Rays Retreat Ramblings

Spring Break

If only people could be this noble and true. Very disheartening when 'friends' turn out to be NOT friends. ... anyway;

Sparky and I are taking a break.....................................................

WeekEnd WrapUp March 2, 2013

Sun is shining! We still have 2 foot of snow. It's going to be good riding the first part of this week until temps really start warming up. It was -2 this morning. Brrr. Gizzy did not like having to walk on the cold snow. She was doing hand stands! She has a few amazing tricks in her fuzzy little body.

It was good riding before Saturday afternoon. Then it sounds like the trails got rough. We were booked full, but lost a room Saturday when they had to leave early. Friday evening they were riding on Grayling trails when a curve appeared out of nowhere (signs would have been hepful). She locked up the brake on her sled and went flying. He called us asking for directions to the hospital. From there she was airlifted to Saginaw. Not fun at all.  We are praying for a quick recovery for her.

We will be celebrating our 41st wedding anniversary tomorrow in the Traverse City Hospital. We will be leaving when its not so bright (4 am) but good and early! My mother reminds me nearly every day that there is nothing golden about the older years. That might be true but at the same time I am very thankful for all the advances and new technology in medicine that really does help improve our lives.                                                                            

GoodBye February!

That's Snow!

Yep -- we took a ride tonight after I got home from work. That's a great way to blow the dust out of your head after being inside all day. It was a fun ride. This is a picture of trail 4 winding thru theh pine trees.

The trail along Mancelona Road. Plenty of snow and in good shape. The roller coaster hills weren't bad. A few rolling bumps.

Trail 7 along Old US  27 could be improved. We were on it only a short distance before turning off to take 4 on over to Lakes of the North and enjoy our dinner at The Settings Restaurant. We only saw 4 other sleds.

There is at least two foot of snow, deeper in many spots and as you go into different areas. I took these pictures of the snow piles at work.

Now that's some snow!

Sorry folks -- my head has just been blank. Or I have a thought and then before I get the opportunity to sit down... its gone. Slipped away...
Snow is good - Trails are great - There are very few riders this week - until the weekend anyway. Maybe if I could get out and ride I could clear my head.

Information Desk

Snow is piling up - fresh snowfall today. Have felt sorry for those checking in today. Its been a trecherous drive north. Several have come a long ways away - like Alabama! White out conditions and slippery. Lots of accidents along the way. I was very glad that for once I didn't have to drive today.

Snow continues to stay in our forecast everyday except one on the 7-day forecast. The snow today was from Winter Storm Q. Really? Just Q? Its goofy enough that we're naming winter storms these days, but then no one can come up with a name besides just the letter Q? How about Quincy, Quaint, Queen, Quintin, Quest - well that's just a few.

There's a reason I keep saying we should answer the phone Ray's Retreat Country Inn and Information Center. This morning I took a call from a lady in New Mexico, who has friends who have a home in Gaylord (who are in Mexico) wondering if their friends need to be concerned about the snow on the roof of their Gaylord home.

My advice was that we have had several episodes of freezing rain/ice before snowfalls so it would be worth having someone check it out.

So what's your question for the Information Desk?

Sparky's blog; http://raysretreat.typepad.com/sparky_speaks/

Winter Storm

Winter Storm Warning - The drive home from work was another white knuckler. Roads were ice covered from the freezing drizzle that started the day (and how does that happen when it was -18 degrees just 48 hours ago?) The drizzle turned to snow early morning. The wind came huffing and puffing. Voila, we have a winter storm. Wind gusts up to 35 mph made visibility zero driving. Just not fun.

However - the snow is piling up. Stepped out with the dogs and was surprised at the depth and the drifts. Wintertime! Trails and snow..... its our bestest dream.

Meal Planning

It's still winter. The trails are still great. We are still busy. I still have to figure out what we're going to eat! ugh. It gets so tiring day after day, year after year. Trying to not get in a rut. Trying to come up with different ideas. Luckily I do enjoy collecting cookbooks (although I've been stern with myself and have vowed not to buy anymore!!! - I have a zillion to go thru and try new recipes) and trying new recipes. It still gets tiring.

Its hard not to think about all the money we could have for other things if we just didn't need to or want to eat!

