A Love Letter to Dog Days in the North Country…

[flyover]

…or, How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Thrive in Hot, Humid Summers

OK, it’s not like DC here, but we get more muggy days than you might guess. I don’t let it keep me indoors, or inactive. This is what works for me anyways:

Relax somewhere shady.

Hydrate.

Relax and hydrate at the same time.

Spin some chill tunes from hot and humid locales.

Cycle. Getting the air moving quickly around your body can make outdoor exercise more enjoyable.

Midtown Greenway bike trail, Minneapolis

Cycle on a shady bike trail.

Minnehaha Creek bike trail, Minneapolis

Cycle on a shady bike trail near water.

Lake Bde Maka Ska bike trail, Minneapolis

Minnehaha Falls, Minneapolis

Take a break from cycling to hydrate and relax at the same time.

Many of our park concessions now have beer and wine licenses, offering a nice stop near the end of a bike ride.

Sea Salt, Minnehaha Falls, Minneapolis

Sandcastle, Lake Nokomis, Minneapolis

Get out on the water.

Lake of the Isles, Minneapolis

Lake Nokomis, Minneapolis

Lake Harriet, Minneapolis

Isles Channel, Minneapolis

Get in the water.

Lake, Bde Maka Ska, Minneapolis

Get out with family, friends, and neighbors to enjoy the soft summer nights. Cities with long winters and short, warm summers can sometimes really come alive on a summer evening.

The Chico Chavez Orchestra laying down some psychedelic cumbia on a neighbor's front porch.

Our back alley

Take a long weekend or three up north.

Outlet of Rose Lake, BWCA (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boundary_Waters_Canoe_Area_Wilderness). Just a day trip. This is actually the Ontario side of the lake. (We had a Remote Area Border Crossing permit, issued by Canadian Customs in Thunder Bay, which made it legal for us to paddle into Canada.)

MN side of Rose Lake

Lake Superior

Take a longer vacation even further up north, the wilder the better.

Kawnipi Lake, Quetico Provincial Park, Ontario. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quetico_Provincial_Park)

Kennebas Falls, Quetico

McEwen Creek, Quetico

Berg River, Wabakimi Provincial Park (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quetico_Provincial_Park). (We were about 30 miles from the nearest road of any type in the pictures that follow, a distance you cannot achieve in the lower 48.)

Eastern end of Smoothrock Lake, Wabakimi

Smoothrock Lake, Wabakimi

Northwestern end of Smoothrock Lake, Wabakimi (it's a huge lake)

Finally, and perhaps most importantly, remember, this could be your reality from Thanksgiving to Easter.

My apologies if this may all have been a bit too snarky, but in my experience it’s possible to acclimate a bit to muggy weather. Our 113 year-old house has hot-water radiator heat, and thus no duct work for simple addition of central AC. We've got a couple of window units, but honestly only use them a handful of days each summer. I went for an hour-and-a-half ride after knocking off work late yesterday afternoon at 90F with a 70 degree dewpoint and it was delightful. I took a shorter ride this afternoon at 88°F with a 71° dewpoint. It was also nice. Many of our fellow citizens were out doing the same.

I will acknowledge that the heat and humidity of the Yucatan in summer, where Tony has recently been, must be ridiculous, especially inland away from the ocean breezes. We visited the Mayan ruins at Coba in late spring/early summer 2005, too early in the season for us to yet be acclimated to hot weather. It was a gazillion degrees and felt to be as humid as it can get without raining. After climbing the main pyramid, while I was admiring the view drenched in sweat and more than a bit knackered in sandals, nylon cargo shorts, and the thinnest T-shirt I had, a couple of Mayan gentlemen dressed in cowboy boots and hats, heavy old-school denim jeans, and long-sleaved western-wear shirts effortless skipped all the way up to join me at the top without appearing to break the slightest sweat.

 

[jamesdeluxe]

we get more muggy days than you might guess. I don’t let it keep me indoors, or inactive

I walked 18 holes yesterday afternoon. Sunny in the high 80s but brutal humidity following Monday evening's monster flooding with the dewpoint clocking in at a Florida-level 75 degrees.

Our 113 year-old house has hot-water radiator heat, and thus no duct work for simple addition of central AC. We've got a couple of window units, but honestly only use them a handful of days each summer

That's the deal with our 107 year-old house. Since moving in two decades ago, we've been threatening to install a split-unit AC but other pressing financial needs always prevent us from going ahead with it -- and we use our AC more than "a handful of days" each summer. We're carrying on with the window units, which work but are less than ideal.

