29 October 2011

Braaaaaaaaiiiins!

Last night, the zombies took over Adams Street in downtown Toledo! My husband and I donned our biker gear and went out in search of a few brains to munch on at the second annual Zombie Crawl. This is probably the one time that turning off the red-eye reduction on the camera is actually a good thing. :)


This was one night we elected not to ride the Harley. Are you kidding me? With all those blood-hungry monsters roaming the alleys? [shudder]

Happy Halloween, everyone!

Carolan Ivey
www.carolanivey.com

25 October 2011

Early Celtic "Stonehenge" Found in Germany

Early Celtic Moon-based Calendar "Stonehenge" Found in Germany

Just in time for the Celtic new year!

From Science Daily:
A huge early Celtic calendar construction has been discovered in the royal tomb of Magdalenenberg, nearby Villingen-Schwenningen in Germany's Black Forest. This discovery was made by researchers at the Römisch-Germanisches Zentralmuseum at Mainz in Germany when they evaluated old excavation plans. The order of the burials around the central royal tomb fits exactly with the sky constellations of the Northern hemisphere. Read more

11 October 2011

Highway to Hell (Mich.), Oct. 2011

Last weekend my husband and I explored south central Michigan's rolling hills and gem-like lakes to see the fall colors. Armed with a handful of printed off maps (oh yeah, I can hear you snickering already), off we went on our Harley beastie (I'm not riding solo that far or fast yet!). Within an hour the wind took a couple of the maps, so thus began our navigation by "iron booger." (Fans of Home Improvement will get that reference!)

Here are a few pictures from the weekend. Most of them were taken while the bike was in motion, so I apologize in advance for the tilted view. :)

Huron River below Barton Pond dam.


My hubby and the Beastie at Sandhill Crane Winery. Don't worry, I did most of the tasting, since I wasn't driving!

Most of these photos are from the Waterloo recreation area.


Lotsa bikes at the Dam Site Inn, Hell, Michigan.

Barton Pond

I'm not sure WHAT this is...!

Welcome sign over the bar at the Dam Site Inn.

Proof that Hell, MI is a real place!

Ticket to ride!

About this time last year, I posted a blog about my spectacular failure to pass the Motorcycle Safety Foundation's (MSF) basic rider course in a quest to get my license. I can look back on it now and laugh, especially since now, one year later, I have...(drum roll)...passed the course and earned my M!

Yep, instead of a generic picture of a girl on a motorcycle, today's picture is me on my second day riding my new scooter, which I've dubbed "Puck." In faerie lore, the pooka or phukka are a funloving folk, full of mischief and lively humor. But treated with disrespect or ignored, they can turn on you and make life miserable! That's sort of how I approach riding - have fun, but don't push my luck.

Puck is a 2011 Meiduo 150cc scooter, delightfully easy to ride and with enough zip to be safe on the townships 50-mph roads. The previous owner added a water bottle holder and a strip of bright blue LED lights on the underside, right before he decided he wanted a machine with a bigger engine.

My instructor, the proprietor of a local scooter shop, went above and beyond to help me get over my jitters. When I showed up for the schedule class in August, it turned out all the scooters he'd brought with him were too tall for me - I couldn't reach the ground with my toes, much less flatfoot it. So once again I had to bow out of the course before I'd barely gotten started. Tom promised me he'd meet with me one on one with a smaller scooter the following week. Then his lovely wife Katy broke her foot, so we had to put it off yet another few weeks.

Just when it looked liked I'd either be riding in the snow or putting it off another year, Tom called with the news that Katy was cleared to put weight on the foot.

A few days later I walked nervously onto the far corner of long-term parking at the local airport. Tom put me on a bright yellow former rental scooter that I promptly named Tweetie Bird. After learning the basics on Tweetie, Tom put me on a bigger scooter to see how I fared in the sharp turns. Suffice to say the bug population of the Lucas County airport parking lot was cut roughly in half as I raced around the turns with a huge grin on my face. :)

Two days later I'd mastered the dreaded Box (tight figure 8), cornering, weaving and emergency stopping. My only point off was not coming out of the corner fast enough.

Hmm, riding faster...better go work on that. See ya later! Now where's my helmet...