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