weekend - Van Halen and friends holding fish

Friends gathering is a good thing and gather we did this weekend. The festivities started Friday evening for the Van Halen show at Pine Knob. David Lee was a bit behind on the vocals but the rest of the band was sounding quite well; some great B sides. 
Not to be outdone, this pack of forty-somethings were up at the crack of dawn Saturday for some fishing on St. Clair. We didn't slay them but the old saying of "the worst day fishing is better than the best day of work" applies here.
Trail Head

the motley crew at Pine Knob

 

early on St. Clair

Doke and Jim heading south

the gods weren't shining on the fish

New trails, bad dogs, and the search for famous chicken fingers

The bike tour left southeast Michigan this week for some new trails in this great state of ours; and met a bad dog along the way.    

The trip started out Wednesday morning for a visit to the Benzonia/Beulah area where Tommy M. and his family reside. His house resides in the "car an hour" area which I haven't witnessed since my last Keweenau Peninsula visit; you pretty much will only see one car an hour. With that, it made for a nice pavement pedal around the area until....a hungry (and quite pissed off) pit bull came running out of a house for us and was not stopping to see if we had any treats. Our leisurely pedal became a Tour de France pace as this dog was not slowing down. Thankfully there were no hospital visits as the dog didn't get to rip any flesh but the heart rate went from about 60 to a couple hundred pretty fast there.

The destination Thursday morning was Harbor Springs, specifically Boyne Highlands; a new trail for me. I got there about 8:30 AM and asked the help desk where the trails started. I was advised that the trails all take place at the top of the ski runs (large forest up there) and that the chair lift doesn't take riders up the hill until 2:00 PM. Another option was to pedal up; and pedal up I did. It was about a mile up but 'zigged' and 'zagged' so it wasn't that bad of a ball breaker but got the blood moving. The rain held off until I got done and a fun loop it was. 

The trip then headed south along the Lake Michigan side with a destination of South Haven, a place last visited with a friend back in the late 80's. I even stayed at the same dive motel from the 80's but couldn't locate the bar that had the best chicken fingers EVER. I wouldn't give such a shout out for chicken fingers as most places have the cookie-cutter/average kind but these were different. I was sure the one establishment I went to was it but was told otherwise and most of the wait staff wasn't even alive when I last came through. Oh well, the shrimp were delicious.

Friday morning's ride took me to Fort Custer Recreation Area in Augusta, just on the outskirts of Battle Creek; also a new trail for me. Blue skies, a nice firm trail, no dogs running for my giblets and my music player adding to the utopia, I had it all.

Thank you Michigan.

Trail Head

top of a about a mile climb - Boyne Highlands

trail head - Fort Custer

30 Year Reunion - Thirty fu**ing years!!

this was my only pose for the cameras 

Yep, 30 years ago around this time a bunch of north Oakland county-ers were done with high school and trying to figure out what the heck to do with the rest of their lives. And here we were, almost 50 and besides a few gray hairs, all the same, good people having some fun. The Milford and Lakeland combination reunion was a fun one as I went to junior high with half of the Lakeland class. I got to rub it in to Gary M. of how I robbed him of a homer back in '84 when we played each other in baseball. And I would be remiss if I didn't give a shout out to Redskin Dan M. for supplying some funny (and quite wild) stories from the day.

My favorite story of the night came from a former Redskin (who shall be nameless) who was at a gentlemen's club and ran into a former classmate who was working at said club. He was called out by name from her. 

Good memories. Ha.

Trail Head

can't remember what her call out was

New Trail, New Lake

Some new experiences on the tour this week. The first newbie was the addition to the Brighton Recreation Area trail system, the Appleton Trail. If my count is correct, that is five trails at the park; Torn Shirt (should be called 'The Bitch'), Murray Lake, Lost Trail, Found Trail (intermediate trails) and now the Appleton. The Appleton is a perfect trail for either the beginner who isn't sure if mountain biking is for them but doesn't want to break their neck trying to find out or a  nice warm-up ride for those getting ready to do the other loops. It maybe covers two miles and has no ball breaking hills or fork breaking rocks. Nice work trail coordinators.

The new lake (Indian Lake) isn't actually new. I heard about it from friends Jim and Raj (lake isn't too far from him) who indicated it would be an ideal lake for a small boat or kayak. What a jewel it was. It's about the size of Pettibone Lake in Highland and has only three homes on it with farm land surrounding; has an up north feel to it. No trophy fish to report but enough brought aboard to keep me busy yesterday morning.

