Early Ice Out

This winter has been exceptionally warm. Normally, we get a few warm days that quickly go back to winter. This year, it warmed up and stayed warm. The last day for the ice was March 11. 

 

Big 10 Women's Husker B-Ball

The Big 10 basketball tournaments are being held here in Minneapolis. Every night on the news has been chatter about how it's sold out due to Caitlin Clark (Iowa Hawkeyes all-time NCAA scoring recordholder) and tickets are $200+. What they weren't saying is that the other games are not sold out, and tickets are cheap.

I scored two second-row courtside seats for the Nebraska game against Purdue. $8 each! DK picked me up from work and we had a fun time. It was a double-header with the Illinois-Maryland game up first.

We were sitting close enough that we could hear the girls' and ref's chatter. We were also close to thje Husker band and had fun with all their antics. By the end of the game, DK was chanting "GO BIG RED!" with the rest of us.

The Huskers won this game as well as the next one against Michigan State.

 

Nine Mile Creek

With the warm temps, we should be in knee-deep mud season, but the lack of moisture is keeping the mud at bay. We tried out a new place: Nine Mile Creek in Bloomington (10 minutes south of us). It starts off in a canyon in a residential neighborhood and winds down to the Minnesota River. Along the river is a bird santuary. We watched four bald eagles soaring above their nest and a bazillion geese, ducks, and coots in the water. We even saw an old beaver lodge.

S lost all of his winter coat last month and he's ready for snowless walks (until it gets above 50°). He is smart enough to know that when he's hot, all he has to do is go for a swim.

 

Warm Spring Fireside

The weather has been absolutely balmy. We are taking advantage of it by being outside as much as possible. CP came over and we had a nice firepit family night.

 

Spring Training

After the Up North show, we wandered around downtown. I had a 40% off coupon for the Twins store, so we hit Target Field where CP got a new Twins shirt. Only one month to go until baseball is back!

 

Up North Show

CP joined us for the Up North Show at the Minneapolis Convention Center. We had fun checking out the cabins and backyard saunas. It would be nice to have a cabin, but all the ones we like are $600k+.

With cabins scratched off the list, JP is talking more and more about a hard-sided camper. This one is made in St. Paul and it's top notch. I think I could get into something like this. It would probably fit into the front stall of the garage (if somehow you could back it in for 35 feet with zero clearance).

 

Ducks

The creek coming out of the lake is always packed with ducks. It's nice ice-free clean moving water. 

 

Pike Island

With temps in the 40s and zero snow, we (and at least 11 boats) got out on the river. 

The three-mile hike around Pike Island is pretty, and at this time of year, bug-free. It's where the Minnesota and Mississippi rivers converge. Even though its surrounded by city, it is peaceful and uncrowded.

Mud season is upon us. 

 

Hamster Maze

On our list of things to do is to walk the entire skyway system downtown. We took it to the Home & Garden show, but on the weekend most of the shops are closed. Need to take off a weekday and go exploring.

 

Home & Garden Show

We hit the Home & Garden Show downtown Minneapolis for something to do. JP fell in love with this little crooked greenhouse.

This gas-fired pizza oven would look good next to the grill on the deck.

 

Lake Day

We took advantage of a beautiful 40° (above zero) day and hit the lake. The bandshell is mostly done with its repairs and new colors. 

There was still 4" of untouched snow on the lake and it was perfect for our novice cross country trailblazing abilities. 

 

Snow - Finally!

Up until this week, we've only had 7" of snow. Half of that fell on Halloween. There hasn't been any snow anywhere for the past two months. It makes for a dark and dreary winter with nothing to reflect the lights.

We finally got a nice 7" snow that will stick around for at least two days until it gets back in the 40s. The dog is happy, as are the organizers of the Cross Country World Cup ski event this weekend at Theodore Wirth Park. They have been trucking in snow from all over to keep the trails going. They're expecting 35,000 people from all over for it.

