Moronacity

Amanda is a good friend of mine in Copper Harbor. She manages the bar at Zik’s and does a lot for the Copper Harbor Trails Club. She doesn’t have a lot of free time. Friday was to be her only day off for Labor Day weekend, so we chose to make it a girls’ day out.

My day started with a reminder from Sam and Chris that I was going to enjoy a morning kayak with some people from North Carolina. The water was rather lively and Chris decided to throw me in the Fjell – a boat that doesn’t like to hold still. I was nervous because I felt quite tippy. After messing around in and about Porter’s Island, we decided to leave the harbor head out into Lake Superior a bit. The waves were quite lively and I was nervous. We spent quite a bit of time out there and I eventually found the Fjell to be quite fun. I also started enjoying the waves and played around for a while. We ended our kayak and I headed back to the Adventure Company to find Amanda waiting for me. She was earlier than expected and ready to tackle Brockway Mountain by bike.

Photos from our kayak around Porter’s Island.

The goal was to climb Brockway Mountain from both sides, but I found it impossible with the incredible hangover I had from the night before. I was also short on sleep and stuffed full of food because of my insatiable hangover appetite. We did attempt Brockway, but I decided proper preparation and lower gearing would be better suited. We turned around and headed towards the end of 41. We rode through Ft Wilkin’s State Park and finished our gentle ride back in town. It was a nice, social ride. We parted ways for showers and met back at the Adventure Company to tend to some Fat Tire business.

We walked around the Harbor asking businesses to donate gifts for the bottle toss during the awards ceremony on Sunday. I was truly amazed at how generous the business owners were. Many places gave gift certificates and one night stays at hotels. Other places gave other little goodies like shot glasses, shirts, and books. Some of the awards were pretty swanky. We finished our walk around town rather quickly, and then headed over to the community center to sort out the goodies and stuff water bottles. Again, the job was done quickly. Amanda was relieved and it was time to go to dinner.

We decided to straighten Tony’s hair before dinner.

This is the part we were looking forward to. You see, very few people are used to seeing us look like women. What I mean by this is that we are usually covered in dust, mud, sweat, anything, and wearing cycling or trail building clothes. Exclamations of surprise are not unusual when you wear something nice. So, we decided to actually dress up for Harbor Haus dinner. We had fifteen people for dinner the conversation was typical. It was full of laughter, inappropriate comments, and great times. The thimbleberry cobbler was pretty spectacular, too.

It was a great day. It’s nice to actually be able to hang out with a friend without having time constraints of exclusive responsibilities. It was a great way to start the Fat Tire weekend.