Wow...August 7th already. I cannot believe a month has gone by since I last posted. It seems like yesterday! We had finished painting the room and it it was only mid-July. Dang. So we are in fact in August now...and there really has not been much going on.
A couple weekends ago we decided to shoot out onto one of the sections of North Country Trail that I have never been on. Starting at Brutus Rd. we made a 4 mile trek North to the Stutsmanville Rd. intersection of the trail. It was a really pretty section of trail and I would imagine is really a nice attraction in the fall with all the colors. The trail starts with a slight incline as you get started...so I was thinking "Yay...hills." To my surprise it was not bad! Shortly after we started a fairly steep decline into the woods and down out of the hills. Half way down that hill there is a bog with lots of fresh looking greenery. As you continue down the hills it gets wetter and wetter...and eventually turns into a small stream. At the bottom of the hill it is a full out creek and is some of the coldest cleanest looking water I have ever seen. It was incredible. I almost took a drink straight from it...but decided that despite the source only being a quarter mile up the trail...it might not be the best idea. BUT that is how inviting it was! The remainder of the trail was fairly level with a few decent inclines and declines...but nothing like that first decline. Of course, on the way back, it was an incline. ;) It took about two hours for us to make our way from start to finish to start again...not too bad. I have some pictures that I will get uploaded to Picasa here in the next few days.
Since that day though...the humidity has been incredibly awful. I am not 100% sure what the highest was...but I would walk outside and it felt more like a hot rain than a sunny day. I do not do well with humidity...I hate it in fact. It is really disgusting...and this has been the hottest and wettest summer since I came back here in 2004. Not complaints I guess...it has kept the area busy and my wife is quite happy with it. That is always a plus!
We have had no canoe adventures recently...I have been waiting for the sun to get less intense and for the heat to go down. Plus it just seems like we have been very busy with getting stuff done around the house. You cannot really tell...but we have been busy with it. The bedroom is now fully furnished and we're making out way to the bathroom. After that I imagine we will start hacking away at upgrades to the kitchen. My one HUGE home improvement task is to put a pulley system on the ceiling of the garage so that I can keep the canoe up off the ground. I have some ideas...but I need my dad to help me actually do it. Two heads is better than one, right? ;)
We did visit the Antique Flywheeler's Show in Boyne Falls a couple weekends ago...that was fun. I have not been to one in a LONG time...and my wife has never been. It turned out to be a fairly rainy day but we saw the tractor parade and admired all of the work that people have put into their old tractors. They have patience and time far beyond what I have. We checked out some of the arts and crafts available and decided with more and more rain starting to fall that we should probably head home. It was a quick trip but it was nice to see that there are still so many people involved in the show.
That honestly sums up the last few weeks...sorry for not having much more...but I have been camping out in the house to keep cool. Average temps inside upstairs have been in the 80s...so my living space has been in the basement where it is cool and dry. ;) As things cool down expect to see a bit more out of me. Especially if I start taking the boat out! (and the canoe)
Enough for now. Good morning from Northern Michigan!
Derek
