The Final Fling
Eagle Harbor, MI
March 10 -13, 2006

Page I of II

This year's "Final Fling" was once again in the Keweenaw, Eagle Harbor Inn to be precise.  Matt and Steve were the only participants lucky enough to enjoy two distinct seasons over the 3 days.  Many thanks to Dick, Mary, Rich and Kelly for warm (and dry!) accommodations, great (four star rated!) food, lots of (cold!) beer and for being wonderful hosts / friends!

  As usual, click on any picture below to see an enlarged view.

Spring (Sunday)	Winter (Monday)

Click HERE to view more pictures!

And for something completely different, here are a few video clips....just for fun!!  (They will take a long time to load....a VERY long time!  If you have "dial up", you may not want to even attempt the download! )

On The Trail
(Click to view...)

Video of "The Storm"
(Click to view...)

Video of Two Idiots!
(Click to view...)

An excerpt from George's Eagle Harbor Web, March 14, 2006.....I couldn't describe the weather events any better!!  (Note:  Final tallies for the storm totals ranged from 18" to 32" across the Keweenaw Peninsula)

But wait, just as I embarked on my muse I was distracted and delighted as the late winter dog days were shattered by the return of weather, big weather. First a big blow from the south on Saturday that had my place swaying and shaking in 40 to 50 mph winds, producing the noisy beam cracking and under sill whistling that is a bit unnerving, yet exciting. The woodpile toppled for the umpteenth time this winter. All this accompanied by beautiful blue skies, open shimmering waters, warm walk inducing temperatures (approaching 50 degrees!), and the sudden presence of brown beaches and yards cleared of snow. It felt and looked like spring! It was wonderful. Murmurs of an approaching big time snowstorm seemed surreal.

Yet, here I am on Monday enjoying our biggest and best blizzard of the winter season. My barometer has dropped to 996 millibars, a “perfect storm” category, and the gale force winds off the lake are doing their best to rip my flag from its pole as the whip up the heavy wet snow, reportedly falling at a rate of two inches an hour, into near-zero visibility. The scanner chatter is full of reports of vehicles stuck on roads, making it almost impossible for the big plows to do their thing. The heaviest snowfall began about eight hours ago and I’ve not yet seen a plow at the Harbor. I’m snowbound, and it’s heavenly!

I do worry about losing power. We have not had a power loss all winter, which is reassuring, and even if we do the temperatures remain in the twenties so barring being several hours or days down, I’ll survive. Fortunately, while restacking the woodpile after Saturday’s blow, I hauled a big stack indoors – enough I hope to keep the hearth warm until I can get back outside. (I just noticed that the woodpile has toppled once again – there must be something lacking in my stacking skills.) My larder is loaded with peanut butter and corn beef hash so I won’t starve. However, there is only one bottle of wine in my locker, so if I do have a substance crises, that will be the cause.

Now, at about 5 pm, the plow drivers are being called back to their Mohawk home base until the snow stops. They say they can’t see a thing, are struggling with the abandoned cars and trucks littering the roads, and darkness is approaching. The wind and visibility will get even worse as the back of this low passes by. A wise move – it’s just too dangerous out there. I presume our sheriff’s snowmobile patrol and other local snowmobilers are rescuing the unlucky folks trapped in snow stuck vehicles. None of us have any reason to go anywhere, so we’ll just sit tight until tomorrow.

This is definetly not a "dog day".