Happy Belated Independence Day!

Not much in the way of content but I thought I should post something before all the readers end up disappearing. Honestly, that has probably happened at this point, but I would like to think I can make a come back. June was a fairly miserable, wet, and cold month...so we did not accomplish a ton.

The summer, so far, has been really busy with work and getting things around the house taken care of. I have also taken on a number of lifestyle changes to get myself healthier; that has taken up a significant amount of my time. The good news is I have been able to fit in a decent amount of ATV riding and a single canoe trip so far. There is still plenty of summer left so I do not feel too bad about the lack of activities so far. We already have some camping scheduled for August so I am getting pumped about that.

More good news is I purchased a new camera. The Kodak is still a nice camera, and will be used for specialized shots, but I found a Samsung that takes extremely good photos and is not nearly as bulky as the Kodak. Something I have been looking for in a camera for quite some time. I have a number of ATV and canoe pictures that I will upload to my Picasa page and link to here. Nothing extraordinary but it will be something for a few people to look at.

We recently attended a Gin Blossoms concert down in Mears at the Val Du Lakes resort. I was extremely impressed with the venue...and of course was very stoked to see Gin Blossoms. The opening band was a group called Push. Nice guys...we got to hang out with them for a portion of the evening on the VIP deck. (Which I would recommend if you go to Val Du Lakes...) Then Tonic was up...rocked as always...and then Gin Blossoms. A very cool night for us. I took a lot of pictures...though we did not get to meet on this trip. (If you recall we met them when they were at Boyne Mountain.)

That just about covers it for recent content...I will be sure to start adding a bit more here and there as we get into some of our summer activities. I promise!

Goodnight from Northern Michigan,

Derek

Still here...

So it has been nearly three months since I last wrote...amazing!

I will have some content soon.

Derek

Spring Is Almost Here!

I would say that I could feel it...but the only way it feels like spring is if you are sitting inside in front of a window absorbing sunlight. It does LOOK like spring...but with temps dropping into the low to mid teens and topping out in the 30s...it still feels like winter! This weekend into next week looks to bring some potential for rain and snow...either way we could really use the moisture. Considering it only has snowed a couple times since the big lake froze I assume we are going to be in for a pretty dry spring...unless of course we get a nice period of wet weather.

I really have not been up to much. I have been out on the four wheeler a couple times for decent rides...though it was very cold and the last time quite icy. I prefer riding on dirt myself. ;) If I do not have skis and a track I would rather avoid snow. The Outlander has performed beyond my expectations. I really have no had an opportunity to see what it can do yet...but this spring and summer should be a real workout for the beast. It is a 400 Max XT if I had not mentioned that in the past. That means it includes a second seat, aggressive mud tires, a winch, and a few other perks that most four wheelers do not just come with. I will start to get into the details of the four wheeler as we move forward into spring...I will certainly need something to talk about on the rainy days!

One other project that I have been putting off is a hoist for the canoe. I was really having a hard time deciding what to do with it. It was between mounting it onthe wall, hanging from the ceiling, keeping it outside, renting a storage unit, or putting it in a remote location that would have been inconvenient. I, with the help of my dad, decided that a pulley system to pull it to the top of the garage would suit me nicely. We started with a couple pulleys and eye-bolts, rope, and some J-hooks. All the hardware went up pretty quickly and we needed to test it out. Both of us pulled like crazy to get the entire 80 pound canoe to the ceiling. It was quite difficult and the ropes kept slipping off to the sides of the pulleys. New pulleys were in order! So I also decided to add two more pulleys to the mix; replacing the eye-bolts. I also needed to get something to tie the rope off to so I figured nylon boat cleats would work well. We went to West Marine in TC and Petoskey and found four pulleys that hold a ton of weight and have no space to the sides for the rope to slip into and my cleats. (The difference between the new and old pulleys was about $16 a piece...so the new pulleys better continue to work and work well!) I installed the new pulleys and cleats and the pictures you are seeing are of the final product. It works really well! So that is my big spring project out of the way. Next up is cleaning the rest of the garage and getting ready to enjoy some quality relaxation time! I did all my yard work last fall...so I just need to fertilize and start up the sprinkler system in a few weeks. It will be easy street from there!

