More from West Virginia and More Snow in Ohio

The weather forecast predicted about a half inch or less of the fluffy white stuff on roadways to make them slippery...."fooled again"....as I type there is already about 2 inches of snow, albeit the fluffy type, it is still making a fine mess, and will call for me to venture out and at least shovel, broom, and salt....

After finishing up the Middle School double header at Elida, {have you ever seen a 6' 5" eight grader, who can dribble, pass, block shots, and dunk the ball?..Glandorf Junior High has one}.. I headed to Dartball at Mendon.  We lost the first game 4-3 before bouncing back to take games two and three...2-1 in 10 innings, and 7-0 in the final game.  We move to 10 wins 8 loses on the seasons second half...much improved from the 6 win 15 loss first half.  I arrived late in the first game, and got hits with my first 2 darts...then made out my next six times up.  I bounced back and finished the night 5 for 12 with 3 RBIs....to up my average to .356 and RBI total to 20.  Last season I finished at .441(second best in the league) with 24 RBIs.  One more week to go, and with our decent 2nd half, we already have more wins than last year.

More from the West Virginia Wedding____
 
Youngest son Hal called this morning, saying they finally got the snow they had hoped for...too bad it was as they were getting ready to leave the New River Gorge and head back to Ohio....as luck would have it.  That was the only glitch in an otherwise pretty perfect wedding weekend for all.

The Weekend, looking back____

I picked up the Ford Edge at the Enterprise location in Sidney, Ohio(about 40 miles south) Thursday afternoon...the vehicle, to my surprise, was brand new...only 780 miles on it.  It was loaded with all the toys and was indeed a high end rental.  Pretty nice for the 900 or so miles we would put on it over the next 4 days.  Friday morning, we stopped by the Hemmelgarn's, my sister Marty and her husband Pat(yes another Pat in the family), as they would follow us down. We then headed towards Columbus.  There we picked up oldest son Sam and his best man Tux, and off to the mountains of West Virginia.  I took the long way, across I-70 to I-77, down through Charleston, West Virginia...around some winding roads, and after losing my way along the New River Gorge, we finally arrived at the location about 4:30 in the afternoon.

Our digs were 2 large houses in a gated, wooded location, with easy summer access to the whitewater rafting location nearby.  The houses would act as home for the weekend, the ceremony would be held in our location, while the meals, parties, etc would be in the other house....of the 20 staying guests, we had 9, while the other 11 stayed next door...the houses were separated by some 100 yards of leaves and trails. 

After a quick pre~meal get together, we had the first catered dinner party.  A great Mexican Buffet was the first of the meals that saw me gain about 5 pounds over the weekend....lucky for me, I have managed to hold the fort and lost back 2 of them.  With the meals we had, I'm not complaining...the food was worth the extra temporary poundage.

After the pre~wedding meal, music was played, the hot tub was put into full use, the beer and wine bottles were opened, and most of the guys hit the deck of cards, and played a few hours of Texas Hold Em'...I was the 3rd one out...Lisa's dad Tim, and 2 of her four brothers came out on top, as we each tossed in $10 each to make the winnings modest.

That cards and pool shooting lasted until late in the evening, and then we retired to our various rooms and houses, and waited for the big day that would come on Saturday.....

Girls Basketball at Wapakoneta tonight, if the snow ends in time(it's looking pretty white right now)...then back with more stories and photos on the weekend past tomorrow...back later>>>>

Photos-top left...more snow this morning in western Ohio...looking out my landing window.  The Ford Edge...rented from Enterprise for the weekend, a nice ride. Top Cabin was where Patricia, Sam, Anissa, and I stayed...Hal slept there as well on Friday Night...this is where the wedding was held.  Cabin #2 is where the rest of the wedding party stayed...the various dinner parties, cards, pool hot tub, wedding dance, etc were held here as well.  Hal and Lisa at the Friday night dinner...Texas Hold Em' and Pool where what kept the guys entertained on Friday Night.  Saturday Photos tomorrow.....including the Ski/Tubing events...

Sorting thru the Photographs.....Hal and Lisa's Wedding 2/5/11

"February Made Me Shiver...."

Usually the beginning of February you can start getting in the mode for some warmer weather, less snow, more ice, and generally shitty weather, but a bit warmer, with the end of winter on the horizon.  Not so much this day after "Groundhogs Day".

The snow, ice, and wind has ended...for now(although the end of the weekend and early next week looks "iffy").  A bright sun is bouncing off the glazed ice on top of the snow...the temperatures are hanging around 10 degrees..  The calender says February 3rd, the weather thinks it's still January, and it doesn't look like we will get much relief, at least not over the next couple of weeks:
http://www.accuweather.com/us/oh/celina/45822/forecast-month.asp?view=table

Today we will have a busy day indeed....the day before we leave for West Virginia and the wedding of our youngest, Hal.  Taxes to drop off at the CPA, bills to pay, over to Mom's to see if I can break the ice so Mike can move out of the car port...then off to Sidney to pick up the rental car we will use to travel tomorrow.  I have a Junior High basketball double here in Celina tonight, but I doubt that will get played, given the fact that all local schools are cancelled.

