First Night of Summer, Its Was Hot Today, What is in Your Cup to Cool You Off?
Mates,
It snuck up on us, but summer is officially here today. It was hot up north, rode the tractor for hours and cut hay in the heat. I drank a lot of cold water on breaks. I may have something slightly different than water in my cup right now.
Hopefully you were somewhere you could enjoy a cool swim or other summer fun that makes summers in Michigan the best. And hey, we even got a commitment from a kid named Somerville, so that was predestined.
Questions for the evening:
1. What did you do this first day of summer?
2. Do you have some cool water in your cup, or maybe something else? What's on the BBQ?
Cheers,
XM
Rode my dirt bike on northern Michigan trails. Roasted out there. Cold light beer after was refreshing. Bit of wine now.
being nosey, whereabouts (in broad terms) were you riding. maybe more importantly, what type of bike/what size were you riding? and yeah, that'd be a whole lot like exercise on a hot day.
Headed west for an out and back on the North Missaukee Trail near where it crosses M-66 north of Lake City. It's a DNR off-road vehicle (ORV) trail. I roll at Yamaha YZ250FX, which is more cross-country oriented rather than the supercross/motocross models you may have seen on tv. Same engines, but different gearing, ect.
if i'd gotten done haying earlier, i would've taken various children to lake missaukee for a swim - that is right near where your ride started. are you visiting and borrowed a bike?
also, what is your avatar? i'm not smart enough to figure it out.
You're right. I drove by Lake Missaukee twice as part of the day trip ride from where I live in West Michigan. After living in Alaska for six years I moved back Michigan three years ago. Grew up riding in the up there so it's been nice to be back home.
lol my avatar is a Boston Terrier I had with headphones on.
i love alaska, have said many times was close to living there. were you in the interior or the coast?
avatar is....?
Realized I forgot to answer to avatar question and edited my previous post. I lived in Anchorage the whole time, but did shift work (two weeks on - two weeks off) in the north slope oil fields.
been to prudhoe bay. have a pic in my office at mile 0 of the pipeline. have friends in anchorage. they are the ones who years ago taught me the phrase, 'anchorage, only 30 minutes from alaska'.
Very cool you made it to Prudhoe Bay (it's a whole different world) and that you're familiar with the Los Anchorage being outside Alaska. I use that phrase often :) I miss Alaska and restaurants and parks in Anchorage, but not much else about the city.
guessing you and i are the only two people on this list that can say they've waded in the arctic ocean.
would love to have a more detailed conversation about your job and experiences up there, why you came back, etc.
How exactly would you get to Prudhoe Bay as a civilian (opposed to an oil worker)? Did you charter a plane and fly up there? Or kayak thousands of miles up the coast?
Visiting that region of the US is on my bucket list.
There are bus tours out of Anchorage. The Dalton Highway goes all the way to Deadhorse, AK, which also has an airport with domestic flights to/from Anchorage. Without the bus tours, I don’t know how a civilian gets to the ocean since public access stops at oil field security check points in Deadhorse. If the goal is simply to touch the Arctic Ocean, there is also Utqiagvik (Barrow), but neither Utqiagvik or Deadhorse are tourist attractions.
pre 9/11. i went up on an arco jet with a bunch of muckity-mucks, i was friends with one of them, also a U of M grad. we were intercepted by a couple of F-15's going mach-something the other way, just showing off and having fun. i have a couple of pics from the cockpit of the 727 we were flying. the pilot was a cool guy, had climbed mckinley a couple of times which, if you know mountain climbing, is a big deal. it was a gloriously sunny day (rare for all of alaska at once) and he circled mckinley like we were in a crop duster, not a 727. memorable flight and day. also impressed with the oil companies, running a very tight ship with military precision and under some of the most trying weather conditions on the planet.
Biked 50 miles, my longest ride in over a decade. I've had maybe 4-5 liters of water, a gatorade, a coke zero, and a PBR and still have barely had to pee.
Will probably have some more water as a nightcap.
that's a serious bike ride. had to be a road bike as opposed to a mountain bike. what type of temps and how long was the ride? with a group or solo?
Road bike but I finally bumped up to a little wider gravel tire for some extra comfort and stability on the shoulders of some less well-maintained roads.
I was by myself for this one, just south of Grand Rapids, so it was about 80 when I started in the morning and a little over 90 when I got home early afternoon. Riding time was 3.5 hours, but I stopped halfway through for another hour or so at my parents' to visit, refill water bottles, and get some calories.
60s in Seattle. How I like it.
Black Boss. Brewed in Poland. 9.4% and tasty. Seriously underrated and underpriced. Three bucks for sixteen ounce bottle.
Just got done serving up beers at my side job at a bar. Getting more and more busy. Late night chicken tenders and chocolate milk for now. Gonna have a few beers with my dad tomorrow afternoon and watch some golf.
Honestly, I've switched from sugary drinks to water with just a hint of lime or lemon juice. It's the best thing I've every done for my body.
Same boat. Rarely bring sugary drinks into the house, but missed the carbonated side of beverages. Did La Crox and Bubbly for a while before getting a SodaStream over the winter. Saves us money, less waste and don't the have hassle of bottle deposits and returns (including making space to store all the used cans/bottles).
Just swapping old war stories with Dad, and drinking Molson Ice in memory of my old friend Walter Sobchak.
Evan Williams
It was 109 in Las Vegas. What is a minion?
Spent most of the day trying to fix and then replace my pool motor ?. Went kayaking this morning and watched the sun rise and the brisket is on the smoker. Praying the rain holds off.
I worked 12 hours
I drank a bunch of water and also a monster because there's nothing like a caffeine buzz on a hot summer day.
I get to do it all over again today
At least its air conditioned
Spent the day getting the truck packed up for an upcoming road trip to glacier national park.
Took longer than expected because I drank a whole pitcher of pina coladas.
Grilled some teriyaki chicken and pineapple for dinner.
that's a heck of a trip from georgia, especially with the family in tow.
all that sweetness in those pina coladas.
Three and a half days driving with the RV in tow. And that's one way. Should rival the 12 hour trips from Atlanta to Ann Arbor. The wife will be flying out for me to pick up in Nebraska since she has an extra couple days of work. Just hoping the park opens up fully for the last week of June.
I hope so! That’s a heckuva time investment, and hope it pays off.
IMO there’s nothing quite as majestic as Glacier in the contiguous 48. I hope you get to see everything you’re aiming for.
the non-sarcastic version of 'we're not worthy'. seriously, what a cool trip and i hope your kids appreciate what it takes to not just take that time off but also to do the drive.
you've loaded your fly-fishing gear, right?
I've got waders, fly rod, reel, and tackle if needed, but usually use spinning gear for trout in the Georgia mountains. If the spinning gear doesn't work I'll give it my best fly fishing. We'll see how things shake out. Just got done loading an oversized spare on the roof rack. Time for a muscle relaxer.
started the day cutting the lawn before it got up around 90. enough water but a cooling towel really helps while doing work outdoors.
picked up some chicken shack and took my kids over to mom and dad’s. washed down the chicken, broasted potatoes, cole slaw and corn with iced tea w/lemonade.
Hanging with good friends on our boathouse rooftop deck in NH. Then steaks and grilled veggies outside with the in-laws.
Founders Robust Porter was a nice find at Wegman’s as we passed through PA on our trip up, and the first bottle acquitted itself well while I was grilling.
Cool.