i recently got back from my vacation. the family (ellis, christina, beth, dad, kelly, mike, lori, and myself) went to northern michigan to south branch. we rented 2 cabins on jose lake. i spent the majority of my time mountain biking, fishing, and in general relaxing since it was vacation.

i arrived in michigan friday evening to a relaxing swim. i woke up early saturday morning and biked 18.5 miles from my fathers house to and around stoney creek metro park and back. it was a great morning ride … we all left for the cabins at about 11 am. we arrived at about 3pm and proceeded to get the cabins set up and situated. We also went out and bought groceries for the week. while grocery shopping christina got caught under a downspout during a brief downpour and she stood there screaming while water spilled over her. it was quite hilarious .. hehhe … and entertaining to the bag boy as well.

i spent the next few days getting up in the morning and biking around the lake a few times and then going fishing for most of the afternoon. i drove out a few days (wednesday and friday) to some mountain bike trails. i picked up a book by the name of mountain biking michigan, the best trails in northern lower michigan that had some nice trails in it near where we were. i drove to the ogemaw hills pathway and rode around most of the green and blue loops. i was hard pressed for time so i couldn’t do the black loops. the trails were in decent shape though there were quite a few wet areas that were all screwed up and required me to walk my bike through. it looked like everyone else just rode through them but that was likely why they were so screwed up, they should have walked through them. anyhow, about 3/4 of the way through the ride, on the decent after the “overlook” on the blue trail, about half way down i decided it would be cool to go flying over the handle bars. about half way down the decent there was a sandy pit type area that i hit going about 10-12 mph. i ended up sliding down on my left side about 5-10 feet. no damage except for a few scratches because it was only grass and sand. i got right back up and continued riding. on friday i drove out to garland resort to ride their short and long trails. these trails were not really challenging but they were in good shape, you could tell they weren’t ridden that much or very hard. the short trail was quick and like the name implies short. the long trail basically seemed to circumnavigate the same big hill zig zagging up and down the different sides. there were some decent fast paces descents closely followed by heart thumping climbs. while not that original or challenging of a technical trail it was a nice change of pace and i enjoyed the scenery.

we watched fireworks on wednesday and friday nights. nothing to spectacular but damn good for a small town like hale and a small lake like jose lake. the drive home was long and boring. i spend most of it just checking out different areas of michigan i hadn’t seen in many many eons. i want to try and get out more into nature this summer. i want to go camping and/or mountain biking at least every other weekend if not every weekend. even if its a short 4 hour jaunt into wisconsin or a weekend or camping. i really enjoyed myself outdoors. every day i wished amy was there to do stuff with but unfortunately she wasn’t able to get the time off work. next year though i’ll make sure she finds the time … hehehehhe.

the whole time i was on vacation i went fishing every single day for at least 2 hours yet i was unable to catch a single fish. i was pretty depressed by friday … but i still enjoyed going. everyone seems to think i am just holding out for that one big one … i really hope so. maybe we can do some fishing later this summer and i will catch one then.

i and and i’m not looking forward to returning to work. i never cracked my laptop open for the whole trip. i never turned my palm pilot on and i never really watched any tv (cept for a few moments here and there when i was relaxing eating). i really enjoyed just being away from it all … now i have to return to the grind back to using those computer things every day … hehehhe … i am sure it will all wear off as i am typing this on my home computer right now. i guess i just really liked the outdoors and hate to see it go away. lets hope retirement gets here soon … heheh.

the topic of the cabin came up again. the family cottage that is … we have been talking about it for a while. wouldn’t it be cool if we all got together and bought a cabin somewhere that we could all use and visit on the weekends. i think it would be neat … but i don’t see it in eastern michigan. i really think we want something more north west. there is a lot more to do in that area, it is nicer, there are more trails/golf/lakes and honestly it is more central to me and the rest of the family. eastern michigan favors them while it is hell on me having to be in the car forever. western michigan isn’t as bad for me and is only slightly longer for them. anyhow, we were talking about renting a cabin next july in western michigan. we shall see …

the fitness program went well over vacation. i was doing a ton of riding so i was burning a lot of calories but i wasn’t exactly eating all that healthy. but i think they countered each other out. i ate bad and exercises good so i didn’t gain and i didn’t lose. i tried a few days … and made it most of the way eating healthy only to fail at dinner. but i really don’t feel bad. i was on vacation and i was still working out every day … yes excuses i know … but it wasn’t like over xmas where i did nothing and ate like shit. this time at least i countered eating bad and i really didn’t eat all that bad honestly … anyhow, i am back in the saddle now and plan on maintaining my progress hoping on hitting my goal this friday. i will keep the timeline updated.

well i think that about covers the last few weeks including my vacation, talk to you next time.