 I am now guessing the van would be fine, since the conditions are improving, but what the Hell?  A 4 wheel drive mid size SUV is waiting, and that is what we will head out in tomorrow.  Sister Marty and husband Pat will follow us down, first a stop in Columbus to pick up Sam....then on to the mountains.

The wedding will be small, just immediate family members attending the Saturday ceremony...the dinner will be held Friday night, a ski hill trip for the men on Saturday morning, when the women are shopping, the Wedding at 5:30pm, Sunday a big farewell Breakfast, then back to Ohio...with us dropping off the Sam and Hal Tuxes on the way back in, Charleston, West Virginia....the reception will be 2 weeks down the road, back in Fairborn(next to Wright Patterson AFB), on February 19th.

Sunday we should be back in town in time for the Super Bowl if all goes as planned....

Of course the title of today's blog co~insides with the 52nd anniversary of the plane crash that claimed Buddy Holly, Richy Valens, and the Big Bopper....
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uAsV5-Hv-7U 

back later>>>>

Photos-The Level 3 is down to Level 1 this morning, but the skies cleared as the sun was rising over Celina...Clear, and Very Cold.

Chronicle of a Winter Storm....

2:15pm February 1, 2011~over the next 48 hours or so, I've decided to write something different.  That will be to follow the coming second round of snow/ice/sleet that is heading towards the upper Midwest.   Chicago is the target for the worst of what is scheduled to come...24+ inches according to The Weather Channel and others.  A foot or more is forecast just north of us in Mercer County, Ohio, with a mixture of snow and ice forecast here...ice to the south towards Dayton, and rain and storms as you move towards Dixie.  So here we go: "The Chronicle of a Winter Storm"

We received some 3 or 4 inches of snow last night, along with some ice/sleet.  This morning we, Patricia and I headed out...she with the shovel and me firing up the Snow Machine.  The snow was about 3 inches deep with a layer of ice weighting it down.  There was also a thin layer of ice on the sidewalks around the house...the de-icing salt took care of that in short order.  Temperatures were hovering around the 20 degree mark.

With the schools and workshops closed, Anissa came home for a few hours...meanwhile I headed over to Mom's house, and assessed the situation over there.  Brother Mike, being the restless type, did not like my assessment of the situation.  "You are screwed"  I said...."I can blow out the area near the garage, but until the city clears the alley, you are not getting out".  I got out Mom's smaller 2 cycle machine, and cleared the area behind the carport and next to the garage...followed by a path down the alley towards Cherry Street, where I did what I could to clear the large pile of frozen snow that the city plows had deposited.  Done there I walked back in the house and told Mike that I was going to make a couple of paths down the alley, so he could possibly make it down to the street for his afternoon "runs" to the various clubs he checks in with for a beer and BS sessions.

Meanwhile I told him to call the city and see what time they planned on taking the plows into the city alley ways to clear those..."This Afternoon" was the answer.  I'm sure by this time, he has made his way out, and hopefully by the time he heads home, maybe the city will have cleared the alley....just in time for the next mess that is scheduled to hit us, beginning about 6pm.

Snow, Ice, Sleet, combination of all?  Not sure what will come, and not sure how I will describe it...but photos and a description of what we get and what our neighbors west, north, and south get, will follow over the next 48 hours or so, until this Winter Storm clears out. 

5pm 2/1/11~Wind and Sleet

A strong Northeast wind arrived about 3:30pm, and a combination of sleet and light, wet, snow.  Winds are making that combination feel like needles on the face.  I've poured a Mt Carmel Stout into a frosty glass...Patricia took Anissa to get their "nails" done in preparation of the weekend wedding.  Hopefully the storm that will pound us throughout the night and into tomorrow will be just a memory.  Keeping my fingers crossed and prayers out that this does not knock out power in a big way...time will tell.  Forecast still says snow north, freezing rain south, while we sit in the middle of the mess...sleet, ice, snow. 

9:25pm 2/1/11~The "Hawk" continues

I did the text message thing  to both Sam and Hal earlier this evening...just to see what their conditions were in Columbus and Dayton respectively...Hal said "Ice" in the Dayton area, while Sam, in Columbus, told me he had never seen it rain this hard with the temperatures below freezing...

 I continued to watch the Radar....and as we approached 9:30pm, I'm thinking the worst is about to blow by us in West Central Ohio...


Yep, we are going to get some more...but it appears that Mercer County, if the trend continues, is going to get by with a few inches of snow, some hefty sleet, but no major freezing rain....but that is only my guess as of 9:40pm....The wind is blowing hard, and the "sleet" could change to either snow or the dreaded freezing rain.

One thing for sure, the schools are already canceled for tomorrow, and Patricia and I will be back outside clearing the sidewalks and the driveway.  I'll do ours, then head back over to Mom's place...hopefully getting that done before noon.  If the results of the storm are less than expected in Mercer County and the Grand Lake area, we will be thankful.  Another update will come when I awake in the morning, and get a good idea of just what hit us....I'm guessing much less than the folks in Chicago(24+ inches of snow), lower Wisconsin and deep southern Michigan...meanwhile the Indianapolis and Dayton areas still face a major "icing" event.

