don’t get too close to my fantasy
don’t be afraid to touch the hand of your creator
stare into the lion’s eyes and if you taste the candy
you’ll get to the surprise

Damn, Alaskan Winter is good.

I used to, probably about age 20-21, really like Alaskan Pale, and to a lesser degree, Alaskan Amber. But I never see the Pale anymore, and ambers, on the whole, piss me off with their sweetness.

But one thing that brewery can seriously rock is the winter brew. Alaskan Winter has a strong, smoky mouth taste with a quick finish; quite marvelous. There are hints of fruit, without being overly sweet. very nice.

Also added to my aresenal tonight: Coppola Merlot.

I should link to that (as I should have to the Alaskan brews) but JFGI.

I love a nice, dry merlot. And dry, when not because of poor composition, but instead because of quality execution, is wonderful. word.

cumbia, cumbia….

I love my Blizzaks. They successfully guided us over, and back over, the snowy/icy/busy Santiam Pass yesterday. We took my (stay with me) Sister-In-Law’s boyfriend’s kids home to their mother, because my Sis-In-Law and he are having a baby any second now. Since they couldn’t go over the pass, due to the impending childbirth, we volunteered. Delaney spent the day with my Mom, and we spent the day on the road. 9 hours of driving to get to Sheridan, OR and back. That is only about 340mi, but it took forever with the weather.

Anyway, the drive was cake. My tires are the shit; it feels like I have real studded tires on packed snow. It has been snowing hard all day in Bend, and I have been out twice, once to go to the dentist, and once for lunch. There are people spun out or going 7.5mph all over the place. This town really didn’t used to be like that. People had driven in snow before, and it would take at least a foot of snow to really stop anything from getting done. Not any more. It’s a shame.

At least I’m all set.

WordPress now offers free bloghosting using their platform.

http://wordpress.com/

For all of you not lucky enough to have a Tribal server.

It will set you up as yourblognamehere.wordpress.com. Pretty cool.

In the last 5 years or so, the number of people running studded tires has grown. This is a shame, as traction technology has been improving and more and more cars offer AWD.

I mean really, a ridiculous amount of people run studded tires. And people put them on rigs that just plain don’t need them. Subaru Outbacks, for example (of which there are 3.1723 per licenced driver in Bend). Have any of you that have an Outback tried driving it in the slick without studs? They are completely solid. No problems at all, unless you drive too fast for the conditions, in which case, studs will do little to save you.

SUVs. Brand new 4Runners and Honda Pilots and Xterras and such, running studs! This, my friends, is totally unnecessary. I have a 92 Pathfinder, and if you put that thing into 4WD, it holds the road like a tank. You can drive HARD, and unless it’s solid, thick ice on the roads, it performs admirably. You have to flog it to get it to slide. And as for iced over roads in Bend, it just doesn’t happen often enough to necessitate studded tires. Of course, even in the Pathfinder, you have to be more careful on solid ice, but that thing is extremely capable in all winter conditions.

I have a set of studless winter tires on rims for my Protege. The stock tires are 195/50/16, which is quite an uncommon size, and not a size which lends itself to a wide selection of all-season radials. The Toyo Proxes I have on it in the summertime get really bad really quickly when the temp gets cold. I find my winter tires to be better all-around in winter than studs. I hate driving on studded tires.

The winter tires, a set of Bridgestone Blizzak WS-50s in a 195/55/15 configuration, are really excellent tires. They are unfortunately very soft however, and I wonder how many seasons they will last. I know I’ll get a third year out of them, but I would doubt much more.

Studs, since they actually have metal bits protruding, actually *lessen* traction in dry conditions, and even wet conditions where the temp is above freezing. Bend roads are most often wet, not icy, during winter days. At least that’s what I’ve noticed in the last 12 years or so since I’ve been on the road in wintertime.

Anyway, if you are one of those “OH MY GOD IT’S NOVEMBER I HAVE TO GET MY STUDDED TIRES ON RIGHT NOW OH MY GOD OH MY GOD” people, and you drive a Subaru, or really anything with AWD/4WD, try studless winter tires if you really think you must have another set for the winter. You likely will discover you don’t really need them.

Subaru drivers: Try a set of Toyo Z800 Ultras all year long. They are great tires, and coupled with AWD, you’ll have plenty of traction to get around.

SUV people: Open Country A/Ts. These are conservatively styled but incredibly capable.

Everyone: Winter driving is not anything to get completely freaked out about. Just slow down, and make sure you know what your rig will do when you try to stop quickly in the slick weather. Try it somewhere when no other cars are around. Slow down - that’s the most important part.