Down Time - Picking Up Randy's New Plow Truck

We were in need of a new plow truck when I found this little gem on Ebay.  Only catch was that we had to go all the way from MI to Rouses Point, NY.  A trip that was over 900 miles one way.  It shouldn't seem like a long trip to driver's like ourselves, and the trip over wasn't bad at all.  It was the trip back that was long.

We didn't realize how heavy the truck was when we headed out to pick it up.  When they tried to drive it onto the trailer forward the first time, it bent both ramps!  So the second time they braced the back end of the trailer with blocks so it wouldn't dip and backed the truck onto the trailer.  This worked, but the weight was all at the back of the trailer.  Effectively lifting the trailer tongue and drive tires on the Excursion.  We have a diesel Excursion and figured that it and the tandem trailer should have been fine to pull our new toy home.  It had the power alright, but was pretty squirrely on the road with all the weight being on the steer axle.  To complicate things further, we had left our Blizex tires on for the trip.  These tires are great for driving in cold icy conditions.  But put them on the road in temperatures over 40F and it feels like you are driving on jello!  When we left for this trip the weather forecast had been for cold and snow.  It turned out to be in the high 50s the whole trip.  So here we are over 900 miles from home and not able to run any faster than 45-50 mph.  Yes, it was a very long trip home.

Totally worth it though.  This thing, being a diesel, is a snow plowing beast.  Nothing you put in front of it even slows it down!  The front blade is 12' and the side blade 8' wide.  So you can plow a 20' wide path in one pass!  Sure cuts down on the time spent plowing.  That is unless you plow all your neighbors out too.

Down Time - On The Road

Columbia River Gorge in Washington

USA side of Niagara Falls at New Years Eve
Aquarium in Atlanta,  GA 

Down Time - Jeep Roll Over

This is Randy's buddy, Ed, and his girlfriend, Cathy, in the green jeep.  We were in what is called the bowl.  A deep sandy valley with steep sides about a mile from our house.  Great for playing in with 4 wheel vehicles.   They had decided to try a new run up the hill and had caught a down tree partially hidden by grass with the front driver's side tire.  It was enough of a glancing blow to throw the jeep over on its side and down into the old run, which is now more of a ditch after the spring rains.  Here Randy is helping them get out just after the accident.  The dust hasn't even settled yet.  Luckly, no one was hurt.

You can see in this photo how deep the roll cage sunk into the dirt, about 5 inches.
Pulling out the winch line in preparation of recovery.

Wrapping the snatch strap around the roll cage.

Ed tossing the snatch strap over to Randy to hook to the winch line.

The winch line was ran thru a pulley hooked to a tree and then back and hooked to the snatch strap around the roll cage.

Now Ed slowly tightens the winch to bring the jeep upright.

We position our jeep at the top of the hill and run our winch line down to the green jeep's front bumper to keep it from rolling backwards as the winch line that brought it upright is slowly released.




They slowly released the side line as they brought it forward enough to stabalize it.  Then completely disconected the side line.

Now it was time to bring it to the top of the hill.

Here we tied the green jeep's winch line to a powerline pole to lock it in place.

Now that it is at the top and locked in place it is time to see if it will run.  Unbelievably it started up on the 2nd try and ran just fine.  We didn't even go home.  We just kept right on wheeling for the rest of the day!  True to its name, ZOMBIE...

Stolen LEDs

So here were are at the Petro in Glendale, KY minding our own business.  We just had the truck washed. Then dried the aluminum, stainless and glass by hand to avoid water spots.  Of course we always miss a few and the wash is never perfect, so we end up using a little polish to rub out the inevitable drip marks on the aluminum and the remaining bug carcases from the stainless stacks.  

It was about then that Randy noticed something wrong with the dropped trailer we were parked next to.  Every single LED light was missing.   Some one had stolen all the marker, turn signal and brake lights.

