Book II - The North Experience

The tour has moved north on a permanent basis, specifically Frankfort. Not retiring yet but the faint light bulb came on for me last fall when we were in our second year of work-from-home Covid time as my 31st year of work came through.  I wanted to move to northern Michigan and work from home on a permanent basis. I had proven over those 31 years that my accountability was off the charts and don't mean to be big headed (I am the largemelon after all) but my company needs me right now as the young workers of today seem to jump jobs at the sight of any shiny object; but that is a topic for another day. With that, I put together a proposal to one of our big wigs with the fancy bullet points outlining the reasoning. Once I found a place north, my office time would be over and they were good with it.

Step 1 complete. On to Step 2; finding a home. 

I had five areas in mind, in no particular order. Boyne City, Charlevoix, East Jordan, Petoskey and Frankfort. Last November I stayed up around those areas for a few days, got a feel of what I was up against and put my name in with some local realtors. I was warned that properties weren't staying on the market long and to be ready. They were right. Not a time to lollygag as I was doing just that while a few I asked about were long gone by the time I inquired about them. I got in for the bidding on a place in Boyne City that was ideal but my bid was swarmed by five others. This was one day on the market. Yikes.

The Frankfort place had been on the market since November with an excessive price and needed some work. Come January, the price was reduced considerably and I rationalized (love a good rationalization) that I can make the updates as the location was ideal. Sold by an estate, I was able to get it a bit below list price knowing the many updates that would be needed. 

Step 2 complete. On to Step 3; selling my home.

Hats off to the many people who have made additions over the years at the place (and to my compulsive cleaning habit) but it sold quite quickly at an ideal price and will be closing up that place next Friday. 

I took possession of the Frankfort place on March 14th and as you can see, my furniture is not here yet. Quite a state-of-the-art work space there, eh? 

I had new appliances delivered but the delivery people brought the wrong gas oven hoses so the local eateries are getting a lot of my business this past week. It's been kind of a blessing as I have had a chance to taste test and meet my fellow local folk. Some very nice people here. I also learned of locations to hit once the tourist season kicks in this summer to avoid said tourists.  

While I work here in the echo chamber, my many, many projects are in process. The previous owner utilized the local post office for their mail so my place had no mailbox/post. My ice auger came in handy for the dig and the local hardware store (kind of like Cunningham Hardware on Happy Days) sold their one mailbox post. Bring on the junk mail!

very modern TV stand

I'll post any updates of the projects and hopefully tell some good stories of the northern Michigan experience (besides shoveling snow).

Trail Head

Epilogue VI - friend trip to Denver

The tour headed west this past weekend to Denver with the mission to see the one-game winning streak Detroit Lions go for their second; but it was not to be. Bad football aside, the game experience was outstanding with the jets flying over for pre-game and the frisbee catching dogs at halftime. Detroit was well represented in town as the Wings were playing the Avalanche Friday night as well. A whole bunch of Red Wing/Lions shirts in the streets. The Denver fans were not too harsh with the trash talk as we've seen much worse in Buffalo and Cleveland.  

Non-football time was spent toasting another friend who we learned had hit the bad side of covid and had passed on Saturday. The news sucked but a good time to be with friends at that time; if that makes sense.

Trail Head

Epilogue V - happy hunting season

In celebration of October 1st and the start of hunting season, I give you a short mix of some critters I've come across on the trails this summer.

Trail Head

(cell phone users need to click the link to view the attached)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oHHTJeKwOfc

(put quality settings at 1080 for best picture quality)

Epilogue IV - trail showcase - Fort Custer Recreation Area

The tour headed a bit past the cereal capital of the world last week, Battle Creek, to ride Fort Custer Recreation Area in the tiny village of Augusta.

The park was originally farmland and was acquired by the federal government to establish Camp Custer, an induction and military training center for the U.S. Army during World War II. The land was deeded to the State of Michigan under President Nixon's Legacy of Parks in 1971. So there is your history lesson for today,

I rode the trail a little over five years ago so don't remember much from that ride as I don't recall any blood or hospital visits but the trail has held up well. One area assisting with that is what I've seen at quite a few trails lately; the alternate trail directions on different days. Makes a big difference.

A short clip is below; a great ride just in time for the rainfall the three days after. 

