Steady as she goes

Not a lot to talk about this week. I traveled to Lansing Tuesday and gave a presentation to the MI County Road Association Wednesday morning, only to turn around and high tail it back to home base by Wednesday evening. Lots of driving for a short presentation, but I am glad I went. I got to see Lansing for the first time in my life and also enjoyed some delicious BBQ. A couple of you heard my call out for places to eat in Lansing. If I had been there longer, I would have tried them all, but “Meat” in Old Town got the call Tuesday evening, as I was pretty tired, it was casual and I really had a taste for some BBQ. I am always a little worried when I go to a BBQ place, as it is a tricky thing to get just right. I am still working on my techniques, but even if you get things cooked just right, it can be hard to keep the meat fresh, without drying them out. I am not sure how this place did it, but I can say that the brisket I had was the best I have ever had in my life so far. That includes BBQ out of Chicago, a good sampling from TX and my own. It most definitely inspired me to get the smoker fired up and going as soon as the weather gets a little more favorable for that.

A few hours after getting home Wednesday night, I came down with a very nasty stomach bug. It had me completely wiped out for all of Thursday and Friday and even yesterday, I only had enough energy to run to Calumet, pick up a few things and then come home. I am on the mend now, but I think it will take my body a while to recover from not eating anything but toast and drinking water or ginger ale for around 60 hours.

The weather this past week was quite similar to the week before. Some snow early in the week, then quieter, with just a few snow showers the rest of the week and cooler than is average for this time of the year. The snows of Monday night and Tuesday did not hit us the hardest. That happened in the higher terrain of Baraga and Marquette counties. I got to drive through it Tuesday morning just for proof! A pretty solid 6-8″ had fallen there, with just a couple of inches in the Keweenaw.

We have not lost much snow in the past week either. Although I have not been out on the trails, I can say there is still plenty of snow on them. the only area that was getting thin that I saw was the stretch through Hancock that rides along the road on the bike path. It was still covered at last check, but was mixed with a lot of road grime and for all I know, it may be bare now. Otherwise, the depth in the woods both on and off trail is about the same as it was last week at this time and barring any bit time warm up, the groomer operators will likely be running right up until March 31 in most of our system this year.

All in all, it has been a pretty good snow year. Not epic as a whole, but we did have some epic moments and not too much in the way of down time. The forecast does not hold any major meltdowns. In fact, not much new snow, but most of our daytime highs look to top out in the upper 20’s to low 30’s this week, with lows in the teens. So that will do very well to preserve what is down.

Really, not much more to say for this one, so I will sign off, but take care and…

Good Night from the Keweenaw..
JD