I usually plan several meals and be sure to buy for those recipes. However, our life is anything but planned or routine. Some weeks I may only use 1-2 of my planned meals which is fine. The freezer keeps everything for the next week IF I remember the previous weeks plan and what wasn't used. I often forget and then a few weeks later I'll be rumaging around in there to make a week meal plan using everything I'd forgotten about.

What do you the rest of you do for your weekly meals? Are you planners or shop every day kind of person? I shop more than once a week but its for the motel. It seems I am constantly at the stores stocking up, especially this winter. I really dispise shopping, and my time in the stores. If I could have my weekly shopping done over the internet and delivered (without extra charge of course) that would definitely be the way I would accomplish that chore.

Guess its obvious that I've been racking my brain trying to come up with next weeks plan. I needed a little diversion....

and I found it. Loved this video cam of polar bears

http://www.stumbleupon.com/su/2dchQI/:R+fzL7cA:PbYj0ZJW/www.youtube.com/watch?

This video of Tahquamonen Falls in the Winter is beautiful!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vFbc1NXm8SE

v=DvduCPXO_FE/

Feb 18th -- Weekend WrapUp

Winter is passing by quickly. Its been another great weekend, week and month! Its hard to tell when the weekend ends, we still have a full house. Of course, it is a holiday weekend with President's Day tomorrow but even last Sunday night we were full.
The trails are in amazing shape too despite all the riders that have been on them this weekend. Even those that had to go home today went out riding most of the day. We heard many talking about ways to 'call in' to prolong their great riding fun.
Alot of our guests enjoyed riding over to Lakes of the North yesterday. They were having a snowmobile stunt show as well as a hog roast. We have heard numerous reports of several hundred enjoying this fun.
Its a clear sky tonight. Stars and the moon seem so bright. Must have been last night too. We woke up to -18 degrees this morning. When I headed into town at 1030 am it had finally reached 0 degrees.
I can still hear the sleds zipping down trail 7 at 9:30 p.m. Its another busy day ahead for all of us tomorrow. Hope you're enjoying your winter as much as we are here.

Once Upon a Time...

Once upon a time ..... there was a lady, growing old who wanted just one birthday wish. Her heart longed and wished for a fun snowmobile ride. She watched the snow come down. She watched the trail glistening white. She watched other riders going by.........................and her wish was granted!

It was just as much fun as I dreamed it would be. A beautiful day. Mild temps and off/on sunshine. Becky and Dave from Ohio enjoyed this ride with us. Here is the trail report:

 Nothing makes this girl as happy as getting my birthday wish. We just returned from an awesome afternoon ride. We headed south on trail 7. We had been told by our guests that trail 7 along Old 27 was very rought last night. We did see the groomer pass last night about 6 pm, but we also observed that he was moving along at a fast clip which does not make for good grooming.
Mike spoke with the DNR and was informed that they had cut back Gaylord's grooming which has been noticed by several riders. Mike did remind her that Gaylord gets alot more traffic than alot of areas, and it needs to be groomed enough to keep riders coming to our trails.
The worst part of our ride sadly was the Gaylord trail. We rode down to Frederick on trail 7. When we crossed over old 27 (following trail 7 south)our ride improved 100%. Grayling's trail was awesome. Such fun for our first real ride of this season. We were able to glide along easily.
As we rode thru Grayling following the trail behind businesss, in front of motels it was rough going. Some area down to pavement. It wasn't long and we were on 'Boogey Boulevard' - the straightaway stretch along I75 - and sailing along in the breeze. We continued south onto 782. There was a straight stretch that was very icy. 782 to 482, short bit of 487 and then 7 onto 79, 679 and back onto 7 to the home stretch north.
This is my story about my ride. There are many more miles of trails.
Snow is in the forecast for Valentines Day! Happy Trails to You!

For those of you that know Mike and I you know that I traditionally lead alot of our riding. Not this year. We have only been able to take two short rides prior to this... some on trail, and some off trail. Both times Mike was in the lead and I was not right on his tail - which I normally do. Today he was far ahead of all of us. Once we got onto those smooth Grayling trails! His sled is finally just perfect and it shows in the speed he is riding this year. I am now the one warning him to not get too cocky risky that one unexpected bump or curve.

Mike will be contacting the DNR (per their request) about our opinion of the Gaylord trail we were on. Hopefully this will result in a better effort at keeping our trails up to par.