We got the company name and number from the inspection sticker on the front of the trailer and called them to let them know.  It is Easter Weekend and the poor guy pulling this trailer probably wont be back to pick it up till late Sunday night.  We wanted to give them a heads up so they weren't blind sided.  After all it is going to take a little bit of leg work to find and get your hands on that many LED lights in Glendale, KY.

According to the company, their driver lived in the area.  Just as we had thought the driver had dropped the trailer to go home for the holiday weekend.  Of course they were grateful we had called them to let them know, but also suspicious that the driver had somehow caused this.  Randy explained that the trailer was dropped under two overhead lights and within clear view of the shop.  We would have assumed it one of the safer spots in the lot as well, that's why we parked there.  After hearing this explanation they seemed to relax and thanked us for taking the time to call them.

You can see the two overhead vapor lights in this picture and the shop was right behind me as I took the photo.

Such a dirty deed to do to another driver, especially on a holiday weekend!

Down Time - Grand Hotel Mackinaw Island

Last June we spent a week on Mackinaw Island at the Grand Hotel.  We have been there many times in the past but have always stayed at a bed-n-breakfast either on the island or mainland.  I love the movie Somewhere in Time (which was filmed at the Grand Hotel on the island) and have always wanted to stay at the hotel.  The hotel host's a special four day theme weekend every fall based on the movie.  Most of the guests dress in period costume during their stay and several of the actors from the movie are usually there each year.  I have always wanted to go, but have never made it.  So when we decided to go to the island again I made reservations for us at the Grand Hotel.

When we arrived on the island and checked into the hotel there were several things that went wrong.  As a result I called the front desk to have our luggage moved to another hotel (our room was horrible).  Next thing I knew the general manager called us to say he wanted to make things right.  He asked what had gone wrong.  When I was done explaining the problems.  He very simply addressed each problem one by one.  The top two issues were our room and my food allergies.  

When I made our reservations I was assured that the hotel could work around my food allergies.  They even had a person in charge of this as it was such a common issue with guests.  I spoke with her before I made the reservations and was assured it wouldn't be a problem.  We even set up an appointment upon our arrival to go over the menu's and be sure everything was in order.  However, when we arrived and met with her it was a completely different story.  Basically I would be drinking water and eating green salads with no dressing my whole stay.  Not acceptable!  The manager told me that the hotel's head chef had just flown in from France that afternoon and he would have him contact me directly to take care of the food issue.  

Next our room was tired, musty and overlooked the service and maintenance areas of the hotel.  I would expect this quality of room at a mom and pop motel for $29.99 a night.  Not for what we were paying for our stay.  Also since we had been meeting with the dinning manager when our luggage arrived, it was simply abandoned in the hall outside our room.  The manager asked if he could arrange a better room, along with solving the food problem would we consider staying?  I said we would and thanked him for being so thoughtful.  

In less then 5 minutes a bellboy arrived to move us and our luggage to the new room.  It turned out to be the second largest suite the hotel had to offer!  With a huge corner balcony, from which we could see everything!  We really hadn't expected anything like this.  We just wanted a clean,  smell free room with a regular view.

Well after settling in, we decided to grab our bikes and head downtown before dinner.  While we were downtown I got a call from the chef.  He was extremely gracious and understood my allergy issues perfectly.  He told me he would call me each day of our stay to discuss dinner and he did!

We were even further surprised when we arrived at the dining room for dinner.  The general manager had arranged for a reserved table for us at the windows for our entire stay.  He had also arranged for the same steward and waiter to be attached to us during our stay as well.  Everyone had been briefed on the situation and they were all very gracious and helpful.  The chef had gone over and above, by creating a special 7 course service just for me, complete with all the trimmings.  Some of my favorites were his cold fruit soup appetizers and the freshly made banana chocolate mint sorbet was simply heaven.

We had planned on doing lots of out door activities during our stay (biking, golfing and sailing) but a few late spring rain storms chased in doors for 3/4 of our stay.  Fortunately the Grand Hotel has an Aveda Spa.  We were scrubbed, rubbed and polished from our head to our toes.