Three cheers for new!

Trail Head

 

Pedaling Denver

The bike tour headed up to around 5,000 feet this week. The destination; Denver and the many bike paths (and pubs) the city has to offer.
The plan for the trip was to rent a bicycle and pedal the area. Mission accomplished on both fronts as the bike shop I contacted before arriving had a great cruiser for me and off I went on the Cherry Creek Trail Monday morning. As the name indicates, the trail follows Cherry Creek throughout the town. While riding, I found another clue that my music player has a mind of it's own. I'm pedaling along, enjoying the music and scenery when this song comes on (absolute true story):

"Colorado Rocky Mountain high
I've seen it rainin' fire in the sky
The shadow from the starlight
Is softer than a lullaby
Rocky Mountain high
Rocky Mountain high"

I have 3,000+ songs on my player and it was on shuffle. Coincidence? I think not. All I could muster at that point was "no way."
Besides a few exceptions, my trips usually include a very (VERY) basic hotel that serves its purpose, a bed, somewhat quiet surroundings and a short walking distance to the city center. A pool is a bonus. I don't need the pampering, a massage or mints on my pillow every night. The hotel I stayed at in New York a few years back was recently ranked as the worst in the city. It worked for me, however. The establishment in Denver served its purpose and gave me a good laugh while heading to dinner one night. The place has H-O-T-E-L in neon lights but the T-E-L were not lit so I was staying at the H-O (see picture at the bottom of this post).
Tuesday's ride took me along the Platte River Trail which runs along the....Platte River. The trail took you a bit out of the city and at one point along a treatment plant (nice odor there) and some career campers; i.e. homeless, which was kind of a bummer. Not everyone's dreams heading west come true unfortunately.
Tuesday evening I got my sports fix and watched the Rockies play the Rangers at Coors field. Nice stadium but unfortunately the team has no real history to reflect on so you had tributes to players winning individual honors rather than team accolades. I applaud the fan base as their team is perennially average to below average but the stadium still had close to 40,000 in attendance on a Tuesday night. I did see Prince Fielder's wife and kid while at the game. His kid had three pizza boxes stacked high while walking (waddling) back to his seat. That is one big appetite but I recall Prince being just as large of a kid. If you have your father's swing, eat up junior. That was my only celebrity sighting unless you want to include the bartender who went to high school with former Tiger Rob Fick. We won't count that, however.
I didn't meet too many people that were 'Colorado-ans' since birth as most seemed to tell a story of, "I came out here for whatever and never left." I can see why.
Lastly, I know it can happen anywhere but I still can't quite put my arms around how kids want to shoot other kids in such a beautiful part of the country. You are having a bad day? Get on your bicycle and enjoy the ride!
Trail Head

Platte River Trail

Cherry Creek Trail

capital

county building

Platte River

Platte River Trail

Platte River Trail

Cherry Creek Trail

 

my hotel couldn't afford to light up the T-E-L

World Championship Jarts

It was a trip in the way back machine to the 70's Friday evening as six of us partook in the game that at one time was banned (believe still is) from sale for being too dangerous; Jarts. Yep, idiotic kids somehow found a way to use them as weapons (throw them real high and they can gather some serious force) so the steel ends were replaced with wimpy plastic ones. We were definitely using the originals as the box shown below can't be more 70's; look at those leisure pants!!!

As most of us hadn't played since the 70's, it took a bit to get back in the groove but once we did, there were some outstanding matches. Roger kept referencing records being broken on every shot but due to the fact we were all about 13 the last time we played, there was no way to challenge his claims. Regardless, it could have been marbles we were playing, it didn't matter. We had it all, the thrill of victory.....and the agony of defeat; and nobody's head got a Jart embedded in it.
Trail Head

Honey, time for Jarts; let's wear the matching white leisure pants.

Independence Day Stay-cation

With having to work tomorrow and not being up for a three day tourist cluster, there are no I-75 stories to share; thankfully. My fanny stayed in southeast Michigan this holiday weekend and embraced the gifts we have in the area with friends. Jimbo M. and I tackled Dunham Lake Friday morning. No fish worthy of posing but looking at the attached pictures, some outstanding conditions. We pretty much had the lake to ourselves and I now have a sweeeet tank top sunburn. So I got that going for me.

Trail Head

not digitally enhanced - wacky water

Jim looking for the elusive legal fish

ran into this tandem on the bike path this morning