Morning Cup Of Coffee And Weather

Weather is fine here!

HeadsUp to CI owners and campers in northern latitudes...maybe you hams?

'Cannibal' solar burst headed for Earth could make northern lights visible in U.S. - UPI.com

Btw: I subscribe to alerts at SpaceWeather.com for the latest kewl stuff. On the left sidebar is a useful prediction map for aurora at your location.

True story- Dear wife and I out hiking in AnzaBorrego and spotted a rare red aurora late in the day. First ever, never since.

Some hikers from back east were also viewing and quite dismissive..."its not that, you idjits," or words to that effect....
to the point of rude, but I let it go...my Jersey girl pregnant wife was unamused tho!

Next day the ranger confirmed it indeed was so...

 

Darn it ....the page said that the Northern Lights are between Wed & Thurs...my wife and I would bonzi up to the UP if there is a chance to see it tomorrow on Friday...

 

Ya might see it out your back door if the storm is strong...?

 

I wanted to see them and then forgot all about it.

 

I have never seen the 'lights. But the night show in the UP area is amazing even without it. I so very badly want to get back up there...its not a bad drive, I don't know why we don't more frequently except for the fact I can't get time until early November to do it --- and its well into "too cold for me" at that point....

Maybe next year....

Of course, I'm also wantin' to do a little running around the east coast visiting the "Trolly parks" and boardwalks --- I love the old classic "dark rides" -- in the Bill Tracy style. The refits by Sally (who also used to make better ones) has converted into shooting adventures --- not even remotely cool. I wish I leaved near a park near me with one, I'd LOVE to work or even volunteer time to restore and maintain them. I visited a park this weekend that had 1 of the classic walk through 'spook houses' -- and had a ball, even though the timing was off and a number of vignettes were completely shut down.

Kids today don't know what they missed...the innocence required to really enjoy these is lost perhaps forever.

 

We are heading up to the Upper Peninsula (UP) of Michigan Sept 9-11 for the Tearjerkers Great Lakes chapter. We are going to
Munising Tourist Park Campground – Come spend your summer with us

 

Same weekend as the Hoosier gathering --- although disappointingly it isn't so much a teardrop gatehring any more --- most have "upgraded" to fuller size units...If my reservations were't already paid, I'd head up north.

Although I could cancel , I"d only loose a portion of my fee...hmmm...no sites available at this time...drat

The Hoosier chapter is gathering at "Shakamak" (Shakamak State Park) which isn't a bad park --- but it is a little old and muddy. Lets hope the weekend is dry..not a bad park by any stretch of the imagination. The first time we stayed here there were a gazillion of these tiny gnats. The one thing that would keep them at bay was a little vanilla diluted and sprayed on your face/head.

When we heard this we scoffed --- but it was bad enough we got to the "We'll try anything " stage. My bride went to the grocery which had a well stocked baking aisle. Except for a LARGE empty spot. 3 bottles were all that remained --- vanilla extract. Sure enough -- a few spritzes....and they were gone. Weirdest thing ever.

 

AAHH!!! Three weekends in a row without camping! I can't take it!!!

For those of us old phartz here, in portland Indiana (Not to be confused with other portlands -- if you're expecting that, you'll be sorely disappointed), we have the world-famous "Tri-State Gas Engine and Tractor Show" that I plan on attending instead. We thought about camping close by, but I have non-camping friends interested in the show, so we'll be driving up with them instead.

I am fascinated by the old technology and its outright reliability. The gas engines you'll see at this show are wide and varied in age and size, as small as lawn mowers and string trimmers to large "oil field engines," commonly used to drive pumps back in the day.

The show's star is the large flywheel variety called "hit and miss" engines. These are characterized by large flywheels and an intermittent "pop pop pop" as fuel is injected into the cylinder when the RPMs drop below the desired RPM.

It's a slice of Americana --- it's also a good place to find old cast iron.

 

It rained yesterday and most of the night and it’s still raining this morning. At least everything is green and not brown.

3C66EDB3-DF72-482A-9B3C-0CA10A34ABB3 by Tour 931 posted Aug 28, 2022 at 7:15 AM

 

Just wait another 60 days it will start to look all white

 

At least its not wildfire season...we used to say "we have two seasons out West- green and brown",
now modified to "on fire..."

 

This is going to be my first full winter in Wisconsin. I hope I’m prepared for it.

 

We're more like 90 where I'm at...but it is still too soon.

I grew up in the snow belt, it was not uncommon for me to wake up in the morning to a foot or 3 of snow. Usually, it was not predicted, or if it was, it was predicted wrong. Lake Effect snow is notoriously unpredictable. I'm in no hurry to move back into the cloud shadow covered northern midwest. anywhere a couple hundred miles southeast of a great lake....yikes, those winters were grey and miserable. 5 months of no sun ... no fun.

I don't think this applies up in Wisconsin, maybe it does. Those grey skies I grew up with are a killer...But having full spectrum light bulbs helps with the SAD --- Seasonal Affective Depression. 6 months of cloud cover is really hard to live with.

 

My home has big windows on the east and open views to the sky. Getting a full day of sun in the winter was my biggest requirement in a home. Even the south has big windows although not as big.
It’s a Swedish torp home painted falu red on the outside and an arctic white on the inside.

 

It’s going to be sunny all day today with highs in the 70’s. Folgers in my cup as I start to pack for my airplane trip to Alaska. I fly out tomorrow afternoon for six days. Three days and nights will be spent tent camping while we hunt for water fowl.

 

Whereabouts?
Sounds like a blast!

 

Near Fairbanks.