 

[Harvey]

Beautiful pics. I wonder how many parts of the US and/or Canada call themselves "North Country"?

Man I hate window units.

Lived in a 1930s house for 30 years, no way really to install central air. We had 33,000 BTU (!) window unit downstairs and (3) 5000s upstairs. It's the volume that sucks most of all. (Not to mention the yearly install/uninstall hassle.) The TV ends up loud to overcome the noise. Did cut down on our TV watching.

 

[jimk]

VERY NICE PHOTO ESSAY!

@flyover ,
Hope you don't mind, I took a little road trip recently from Wash DC to the Newport, RI area and I'm adding my own little batch of photos to the thread. My trip was also a good escape from the heat and I saw some nice stuff.

My wife and I went to Newport over this past weekend to visit my brother and his wife for his 80th birthday party. We joked that he got this Ferrari for a birthday present! Actually, it belonged to a 1st cousin who drove down from the Boston area to attend the party. The Ferrari is a 2012 model and was spotless.

My brother moved to RI just a couple years ago, after many years living in San Diego. This is the view of the Narragansett Bay from his porch. It was about 75 F degrees every day during our visit.

The day after the party we toured two famous, preserved Newport mansions from the Gilded Age. This is Marble House, built around 1890 for William and Alva Vanderbilt.

Mrs. Vanderbilt's bedroom. The house was designed by famed architect Richard Morris Hunt and inspired by the Trianon at Versailles.

The backyard features a replica of a Japanese teahouse (c1908) and a view of the Atlantic Ocean. Martha's Vineyard is about 30 miles off this coast.

Marble House is part of a fabulous neighborhood of historic Newport mansions, many built along the oceanside Cliff Walk.

On the return drive south we passed through little Clinton, NJ for a gas and ice cream stop. It had a cute main drag.

Then we stopped in the Lancaster, PA area to visit a niece and her family. They are not Amish, but the Amish are nearby and their farms and lifestyle are very picturesque. Here an Amish man transports supplies with a little motorless vehicle that was a cross between a wagon and a scooter. He was moving quite briskly.

 

[jamesdeluxe]

we passed through little Clinton, NJ

You drove right past us -- we're 1.5 miles from I-78.

My brother moved to RI just a couple years ago, after many years living in San Diego.

What brought about the move to the other coast?

 

[jimk]

You drove right past us -- we're 1.5 miles from I-78.



What brought about the move to the other coast?

Clinton was one of those spontaneous stops. Very cute. That was a very wet day (Monday). Hope you didn't have flooding? Our niece did in Lancaster and we had to postpone our visit with her.
PS: I'm eating Shoofly pie right now . The trip past Lancaster was not a total scratch.

A woman brought my brother to RI. His first wife died a few years ago. He met and married a new lady. Traded a landlocked home in Carlsbad, CA for an oceanside one near Newport, even up. There is non-buildable lot between him and the ocean.

 

[Tony Crocker]

OK, it’s not like DC here, but we get more muggy days than you might guess.

23.7 days average, better than NY/NJ but more than Vermont.

in my experience it’s possible to acclimate a bit to muggy weather.

I believe this is true after those 3 summer months in Florida in 2020. We spent two days at Disney World near the end of that trip, got lucky with the first one being overcast and cooler after an overnight rain. The second one I only remember being extra annoyed during one queue that was in the sun about half the time.

central AC

On in Liz' Florida house 24/7, even during April and November visits.

I will acknowledge that the heat and humidity of the Yucatan in summer, where Tony has recently been, must be ridiculous, especially inland away from the ocean breezes.

Ocean breezes??? If present they last until you get more than one building inland from the beach.

We went to cenotes yesterday. The fresh water is a constant 77F year round, and any walking to get to them is well shaded by thick rainforest. This is a must do, especially during hot season.

As for the El Cid resort pools, they are at least 85F in the morning and more like 90F by sunset, unless up against a building that shades them a significant part of the day. The pool at our Cozumel hotel was small but on a patio with a slatted roof over head that reduced its direct sun and kept it under 85F.

Another tell tale sign of truly obnoxious weather is when you walk out of an air conditioned building and your glasses fog.

We are enjoying socializing with our Iron Blosam friends and when outside being in shade and near water. That’s pool water as the beach here is not user friendly: shallow, rocky and under attack by a large sargassum bloom in the Caribbean.