8:15am 2/2/11

So, I was wrong...We get a.Major League Ice Event____
  
OK, so I was wrong.....



So here I set, as the ice has ended, the county is shutdown, and we are forced to wait out the end of the storm....which is now bringing us a fresh layer of snow, and 40mph winds with stronger gusts....So what is worse?  The foot and a half of snow, like Chicago, or the ice like we have?   As of now, at least, we power, and the trees, poles, and wires I can see still are OK...but what will the wind do to them?


The Saga Will Continue...back later with updates below:

2/2/11  9:45am  Venturing Out!
Patricia headed out to break up the ice...I ventured out to feed the birds and squirrels.  The ice, now covered with a thin coat of blowing snow, is so tick that I have no problems walking on top of it...and with no warm up in site, our problem will be getting back in the driveway, once we get out.  I have no doubt the Jeep Wrangler, with it's high wheel base and 4WD can make it...but the Van?  that could be a major problem.  Of course it may not matter...I take the Jeep to Sidney tomorrow and pick up the SUV Rental at the Enterprise Lot....walking on the ice and loading that up for the trip may be problematical.  The winds continue to whip around the loose snow, of which there isn't that much of.


1:15pm....The Level 3 Snow(Ice) Emergency Continues-----
We(most Patricia) got the ice breakers, hammers, and shovels out  to break up the 6 inch thick Ice at the end of the driveway...I then fired up the Jeep and ran back and fort over it, turning it into a fine powder....once that did the trick I got the snow blower out and cleared the part connecting to the street off.  Meanwhile Mercer and Darke(to the south) Counties continue on  Level 3 Snow Emergencies.  No unnecessary travel allowed.  Schools of course are closed, and everything else is cancelled, including our baseball meeting in Van Wert tonight.  Hopefully things will clear out somewhat by Noon tomorrow, when I head south for Sidney to pick up the rental vehicle.

4pm....Still limited travel allowed____

Mercer County remains under a Level 3 this afternoon.  Reports of many accidents on icy I-75 near Lima.  The back roads and town streets are sheets of ice...with little chance of improving with temperatures high enough to melt anything scheduled for the near future.  Schools, while not closed yet, appear to have little chance of operating tomorrow.  Meanwhile, our driveway is open, and I still need to be able to get to Sidney tomorrow afternoon. 

Waiting for Phase 2 of the Midwest Snow/Ice Storm

By the time we finished up our Dartball games at St. John Lutheran last night, a nice crunchy collection of sleet and snow had arrived, and was making the streets of Celina somewhat slippery, but manageable...especially in the Jeep.  As for the Dartball itself, I had one of my worst nights in recent memory, especially at home....hitting just 3 for 12.  I did however have 3 RBIs with the three hits, as my average dropped to .350 with 17 RBIs on the season...still tops on the team in average and second in the runs batted in total.  League-wise, I'm in the top 10, but no first or second place trophy is going to happen this season...it's been well below average.  As a team, we moved to 8 wins and 7 loses in the season's 2nd half.  Playing the leading team in the north, Rockford Methodist, we lost the first game, getting shut off 3-0, but bounced back with two consecutive 6-4 wins to take the night, 2 game to 1.

Arriving home at 9:45 or so I settled in with a few Mount Carmel Stouts before hitting the sack well after Midnight....by that time the first round of snow and sleet had diminished and we are now waiting for Part #2 to come calling.  We are still on the snow/ice line, with most of the snow going north towards Toledo, Fort Wayne, and the southern Michigan area.  Ice south towards Dayton, while we wait and will see if it's Ice, Snow, or a mix...I have a feeling this storm is not going to be as bad as originally predicted...but I've been wrong before.

Schools in the area have already closed, and my games at Spencerville were cancelled by daybreak, no surprise there. Patricia, off of school, headed out to shovel the walks...I'll get on the snow blower eventually and do ours...then head over to Mom's and dig Mike out(with mom in Florida for the duration of the winter) with the snow machine at that house. With the CA services closed for the day, Anissa will get picked up and stay with us for a few hours...

The bottom line is...hopefully this is done by Thursday so I can pick up the rental SUV in the afternoon, and get things packed for the trip to the West Virginia mountains on Friday morning, with Hal and Lisa's wedding at the lodge on Saturday.

back later>>>>

Photos-The Back Yard...during last night's initial snow event and this morning, waiting for the next round....

Bachelor Party Rewind and awaiting the Snow/Ice Fall...

A Rare Late Sunday Post.....

Usually I don't post on the weekends, but on occasion I want to get things posted and out of the way....

Hal's Bachelor Party____

After finishing up the Junior High games at St. Marys yesterday, I showered and headed south down 127, then crossed into Indiana on US 36 and steered towards the Perfect North Ski Area near the Ohio River, not far from Cincinnati.  Hal, Sam, and a half dozen or so other guys, were already there when I arrived just before 4pm.  Most had spent the day skiing, or tubing(in Sam's case)...and some were doing it for the first time in their lives.  The place was crowded and the weather for skiing was picture perfect.  Warm sun coming down, light winds, and highs in the 40 range.
  
