Lord of the (Deer) Flies - Michigan Summer and BBQ/Adult Beverage Thread
Mates,
Summer time in Michigan is great but its not without its challenges. For instance, those that are heading up north on the I-75 on a Friday have to deal with hellacious traffic, and once you get here, we got some bugs. The mosquitos you know about but the deer flies are the kamikaze pilots of the entomological universe. You won't get to them unless you venture into the woods, but once there you better have your armor on. I made the mistake of mountain biking last week in the daylight through the woods and despite taking defensive measures, was swarmed. If you can imagine an older and fat Tom Skerrit in Top Gun, explaining to Maverick how his dad died, "There were bogies like [deer]flies all over the sky". Some of them would have been flagged for targeting, too. One of their 3-tech's nearly knocked me off my bike with a temple shot. I was woozy, but kept peddling.
So tonight's questions are this:
1. What's your summer been like, and have you or are you planning on any kind of trips, camping, cottage time, whatever, this summer?
2. What's on your BBQ and/or what will be in your glass this evening?
Have a great weekend. Summer is half-way over, but at least football draws near.
XM
(p.s. ST3, you are tasked with making sure no Cal recruits read about the bugs. Don't ask me how, just handle it.)
you might email somebody like seth directly and ask him to email me your phone number and/or email address, maybe referencing this post. seth met me and some of my kids at the michigan v. minnesota hoops game in february so he knows who i am in real life. i think i wrote a diary post about how much fun that game was. i'm happy to try and help if i can.
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Pretzel bread in Leland. And yeah, horse flies back at the cabin are AWFUL! Go Blue!
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I've had a pretty good summer. Fall should be even better.
I hear your coming to America!!
Yes, what a country!
Fiancee's bday, so we finally got into a bottle of CBS that we'd been sitting on.
Heading to Bellaire in the morning. A few days of kayaking and paddle boarding with the family. And of course a couple of trips to Short’s!
Cooked the first brisket on my new pellet cooker today. Someone needs to stop me before I eat the whole damn thing.
As for drinks, I've got some arcadia morning nightcap. Not my fave, if I'm honest. Little bit bitter for my taste. Really digging my wife's Perrin passion fruit gose though.
Well, we stopped for dinner after a softball tournament in Holland. We got soaking wet. Decided to stop in Wayland on the way back to Kalamazoo. Anyway, my son and I were hoping to stop at New Holland in Holland while we were there but it was packed and the wait was super long so we headed home.
The stop in Wayland allowed us the opportunity to try Hoptronix. We ordered the large - 25 oz. glass. I drank it along with a pint of Miller lite. My son drank 3/4 of his but he thought it was “sticky”. I found it to be “boozy”, not heavy at all, but not necessarily hoppy enough.
Deer flies in Vermont have been no joke this year. My wife put tape on a hat and walked the dog. Came home and took off her hat to find at least 20 flies stuck to her hat.
We just got home from camping at Calvin Coolidge State Park at a spectacular site. Awesome downtime, awesome beer, cooked up some cheesesteaks on the griddle tonight. Left a little early with rain coming overnight but man, lying in a hammock with a full belly and a beer is pretty nice.
Ok... link didn’t open last time. Hope it does this time. Sure wish we could edit posts here.
At any rate, eating pretzel bread sandwiches in Leland. With Coke for now.
And yes, the deer flies are AWFUL back at the cabin.
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The rack of rain and plethora of hot weather may be vexing to the farmer but have been ideal for me to hang out at the lake and kayak. One of my dogs is very sensitive deer fly bites and usually ends up with a "hot spot" that needs treatment by a vet. She and I both hate them.
Our family trip this summer was a kayak, bike and brewery tour event. My entire extended family went, ages 2 months to 80 years. What a blast! (OK the 2 month old only hung out at the breweries,downing bottles of milk, but he was there...)