has been down because the computer that runs it is not running right now.  It would be neat to watch the snow melt through the day...but no such luck.  I saw a wireless webcam online today that might be something to consider.  

I think that about sums it about for now...nothing new and exciting until I can actually get outdoors and play!

Goodnight from Northern Michigan!

-Derek

Spring Is Quickly Arriving...

It is very hard to believe that it has been nearly a week since my last post.  Again.  I have been extremely wrapped up in work trying to get some projects finished.  I really look forward to that so I can enjoy my days a bit more working on new things.  

My outdoors time has been very limited lately.  Between work and trying to get the house cleaned up...there just has not been time to hang out outside.  This weekend should be good for that.  I will probably get the sleds put away for the summer and work on getting some of the snow moved away from the house.  There should also be some shooting going on...we shall see.  No worries...we will not be shooting the Easter Bunny. :P  He is safe again this year.  I will probably also get a new battery for the four wheeler and get that beast up and running.  It is only a 250...but it does everything I could want it to...other than going through snow.  It is only two wheel drive.

So here is the low down on my Renegade...and why I have not been able to ride for nearly a month.  I apologize if I have already written about it...I have a better understanding of what was happening.  (So they tell me anyway.)  What allegedly was happening is as the sled warmed up, the pistons expanded and became too big.  They slowly tore away metal and started to ruin the engine.  I took it in for stalling when in reverse if you remember correctly.  Nothing to do with it performing poorly...or having terrible gas or oil usage.  I am thinking I might have been used for warranty repair work.  Who knows.  Anyway, it took them a couple weeks to even get the parts to fix it...and now they are waiting on a hose to arrive on the 14th.  Then one month later I will have my sled back.  It really is too bad that I am a nice person...I would give them a piece of my mind for all the lack of communication in this whole ordeal.  Anyway...it is no longer snowmobile season so it does not matter.

The snow has been melting very quickly.  The North area of the yard is completely bare...while the South is still covered with anywhere from 6-12".  That should lead to some riding tomorrow on the Yamaha.  I have not been in the woods for a couple weeks...so it should be interesting to see where is snow and where there is not.  Hopefully there is enough to get a little ride in.  There will probably be no riding off the property though...since the roads are all bare.

I will give an update on everything that goes on over the weekend...and include some pictures.  It should be a decent weekend for outdoor activities...with temperatures reaching up into the mid to high 40s and nothing but sun and a couple clouds.  Overall it should be a very nice weekend no matter what your activity is going to be.  

That is enough of me for now...

Goodnight from Northern Michigan!

-Derek

Snowmobile Trails Are Closed...

One more fairly important item to note...all snowmobile trails are closed in the lower peninsula.  I am not sure when they close in the U.P. but I imagine it is not far off if they have not closed already.  As far as I know two track roads and your own private property are still game...but you cannot ride on any trails that pass through private property.  

-Derek

Mini Vacation...

I have not written because I have been on a mini vacation.  It was quite nice to get out of here...especially since my sled is in the shop.  We ran down to Holland for the bulk of last week.  It was a last second decision but we took off and enjoyed some warmer temps and NO SNOW!  We did not do much but I did check out the prices of ammo down there.  Dang!  It was very expensive no matter where you go.  It might actually be a deal to buy it up North!  :P

Today started off VERY nice.  Very few clouds and some incredible sunshine!  I saw a high temp of 45 degrees.  Unfortunately, the clouds have made their way in and any sun we had is now gone.  Temps are hovering around 44 degrees though.  Not too shabby.  Luckily for us, there is some snow in the forecast.  (I am getting a bit sarcastic when I talk about snow this time of year.)  Monday and Tuesday look to bring us a bit...no estimates on how much though.  Temps are going to hit the low 30s for highs...so there may be some accumulation.  Yay!  If I get my sled back this week...at lease I might have enough snow to try it out.  

I do have just a couple pictures to share from Holland...but my camera is sitting in the car...so I will put those on the blog later.  

Other than all of that...I mixed our mailbox and took the battery out the of the four wheeler to be replaced.  That is it!  It has been a very uneventful day so far.  If anything exciting comes up...you will know!

-Derek

Get out and ride!

This may be your last chance!!!  Not only do trails close soon...but the snow is almost gone.  The last week of warm temperatures has really taken a toll on the trails...atleast from the road.  The trails that are in the woods are probably still very rideable. Now for some good news.  We have received close to 6 inches of new snow overnight!  It is expected to keep falling all day too.  For the die hard folks this is perfect!  I might even dig out the ol' Yamaha and see what the trails look like this morning. 

