Busy couple of weeks, back to the norm... Plus rain returning!

Hello from Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area!  We have stayed in Central Ohio for the most part the past few months, but managed to get a little traveling in before school starts again.

The previous weekend we went up to Lake Erie to Cedar Point.  Evan did not want to sleep so I took him for a walk and we watched the sunrise at Pipe Creek Wildlife Area.  

We then loaded up for a trip into America's Playground... that's what they call Cedar Point, right?  I don't do a lot of the intense rides, but a lot of the others did while I hung out with Summer and Evan most of the day doing the easier rides for her.  Evan cannot walk yet, so he was not able to do any rides yet.

That Sunday morning I went for a run along the shores of Lake Erie.  It was a warm and humid 15 miles, but great views and always fun to run in new locations. 

It's also fun to run with good friends.  I was off Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday last week for a quick trip, so I was able to stay up later on Tuesday and I took the kids with me to the Loopy Tuesday run with Columbus Westside Running Club.  Another warm and humid 6 mile run.  

So my short trip was to Las Vegas.  Dawn and I went out there to celebrate her cousin's 50th birthday.  This photo of just the two of us is in front of the Mirage.  We both love the Mirage and always get a photo by the front waterfalls.  Mirage is classy and reasonable with pricing compared to some of the other resorts.

Here is a group shot of everyone that went out for the birthday fun.  This was from Fremont Street. 

We also rented scooters for a guided tour of Red Rock Canyon.  A few of the other ladies wanted to hang out by the pool instead.

And I did run while I was there.  Did my long run, 12 miles, from the south end of the Strip up to Fremont and back. Had to get it in early… Temps were 80 in the morning then 110 in the afternoons. It was a fun, quick trip.

Summer and Evan were spoiled at my parents' house.  They went to the pool, movies, county fair, and baked cookies. Summer loved all the farm equipment at the county fair. 

We came back and our watermelons in the garden were ready to harvest.  The kids loved that!  I think all the vine plants are done for the season.  My pumpkin plants look good and start a pumpkin then the pumpkin itself gets spots and soft and then dies.  Not sure... Maybe I will let them go a little longer with some rain on the way...

Grab that rain gear!  We are starting Monday dry with clouds moving into Central Ohio and we will have cloudy skies by midday with scattered showers arriving.  The rain will move in for the afternoon and become steady through a lot of the late afternoon and evening.  It will start moving in from the southwest and slowly work across the state to the northeast.  With the rain likely for the afternoon, our temperatures will be limited to the lower-mid 70s for highs today.  Scattered showers for the overnight hours and those will linger into the start of Tuesday as well.  The rain looks to take a break midday Tuesday and most of the afternoon looks to be mostly to partly cloudy with highs near 80s. It will also be humid for Tuesday afternoon.  A cold front will be approaching for Tuesday night and ahead of that we will see a broken line of showers and storms later in the day.  Right now the storms look to move in around sunset and it appears that severe weather is not likely, but a few strong storms are possible.  High temps then fall back into the upper 70s and near 80 for Wednesday through Friday with a mix of sun & clouds.  Overnight lows will be cool and refreshing as well, in the upper 50s. Another cold front next weekend, but with our dry air in place it should limit the chance of rain to a few spotty showers.  We will keep an eye on that as we get closer, but, until then, plan on a wet couple days for the start of the week then some really fantastic weather for the second half of the week.  Have a good one!

Best,
Andrew Buck Michael