 

Ice Skating

After work, DK hit me up: "Dude, let's go ice skating!" so we walked down to the lake and skated. The ice was still thick enough and smooth as glass. DK skated all the way down to the beach and back a couple of times while I tried to not fall and break anything.

I managed to not fall, and it was absolutely invigorating. We need to do it more, especially considering that it's literally a three minute walk away.

 

Las Vegas Desert

Since we couldn't get tickets to the Super Bowl, we did the next best thing: hike in the desert with friends. The G's new house is on the edge of the desert and a wilderness area. They can hike and get away from the hustle and bustle right from their front door.

We toured Red Rocks and took in the snow and stormclouds. It's a lot like Zion, but you're able to get back away from the cliffs.

The mountains by the G's house are like little mini Superstition Mountains.

 

Super Bowl Weekend

We took off and hit Vegas for the Super Bowl. Once we got there and realized that the cheapest tickets available were $6,000, we changed our plan and did other things.

The benefit of traveling during the game was that the airport was a complete Nevada ghost town. Normally it's crowded, hot, and noisy. Not so this time.

We flew on Sun Country (because it was literally $1,000 cheaper than Delta). JP scarfed down the in-flight snacks. 

 

Nico's Tacos

Our new neighborhood taco joint finally opened. I was walking the dog and noticed that people were inside. Their first night was a "friend & family" event, but we're close enough that we consider ourselves within that group. No one seemed to mind.

 The Ks joined us for our first taste of the new menu. Everyone is glad to have our restaurant corner back in full swing.

Cutest Puppy Contest

Another casualty of the warm winter was the Klondike Sled Dog Race in Excelsior. It's one of our favorite winter activities (watching, not mushing). Despite no race, the organizers still held the Cutest Puppy Contest at the brewery. CP joined us and we had a fun afternoon.

JP was in heaven accosting all the puppies. There were 30+ puppies and she voted for each and every one of them. The event is a fundraiser for the sled dog race purses.

There was ice on the lake, but on one was driving on it, and there wasn't a flake of snow to be seen.

 

Keep Off the Ice

The warmth may have cleared the Art Shanty project off the ice, but it doesn't keep the ice fishermen and polar bear club away. The trails around the lake are ice-free and full of people out enjoying the warm winter.

Every day the polar bear club goes for a dunk in their swimming hole.

 

Great Northern Ice Bar

We took the bus downtown and checked out The Great Northern Ice Bar. It was a very poorly announced event downtown that we heard about the day before. It was part of a greater Great Northern festival that was taking place. The bar was 150 feet long, and they had guest bartenders from some of the top restaurants serving up fancy cocktails.

We're glad we were able to see it before it melted the next day. We stood around one of the fireplaces and chatted with two other couples for an hour.

It wasn't that cold out, but we got chilled and needed a bite to eat. We ducked into the warm Four Seasons hotel and had a fantastic lunch.

 

Ice Veins

We had a couple weeks of 40-50° that melted the top of the ice and made it foggy. We had a light snow that mixed in with the slush and then froze into milky ribbons on top of the clear black ice.

One thing is certain about ice on the lake: it's never the same.

 

Art Shanty Project 2024

With the ice at 16" thick, the Art Shanty project happened on the lake. It's good to see the world back to normal. There were 20+ art shanties and several thousand people.

The dogs (and little kids) weren't so sure about the polar bear.

We walked over with DK and had a fun time on the ice. None of us brought crampons, so we were slipping and sliding on the bare ice.

We had temps in the 50s the following week, and weekend #2 was canceled. 

 

Cold Weather Bass

With (1) all the instruments put away safe in their cases for winter, and (2) one hundred red-hot dollars burning a hole in my pocket, I couldn't help myself when this popped onto Guitar Center's used equipment list. It sounds great and is keeping the music going thru the low-humidity season. 

JP thinks the white-on-white is ugly. I like it.

 

Guaranteed Cold Weather

Even though our winter has shattered records for warmth, we can always count on one thing: When the G's come to town in January, it's going to be ten below the whole time they are here.