John Dee.com ::. Journal .::

February 7-
    Boy, hard to believe another week has gone by so quickly. I am feeling lots better these days and so I am busier and just getting through the day is so much more pleasant that I think time is going by much faster now. I think it can be compared to when you have the flu and just feel like junk and can't wait to feel better and how the time goes by so slowly. That is how it was for me for October, November and December, maybe even the first week or two of January, but things have really come around for me. I have now passed the point I was before they opened me up. In rehab I walk the treadmill at 3 mph on a 10% incline and do not get worn out at all. I can do all the other exercises asked of me as well. In fact, I had the option to go through 36 episodes of rehab, but could also stop anytime I felt I wanted to and I am going to make this last week my last week. I have an elliptical and Bowflex in the shop and will just work out on my own. I was on a pretty regular schedule before the surgery and am excited to get back into the routine. I have a stack of snowmobile DVD's to watch while on the elliptical so that is actually enjoyable and not a drudgery.
    Yesterday I took a ride on the sled and felt good all day and even when I finished up. That is the first time I can say that not only did I feel good the whole time riding, but also when finished. The ride was only around 4 hours long, but I could have gone much longer. Even had to give tugs to two sleds to get them unstuck and a few weeks ago I would have been down for the count after that, but was no worse for wear after. So things are definitely getting better as far as my health goes and that is very encouraging as our group will be heading to Togwotee the third week of March and while I am pretty much planning on just riding from play spot to play spot and then just filming everyone else play, it's nice to know I can handle a full day's ride with no issues.
    I rode with Troy and Zach from Lac La Belle yesterday, but instead of the regular ritual of me heading up there and then riding from there for the day. They came down this way and we took off from here. We did end up back their way and then my sled and I got a ride home in Zach's pickup, but I was able to show them some places they have never been to and all in all it was a great ride. The backcountry was a mix of beat to heck logging roads and untouched powder. Quite frankly, I was surprised to come along the untouched stuff. We were not seeking it out or anything and did not go way off into the deep woods, but the spots we found with untouched snow had not been ridden on for over a week.
    One of the scenic spots I took them to was a section of a river that has some small falls on it. It's always a big guess as to if the spots on the river up here will be frozen or open or a bit of both. Sometimes I will approach them and think they have to be open and they are froze solid and other times I think they will have some flowing water seen and they are frozen. That was the case yesterday. I expected to see at least some flowing water, but the river was pretty much ice covered. There was a few pockets with no ice and you could see the water flowing underneath the ice, but I think I could have walked across the river had I wanted to. A coyote had done so a few hours before us.
    We worked our way northeast up the spine of the Keweenaw and as mentioned, encountered sections of the backcountry that were like trails that had not been groomed all season, with 2 foot moguls and other spots where we were the first ones through in at least 10 days, if not more. Thankfully the beat up trails were just a few short stretches and also at the beginning of the ride and we were treated to the untouched snow or sections with a track or two in them for the majority of the day. We even found a field that was left untouched for us so Zach could do a bit of carving.
    We made it to Lac La Belle safe and sound. I grabbed a bite to eat while Zach and Troy got ready to head to town. They dropped off me and my sled off at our place and proceeded to scare the poop out of Nora as I had not phoned ahead to tell her of the plans for me to get a ride back in the truck, but all was well when I yelled over to Nora to tell her that both me and the sled were fine and I just got a ride home is all. I have been known to have to get rides home from Lac La Belle because of a broken sled or banged up body part. So Nora was just playing the odds when she thought something had gone wrong.
   The rest of the week has been pretty quiet for me and the family. No new snow this week so I was able to catch a break from moving it around. I also laid low from some website things that need to be done (have a few NCN's to add). I need to put together the list of donators to the ride in, but it was nice to just take it a little easy this past week. We did get the final totals from this years event and we were just shy of raising $7000. So that is very cool and I am very happy with that. Thanks again to all that made it possible!
    We were also treated to some sunshine this week. For those that are thinking about moving here. The main downside to the winter is we see very little clear skies. In fact, I think in the typical year, you could count the number of days from around November 1 through Feb 28 with clear skies on one hand. No joking. The big lake just makes lots of clouds. The silver lining is there is usually snow falling from those clouds, but sometimes it is just the clouds and no snow. In the summer it is the exact opposite. The big lake eats the clouds, so we have tons of sun from around April through early September. Almost too much it can seem like sometimes.