It's been 30 years or so since I last donned the boots and grabbed the ski poles, as I had choose to let that sleeping dog lay.  I worked at a ski hill in Wisconsin back in the late 70s, and learned on the slopes of upstate New York at Snow Ridge in Turnin, along with my buddy, the late Jack Friedl, in the winter of 70-71.  I liked skiing, but at 61, and the back feeling pretty good these days, no way am I trying that anytime soon, if ever again....I'll let the younger guys go for it.

When done on the slopes, we jumped into our various vehicles, headed for I-275 and backtracked north on I-75 to Covington, Kentucky, just across the river from Cincinnati.  There, 15 of us, gathered in our rooms at the upscale(we had great rates because one of Hal's future brothers-in-law works for the corporation) Marriott RiverCenter, located on the Kentucky side of the Ohio River, right at the river front.  Once in our rooms, the skiing guys grabbed their showers...meanwhile I walked downstairs to bar areas, and see none other that West Virginia Basketball Coach Bobby Huggins walking through the lobby with his bags...I greeted him, he said he was doing great.  It ended up just that, as his Mountaineer team, staying at the same Marriott, defeated his former Cincinnati Bearcat squad later last night.

After the clean up crew was done, we gathered, grabbed 4 cabs and headed the 10 minute drive to the Riverfront "Hooters" Restaurant, where we had plenty of beer and chicken wings, watched Ohio State survive against upstart Northwestern, by a point, and I took plenty of photos.  We let the "Hooter Girls" tease Hal as well...leaving there, we again grabbed cabs and headed to Newport...where we spent the rest of the night, downing beer, shooting pool, and riding the Mechanical Bull....

We kept it pretty well together, with me, as the oldest(and dad) keeping an eye on Hal, so he wouldn't get too many spirits.  I did well until the last bar, when the boys poured a few shots into him, while I was shooting pool....but we made it back to the Marriott in one piece, once there, Sam and Matt, one of Hal's baseball and high school buddies, decided it was time for a White Castle run.  They came back with $47 worth of White Castle products...including 40 "sliders" 20 with cheese, 20 without...a dozen orders of fries, and some chicken rounds.  Talk about revolting!  This morning, I think there were still a dozen or more "items" left.... because some of the guys never made it back to the hotel last night...but by the time we headed out of Kentucky through Cincinnati this morning, a full head count was made, everybody accounted for...and I think the hangovers were minimal.

All-in-all a safe and good time...we did our share to help the local economies of the Tri-State....between $70 lift tickets, several hundred in hotel bills, over $300 at Hooters, cab fares, and gawd knows how many beers and shots at the local bars?  I say we did more for the economy than that asswipe Obama has done in his 2 miserable years in office.

The Iceman Cometh____?

Now with one of three phases of the upcoming marriage of my youngest out of the way, we can concentrate on the next 2 portions.  The wedding in West Virginia next weekend, and the reception in the Dayton area on February 19th.

But first off it appears we will have a major weather problem on our hands starting late tomorrow night, and lasting into the mid and late mid-week.  Hopefully if the predictions are correct(and we are hoping they are not), the mess that appears to be coming will be gone by the time we head east and south towards the mountains of West "by god" Virginia on Friday.

For right now however, they are calling for up to 20 inches of snow north of Celina towards the Michigan line and in Northern Indiana.  We are on the border of snow and the predicted Ice, looking like more ice at this time, which could cause power outages and much worse.  Once the ice/snow storm is finished, brutal cold and winds are expected.  As of now it appears that West Virginia may miss the worst of the storm...our problem is getting through the mess in Ohio and getting there by Friday night, with the wedding set at the lodge for 6pm Saturday.

Stay Tuned....

Top Left:  Hal, 3rd from left, with two of his future brothers-in-laws and his future father-in-law Tim.  The table at Hooters when the night was still young, Hal gets his own "hooters", Hal with Powell and Stump two old school mates from Celina.  Sam, taking his turn on the "Bull". And Stu, Hal's Celina and college buddy, who helped get this party together riding....but all good things end,   Turn out the lights, Hal's Party is just about over!

Below, more photos:

Stump Gets Tossed....











I take my one and only ride of the night... and below the Marriott RiverCenter in Covington, Kentucky

The Grim Reaper...Bachelor Party, and a busy month ahead

Sometimes I wonder why I take girls junior high basketball games?  Sometimes you just leave shaking your head.  Frankly I do those because the athletic directors have a hard time filling games(although with the economy sucking as it does, more guys, qualified or not, are getting into officiating for money...a bad reason), so I help them out...because sometimes, if I scratch their backs, I get baseball Varsity and League games of better quality.  Last night was a long double header, lasting over 2 1/2 hours, with the 8th grade game going into overtime.  By the time I left, the roads were slippery and a nice glaze of ice was under the inch or so of snow that had fallen.  The Jeep roared through the night, down 127 towards Celina, with no problems....keeping it a steady 50 MPH.  Schools north were delayed by 2 hours, no delays in Celina or south, where Patricia teaches.

