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Monday, May 7, 2012

Summer!!

I'm excited for summer. Every year I make a little list of things I want to do this summer. Usually it's things like: "hike to a lighthouse" and "find a summer romance." This year my list is going to be different. I still want to do those things of course, but they should just be a given. They don't even need to be listed anymore.

Here are a few of the other things I'm looking forward to doing this summer:

* Go Camping! I've had a real camping itch lately. Wait, that sounds like a rash I got from camping or something. What I mean is, I've been really wanting to go camping lately. So I have decided to plan a camping trip in the UP (upper peninsula) this summer. I want to see Tahquamenon falls there, which I haven't seen since I was a kid, and I want to go to my friend's bear sanctuary. Yes, that is actually a thing. You get to have your picture taken holding a baby bear cub! I'm all over that!

source

* Run a 5K. So, I'm on week six of the Couch-to-5K program and it's still not easy for me. Can I still learn to love running? Or should I love it by now? Either way, I'm running a 5K in June whether I like it or not. I'm kind of excited about this since I've never done it before.

* Bike around Mackinac Island. I have done this before, but it's been awhile and I need to get back there. Mackinac Island is a small island right between the upper and lower peninsulas. You can rent bikes and ride all the way around - it's an easy ride (flat and only 8 miles). The views are gorgeous. Though lots of people live on the island, and there are loads of B&Bs and shops and restaurants, there are no cars on the whole island. Only carriages, horses, and bikes. It's enchanting.



* Eat at Bill's Drive-In. Bill's Drive-In is a local place known for it's amazing hot dogs and homemade root beer. I've been hearing a lot of buzz about it lately. I haven't been there since high school (so, like two years*), so I think it's time to go back.



* Get my bike fixed and ride in the Tour De Troit. My friends Sara and Sarah did it last year and I was super sad not be able to join them because of a bad back tire on my bike. This summer I'm going to get that fixed and prepare for the tour. Last year 4,400 people registered and rode their bikes through the historic districts of Detroit. Yes, please!

* Go to a couple drive-in movies. Drive-ins are one of my favorite things about summer. The drive-in I usually go to looks like it hasn't had ANY work/improvements done since it was first built (back when drive-ins were first invented), but I think that adds to the charm. I can imagine Archie Andrews is in the car (jalopy) next to me.**



Other than this list of goals, I have the usual summer plans: eat lots of watermelon, go to the farmers market a bunch, swim in Lake Michigan, go to Ludington several times, watch old timey baseball games, go to as many Tigers games as I can, wear white, get a suntan, roast marshmallows and hot dogs over a campfire, etc.  Oh my goodness, I can't wait!

How about you? What are some things you want to do this summer?

* yeah right.
** this joke is a stretch.

8 comments:

Brady said...

I want to bike on Mackinac. I still haven't been during the summer, only the fall. I think that would be fun.

sandy said...

I just made a summer goal to visit Ann Arbor. I would love to join your summer adventures - maybe the drive-in? Or the Tour De Troit? Also, don't worry about not loving running yet. You probably won't love it until you finish the 5k and then take a break from running and realize you miss it.

D said...

I'm starting the couch to 5k again. (i keep doing at week two do pathetic). It surprised me how much I actually enjoyed running (not that I did much of it since I was only on week two.) The exercise felt good. But now I'm signed up for the.color run in august and it id my goal to be able to run all of it...slowly... But running the whole time.

Katherine said...

YES! I'm just stealing your whole list and tagging along, I think. (Except for the 5k...) I'm super excited about summer, too!!! :D

D said...

My phone wouldn't let me correct anything sorry. Stopping not.doing. And other more obvious corrections.

And it is my goal to make a trip to michigan next year. Preferably in the spring or fall. This summer is all about my sisters wedding and seeing the sites of ABQ.

E McL said...

I live in the middle of nowhere, not an hour to something, like a day to get to any decent nature (sounds like an oxymoron; far from civilization and nowhere near nature, welcome to TX.) So I plan to live vicariously this summer. I plan to go the beach via my brother, to the mountains via my other brother, to Europe via 1/2 my classmates, to the lake via you.

I love that you blog about the outdoors often. Reminds me of racing the ice cream to the bottom of the cone while sitting on the bay. Imagining isn't nearly as great as going, but somehow in its own way it has its charm, nostalgia, and beauty. Happy, happy summer (you deserve it after a long winter :D)

violet50 said...

Well I wasn't excited about summer until now. Thanks! There are a lot of fun times ahead!

Mary Burnette said...

If I'm lucky I'll get to share a few of those adventures with you!