Duck Creek

The outlet from Lake Harriet is flowing again and it's full up with Mallards.

 

Hockey Game #2

After the art fair on the lake, CP came over and we hit St. Paul for a Minnesota Wild hockey game. This was CP's X-Mas gift: a pair of really good seats in club level.

Before the game, we checked out the Winter Carnival going on a block away. It was 3° out, so we did not hang out very long. 

 

Kite Flying

In addition to the art shanties, there was enough of a breeze on the lake for everyone to fly kites. 

We started off with wispy clouds that created sundogs. That gave way to a full sun halo. The walk home across the lake was really enjoyable. The snow was not deep, and the wind was at our backs.

It's almost like it's paddleboard season. JP is out in the middle of the lake.

 

Art Shanties on the Ice

This year, despite all the cold, the ice on the lake was not thick enough to support the Art Shanties event, so it was brought on shore in the park. S did not like the polar bear AT ALL. He was having nothing to do with it.

It was 20 degrees warmer this year than last and it made for an enjoyable day.

We cannot wait to see the renovation begin on the bandshell this spring.

 

Hockey Night

Our neighbor up the street asked me a few weeks ago if I would be interested in going with him to see the Wild play. Of course I would!!

He had some amazing first-level seats and we had a blast.

 

Foggy Drive

Our drive down to Lincoln was delayed a day due to a big snowstorm. The roads were clear when we returned, but it was foggy most of the way. The white of the featureless Iowa landscape blended in with the fog so that a lot of the time there was no horizon.

We broke out of the fog for about an hour. All the trees had been coated in hoar frost and the deep blue sky and sunshine made for some beautiful scenes.

After the sun, we drove back into the endless fog bank. It was pretty dreary.

 

Back on Campus

We had a little bit of free time while on campus so we wandered around while GP told us about all the things he has done there.

This year all of his classes will be in the new College of Business building. This was not there when I attended. It's a beautiful building.

We also got to quickly dash thru Morrill Hall.

 

Back to School

We took GP back to Lincoln for the start of spring semester. We checked out the new Bierhaus in the Haymarket. The beer & pretzels were tasty!

We also tried out a new place on the south side of the Haymarket on the other side of O Street: Fleetwood. It was jam packed with others doing the same. Lincoln doesn't get hot new restaurants that often, so when one opens up, it's a thing.

 

Brick & Bourbon

We needed to hit Costco, so we stopped by CP's place. Someone there did not heed the notice to move cars for snowplowing. This one will be there till spring.

We tried out the brand new Brick & Bourbon near CP's place. It was tasty and fun. Our favorite is the house-made potato chip dip.

 

Snow Fort

We are trying to keep the firepit ring dug out thru the winter. It's taking shape as a snow fort.

 

Las Vegas Wash

After two days of CES and a full day in Oak Creek Canyon, our feet needed some rest, so we did a few easy miles at Clark Country Wetlands park and the Las Vegas Wash.

I've never seen a desert wash that was so green. The country built a series of small dams (wiers) to slow the water and collect debris and trash before it gets to Lake Mead. 

 

Bloomington Dog Park

One of our favorite places to go for a dog walk is the Bloomington Off-Leash Dog Park. It's a huge park with tons of trails and places for S to run around with other dogs. No matter what time of year, it's busy.

 

Red Rock Canyon

After two long days of CES, we headed west for an afternoon at Red Rock Canyon.

It's a lot like Snow Canyon - same Jurassic pink & white sandstone with 2,000 foot cliffs.

There had been some rain/snow a couple days ago, so the creek in the canyon was flowing with cool clear water.

Check out more photos here in the album.

 

Girls' Afternoon on the Strip

While CG & I toured CES, JP & BG had fun on the Vegas strip.

JP Found two pairs of shoes and a new purse.

 

CES 2023

I hit CES again this year. Last year was maybe 25% of normal. This year it was back to 100%.

Why are the chickens crossing the road? This is a famous problem with autonomous cars: the cars' artificial intelligence (AI) is trained to recognize people: young, old, on scooter/bike/skateboards. The question is, Is the AI also trained to recognize people dressed up as chickens? It sounds silly, but it's a real thing. I'm not sure where these chickens were headed; hopefully not to test out the latest Tesla self-driving software release...

This was my favorite of the entire show: a Sterns pinball table dedicated to my favorite band Rush. They are only $7,000. Maybe once the kids are fully on their own...

Our future is bleak. We will all just sit around with VR masks and hand-wands and sit in the same room without even noticing anyone else is there while interacting virtually.

 

Snow Fort

The backyard is getting deep. Since all the snow on the driveway has to go somewhere.

We are keeping the circle around the firepit dug out and it's turning into a snow fort of sorts. Now that we have enough now, we need to start sculpting it into a smooth design.

 

China Cabinet Rearrange

JP Brought back some pretty glasses from Nana's and rearranged her china cabinet after she put away all the X-Mas decorations.

 

Winter Lover

It kept snowing for another night and day.

With zero wind, the snow stuck to everything and made a winter wonderland.

JP LOVES her Toro snowblower. It makes moving snow is fun.

Charlie Berens is our favorite Midwest Hero.

 

Snowy Start to 2023

Instead of going back to work, it was a WFH (work from home) week. We got another foot of snow.

I took S up to the lake for his mid-day walk and we were both covered by the time we got back. It was snowing 2" an hour at times.

S Loves it! He doesn't want to come in.

 

At Home New Year's

When we got back home, we did a date night at Broder's and had a fantastic romantic dinner for two.

Later we joined the K's next door to catch up on the holiday travels.