I spoke of pictures...they still have not updated the picture upload utility to anything worthwhile. So please visit http://picasaweb.google.com/dallerding/CanoeHoist/ to view the pictures!

That about sums it up for now...check back a bit more frequently now that spring is coming around the corner. I should at least have a few more pictures to upload and hopefully a story or two to share.

Goodnight from Northern Michigan!

Derek

Big Changes In My World...

I, for the time being, am giving up "adventure snowmobiling." No more long trips and no more going off on my own into the deep woods to try to come up with stories, pictures, and excitement. I will be falling back to the old standby...my Yamaha VMax XT 600. Sadly my Ski-Doo is no more and has been signed over to the insurance company.

There is some good news to this seemingly devastating moment. We are converting to ATV riding. The advantages are many...and it should provide a bit more content to the blog...as there are probably only about two months out of the year that an ATV is a bit difficult to get around on. This winter, aside from it being frigid cold right now, is a perfect example of this! Even at this point most areas in Northern Michigan can be safely traversed by an ATV. I just need the cold to go away!

So that is just a preview of some of the upcoming blog...I will let everyone know what I am riding and where the bulk of the riding will be done over the next month or so...as we round into March then into April it should provide a real big change in content. As I move forward with the blog I hope to hit on some of the cool things that I hinted at covering last year...I think the ATV will let me explore those pieces of history a bit more closely and with a bit more detail than I could get on a snowmobile.

Stay tuned for some near future updates!

-Derek

OutdoorsMI Cam

It is back! Check it out in the 'Links' section on the right hand side of the page. It currently is a pretty old camera running it...so the res is pretty bad. However, now that I have it back up, I should get some motivation to upgrade. We will see based on the number of viewers I get. It does not show much...but should at least give an idea of whether it is snowing or not! ;)

Page Updates

I just added a link to our Facebook page to the right side of the screen. Check it out! I also added the twitter feed which will have the short versions of the Facebook posts...so this has finally become the one stop shop for OutdoorsMI!

I am still trying to get motivated to move everything over to the domain...but I believe before I start I am going to change hosts. No sense in paying when I have people in the biz that have offered to help me out for free! :) Or maybe I will host it myself? Who knows...I hate the thought of paying for business internet to get static IPs...but I would get bandwidth priority and faster speeds than I do now. Interesting concept!

-Derek

"Here I am...

and I don't have much to say." Without a winter ride...my excitement about what a good season to ride and blog it would be has dwindled greatly. I really do not have much exciting to talk about.

We did get a pretty good snow storm in our neck of the woods last week. On Friday we received 10-11 inches of new snow at our house. So much snow that the snowblower had a bit of a hard time keeping up! But the little guy pulled through for me...and with a few tweaks of the auger clutch cable I think it will be in good shape. Basically I have just sat here and watched the snow pack down though...I have not had much time to get out and about. Work has kept me fairly busy the last couple weeks.

We just installed a new phone system at work...a Cisco Unified Call Manager with contact center. Pretty fun stuff...a bit improvement over where we were a few days ago. No more calls dropping, no more barged calls, and no more small nuisances. That is over now so I took a few hours off today...just to hang out and do nothing. I was thinking we would go somewhere...maybe even get the four wheeler out...but that did not happen. It probably will not happen at this point. ;)

In other news...I did hear from the insurance company today that they are finalizing the details of my insurance claim. The first round of repairs is done...they replaced the ski, spring, A-arms, some other bars and things that matter I suppose, just to discover that the frame was in fact bent. The first repairs were fairly pricey...the second repair estimate just about made me vomit. I should know more in the next few days...but no Moosejaw for me. :(

That about sums up the last couple weeks...working and waiting for sled news. ;) So I will end it here. I hope anyone that goes out on the Moosejaw has a great time!

-Derek