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My Almost-daily Journal |
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| About I love trying out new things, especially when it comes to internet technology. I never really kept a journal, but it's something that I've always wanted to do. Now, everybody will get a chance to look inside my twisted, and somewhat-warped mind.
I've also subscribed to Audio Blog, so a few times a week, I'll leave actual voice blogs. Very cool!XML Newsfeed Previous Posts
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Thursday, August 05, 2004
The Houghton Vacation - Day 1 We got off to a pretty decent start to leave for Houghton. I had to still pack in the morning, as well as take some packages to UPS. Once we got on the road, it was smooth sailing to exit 131 - Montrose/Clio exit. We stopped there to pick up Steve. Drive up was pretty non-eventful. We only saw a few cops, which was good since we were speeding most of the way up. The Valentine1 didn't really save us from any radar traps, but it was nice to have just to be aware. Once we got into the U.P., I really didn't feel like speeding too much, especially since the roads were pretty barren, and they were only two lane roads... no chance to catch radar from vehicles ahead of you. We checked in our hotel, and by bad luck, Jon and Josh got the better room I had originally reserved three months ago, which was a lake view. Steve and I got stuck in a smoking room which happened to be pointing out into the parking lot. Funny how the president of Dino Filias Travel Services (the one who made sure everybody had a place to stay) gets the shaft. Oh well. Live and learn... next time I'll reserve ten rooms in my name. After unpacking, we headed over to the sig tau house, met some young blood, had a brewskie, and then headed to the Ambassador for some fishbowls and bad pizza. Steve was happy with his traditional chips-n-salsa. After one fish bowl (I got the Pirate's Cove), I was ready to fall asleep standing. We were back to the hotel by 11:30pm, and I was sawing logs (Zzzzz Zzzzz Zzzzz) by 11:33pm. The Houghton Vacation - Day 2 The whole crew got up fairly early. I think Peter got up at 4:30am to get his Dunkin Doughnut's coffee, then go for his 5.7 mile run, followed with Gatoraid Megaman Runner's Energy Paste. A few of the resident Mountain Dew mountain bikers went for a morning mountain bike ride. I stayed back and did a little touring on my own with my Jeep. For some reason, I feel that I can cover a little more real estate in my Jeep. To each their own. I drove up to the lookout and snapped some pics of campus and the bridge, then drove around a little toward Calumet, turning around, knowing that I'd be heading up there later to visit Jim Jackman. I tooled around a little down by the water, a little around campus, and a little around Hancock. Pretty nice. Peaceful. When everybody got back from raging, we went to Kukkonen's Suomi Bakery. We all had some eggs and Finish-type foods, except Steve (he doesn't eat anything white or gooey). We looked at the real estate ads and noticed that you can buy 70 acres on the water with a 3500 sq ft mansion for a little over $59,000. Our waitress lived in a 3000 sq ft house that she paid $15,000 for about eight years ago and pays $296 in taxes per year. She complained that in Houghton, her taxes would be $2600. Damn... we really did a great deal more... We drove around and found the entrance to the top of Mt. Ripley. We did a little urban 4x4'ing with my new Jeep. Steve navigated us, and we ended up front and center at one of the chairlifts. The view was incredible. Only in Houghton can you drive your Jeep to the top of a ski hill... and only in Houghton can you drive by a major federal communications antenna controlled by the FCC. We then ventured to Quincy Mine and did our own external tour, snapping pictures at everything from blades of grass to 100 yr old rusted out industrial water pumps and other miscellaneous mining equipment. We trekked north, past Calumet, and tried visiting my old friend, Jim Jackman. Jim is the owner of Narcosis Corner Divers. If it weren't for him, I never would have been a scuba diver, since he was the one that supplied all the gear and air for the Keweenaw Peninsula. When we got to his house today, there was a For Sale sign in the front. Oh no. We then called the realtor, and he told us that Jim was living with his girlfriend down the street (Jim is about 70 yrs old). We looked around, then asked the postman and he pointed us in the right direction. What a treat. I love that guy. He greeted me with open arms, and like usual, made me feel extremely welcome, as if I've been an integral part of his life for the last ten years. He still talks about my website (it was the very first one I ever made), and about the guy that wanted to sue us for putting confidential USGCC Mesquite footage on his website. He remembers so much... he asked about my dad and whether or not I ended up going to Cologne, Germany a few years back. Wow. Now we're at the Sig Tau house, meeting with young blood and old, and reliving our youth. Very fun. More later... Steve is playing fooseball right now and it's calling my name. posted by Dino at 3:00 PM (permanent link)
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