We actually got snow!!!

It has only taken a month but we finally are the recipients of some snow! Not a heck of a lot...but enough to cover the bare spots. I would guess in the range of 2-3 inches here at my place. I do not have any gauges up here yet...probably will wait until fall for new snow gear. The rain gauge will be up soon I am sure! Snow/Wintry Mix is in the forecast for today turning warm and mostly clear over the next few days. We are going into March...so I would guess if you are going to get out and ride you had better do it fairly quickly. I doubt this snow is going to stick around long in most places. Hopefully I am wrong though.

I did go out riding by myself on the 17th. I tried to shoot over to Indian river from Alanson...bad idea. I got part of the way through the swamp along Banwell Rd. and turned around. It was horrible...mostly dirt. So I rode up to Pellston and took the trail toward Harbor Springs. I followed the trail until Tower Rd. and decided I was going to hit the power lines. Note to self: do not go power lining alone. I had never been back on this part of the power line before...it was rough. My sled handled it nicely...but lots of little rivers and small bogs/ponds to cross. Not to mention lots of fairly good drop offs. It was fairly slow going since I did not know the area...and I actually had to use my brain to solve the puzzle of how to get up/down the hills! :P Two hills nearly had me in...I started down and saw a river at the bottom. I did not know how deep it was...so I did not want to cross it. I stopped for a second to gather my bearings. I came up with a game plan to turn the sled and head to a ice covered portion to cross. (I toyed with just trying to turn around...but I could not get the sled to cooperate. :P) I hit the gas and my track sunk. I thought I was going to have to walk out...but with a little bit of playing around she popped back out and I got across the river. The next near disaster was going up a steep hill...there was no other way up that I could see...so I headed up. Well, it was not as steep as I thought, and I got some pretty good momentum about mid-way up the hill. As I approached the top I saw it had drifted out of a bit and the only thing to do was bust through the drift. I hit the gas, track sunk, skis hit the drift, front of sled popped up into the air and nearly came back over top of me. Luckily it dropped back down a bit before I got stuck and watched my sled tumble to a swamp water grave in the bog below. It was still a long way out of there...I would have been walking at least an hour before I found a way out. On the sled...15 minutes tops. So I have a bit of practice to get under my belt before I try that again alone...but it was fun!

I have not ridden since then...probably will go out today. Lots of good trail now that we had a few more inches of snow. Enough for now...I will be sure to take my camera today!

-Derek

Happy Valentine's Day

It has been a pretty lazy day...not a heck of a lot going on. It is very different not having to throw wood on the fire every couple hours...it keeps me a little more relaxed. I have not had to worry about a single thing since we switched locations. I shoveled the driveway once...and if I get cold I just turn the heat up. I like it. There are still times where it is weird not having the responsibility of throwing wood on...and times where the heat would be nice...but I can live without it. ;)

To make the day better...we were just sitting on the couch and saw a bald eagle fly over the back yard...just over tree level. It is the second eagle I have ever seen. The first was at McDonald's if you remember correctly. :P

Enough for now...I do not want to bore anyone with idle chatter. Once I get the desk setup upstairs I will probably get the cam back up and running and start updating a bit more frequently. I have faster internet here too...so pictures will show up more often!

-Derek

So...

You may have noticed that I have not written in quite some time. Everything is okay...we have just been EXTREMELY busy. There was a relocation involved and my days have been filled with work and bringing everything to my new place. I am still in Northern Michigan but on the opposite side of the bay. We found our "dream" house and could not pass it up. So now my updates will be coming from Charlevoix. :) Unfortunately, I have not yet found a way to get my sled onto the trail system here...(we have been here for a week now) so I have not been able to check out any of the new territory.

Things are a little bit different over here...but most of it is good. We have some neighbors...lake access...and no more wood furnace! :P As much as I enjoy cutting wood...I absolutely hate having to keep a fire going. So now I can reach up...flip the thermostat and I get instant heat. Weird! ;)

The other piece to my delay in writing was lack of internet. We did not have internet for the first week we were here. Mix that with having no television...I went a little bit crazy. Instead of sitting around and getting settled...we spent most of our time at the local furniture stores and Walmart trying to make sure we have everything we need. Luckily we did not need much since we had moved once before. We are settling in nicely now that we have everything we need.

I DO miss the wood furnace in one room of this house. The basement den. It is FREEZING down there...and will not warm up! ;) I think a chunk of electric baseboard will fix that...but I will probably have someone drop by to make a recommendation. I do not want to do anything that is going to jump my electric bill to $200 a month.

Anyway...I just wanted to throw and update on here and let everyone know that I am not in jail or stuck in a tree somewhere. :) It is sunny, nothing but blue sky, and 14 degrees out. Should be a nice Saturday for tinkering out the new place!

Good morning from Northern Michigan!

-Derek