I concede that the Gulf beach by Liz’ place has its charms during summer sunsets, calm enough to swim, 85F if you just want to relax and if you get lucky the occasional green flash.

 

[Sbooker]

A couple of months of hot and humid weather would be bearable. After 5 months it gets old believe me.

 

[jamesdeluxe]

Man I hate window units. (....) It's the volume that sucks most of all. (Not to mention the yearly install/uninstall hassle.)

Agreed about the yearly install/uninstall (the moment when I especially regret not having a split unit). I always shake my head at the significant number of people who leave them in their windows year-round. Imagine how much cold air enters the house during winter!

 

[jasoncapecod]

Agreed about the yearly install/uninstall (the moment when I especially regret not having a split unit). I always shake my head at the significant number of people who leave them in their windows year-round. Imagine how much cold air enters the house during winter!

we have central and split system....the split (Mitsubishi) fried it's circuit boards 2 yrs ago , parts under warranty , but the labor wasn't..800$...last month same thing , fried boards , yippee they are warrantied. Not the 1200$ in labor...

 

[jamesdeluxe]

we have central and split system....the split (Mitsubishi) fried it's circuit boards 2 yrs ago , parts under warranty , but the labor wasn't..800$...last month same thing , fried boards , yippee they are warrantied. Not the 1200$ in labor...

Yikes. It's too late for this expenditure; however, I recommend getting one of those third-party warranties where you pay approx. $10-15 per month/per appliance that's looking dodgy (we got ours through the utility company PSE&G for our washing machine and oven). They cover all parts and labor so you earn the yearly fee back and much more with just one technician repair.

 

[Tony Crocker]

A couple of months of hot and humid weather would be bearable. After 5 months it gets old believe me.

What makes it tolerable at Liz’ place is the 5 minute drive or 15 minute walk to the beach. Inland Florida would be a masochistic place to live yet the newly retired keep pouring in there.

 

[EMSC]

What makes it tolerable at Liz’ place is the 5 minute drive or 15 minute walk to the beach. Inland Florida would be a masochistic place to live yet the newly retired keep pouring in there.

FL is tough. Need to be far enough inland to avoid hurricane storm surge, but close enough for cool beach breeze that only goes a couple miles inland. Makes me wonder what the heck Walt Disney was thinking putting the park in Orlando.

 

[jamesdeluxe]

Makes me wonder what the heck Walt Disney was thinking putting the park in Orlando.

The internet says that Walt Disney bought 27,000 dirt cheap acres in an alligator-infested swamp "so the corporation could exercise more control than it had in Anaheim, where businesses quickly crowded around Disneyland. Florida officials OTOH were very cooperative, giving Disney near-total control over the land for zoning, utilities, and development."

My family visited Disney World in 1973, when I was a small kid. Back then, the only onsite lodging was, as shown at the beginning of the clip below, the Contemporary Resort and the Polynesian Hotel. We stayed at the latter. Hah, go to 6:30. When we went there on a day trip in 2017 (completely against my wishes), the miniature Grand Prix racing cars were, 44 years later, exactly the same, including the polluting lawn-mower engines. Props for keeping it old-school!

 

[jasoncapecod]

The internet says that Walt Disney bought 27,000 dirt cheap acres in an alligator-infested swamp "so the corporation could exercise more control than it had in Anaheim, where businesses quickly crowded around Disneyland. Florida officials OTOH were very cooperative, giving Disney near-total control over the land for zoning, utilities, and development."

My family visited Disney World in 1973, when I was a small kid. Back then, the only onsite lodging was, as shown at the beginning of the clip below, the Contemporary Resort and the Polynesian Hotel. We stayed at the latter. Hah, go to 6:30. When we went there on a day trip in 2017 (completely against my wishes), the miniature Grand Prix racing cars were, 44 years later, exactly the same, including the polluting lawn-mower engines. Props for keeping it old-school!

i remember staying at the Polynesian... we rented these little speed boats , must have been 1976 +-

 

[berkshireskier]

What makes it tolerable at Liz’ place is the 5 minute drive or 15 minute walk to the beach. Inland Florida would be a masochistic place to live yet the newly retired keep pouring in there.

Yea, but alot of those people live indoors in AC for 5 or 6 months. Barely go outside, unless to grocery shop or do some other errands. They're not necessarily going out to ride 40 miles on a bike or play golf for 5 hours in the relentless heat and humidity. Not a great way to live but many people in northern climes live a more or less similar lifesyle during the Winter months, unless you ski downhill or cross country.