Snapping Turtle at Grand Portage State Park

Had a pretty cool experience at work today, there was a Snapping Turtle that walked right across the main sidewalk in front of our visitor center, then through the woods and down to the Pigeon River. We were guessing that she had probably come up away from the river in order to lay her eggs in the soil somewhere near the visitor center.

Red Wild Flowers

When we went to the mountains about a week ago we found these tiny, red wildflowers.

Childs Cup

These cups were very popular in 1950's. The little bird on the handle is a whisle and it says 'Whisle for Milk' on the bottom. This one was mine. I found them on line and they are worth about $5.00 now and sold for 39 cents orginally.

Benjamin's Calabash Seafood Buffet

I don't tend to write about the places we eat at that often. We don't eat out tons and when we do it tends to be when we are out on a date so I'm not thinking of taking the camera out then. I really couldn't resist this week though. We saw a bunch of advertising for different seafood buffets and it had me wanting to sample one before we left. We picked Benjamin's Calabash Seafood Buffet as our pick.



The place was very nice, our service was terrific and with over 170 items on the buffet-we ate more than enough seafood before we left. Yummy!



Afterwards we went to Outdoor World/Bass Pro Shop and I have to tell ya, the guys just crack me up in this store. It is one of the few places that Nathan actually enjoys shopping at and Austin has every camo inspired gadget that he could dream of all in one place.





Living the life in South Carolina!

A Sad State of Affairs

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Not to beat a dead horse, but it just got up and walked around today when the story came out that Mayor Fenty fired the contractor for the Hardy Middle School renovation. I guess it's one of those bad news good news things. The bad news is that Hardy Middle School, formerly Gordon Junior High and my kids' alma mater, is a year behind and a gazillion dollars over budget. The good news? The contractor was fired, but I'd always heard they were doing a good job whenever they could get out from under DC's bureaucracy. The renovations were supposed to be done in stages while the students remained at the school, but with all the delays the decision was made in 2005 to move the entire population out to a swing space so that the project could be completed on time- within a year. My son graduated last June in the half vacant Hamilton School, and this year's class will certainly not be graduating in the new building either. The truth about the delays, I'm sure is in its usual position- nestled down just out of sight, somewhere in the neutral ground between all that finger pointing.

The thing is I still can't help -once again- but look across town to that new baseball stadium.
I love baseball as much as the next guy, but groundbreaking there was in May 2006- a long time after the Hardy project was well under way. Of course it's all politics... and economics and apples and oranges. But can someone explain how all that works to the children of this city?
(And when they are done, could they explain it to me?)


(Hardy' s Moving Day 2006)

Ahhh.... with apologies to Apple...

The temperature was in the mid-70s when I "hit the beach" early this morning...

Fizik Microtex Handlebar Tape

Last week we replaced the cloth tape on the Co-Habitant's Surly with Fizik Microtec tape. He wanted something that would not get dirty, did not require shellacking, and was not as heavily padded as cork tape.I've been using this tape in red for the past several weeks, so I suggested he try it. We both purchased it at Harris Cyclery, but it's available in many bike shops.



FizikMicrotec bar tape is a synthetic tape with about half the padding of typical cork tape. The perforated surface is smooth, but not slippery. It lies down flat, the edges resist fraying, and the surface stays clean. I know some complain that cloth and cork tape tend to get dirty and frayed, so if you want a bright handlebar tape that is durable and retains its colour, this could be it. Mine looks and feels the same after 300+ miles of sweaty gripping as it did when first installed. But more importantly, this tape could work for those who find cork tape too soft and cloth tape too hard - it is sort of the happy medium.



Although visually the perforations resembleleather tape, there are no tactile similarities. The Fizik tapeis stiffer than leather, and it feels distinctly synthetic to the touch. While I would not describe the surface as slick, I can see how some might find it too smooth - especially if riding without gloves. My preferred handlebar wrap is cloth tape, but on some handlebars - particularly on modern ones that have channels for cables - I feel that I need more padding. The Fizik Microtex tape is durable, easy to wrap, provides just enough padding, and is available in a variety of colours.