Hightail to Ale 5K

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On Friday night, Atwater Brewery hosted their annual High Tail to Ale 5k.  They tout it as a keg party with a 5k warm up.  The start and finish were at Atwater and the course took you from there, up past the Ren Cen to the Port Authority and then back along the river walk and through Milliken State Park (apparently, there is a state park in Detroit - who knew?).  This was only my second official 5k, although I run 3 miles a few times a week, just to stay in shape, and my goal time was to finish in under 30 minutes.  My official time was 28:28.  Not too shabby, although, my run tracker app had me at 26 something, in any case, I still beat my goal.

The best part of the race: as you cross the finish line, they hand you a beer.  Best. 5k. Ever.  I opted for the Dirty Blond Ale and man, was it tasty!  I'm not one to normally say this, but it was actually better out of the can than fresh from the tap.  Not entirely sure how that works.

The High Tail to Ale is part of the Thirsty Three.  It's the first in the series.  There is another race in August and one in October.  The one in August is a wine 5k.  A WINE 5K!!  I am SO BUMMED that we won't be here for me to run in it.  You have no idea. #FirstWorldProblems.  The final in the series is a hard cider run.

We also ran into a number of friends that we didn't know were also planning on running.  Instead of hanging around in the crowd, we headed over the Bucharest Grill / Park Bar to grab some dinner and a beer or two.  Turns out, a lot of other runners had the exact same idea.  A couple beers, some schwarma and a GIANT plate of garlic dip later, and we were done.  

Once again, I had my personal photographer in tow (now, I just need to get a stylist to follow me around, and then I'd have an official entourage), and he got some great pictures.  Check them out below!  

Meghan enjoying her delicious post-race Atwater Brewery Dirty Blonde beer.

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Meghan Oaks

Wishing and Waiting and Hoping for Spring

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The winter of 2013 - 2014 was the second worst winter on record for Detroit - ever.  To date, over 84 inches of snow has fallen.  To give you some perspective, the snowiest winter had a total of 93.6 inches.  While the total snowfall for this year is just another winter storm for those in Houghton (where Michigan Tech, our alma mater), for those of us downstate, it's downright brutal.  Not to mention it's also been the winter of the "Polar Vortex" where it wasn't uncommon for HIGHS to be only a few degrees above zero, Fahrenheit.  

Now it's the middle of March, a time when it SHOULD be warming up.  At this point, I would gladly take anything over 40.  Over 50 would be a bonus and just might call for me to break out the bikini and open the pool.  Two years ago, on St. Patty's Day weekend, we were sitting outside, at a local Irish pub, enjoying some beverages with friends while wearing shorts and t-shirts.  This year, the high for March 15 was 25.  But sunny.  Oh was it sunny.  It was one of those days where sitting inside, warm, with the sun pouring in, one could look outside and think that it was 50 degrees outside.  It was a beautiful day for a stroll in the park.  So, that's what we did.  We set off with the dog in tow and went to take some pictures in the Van Buren Township park.  Only one problem...it was still frigid outside.  But, we persevered in the name of photography on a beautiful (albeit, cold) afternoon.  

We were able to grab some really good pictures at the park.  The birds are starting to return, the squirrels are coming out of their hibernation (wait, do squirrels even hibernate?) and the bunnys are starting to hop again (something Scout is excited about...now only if he could actually catch one once in a while).  But I digress, back to our nature walk.  We also discovered the location of the University of Michigan Rowing Team's boathouse - quite impressive.  They were trying to break open the ice on Belleville Lake so they could start practicing.  I think it's going to be a couple more weeks before they have enough open water to row.

Beautiful Front door of Ford Hydro plant

After leaving the Van Buren Park, we headed over to a smaller one we discovered while looking at the map.  There were two right next to each other called "North Hydro Park" and "South Hydro Park."  Apparently, there is a hydro electric dam built by Henry Ford sitting on the river.  The building appeared to have been built at least 60 years ago, probably more, and had some great architectural details.  Scout was very interested in the rushing water below.  Unfortunately, we couldn't get a good picture of his curiosity.  Our model wouldn't cooperate.

All in all though, it was a beautiful day.  If only it had been a little warmer.  Some further information and pictures can be found at Sherlock Photography.

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Meghan Oaks