Josh's Not-a-Blog

See Nancy Run. Run Nancy Run.

On Saturday, Nancy ran the 2009 Journeys Half Marathon in 2:19:12, continuing her streak of ever-better times. It was a cold and windy day in Eagle River, but it was still fun to be at the race, and to celebrate afterwards.

Nancy at the start, smiling despite a few flakes of snow.

They're off!

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I navigate a back road to my spectating point about 4.5 miles in.

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At the finish, free food in hand, moments before a quick dash to the hot tub.

Labels: fitness, outdoors, trips

Webcams

I've added a couple of webcam thumbnails to the right column of this weblog's main page. One is a view of the end of my driveway, and is there mainly so I can see how much snow I'm required to move before I can get my little car up the driveway. There's no bigger version of that one right now, as the camera's not the greatest quality.

The other thumbnail is of a webcam in downtown Calumet on the northeast corner of Portland and 5th Streets. It's an outdoor PTZ camera, mounted on top of the first-floor canopy of the Miners & Merchants building. Here's a spy photo through my sunroof.

Labels: outdoors, webcam

Cross country skiing

Today, Nancy, James, JP, and Danielle, and I went skiing at Swedetown Trails. I skied classic style along with James (my mentor), while the rest skied skate style. It was a lot of fun, but a heck of a workout, which I need anyway.

Phew. I'll definitely be back after I recover. Yay winter sports.

Oh, and James fell more times than I did, and he's the expert-looking guy in tights. Ha.

Dollars: 12
Kilometers: 5.8
Falls: 0

Labels: outdoors, snow

High Cliff lime kiln ruins

Last week, Nancy and I stayed at High Cliff State Park, in Sherwood, Wisconsin. It's the site of an old limestone quarry and processing company, the Western Lime and Cement Company.

Here's the text from a sign by the ruins:

This was once the site of a thriving lime producing business known as the Western Lime and Cement Company. From beginning to end, production here lasted approximately 100 years (1856-1956). All that remains today are the skeletons of the three kilns in front of you.

Niagra Dolostone (limestone) quarried on top of the ledge was maneuvered down treacherous, zigzag trails by horse drawn carts. A pulley system later replaced the horses and made for more efficient transportation. The rock was dropped into the tops of the kilns and after "baking", was drawn out as a powder from the arched doors at the bottom.

The kilns were heated to a temperature of around 2,200 degrees Fahrenheit to turn out a white powdery substance known as "quick lime". Heaps of waste lime are still present on the hill behind you. Wood fueled the kilns until the supply of trees on the ledge was depleted. Coal was later used. Quick lime was barreled and bagged in the Cooper's Shop, the brick structure located to your right. Product was then loaded onto barges and railcars for shipment across Wisconsin.

Good quality lime was used in plaster, cement, and for agricultural purposes. Poorer quality rock was sent to the crusher bin to be made into gravel. If you travel east along the Lime Kiln Trail, you can still see the remains of the foundation for the gyrating crusher.

Labels: outdoors, trips

Triathlon and Hunter's Point

No rides for Thursday or Friday, since my bike's been in the shop (a broken spoke on the rear, new tires, and both wheels trued). I didn't ride this morning, since Dad and I left early to cheer on James in the Copperman Triathlon 2007 in Copper Harbor.

After the triathlon and lunch, we hiked out to Hunter's Point.

Labels: fitness, outdoors

Huron Mountain Club on Google Maps

James pointed out that Google now has high-resolution (20-m) imagery of the Huron Mountain Club. It's never too early to plan our second attempt to infiltrate the Huron Mountain Club. Now I need to find the GPS track from our last trip and update our maps. Further bulletins as events warrant.

Labels: outdoors, trips