Thursday April 29, 2004 High Noon
Its finally a nice day here in frederic at around 70
degrees. I made it home finally tuesday night. There
was snow in the air most of the way home from kzoo and
I guess it was pretty white out also here that morning.
Its supposed to be cold and wet the next few days so right
now while its nice out Cathy and I are going to go try
and find some mushrooms. Thanks for checking in. Pete
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Tuesday April 27, 2004 8:45 a.m.
SNOW!!! There are huge flakes of snow falling here in kalamazoo
and they have been falling since about 7 this morning. It sure looks
pretty. I dont think there will be enough to fire up the sleds though.
I see its 29 degrees in frederic and Cathy said there is snow predicted
for grayling today too. gotta run, will finish up later
Monday April 26, 2004 8:00 a.m.
I made it back to chicago last night after a chilly weekend in
Jefferson Wisconsin. It was cold and windy on saturday and rained
almost all day on sunday so that kind of put the kibash on the car
show. The best part of the whole weekend was seeing my friend Bob the
sticker king. I went with him to his his shop in Fon Du Lac about an
hour north of jefferson and have to say I was really impressed with
his operation. I have always wanted to see his place. Many of you know
Bob the sticker king from the snow show at Novi. He is who I always
work with at that show. His website is www.StickerSuperStore.com
After the tour of the shop we went up to Osh Kosh to his favorite
supper club for dinner. Somebody told me that the reason in wisconsin
all the places are called supper clubs is because they cant spell
restaurant. It was called Roxy’s and Wolfie the chef & owner fixed me
up with a monster steak. Last week the city of Osh Kosh passed a law
that there is no smoking allowed in any bars or restaurants which I
would personally like to see happen everywhere. I always hate the
way you pick up the smoke smell even when you just walk into a place
for a mintute. So that was the highlight of the weekend and now I am
off to Kzoo this morning and I suppose I better head home before the
girls forget who I am… Thanks for checking in. Pete
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Friday April 23, 2004 7:00 a.m.
Things started out yesterday morning waiting for the train at 7:50 and
my first mistake was to ask the conductor if I could put my bicycle on
the train. He said NO and the train went on without me speeding
towards downtown Chicago. I was a little bummed but then I thought hey
I have all day why not just start riding down there. So off I went
afterall it was only 25 miles and I am in great physical shape. I made
it about a mile and came up on White Castle so I stopped in for
breakfast. Heading on down Harlem Avenue the next place I came up on
was Dukes Drive Inn which is a big spot for cars cruising in the
summer time. Years ago I even got to cruise there with my 62 corvette.
Riding a bike you really get to take everything in, just puttsing
along at a leisurely pace. At first alot of the sidewalks werent bike
friendly and at each curb I had to jump and pull up on the front tire
so I didnt bend my rim. Travelling thru small nieghborhoods, alleys,
businesses was all pretty scenic and I never got into anywhere where I
felt uncomfortable then along came a Target store where I thought I
would go in and get a new gel seat for my bike. Boy did that feel good.
I had been pedaling for about 2 hours at that point and I could see
the Chicago skyline and it was at least getting closer. Coming up on a
little nieghborhood bar called Ziggy’s I stopped in there to check it
out as that’s my brothers name, so I picked up a card there for him and
could see planes landing up ahead at Midway Airport and boy do they
come in low right there. Sitting on the corner right next to the
midway fence they fly right over your head and are probably only 100
feet above you. A pretty neat thing when such a giant plane just
glides over you at that distance. I spent a while there just resting
and watching them come in and took a couple pictures. Off again past
the front of the airport and into an industrial area where I stumbled
across Faber Brothers which is a sporting goods distributer a friend
of mine works for. Downtown was still getting closer and I was happy
to see that. My next discovery was a restaraunt called Pete the Greek
which of course I had to get my picture in front of. Darn they didn’t
have any t shirts. Finally it was 11:30 and I stopped at the old
Maxwell street hot dog stands that I remember my dad taking me to when
I was about 5 or 6 years old. Had a couple dogs and was happy to be
staring at the Sears Tower only a few blocks away. I spent the rest of
the afternoon riding up and down all over the city and just jumping
off at any place I wanted to and locking up and going in. No problem
parking or making u-turns, that’s the only way to get thru that city.