I do not recall if I mentioned I took my Renegade in for service or not.  I was having trouble getting it to shift over to reverse...each time I hit the button it would stall.  After 6-7 tries it would finally shift and I would be able to back up.  Trying to shift into forward stalled the sled after backing up.  I was getting frustrated so I called Burt Lake Marina to have them look at it.  After four days I finally called them to see what was up.  I got a voicemail reply saying that they had the engine torn apart and it should be done next week.  WHAT?!?!?  It turns out that the pistons that they used in the Renegades were too large and caused damage in the engine.  So my engine is being rebuilt.  (Note: This exact same thing happened to my buddy that bought a Renegade...but his actually broke pieces of the engine while riding.  The fix is the same.  Rebuild.)  So hopefully I will get my sled back this week so I can try it out in the woods.  I really would like to ride the snot out of it when I get it back to make sure everything works as it is supposed to.  

I have not had much time to write ot work on the new site this week...my priority has been work.  We had a new Check 21 product that we had to implement on Friday.  NEVER implement new products on Friday.  Bad idea.  There is no one to support ANYTHING.  

Stay tuned for updates on the new site...I am really excited to get it rolled out!  It may take some time...but it will be worth it.

Get out and ride!

-Derek

Hey! Big News!

I am excited to announce that my blog will be moving!  I have teamed up with some additional local bloggers to develop a new site completely dedicated to the great outdoors in Northern Michigan.  All of the content that you view right now will continue to be available...but you will also receive insight from others making your viewing experience even more valuable.

I will continue to post here until the new site is done...and will post the URL when we have something up and running.  Stay tuned!

Anyway, sorry for my absence lately.  I have been sick AGAIN and this time I am trying to take care of myself.  I went to the doc and gots meds finally (after nearly a month of struggling with this sickness) and should be up and running soon.  

A quick snow update...it is going fast!  The snow off the hills is just about zero.  There are a few spots around town that have some white stuff on the ground...but nothing worth messing with.  On the hills we still have over a foot of snow.  Unfortunately, my sled is sick and is at the shop.  This will most likely be your last weekend to do ANY riding if you plan to do so.  40s and rain next week.  There might be some cooling and snow over the next couple weeks...but I think winter is about done.  I am really looking forward to getting outside and enjoying the spring!

It is now time to get some stuff figured out on the new site.  It has been a LONG time since I have had to do any real host side work...so the new release date might be a bit into the future. ;)

Good morning from Northern Michigan!

-Derek

A quick ride...

We took a quick ride to Alanson tonight.  Trails were not groomed but they were in great shape.  There were a couple spots where the water was collecting toward town...but overall they were awesome.  

Time for bed...but I will write about the ride tomorrow.

-Derek

Lots of new snow...

We got a general foot of new snow around the house.  2 hours of shoveling and snowblowing wore me out. :P  Now only 5 hours until I get to snowmobile.

More on the storm later.

-Derek

It warmed up...

We did see some 40s over the past couple days.  However, it never rained.  There is still PLENTY of snow!  I will probably hits the trails around the house today to see what kind of shape they are in.  According to HSSC the trails have a decent base, and as long as it got cold enough last night, they groomed overnight.  No news on their website yet.

From the looks of it, our winter has been spared once again!  We are under a winter weather advisory right now.  Possibly 2 to 4 inches tonight.  That sucks since I have to work tomorrow and will not get to enjoy it.  Of course after this snow it looks to turn warm and start raining again for the first part of the week.  Doh!  The good news is as we roll into the weekend it should cool off again.  This is our roller coaster season here in Northern Michigan!

Until I ride a bit I have nothing much to talk about.  I did get the four wheeler out yesterday and did a few donuts on the ice...but the battery died and I put it away. :P  The battery has been a thorn in my side since the day we brought it home.  The machine sat in a shed for a year and a half until we picked it up...so the battery kicked over.  Once we get a new one though...the chains go on and I hit the woods! :D  In a sense I am getting excited for spring.  I like the smell of the woods, the sound of the animals, and the fresh foliage starting to pop out.   PLUS, spring brings my ability to get outside for walks. ;)  This has been a COLD winter...so I have not done much outside.  No hiking, walking, skiing, snowshoeing...I have been incredibly lazy.  I will give you an example of how bad it is.  :P  We have been looking at new homes lately...Wednesday we had to walk down an unplowed driveway.  Maybe just shy of a couple hundred yards.  Half way down the driveway...my stupid leg started to get a charlie horse!  In less than a foot of snow!  How pathetic!  *laugh*  Hopefully that will change soon. :P

Enough for now...

-Derek