Trail Head

Cell phone users need to click the below link to view the attached video.

https://youtu.be/DMotELEpP3U

                                                            (put quality settings to 1080 for best picture quality)

Epilogue III - trail showcase - The Dragon

The tour headed to Mid-Michigan this past week, specifically Newaygo County, to ride a trail in progress that will be a mammoth when it's completed. Labeled "The Dragon" that will eventually loop completely around Hardy Pond (part of Hardy Dam, a portion of the Muskegon River). Proposed to eventually hit 47 miles around the body of water, there is currently about a quarter of that in place. That quarter, however, is a BEAUTIFUL ride on the southwest side ridges of the water with some outstanding views and fast circuits (video below). My fear for the trail, however, is the two way traffic. My old bones have left "hardcore" status but gravity alone has you cruising some serious speeds along the woods with a blind spot at a handful of turns. The law of averages and hardcore rider is unfortunately going to hit incoming traffic eventually.

Again, a beautiful trail and thank you to the trail creators but riders, enjoy the ride and heads up.

Trail Head

Cell phone users need to click the link to view the attached.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LrjomUWXReM

(put settings to 1080 for best picture quality)

Epilogue II - Bald Mountain (west) Music Festival return

A friend gathering is good reason for another entry here. As the Bob Seger song goes, "see some old friends, good for the soul...." 

With the fun happenings we've had over the last couple of years being bottled up with masks on, it was good to see the return of the Woodstock of Howell, the Bald Mountain Music Festival this past weekend. A collection of seven bands (well, maybe 6 1/2 after Champ's appearance) playing some oldies, but goodies along with some songs I had never heard before (my melon only knows so many Grateful Dead songs).  And an apropos way to end the day/evening, Raj played the song that made him famous, "Mitchell Sucks At Fishing." There is a clip of it below at the end of Part 2. The footage is a bit grainy, which is probably best with some of our old mugs, but some great performances. 

Thanks to hosts Jill and Roger for putting on another great festival.

Trail Head 

Two parts below (cell phone users need to click the links to view the attached videos).

Part 1:

- GOB 

- The Jim Croce Band (who didn't play any Jim Croce)

- Peo-Funk

- The Champion Experiment

- Duff

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ITcttsLs3Y

Part 2

- Hybrid Pandas 

- 3LD

- the Fishing Song

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z0pWA0uKgdE

Epilogue - Montana

The tour is back for a report from the dental floss capital of the world (according to Frank Zappa), Montana. Specifically Missoula, Montana on the west side of the state. Home of the University of Montana, picturesquely sitting at the base of a mountain in an area just a bit hillier than "Mount" Pleasant, it would have been a great place to study.

The mission for the trip, as always, was to hit the local mountain bike trails. As I have done previously, I rented from the local bicycle shop for a set of wheels. The rented bike is usually better than my home ride, the process of shipping your own seems to be more pain than pleasure and you get the bonus of trail information from the local shop. This rental was a bit different than the others as with the bike, I received the standard spare tube/pump (if necessary); however, I got an extra item for this rental, bear spray. The mascot for the city's university is the grizzly so yes, bear spray is a good item to have. There were portions of the pedal that cut through some very thick forest and I was waiting for smoky to jump out at any moment. No bear sightings to report but definitely had me on high alert.

The pedal, as with the potential for the additional wildlife, was a bear. There was a bit of 'hike-a-bike' involved as I was gasping pretty well walking up as a young-lung-er pedaled by me as I blurted out asking if the top was near.  "Two more climbs" he replied as my internal large melon voice yelled "fu**" while I continued my climb.  It was worth it as the trips down were a treat.

Besides the biking and meeting with some great local flavor, I took in a Missoula PaddleHead minor league baseball game. The team used to be affiliated with the Arizona pro team (formerly the 'Osprey') but the franchise was an unfortunate casualty of the recent minor league restructuring so are part of an independent league with other northwest towns. A beautiful backdrop with the mountains along with the above-and-beyond customer service experience of minor league baseball and you have an enjoyable evening.

No airport issues but an embarrassing moment by yours truly working my new wireless ear buds on the plane. I forgot to sync my music player so a few passengers got to hear “Join Together" by The Who blaring as I turned up the volume thinking me ear buds weren’t working. "Sir, you’ll need to turn that down…." My bad.

Attached are some views from the pedal.

Trail Head

cell phone users will need to go to the link below to view the attached

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ye7HGmRz6gA

(put quality settings to 1080 for best picture quality)