No game tonight, tomorrow a St Marys boys JH double header in the morning...then I will head south towards Cincinnati and youngest son Hal's bachelor party.  Hal and friends, including Sam, Lisa's brothers, and dad, are meeting up at a ski hill near Lawenceburg, Indiana, which is located on the Ohio River near the tri-state intersection of Ohio, Indiana, and Kentucky.  They will be skiing and boarding most of the day, I will arrive late and head to the Marriott in north Kentucky, where we will stay the night...after we will hit the town, with me trying to keep Hal from getting too much party punch in.  I know how these type of parties go...and the hangovers can be brutal.  "Been There Done That".  I will head home come Sunday morning after breakfast.

Next week February begins...The wedding weekend kicks it off, as we head to West Virginia on the 4th, for the ceremony which takes place Saturday the 5th.  The reception will be held in Fairborn adjacent to Wright Patterson Air Force Base, on the 19th...in the meantime when not officiating basketball games, I will be attending baseball rules meetings, and getting ready for the upcoming high school baseball season.  Hopefully the weather will moderate sometime in the next 6 or 7 weeks.  Regardless of weather, it will be a busy time for me and the family.  I get.tired just thinking about it.

A quick look at politics____

As the Obama Administration moves forward, forward to bankrupting this Republic, I watch as his approval numbers rise towards 50%...which means to me that at least 50% of the public are gawd damn fools...or just stupid, rather than evil....a large collection, including the Kenya are however just that...Evil, pure and simple!

This son of a bitch is, if nothing else, the worst President this country has ever seen...topping even Jimmy Carter, and Lyndon Baines Johnson, in my lifetime....right down in the gutter with Woodrow Wilson.  I am now more convinced that ever, he is not an American, but a true "Manchurian Candidate" .  One born in Kenyan, and raised by his white, far left wing, grandparents.  He is nothing more than a sock puppet for one George Soros, and one evil bastard, out to destroy this Republic as we know it.  It's as clear as the nose on ones face...yet 50% of the public is clueless to his plans. It will only get worse, the more people he forces onto the government dole, through higher unemployment rates or through massive spending and handouts, the more people will be beholding to him and his plans...Hello Soviet States of America, Goodbye Republic/United of the United States.

That's my view...call me crazy, because I really don't give a rat's ass.  The one good thing about getting old, 62 in March, is you don't worry about much...what the Hell are they going to do to you?  I know what I see, and I see a evil bastard in charge, and a whole lot of fools buying the snake oil he's selling.

back later>>>>

Attachments:  Top a portrait by Manly Rash/Bottom Snake Oil Salesman by FreakingNews.com

....part 2 tasting Micro Brews~Wooden Shoe Brewery

For the third straight day, a light snow or frozen fog has descended on the area.  Games of the Junior High girls are scheduled at Lincolnview tonight, then tomorrow sees my first of 2 straight Fridays, without a game.  Tomorrow night I just don't have one scheduled, next Friday we will be on our way to West Virginia for the wedding, which happens on February 5th.  Brother Mike arrived back in Celina yesterday, after taking mom down to Naples, and then spending two weeks himself.  Saturday morning I will do a boys JH double at St. Marys, then head south to the Cincinnati area, and meet up with the friends of Hal and Lisa, along with Sam and Lisa's dad and brothers, for a skiing and then dinner and night out bachelor party.  Staying at the motel in Northern Kentucky, before heading back to Celina on Sunday morning.

After my "road trip" the back roads to Minster yesterday where I picked up a couple 750ML bottles of the locally brewed ales, a black and a dark brown, I sat down last night to try a glass or two of both.  Here are the results of my "research":

Wooden Shoe Black Ale_____

This Black Ale gets my grade of A-  The only reason for the minus on the A is the lack of a staying head...but really who cares?  Nobody drinks the foam or head anyway.  Deep dark color with  little aftertaste.  For those that like a dark beer, especially dark stouts,  you will like this.  The price for the 750ml bottle is pretty pricey, but it's not like you're going to down a six pack in one sitting, if you are inclined to do that, this is not for you....stick with the standard dark brews, or better yet, head back to drinking pale American Lager Beers.

Wooden Shoe Tippecanoe "Canal Jumper"_____

This Copper Ale gets my grade of C  Just not my type of brew.  A copper colored drink with lots of spice, mostly in the cinnamon flavor...a hint of pepper...if you like this type of ale, with minimum alcohol content(4.5% compared to the Black Ale at 7.5%), you might like this one.  Buy yourself a 25.3 oz bottle and see if you might like it...just not my type, but we all don't agree on what constitutes a brew that we like.  Next time over, I'll buy 2 bottles of the Black Ale, and leave the "Canal Jumper" to others.  I will probably head over on the next Saturday morning that I have open, and see what they have on tap at that small brewery in Minster, Ohio.  I really am interested to see what the have and how the proceed with the brewing process in that limited space.

