But parades, oh the parades.  It’s a great time to fill younger kids with too much sugar, for one.  But every year I spend a lot of time thinking about this awesome nation we live in, and I hope you do too.  Now, I DO live in the most beautiful part of it, but it’d be cool anywhere

Some parade shots:

Aren’t those some beautiful horses?

My personal favorite is the next photo:

Holding up the COVETED prize; a handful of “Bit-O-Honey”.

Sorry about the lack of posts, we just get wrapped up in summer!

A couple weeks back a few of us decided that we should take a boat ride without an agenda; no plans to ski, fish, tube, windsurf….whatever.  Just sit and enjoy, that was the only plan.  After actually following through (can’t beleive we got through the whole boat ride without someone saying they wanted to ski or wakeboard), I decided that there is no reason this shouldn’t be done more often.  Never more have I appreciated the beauty of Houghton.  The bright sun shining off the unique architecture of the University, town, and the infamous lift bridge was very calming in a busy world. It relaxed me enough that I hardly took any pictures!

We started out by seeing this:

Then we cruised down by Tech:

Took a stroll by the ski hill:

And headed back toward the bridge!

It truly was a ton of fun.  Can’t wait to do it again.

Local photographer Greg Maino took some excellent photos of the Chain Drive bike race, along with Adam Johnson of Brockit Photography.  Those can be seen here and here.  Enjoy!

It was an excellent race at is always is.  Hundreds of racers (362 to be exact) surfaced for the event with some taking it serious, and some (like me) just out for some fun.  The results can be seen here.  Don’t look too hard for me, it’ll take you a while (I’m a ways down there).
Hope to see some of you out there next year!

First and foremost, Bridgefest is this weekend!  Many of our favorite local bands will be playing tonight in conjunction with a million other activities.  So many that one could never do it all. 

The Keweenaw Chain Drive mountain bike race takes place on Saturday, followed by more Bridgefest fun including the Houghton Rotary Seafood Fest.  These events are complemented by the  Ski-Ters water ski show, a “boot hockey” tournament, cardboard boat races, beach volleyball tournament, and of course, music.

We’ll cap the weekend off with a triathlon on Sunday.

Reports to come next week on some of the things we got to see and do.  It’s supposed a nice weekend, so all should go according to plan.  Can’t wait!

This morning while cycling to work I came a little too close to getting brazed by a vehicle.  While riding as close to the edge of the road as humanly possible, I was buzzed (within 8″) by a truck hauling a 5th wheel trailer.   It literally knocked me off of my bike and scared the wits out of me.

What an eye opener for me, and it triggered me to write about it.

As a motorist, please be curteous and share the road with cyclists.  SLOW DOWN and GIVE A CYCLIST SOME ROOM.  Remember, a cyclist has just as much right to be on the road as you do.  There’s absolutely no reason you can’t slow down enough and pull into the opposite lane for just a few seconds while you pass a cyclist.  Trust me, whatever is on the other end of your road trip can wait a few extra seconds while you slow down for a cyclist.  If you are one of those people that gets frustrated when a cyclist won’t “get out of the way”, remind yourself that they’re not trying to be rude.  They are just trying to get from point “A” to point “B” without having to drive.  You don’t want to be the person that hits a biker.

Cyclists, remember that not everyone follows the rules.  Some people just don’t understand why a cyclist is on the road.  Use bike paths and lanes where possible, and don’t assume anything.  Ride defensively, and make sure you’re not taking up any more space than you have to.

For those of you that are thinking about cycling to work, don’t let this discourage you.  The majority of drivers are fantastically courteous, and I enjoy sharing the road with motorists 99.9999% of the time.

Remember, share the road.

Houghton is PACKED with bikers, as our population is 50% students.  A bike is the preferred method of transportation around here, and every last one of them appreciates you sharing the road with them.

CONSTRUCTION!  And we have plenty to go around, let me tell you.  It’s just one of those things.  People always joke, there’s two seasons in Michigan - winter and construction.  FALSE!  Yes we have construction, but I’m thinkin’ that our brick paved street downtown, and lovely tree lined center medians will look a lot better after we’re done in a couple months.

Yesterday I decided to pedal into work and was treated to some excellent sites.  None the less, by the time I got done taking 75 pictures, I was late for work.  It was all worth it (just don’t tell my boss)!

The boat you see in the photos is the Hollyhock, which was setting buoys out on Lake Superior.

And finally, the Lift Bridge and all it’s mightiness:

These last few showcase one of the more unique pieces of living in Houghton.  Every so often we have the privilege of having large ships or boats docked in town.  In this case, the Great Lakes Maritime Academy thought we were worthy of an overnight stop on their spring cruise, which we are

What a beautiful site.  Not too many places see this on a regular basis, but our location mixed in with a vibrant town makes it an ideal stop.

First: the good. The windsurfing was excellent and it was great to be back in (not on frozen) water. I have seen lots of kayaks running around town, and several sailboats and fishing boats. Living close to so many bodies of water that vary in size from the largest inland lake in the land (Lake Superior), to small ponds, offers a ton of variety when it comes to water sports. Choose your favorite, and go for it!

The other side of the sword (that was a lot sharper), was the wildfires. Two wildfires burned well over 1,300 acres of our beautiful, pristine forest, and displaced tens of residents.

These two photos are of the Pinery Lake Wildfire, which scorched about 500 acres near L’Anse, MI.

Next photo essay; the Michigan Meritime Academy’s boat docks in Houghton for a night!

Well, I’ve been waiting to do a post as I gather all of the photos I’ve taken over the past few days. The weather is really starting to get nice ’round here, which we’ll talk about as we post photos. But seeing as I’m STILL not done fishing through pics, I’ve decided to start small.
Tuesday was really the first day that I felt summer was here (or VERY near). I walked out of the building I work in, and noticed a nice display of flowers and the trees starting to sport some leaves.

But, I didn’t want to spend too much time looking down. The sky was as pretty blue as I’ve seen it in a very long time. The days are getting longer, and the temps not getting so cool at night. If you’ve never heard it, I’ll say it again: Summers in Houghton are unbeatable!

Can’t wait to share some of the amazing things that have happened in just the last two days. Record temps, wildfires, big boats and seriously breathtaking views. Sometimes, one can’t move slow enough to take it all in.
Consider this post “the teaser”.