Thursday, June 05, 2008

Ahhhh...Weekends, Camping, Canoes, Bikes, Beer










Yes, it is safe to say I live for weekends. I work to support my playing on the weekends.

Capt'n Balance, the dog and I went camping last weekend. The 1st mountain biking ride of he year. I'm out of shape and worn out. I think the stress of the new job is sucking some of the energy and motivation out of me. But I am confident I will adjust and it will all become the norm. We also rented a canoe and went paddling around the lakes. There is a canoe trail from lake to lake. It's a nice activity, but wore out my shoulders and arms, which effect the mountain bike ride the next day. But I was outside, in the daylight if not sunlight...the plus with the wind is it blows away all the bugs. I need a vacation...I sure wish I could somehow figure out how to take an entire summer off work.

My new Fishing hat, I should catch some whoppers with this baby.

The weather is still cold. The temps barely creep up into the 60's but the wind sucks any warmth right out. And it has been blowing, hard, just about every single day.

The bike paths are still in very bad condition. I called the Dept of Transportation maintenance and was blown off, like every year. I emailed Jack Fullerton (jack_fullerton@dot.state.ak.us), the Chief of Maintenance and Operations for the State of Ak Central Region, as I have in the past when the local guys blew me off. Normally Jack gets the job done very quickly. But this year, nothing has happened nor have I had any response from ANYONE from my phone calls.

I'm getting pretty annoyed. Due to the gas prices ($4.16 gallon reg gasoline), there are more riders than ever...and the path conditions are worse than ever. And we don't have a very good public transportation system here. One little bus line which struggles and is too underfunded to have good coverage.

If there are any other local Valley people who read this blog, please email Mr. Fullerton and nicely request the paths along the Parks Hwy frontage road from the Trunk Road Park and Ride all the way into Wasilla, ending at the Palmer-Wasilla Hwy, to be swept off. I actually think it will take a plow to get all the road sand and gravel off.
Yesterday, while riding past Sears at Seward Meridian, the guy who runs the espresso shop was getting his portable sign to put away for the evening. He has decided to put it right in the middle of the bike path....which looks just like the ditch because it's so covered with road sand and gravel. He couldn't tell where the ditch was and where the path was so he just picked the flattest spot. Yep, it's that bad. I'm going to take my camera and start emailing pictures, maybe even write a letter to the Editor or maybe Tim (Bicycles and Icicles) can get a Daily New plug in for the sad state of the bike paths in the Valley.

I'm going to do another plug for my Mr. Beer. I have been sampling the honey amber ale and it is REALLY good. Definitely one to do again. I have a name for it, in honor of a Mr. Beer guy named Law Dawg. This batch is christened "Law Dawg Amber Ale". I will work on a label this weekend. The Mr. Beer guys are pretty cool. I'm glad to be part of their group (http://www.mrbeerfans.com/).

Lots of stuff going on this weekend so I won't be posting and I am really praying for good weather...please, we need some warmth and no wind. Have a great weekend everyone.

10 comments:

Snakebite said...

Nice hat!

Unknown said...

I am bummed; my beer names didn't even make the cut.
Nice hat; does it meet SNELL requirements for biking?
Glad to hear it has warmed some there but the bike path issue is a bummer. Typical though. Gas is high and government should be doing everything they can to encourage alternative transportation. They will instead spend money to fix the roads that less people need. Dicotomy of priorities.
The canoe photos are beautiful; I love to paddle and that looks like heaven.

Christopher Boondoc said...

Wow! Looks like the trip we did in the Kenai Wildlife Refuge. We went from lake to lake, camped on the sore, and ate Rainbows. Cheers.
mdoncall.blogspot.com

Chris said...

You must be a cool chick to have your own fishin' hat.

Can you make me some Blueberry Ale?

Christopher Boondoc said...

Thanks for visiting my blog. Maybe we will be neighbors and I can buy you a white choolate mocha.

Cheers. mdoncall.blogspot.com

Dano said...

Sounds like a nice weekend.
Hopefully the new job will settle down.
Soon the temps will rise.
Any day now you will catch that fish.
Eventually those paths will get fixed.
In the meantime.... make more beer.
:-)

Michelle said...

Hat: it is to replace my fishing jeans, which I have had for about 15 years (yep, I still fit into them) but the jeans have gotten enough fish guts and gore that they have become fish repellant. Hopefully the hat will bring in the big ones. Nope, not SNELL approved - ha ha. And I am a cool chick :)

Old man: I got 1 more beer you can submit a name for, a german hef. I just snuck a taste from the ferementer - ohh yeah, looking good! I will bottle it and the red ale this weekend. I got a name for the red ale - Capt'n Balance came up with it. I've been thinking about a blueberry beer.

The paddling was at the Nancy lakes rec area, it also has a canoe trail that goes from lake to lake. Really pretty. And Dr, your on, I love white chocolate mochas!

Dano, you win the prize for word of inspiration and wisdom! I love it! Never give up hope and brew beer while waiting for dreams to come true. :)

Unknown said...

German Hef huh?
How about "Sehr Geschmackvoll Hefeweizen". It means "very tasty".
Or go the metal route and call it "Panzer WeibBier".
How about "Black Forest Hefe". Yeah, that's it!

Snakebite said...

Ahh, OK, a hat to replace jeans. That explains why the picture is only of your head.

Michelle said...

*eyeroll*