The best part was when we checked out and got the bill.  The general manager had completely compt our room.  So the only thing on the bill were the spa charges.  We had met the general manager a few hours before dinner our first day and chatted for almost an hour.  He was a very friendly guy and when he discovered my fascination with the movie Somewhere In Time, he regaled us with stories about past events that had been held at the hotel.  He asked us that if we ever did get a chance to come to the Somewhere In Time weekend that we contact him and he said he would make all our arrangements for us.  Such a turn around from our first 2 hours at the hotel.  We couldn't have asked for a better experience.  I hope someday I can take him up on his offer and attend the fall get together.

Here we are in front of the hotel, dressed for dinner.  The hotel staffs several professional photographers that are always around to take pictures for the guests.

Unpacking on our first day in the new room.

On the porch of the Michigan Governor's Mansion after taking a tour.

In front of a teddy bear ferris wheel we found while exploring the hotel during a rainy afternoon.

Down Time - Off Road Park

This was a trip to the local Off Road Park with our club the Cadillac Jeepers last November.  Unfortunately I had forgotten to charge the camera batteries and didn't get a lot of pictures.  We were the only ones in the group that didn't seriously damage our vehicle on this trip.  

Us climbing out of a deep valley.

Waiting for the trail to clear.  What you can't tell is that the white Cherokee is hung up on some wet logs.  At this point you are headed up hill and as soon as you get over these 4 logs that are piled here you have to make a hard right toward the grey Grand Cherokee.  These logs are all slimy and slippery from the rain we had and as you can see he has spun himself around in the wrong direction.  He is facing left and needs to go right.  He does make it through though.

Playing in the holes!

We did play in the holes too, but unfortunately because of the dead batteries I didn't get an photos of us in the holes.  Next time though...

Down Time - Pink Lady

This is one of my new toys, a Charter Arms Pink Lady .38 Special +P.  It is made of aircraft grade aluminum with matte stainless and pink finishes.  It weighs in at a mere 12 oz with a 2" barrel and is very compact, which makes it perfect for a self defense handgun.  I got it last fall and absolutely love it.

 

Here I am at the shooting club's indoor range practicing with my new gun.  Mostly I shot standard .38 rounds, which handle very nicely in this little lightweight. But I did fire off a few dozen rounds of +P hollow points just to see how they would feel since this is my ammo of choice for this little beauty.  The +P rounds in this gun really kick!  Its so light that it was harder to shoot with these rounds than one of my husband's .45s.  But after a lot of practice I was able to control it and keep my grouping in a 6-7 inch area at distances up to 25 feet.  Which I am more than happy with.

One addition I think would be helpful on this gun is a laser handgrip.  I have one on my Ruger LCP and it is great.  Plus I am told that just that little red dot on a person will make them think twice.  They are also just a hell of a lot of fun to play with ;-)

I have been very fortunate as our shooting club has an ex-FBI tactical team member on staff.  He has been helping me with my shooting and has been a BIG help.  When I first started going to the range with my little LCP and Pink Lady last fall I could barely hit the target with them.  The smaller guns are much harder to control than the larger semi-autos I have previously shot.  But you just can't fit a large frame .45 in your pocket or purse very easily.  So when Randy and I decided to get our CCW last year I started to look at the smaller more easily concealed guns for the first time.  The Pink Lady was my choice for home protection.  I chose the LCP to carry in my purse.  Since I carry small purses I needed a smooth surfaced gun that would be easy to conceal in and remove from a small bag.  The Pink Lady is great because is is coated and doesn't need oil to keep it from rusting, but it just didn't fit in my bag well and the hammer was an issue.  As you can see from the picture below the LCP is perfect.  The gun is very light weight and fits my small fine boned hands very well.  Even with a full clip (.380) of six and one chambered for a total of 7 rounds it still feels like you have a water pistol in your hand. 

 I added a Crimson Trace red laser to it which in my opinion makes it just about the perfect concealed carry.  The laser has an instinctive front activation button which activates the laser when you pick up the gun and hold it in a normal shooting grip.