They do have alot of bike lanes thruout the city so the traffic wasnt
much of a problem. After another couple hours of exploring I hit Ed
Debevic’s which is 50’s type diner where the waiters and waitresses
wear wild outfits and holler at the customers then every so often they
all hop up on the counter and dance to an oldies song. The place is
always packed and is a great stop and the choclate shake I had was
great too. Eds is over in the area where all the neat places are,
Hard Rock Cafe, Rainforest Cafe, House of Blues, Blue Chicago, and
alot of the motels and is just located a short walk off the Magnificent
Mile on Michigan Avenue which I toured up and down too. On Michigan
Avenue was the recently opened Hard Rock Hotel which I checked out and
it was pretty plush inside there. Also went over and checked out the
spot where Donald Trump is putting up his new project that was on The
Apprentice. It is the old Chicago Sun Times building. From there
it was back down toward Sears Tower and I locked up the bike and went
up to the top of that to the 103rd floor for a great view of the city.
Just as I got in line a group of 270 school kids came in behind me so
the timing was great at getting in there. By now it was 6 and I headed
off for Greektown to meet my sister and her husband for a great Greek
dinner there. My brother in law Nick had brought his bike rack with
him on his car so my ride was officially over. That whole day was a
great day of exploring the sites and seeing things at a leisurely pace
that I have ever had. The sidewalks most of the way weren’t any rougher
than riding the snowmobile trail in frederic on a Saturday afternoon
and I did get a kick out of the city of Chicago signs that said no
parking if more than 2 inches of snow. Needless to say I slept like a
baby last night and can still walk this morning. Now I am off to
Wisconsin for the car show and probably won’t be back on this thing
till Monday. Hope I didn’t sound to bad in this by using the work “I”
to much. It seems like its in there to many times but I sure
dont know what other word would work… Thanks for checking in.
Pete
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Thursday April 22, 2004 6:00 a.m.
Well here I am just 20 miles south of Chicago in Palos Hills at
my sisters house. I left Grayling yesterday afternoon and got
here about 10 pm last night. I am on my way to the big car show in
Jefferson, Wisconsin but am making a pit stop here to visit. Heading
off to explore the Windy City today by starting out on a bicycle
ride down to the train station and am going to put my bike on the
train too and use it to ride around the city. Who knows what kind
of trouble I will get into doing that. It should be interesting.
Maybe I can find China town after I hit Greektown….Thanks for
checking in. Pete
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Monday April 19, 2004 7:30 a.m.
Another beautiful day here in grayling, and I will
soon be heading off to frederic. There are still
spots with snow on them scattered around crawford
county but its getting down to where they wont be
there to much longer. The biggest pile that I knew
of was down to about wheel barrow size yesterday.
Cathy & I are heading up to Boyne Highlands today
to a gift show and then off to look for mushrooms.
Its about that time of year for them to start popping
up. I have been out looking in the woods twice for them so
far but nothing yet. They show up after the rains start and
it gets nice and warm out there and boy are they tastie….
There was a day last week where there was a heavy wet snow
in the air but that didnt last to long….I spent saturday
with my friend Jim shooting a new video of up north outdoor
cooking…..that was fun and he is putting that video together.
We finally finished up the Sledheads DvD last week too and if
any of you want a refreshing reminder of what snowmobiling the
frederic area is about just give me a call or email me to get
yours…..the price is $10 delivered to you…
I would like to send out a big CONGRATULATIONS to my friends
Steve & Kathy Brenton Kramer who live in North Carolina but
just bought the Edgewater Beach Marina in Houghton Lake. Steve
and I went to school together since Kindergarten and he and Kathy
have had a cabin in Houghton Lake since childhood. Edgewater Beach
marina is on at the southwest corner of houghton lake and will have
fishing boats, pontoons, ski boats, wave runners for rent in the
summer time for fun on houghton lake and will be open year around
and have snowmobile rentals in the winter too along with a service
department too. There are boat slips available for rent too for this
boating season. You can see their website at
www.edgewaterbeachmarina.com Stop in and check them out….
Thanks for checking in. Pete
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Wednesday April 14, 2004 8:30 a.m.
It was a chilly 28 out this morning. There are
still scattered piles of snow around different
areas. Mostly well shaded spots. Temps are supposed
to start warming up here again and I still have
a pretty decent pile of snow here outside my garage
at home and wonder how long before its gone….Nothing
else exciting going on….Thanks for checking in. Pete
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Friday April 9, 2004 1:00 p..m.