Errands to run....back later>>>>

Photos~The Brew House of Wooden Shoe in downtown Minster, Ohio...and the two brews I purchased and sampled last night.  My personal favorite Black Ale, and the lower alcohol content Tippecanoe "Canal Jumper"...

Frozen Fog, Back Roads, and Micro Brews....part 1

Much like yesterday, the morning dawned with a misty, frozen fog, in the air...not real cold, about 25, but a damp biting cold, that chills to the bone.

 Local Road Trips_____


 In my younger days, before working a 9 to 5 job, I would often take road trips, usually it didn't matter the time of year.  I would load the Airedales, Rags and Max, into the Jeep Cherokee, and head out...sometimes north to my early childhood home of Scott, Ohio, to visit Grandma Houseworth and her daughters, Eva and Cecil.  On other days, we would just take a tour of the Grand Lake area, and spots around my high school home in Montezuma, on the lake's south side.  Sometimes I would stop, in the summer months, and let the dogs swim around the Windy Point Beach area of the lake...back when it was fairly safe for any living things to swim in the now {supposedly} polluted 13,000 acre mass of water and farm chemicals.

These days, with gas above 3 dollars a gallon, and me approaching Social Security age, I don't do those type road trips anymore...now saving the road for longer trips on my routes to officiate or umpire, like last nights 100+ mile round trip to Antwerp.  This morning however, I had a burr in my seat and decided the weather looked perfect to climb in the Jeep Wrangler and take the camera and head south and east.

The first stop was along Coldwater Creek, near the old farm where we raised the kids and dozens of Airedales, and where Max and Rags remains are buried, along with a few other Airedales and other mutts from those years...good memories indeed.  The trees along the creek were white from the frozen fog of the overnight, the winding road, scene of many an accident, including some fatal, was snow covered and slippery, the Jeep however, had no problems navigating it regardless of conditions.

I then took the road where I hooked up with US 127 and the state route into Montezuma.  This town hasn't changed much since I spent my high school years living out near the small airport on SR 219.  Those years were from 1963 until I left for the Air Force in the summer of 68...the town hasn't changed much, but the surrounding area has...too much construction, too many subdivisions and too many people trying to put on airs, and overcrowding the entire south side.  It is no longer what it was 40 or 50 years ago. I headed back north to Windy Point State Park....the park isn't used much this time of the year, in fact, with the condition of the lake these days, it isn't used much at all.  The frozen fog shrouded the trees and brush, snow mobile tracks went from the small beach area out into Grand Lake...the quiet was pure as the snow that lay on the ground.

I stood there and took that scene in, snapped some more photos and after 15 or so minutes I headed south again...next stop Whiskey Run.  This is Chickasaw Creek, before it runs into the lake, it is also where I learned to Ice Skate.  I was a pretty good roller skater back in Venice, Florida...learning that at the outdoor tent that was called "Venice Roller Rink".  Learning to ice skate at "Whisky Run" was followed a few years later, at my post Vietnam stop, in upstate New Your, by snow skiing...I always figure, if you gotta live where it's cold, you might as well learn to enjoy the outdoors, regardless of conditions. 

A few more photos and I headed south and east towards Minster, Ohio.   I get to Minster, about 20 miles from Celina several times a year....a Doctor's call at least 2 times for my semi-annual check-ups, and on other occasions to umpire and officiate sporting events.  This time it was to check out the location of the new area sensation, the Wooden Shoe Brewery.
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Wooden-Shoe-Brewing-Company/143053728990

The Wooden Shoe Brewery, in it's initial form many years ago, was the largest employer in Minster, that distinction now belongs to the folks that make my favorite yogurt, Dannon.  Wooden Shoe has been brewed in Cincinnati and Columbus of late, but the small downtown Minster Brewery has a new revival, via the Philpot Family.  It is brewed at a location no bigger than my house, and not nearly as big as some of the upscale dwellings on Minster's northwest side.  The Brewery is open only on Saturdays from 9am to Noon, so with basketball, a wedding, a bachelor party, and a wedding reception taking up the next several Saturdays, it may be March before I get to make a stop at the Brewery itself...so today I chose to stop take a couple of photos of the location, and stop next door at Wagner's IGA Store, where they have an excellent supply of all types of speciality beers, including those from Wooden Shoe.  Some that are brewed in Columbus{which are excellent in their own right}.  But today I was looking in particular one of the new locally brewed ale on the list, the Black Ale, a powerful 7.5 alcohol content Schwarzbier Black.  I found what I was looking for in a corked 750 ML Bottle(25.3 ounces)...I also grabbed a like sized bottle of Tippecanoe Canal Jumpers Ale, brewed at the small house next door to Wagners....you have to be from the area to understand the "Canal Jumpers" name,  this lighter colored ale is a bit less in strength at 4.5%

After my purchases, I headed home via a different set of back roads, and within the hour, I was sitting at computer admiring the bottles, worth the price, if only for their style....tonight, with no games to officiate, I will sit down and drink a glass of each, and tomorrow on this blog, I will let you know what I think of both.  I have a feeling that I won't be disappointed!