    With the sunshine this week, Gracie was able to get out and spend some time outside. Of course with the sunshine and snow, one needs a pair of shades, so we put on her $500 Oakleys before heading out. Just kidding of course. I think they are $10 Walmart specials. For the days we know she will be followed around by the paparazzi, we have her movie star ones. Here she is taking in the rare Keweenaw winter sunshine.
    The week ahead sees a bit of snow to fly early in the week, but it is not looking as good for system or lake effect as it once was. Most of the system snow looks to pass to the south and it looks like the winds will be northeast while the best LES conditions are in place. So that means areas like Duluth/Superior and then Ironwood and the higher terrain west of Marquette will likely see the heaviest LES occur. All I can say is it's a good thing that we got the snow we did in December, or we would really be in hurting shape this season. It was looking like this winter may be a bit of an off winter for the Northwoods and so far that seems to be panning out. Of course, many times a spring with an El Nino going on can go out with a bang up here, so maybe we will have some great spring riding. I hope so because I am planning on putting out a full length snowmobile DVD this coming autumn and was hoping to combine footage shot from here and Wyoming and so far I don't have a second of footage from here! Might have to be a lot of interviews!
    Well, I think I have run out of material. We did not get over to see the snow statues this year and I am kind of bummed, but schedules (mine, Grace's, Nora's) just conflicted with each other this time around. I hear that they were as good as ever though. Grace also received two knit hats at the ride-in and I wanted to show pictures of her with them on, but the ones I took did not turn out well and she is sleeping right now and I dare not risk my life to wake her up just to take some pics of her with the hats on, but I promise to the two parties that gave the hats to her I will take pics and share them with everyone. My thanks to Mark for the snow globe with the yellow and black labs in it too! I always wanted one of those snow globes and now I have one- with two pups in it too boot!
Good night from the Keweenaw..
-JD-

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February 1-
    Well, I'm here and have more energy than last night, so I should be able to get though this one. I guess for the past 2 weeks I was just running on adrenaline and then when all the ride in was over, it just hit the wall. In general though my health has really been improving. I now feel about as good as I did before they opened me up in October and noticing a difference every week. So hopefully in another few weeks I will be up near 75-80% and be able to do almost anything I want.
    Now onto the ride in. Once again mother nature really came through for us. Just a week ago we had plenty of snow, but it was old and crusty, but it started snowing last week at this time and did not stop until this morning. All told, we picked up 22" last week. A bit shy of the 24" I had painted in the 5-10 day forecast at one point, but I know there were areas that picked up more than 2 feet last week. It was very fluffy snow for the most part and so it settled quite a bit, but it did wonders for the trails and the backcountry. So far we have always had good snow for the event. It would be cool if it always happened that way, but I know anything is possible, so I am just grateful for when we do have it good.
    The event itself was another big success. I do not have the final numbers of funds raised, but the amount of attendees was close to the past few years and everyone seemed to have a good time. The backcountry rides went well and since I forgot to thank the guides from KSE and all the other guides that helped out, I would like to do it here. They all donate their gas, oil and most importantly time to take the groups out, so I hope that those that go out appreciated their efforts and maybe even tipped them. I am compiling the list of businesses and individuals that either helped with the planning and setup of the event and/or donated prizes that went into the silent auction and raffle. However, I really do need to thank Kathy and Lori from the Wildlife Refuge Cabins for all of their prize gathering as well as John Stachler for handling the registrations and gathering some great prizes and also Big Vin for his first class emcee work and for entertaining us all with his vocal and guitar playing talents. I am always exhausted by the time the event is running down on Saturday, so in a way it feels good to be packing up and heading home for a sound sleep, but I am also sad to see it ending and all the wonderful folks that came to the event heading for the door. Speaking of all the wonderful folks that came to the event, a HUGE thanks to you all. If it were not for you, there would be no event. I know that sounds silly, but we can plan all we want and gather prizes all we want, but if you don't come, what we do means nothing. So thanks a ton for coming!