Nothing like being back in good old frederic.
Its about 45 out and dreary looking. There are
still patches of snow scattered thru the woods
between Kalkaska and Grayling and up and
around Frederic. I thought for sure there would still
be ice on the lake but its all gone and there are waves
out there. So its back to work here…..We were gone for
just over a week….its always fun to get away but its
always great to be back….If anybody is looking for a
lake front home on lake margarethe I have a friend who
is putting one up for sale next week,,,,,just let me know
and I will put you in touch with him…those ones on the lake
just dont last very long……Pete
Thursday April 8, 2004 8:15 a.m.
After a 11 hour liesurly drive we made it thru
Indiana and here to Three Rivers, Mi. last night.
I took the scenic route all the way up highway 41
then cutting other back roads to the east
and never once touched a major highway in indiana &
ended up coming out right in middlebury right below
michigan.
We went thru lots of little towns and learned that
there is a ton of farm country there and lots of
dollar general stores. It kind of reminded me of the
time Cathy and I drove the pacific coast highway all
the way from san diego to san fransico. It takes a long
time to do but if you arent in a hurry you sure get a
look at alot of different things. Off to kzoo this morning
to go visit my mom and brothers…….Pete
Wednesday April 7, 2004 10:45 a.m.
We are in Evansville, Indiana this morning. After
hitting 5 different states yesterday. We left arkansas,
headed into missouri, then turned into illinois where we
made a neat stop in Cairo, Ill and toured a 1860s mansion
located between the misssisssippi & ohio rivers… then headed
into kentucky and went thru Paducah and up to Marion,Ky to
visit a friend of mine there. After a nice visit at Kens
place we headed out and ended up here in evansville. So we
are off again in a while and still working our way back to
grayling. I did have an email yesterday about the great
governer of michigan passing some new law outlawing lens
covers on snowmobiles. That lady is a pain in the butt for
most everybody…..she needs to go…….Thanks for checking
in. Pete
Tuesday April 6, 2004 8:00 a.m.
I couldnt get an update on yesterday as we were at
a place where I couldnt get connected. On sunday we
spent the day at the archery show and got loaded up
and out of there in the late afternoon. We headed west
and south out of there for a couple hundred miles and
ended up somewhere in tennesse. Yesterday morning we were
up and off again and made it into memphis and went to
graceland see that. We got the tour thru the house,museums
and his planes. Cathy and I went there before about 15 years
ago but Melissa wanted to see it now. Its still pretty interesting
to see. The people all in line to see where the king once lived
and still the emotions of people at his grave even after all
these years. We ended up there almost 6 hours by the time we saw
everything. From there we went downtown and checked out Beale Street
where it is full of Blues Clubs, kind of reminded me of Rush Street
in chicago. After a quick tour of that we were off again and heading
north which put us in Blythesville,Arkansas for the night at this
holiday inn. Haley is ready to hit the pool again this morning so I
am off to swim and then we are heading north again….Thank You,
Thank you very much…..Pete
Sunday April 4, 2004 7:00 a.m.
The weather man down here isnt any better at predicting
winter storms than in frederic. There was no signs of
any snow yesterday morning and it turned out to be a
beautiful day in the hills of kentucky. The kids had
a great time on the playground at the park and my head
got sunburned. We were at the archery show all day and
are going back again today. They have 40 targets set up thru
the hills and you walk to each one and take your best shot
on them. I only lost 1 arrow and broke one. Not to bad for
me. So I reckon I should be fixin to get back yonder to the
show today…..The dialect here is catchy….Pete
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Friday Night April 2, 2004 9:00 p.m.
The week has flown by and it was pretty warm all week.
I spent a couple days out walking with my dog in the woods
trying out the last couple days of hunting season looking
for rabbits. We never saw a rabbit but it was a great being
out there and just looking. I still was surprised at how fast
we lost all the snow. There were still a few patches here and
there but not to much. As of last night the ice was still solid
across the lake. Last night at 6 we left home and started south on
75 and made it here to somerset kentucky this morning. As we crossed
from ohio into kentucky there were thick heavy snow flakes coming
down and now there is a winter weather advisory for here tonight.
I came down here for an archery shoot here at pulaski park on
lake cumberland. We set up our booth this morning and are going
back in the morning to possibly snow….I thought it was going to
be warm down here……Thanks for checking in. Pete & family…..
