Post March Break

I wanted to get some pictures of the lay-of-the-land around here.  We got another bit of snow, and again, the ground is covered and the temperatures are still below freezing.  I was out for a run today and made my way down to the lake.  There is ice as far, as far as the eye can see.  It is quite something.  At any rate, winter is still in full bore, but the days are getting so much longer.  More often than not there are blue skies and lots of sun.  So it isn't terrible, but just lots of snow.

We never really got up-to much during our week off from school.  There was a few trips outside of Huron County, but not really any over nighters, or prolonged stays in a particular spot.  I got off and visited a few buddies. Shelly took off and hit some jewelry making sessions in the city.  Molly and I went swimming 2 or 3 times, then watched some local hockey tournament stuff.  And altogether we went out for a few meals and some walks.  That was about it.

This past weekend some people from my work, Shelly, and I hit the lanes for a Big Brother/Big Sister bowl-a-thon fundraiser.  It was really fun.  We bowled out of the Lucknow facilities and despite a number of gutter balls, there was a couple of spares, and a strike or two too.  The cause was great.  Lots of people supported it.  They raised close to 10K dollars by the time it was all over.  I might have got a new personal best with scores of 160, and 130 for the second game.  This was the team minus Shelly, I think she was taking the picture:

 A grainy picture of Shelly's form:

So upcoming - I got a new set of tires of the motorbike.  It was awesome to see them on the doorstep when I got home from work on Friday.  I  ordered them from a place just outside of Hamilton and just shipped them to the house.  My bike is stored at Culbert's Bakery.  Apparently someone saw an orange KTM out last weekend down at the beach.  Despite the fact that my bike runs amazing in cool weather, it isn't great riding weather whatsoever.  Evidently Evan Culbert thought otherwise and took it out for a spin.  It must have been him.  There aren't many of the around.  Besides it seems like something he'd do as he is an ambitious and eager rider....  Next time he takes it out it'll be to the shop to mount the wheels.

Hockey is wrapping up.  It has been a great year and our last game is tomorrow night against an Exeter team.  I have had lots of fun playing.  Running is just starting up.  Someone asked me today how it has been going.  I guessed that I have run 12 times, maybe 15 since January.  So, ya, I am a bit behind.  I think I am going to race on Mother's Day.  Last year I ran 35 minutes and 20 seconds maybe for the 10k.  I have a bit of work to do, but I might be there....  Maybe not....

Chicago

So a few of us hit the railroad tracks this weekend for a trip to Chicago.  Basically the main goal would be to get to the Outdoor Classic hockey game at Soldier Field.  Considering we had tickets, that wasn't an issue.  In fact, the majority of the trip was planned and paid for well before Christmas.  So it was long in anticipation, but well worth it.  Boy, what a great time.

It was a quick and easy trip for the most part.  We got on the Amtrack in Port Huron.  Once in Chicago we were able to walk over to the hotel.  Most of the sites to see and places of interest were also in walking distance from were we stayed.  Chicago was a great city with plenty of excitement.  It was cold though.  Very cold indeed.  But there would be an added surprise, the forecast called for 6 inches of snow that afternoon and evening.  I guess it snowed 4 inches over the course of the game.

We sat pretty far up, but surprisingly it wasn't that bad.  I could read the numbers on the players shirts easy enough, but the lettering of their last nights wasn't as clear.  The play was microphoned, and you could hear every cut-of-the-skate, shot, pass, and thump against the boards.  The game took a bit longer however as rink rats frequently had to clean the ice with shovels. 

Other than the game, there was lots of walking around and checking out the highlights of the city, plenty of pinting and pub time, and lots of interesting eats and local restaurants.  But cold.  Cold and windy.

The train is an easy enough way to get there.  It makes for a long ride home though because it leaves later in the day, but you don't have the hassle of parking a car and getting caught in traffic...  Stuff like that. 

And as for the game...  The Blackhawks beat the Penguins by a score of 5 - 1.  There was about 63,000 people at the game.  The 50/50 ticket was a split of $86,000 - no, I did not win, but did have 3 losing numbers in it.  The big screen splashed the temperature at one point and it indicated it was 15 degrees = fahrenheit (2 fehrenheit with the windchill).  I mentioned that they said it snowed 4 inches during the game.  Our tickets were high up there, the cheapest in the building, and they were $130.  But hey, it was lots of fun.   It is something I may not get to do again, though I would get back to Chicago in the summer with much warmer weather.