    In the 11th hour before the event was to start, we were matched with a wish child. Actually, he is no child, he is a very brave young man. His name is Kyle and he lives with his family in Baraga. He battled leukemia a few years ago and won and is now in remission. His wish is to go to the Mall of America with his family and take it all in. He is also a snowmobiler and so Al and I took him and his brother out for a ride Saturday. My thanks to Shawn and the crew at Evert's in Hancock for letting us use two of their rentals. I called on Thursday to see they could help us out and Shawn did not hesitate a second and said what ever we needed, he would take care of us. Just awesome! Here is a shot of Kyle getting the run down on the sleds features from Joe. Here is a shot of Kyle and his brother getting ready to go. Here is a shot of Kyle ripping up a field. Here is a shot of Kyle (second from right) and his family at the banquet Saturday night. I'm so glad that they were able to attend the festivities as well, as it was a last minute thing for them too. I wish we would have been matched with them sooner so we could have done more for them, but we were able to have fun and have some special things for them and I am just glad that we could be matched up with such a great family.
    As mentioned we collected lots of items for the raffle and silent auction. Here is the table with all the raffle items on it. A closer look would have found dozens of gift certificates for things like a free meal or free lodging or some other free item from a local business. Heading over to the silent auction tables, one would first encounter a pair of skis from Curve Industries and a woman's Klim coat from Keweenaw Motor Sports. There was also a gift certificate and a pair of outdoor speakers from Sounds and Motion. The good folks at Weber Grill donated a Q100 grill and stand. A little further down and there was a men's Klim coat from Klim and a tunnel pack/shovel combo from Sled Solutions. Chris Burandt came through with a backpack and two of his DVD's autographed. Castle stepped up to the plate big time too, with balaclavas for everyone at the event as well as a bunch of gear bags and some hoodies. Lori Sleemand put her talents to work and painted an awesome landscape on an old sawblade. Below the sawblade was a GPS unit donated by Rob W.- a visitor of the site. We also had an Aprilaire whole house humidifier donated to the prize chest by Brad- another friend of the site. Rolling down the line we have a pair of tunnel packs and heatloc handguards from Skinz. Next in line were some food and lodging packages that were put together from separate donators. Somewhere in the list of prizes was a 3 night lodging package to Krupp's Resort, but I missed it with the photo taking device somehow. Speaking of logding packages. The good folks at the Ash Trail Lodge also donated 6 three night stays in one of their deluxe 2 bedroom cabins. This is where Nora and I honeymooned and once Grace heard that, she put her name down and ended up winning one of the packages. So looks like we will all be headed there this October to celebrate our 6 year anniversary! We also had a bunch of DVD's sent to us from producers like Dobson Entertainment, Dan Gardnier and Thunderstruck. We put some of them together to make a nice 4 DVD package. Next was a custom scroll sawed plaque made by Joe S, one of the guides for the backcountry tours and last but not least were some CD packages donated by Big Vin our entertainer for the night. I am sure that I have left some of the auction prizes out and I did not do it on purpose and apologize, but I did want to try and give a good representation of what sort of prizes we have here and what you can walk away with at a pretty good price. But you have to be there to win!
    Near the entrance to the ballroom, we had setup some picture boards from the wishes granted the past two years for Maddy and Robert, as well as a plaque from the Make A Wish Foundation thanking us for our support. Also at the entrance were Lori Sleeman and John Stachler checking folks in and welcoming them to the event. Gracie did make a somewhat brief appearance at the event. It started almost at her bed time, but she toughed it out for a few hours and then went home to bed. I do have pictures of every single table of folks at the event and those shots will go into the collage of shots for the event. I will be putting that together in the next week or two and will be sure to post links to it when it is done, but here is a shot of Me, Big Vin and Skylar and here is a whole-group shot.
    So again, my sincerest thanks to EVERYONE that made this event such a big success. We'll be getting to planning for next years event soon and I will be sure to let you all know the date for it as soon as I can.
    Not much else going on up here- for me anyway. It is nice to have some down time right now. I plan to take it easy this week and just let my body catch up to itself. Not that I am feeling bad or anything, but I think it will be good to just take it easy for a few days and enjoy the good life.
    I know I only put one picture of Gracie in this entry so far and that is just not enough, so I have been told by many. So here are some shots that we had taken a few weeks back. They were taken by a professional photographer and then touched up by her as well. There were lots of pictures she sent us, but these are my favorites. This is a look we get lots. Here she is on the rocking chair grandma gave her. I like this one because it shows off the depth and beauty in her eyes. This next one I chose to share because it has that Mother-Daughter theme that makes me shed a tear every time I see it. This one because I love her in hats. This one because she is so darn cute and no need to say why I chose this one.
Sweet dreams everyone and...
Good night from the Keweenaw..
-JD-