For more on the history of Wooden Shoe, here is a link:
http://www.worthpoint.com/worthopedia/wooden-shoe-cone-top-irtp-wooden-shoe-brewing 

back later>>>>

Photos-A collection of foggy ice photos and the New Wooden Shoe Brewery in Minster....top, the Black Ale that I was interested in, along with another Ale to taste this evening, "Canal Jumpers".  The photos of the icy roads and trees, are from the top...Along Coldwater Creek, south of Celina, looking back towards the old Andrews Farm that we called home for the decade of the 1980s.  Overlooking Grand Lake from the Windy Point Beach area.  "Whiskey Run" along the Chickasaw Creek.  A frozen fog covered fence line near New Bremen, Ohio....and finally the Brewery in Minster where tonight's taste test are brewed, and the large corked bottles of the same.

The Summer of '75'~Road Trip for the ages..

Cold, damp, bone chilling damp this morning as I headed uptown to do some banking and other chores...will head north for another Junior High double header tonight.  Last night after the Freshman game at Delphos, I headed to Mt Tabor Church for Dartball.  After beating up on the leagues top teams the past 2 Mondays, last night we reverted back to our season form against a weak opponent...going scoreless in the first 2 games, before breaking out and winning the last of the 3 game set.  As a team we stand 6 wins 6 loses on the 2nd half of the season...I did all right, going 5 for 13 with a couple of RBIs, as my season average inched up to .360, still some 80 points below last year's finish, but the best finish since week #2.

Going out in the cold with it's frozen fog in the air, I realized just how long this winter has become....getting an early start in late November, it has seemed endless, and you can bet that we have at least 2 months to go.  The cold, along with snowy roads, got me to thinking about some of the crazy things I would pull off in the summer of yesteryear.

The Summer of 1975_____

I have written about our summer road trip to Florida some 35 years ago, on more than one occasion, on this blog.  Mike Schilling, Jim Olson, and I decided to take a couple weeks off from our works...Jim's at WCSM Radio(where I would work some 5 years later), Mike with New Idea in Coldwater(he would become a Celina City Cop several years later), and me, taking off from working 6 or 7 days a week at The Red Door, where I combined being manager, bouncer, bartender, and jack-of-all-trades.

We packed 25 cases of beer, Mike and my Kawasaki Dirt Bikes, and enough little white pills to stay awake for the trip down I-75(or at least what was completed at that time)in my old green Ford Van.  That van was something else....I had picked it up a year or so before.  A little rust, no shocks, a bed that folded out from the wall, and enough room to drop down a couple of sleeping bags, if the bikes were removed.  I stuck Patricia with my Coon Dogs, the mutts Genny and Dixie, and Rags the Airedale, to watch while we headed south.  In retrospect it is amazing that my wife to be would stick it out....Taking care of 8 dogs, and taking care of my house, while juggling her job at Celina Group.  Then still be willing to marry me some 18 months later...Amazing, simply amazing!

One flat tire near Cincinnati, the "thrill" of driving the shaky van down the mountains in Tennessee on a construction filled I-75, including Atlanta before the Interstate was completed through that dump, and we arrived in my old home town of Venice, Florida.  There we stayed at Oscar Sheer State Park at Osprey, and waited out several days of rain while we fished the streams and Jetties on the Gulf of Mexico.

After 4 days or so in Venice we headed north...spending a day and drinking beer from the pubs at Busch Gardens near Tampa.  Then it was on to Orlando, where we continued to consume beer by the case, and spent a day at Disney World.  Hard as it is to believe, I think the motel was $25, and the entire day at the theme park was less than that for each of us.  Try that these days....Disney is a rip off to the NT Degree today.

On to Daytona, where we parked the van at the Daytona Beach Campgrounds, which was located a few miles from the beach, south on Highway A1A....We spent most of the next 5 days riding my 250cc on the beach, working on our tans(in Olson's case getting a sever case of sunburn), drinking more beer, as we finished off the original 25 cases...and had to buy more.  10 or so days in, we were almost broke, so we left the heat, hot sun, and some rain, and headed north to Myrtle Beach.  As we crossed into Georgia, with Mike behind the wheel...he says "Cop in the mirror".  A few minutes later a young Georgia State Trooper pulls us over...

I can only imagine his thoughts when he sees 3 long haired leaping gnomes sitting in this hippy looking van(despite the fact that Mike and I were both former Military Police, him having served in the Army as an MP in Korea, while I was the former Air Force Security Police guy with Vietnam credentials)...he looked in at the floor littered with beer cans in the back, and the half asleep Jim looking up from my wall bed.  It turns out he told us...."Looking for a couple of black guys with 2 white girls that just robbed a bank, and they had a van that was described much like yours".  We convinced him, that although tanned, we were not black, and had no women, white or otherwise with us....If I recall he just shook his head, laughed, and told us to have a safe trip north.  Nothing searched, nothing about the beer can litter....we were not who he was looking for, and I think he was as glad as we were.

We continued on our way to Myrtle Beach...spent a day there, parked at a lot next to the beach, so we were able to see the glorious sunrise over the Atlantic...that was enough, I think we may have had enough money left for gas and a snack.  So back north on I-95 then crossing into North Carolina where we headed west to hook back up with I-75.  Our trip would soon come to an end...but the memories outlived the hangovers, and those 2 weeks still rank among the craziest of vacations, although we as a varied collection of 20 something misfits had many others over the next few years, before life moved on and we, at least Mike and me, made efforts to settle down...some of the others, including Jim never have, choosing to stay young in their own minds, and defiant into their 50s and 60s.

This blog story is just the finer points of that trip....I could probably write a short book on all that happened in that 12 or so day time span.

back later>>>>

Photos-Me, in the mid 1970s era of my life...in front of that Ford Van on Daytona Beach June 1975, not sure what ever happened to it, but it was a cheap fun ride while I had it.  The Venice Jetties, this postcard is the South Jetties at Venice, the North Jetties across the inlet was accessed from Nokomis.  Me and Olson at Disney World, much cheaper then than it is these days.  And a Kaw250 off/on road bike same model, but a little clearer than my 1974 ride.

More Snow and the Weekend that Was...

I awoke to Reagan, the aging Airedale, barking as she does every weekend day after Patricia heads off to teach at St. Henry, wanting her morning "biscuit"....Reagan at 12 1/2 years, actually 12 years 6 months and 16 days, is approaching our longest living Airedale age~wise.  Max(1976-1989). the long living stud dog, who produced well into the hundreds of offspring, lived to be 12 years 7 months and 8 days...so Reagan, it appears, will surpass that milestone.  Funny part is, a year ago I wouldn't have given her another 6 months, seems fate has moved in, and despite slowing down, and hard of hearing, she continues to move and eat.

The snow we are currently receiving was supposed to be less than one inch.  However, it appears from the Internet Radar, that that amount will be surpassed and maybe an extra inch or so of the fluffy type will be blown around the county and roadways...so the deep freeze continues, with a solid core of snow on the ground, with no signs of melting in the forecast.  We of course are most concerned about the outlook for the mountains of West Virginia on the first weekend of February.  Friday February 4th the family heads out for the hills, where youngest son Hal, and his fiancee, Lisa will be married the next day at a remote ski and rafting lodge about an hour out of Charleston, West Virginia.  Roads are tricky in the winter, especially in that part of the world....I have driven the Jeep and RVs through those mountains in the dead of winter, and sometimes it is no treat.  The wedding will be that weekend, with the invite all reception in Fairborn, Ohio, two weekends later, on the 19th.

Plenty of basketball officiating and football watching over the weekend....

JV game at St. Marys on Friday night, with a Junior High double header back at St. Marys Saturday morning, with another boys JV game north to Paulding that night.  The Friday night game went overtime, with the other 3 being "blow outs" on Saturday.  In the college game, Ohio State solidified it's hold on the #1 national spot, with a come-from-behind win at Illinois, and Duke remained hot with a easy win at Wake Forest, and should be ranked #2 or #3 when the polls come out today.

Yesterday afternoon I headed to Nick's with Patrica and Anissa as my Chauffeurs, dropping me off on the south side of the lake, knowing I would drink more than a couple, I didn't need to be behind the wheel of the Jeep, or any other vehicle.  A small group of us smoked cigars, drank some micro~brewery beer, and ate a plate of goulash, while watching the Packers knock off the Bears, then I stayed for the first half of the Steelers/Jets game, which likewise appeared to be a blow out, but ended up, like the first game, close at the end.  Patricia picked me up, and I was home to watch the close played second half.

So it will be the Packers vs Steelers in Super Bowl #whatever...the same weekend we return from West Virginia...Go Packers!  Not that I am a great Green Bay fan(hated them growing up as a Browns fan), but I despise Pittsburgh and their Quarterback, and their double digit IQ ed fans.  "Hate" in a sporting sense, I could really care less about the NFL.  I do however find it amusing how folks act like pro sports, especially NFL Football, is life and death, and somehow is linked to their egos and manhood.  Don't get me wrong, I love sports, but life and death, or worth hating or fighting over?  You gotta be kidding?

Dartball tonight, at Mount Tabor, right after I finish up a Freshman boys game at Delphos St. Johns.  Our team finds itself with a winning record in the second half at 5 up and 4 down, our first above .500 record after any week this season...we will see if we can stay hot this week, especially after beating our 2 old nemeses, Schumm and Mt Carmel, 5 of 6 games the past two weeks.

Looks like I may get the shovel and even the snow blowers out this morning if this keeps up...so out to the great white north...

back later>>>>

Photos-Top Reagan now at 12 1/2 years is approaching the age of our longest living Airedale, Black Max, seen here as a pup in 1976...Max lived to be 12 years 7 months and 8 days, while producing hundreds of AKC Registered Airedale offspring...he indeed lived a good life...And the Super Bowl is set, Green Bay against the Steelers...GO PACKERS!