May 2018

The last couple of days in April we rode the Hastings-Superior ride with about a dozen friends.  This is always a challenging ride since it is 60+ miles each day--and early in the season.  The ride home on Sunday had record tailwinds, giving us 27 mph without even working!

Riders with a good sense of humor.

The next weekend was Reece's First Holy Communion.

Rusty drove to KC to be with both boys on Grandparents' Day and I drove down later to be there for the Holy Communion Mass.

Olivia, Pierce,Reece, GiGi

Reece

Reece with boys in his class.

At the end of the big day we went for a short bike ride.

The boys had to try out the city bikes.

I rode the annual Spring Fling ride with Federico and had an awesome ride.

 

A couple days later some of us rode to Raymond and ate at the Ding-A-Ling.

We've been working on a patio extension and  updating since last fall. Finally it has all come together.

Contractor, Billy Venhaus, discusses options with Rusty.

Final portions of fence are completed.

Memorial Day weekend was our first opportunity to try out the new digs.

Reece enjoys the Beanok.

Boys chillin' out.

Olivia enjoys some down time.

Views from the new patio-----

Memorial Day weekend was  fun for us!  We had Reece stay with us for 2 nights.  We did a lot of fun things together--too many to name.

There was lots of playing with Gretchen.

picking asparagus

wresteling with Rusty and Gretchen

picking lettuce

making pizza

watching "Shrek"

Then Olivia and Pierce joined us.

We put fresh peonies from my yard on Frank's grave.

Pierce--Grandpa Frank

We played in the fountains.

_______________________________________________________________________

The middle of the month was consumed by our most recent BWCAW trip.  Spring came late this year so the water was very cold.  We paddled about ten miles up to Oyster Lake where the ice had only been out for a few days.

The birch trees were just starting to leaf out and provided a puffy contrast to the conifers.

Rusty gets the fire going so I can have morning coffee.

Mornings were cool--very low 40s.

Daytime temps were unusually high for spring--mid to upper 70-s.

I am always amazed by the remarkable colorations and textures of nature.

Tree bark of a red pine.

Very unusual tree trunk.

A path through the forest.

Pine cone.

A broken tree trunk

Art in the woods!  This is a rather unusual result of a beaver chew.

This trip we saw eagles and listened to the loons sing at night.  We also saw (and heard) a pair of trumpeter swans.  The biggest surprise was a snow shoe hare.

Our hare visited us daily.  He had the biggest, fuzziest white feet!

Our usual guide, Steve, was headed down the Grand Canyon so we had a new guide this year, Tim.

Tim was a great guide and a hard worker!

Tim kept us well supplied in firewood.  Like a good guide, he left a healthy pile of cut and stacked wood for the next occupants of this campsite.

Tim takes a break.

Rusty caught a nice fish that fed us all for dinner and again for lunch.

Fish dinner!

Rusty headed out for a little paddle...

while I took the opportunity to enjoy the sunshine.

What a beautiful, peaceful place!!!

Lovin' it!

Spring 2018

Our big adventure for April was spending time in Kentucky with Rusty's brother, Ronny, and his wife, Margie.  These two were gracious hosts and just a lot of fun to hang out with.

Margie, Ron, Di, Rusty

Ronny and Margie are in the process of restoring this lovely home built in 1863 (the middle of the Civil War!).

I don't think Rusty and Ronny look much alike, but the quirky sense of humor and cleverness with vocabulary is common to both.  

Bros

Their two big black labs enjoyed hanging out in the sun.
Tucky and Derby

We went to the Keeneland Horse Track and bet on a few races.

Margie and me at the paddock.

I loved our lazy afternoons having a little KY Bourbon and cigars.

While in Kentucky I also got to spend an evening with my cousin, Linda Gorman.

We enjoyed catching up on family and sharing our retirement stories.

Rusty performed at the UNL Clarifest event.  I thought he was quite brave to be among the 20-year-old performers.

His slow movement of the Mozart was very well received!

On the 18th of April I joined friends on the annual "Not Sorry For Missing Work Day" ride.  It was in the mid-30's  with north winds of about 15 mph when we started.

We stopped at NuVibe Juice and Java for coffee.

We rode the completed portion of the Haines Branch trail.

At mile 35 we stopped for lunch and a beer.

As we neared the end of our ride, with a wind chill of 38º, we had ice cream--just because we could.

We all had plenty of clothing layers, so we stayed fairly warm.  It was a terrific ride!

A group of riding friends helped Don Herz celebrate his 69th birthday. 

Don got a pizza cutter that looks like a monkey on a unicycle.

The birthday boy with cycling friends at Prairie Plate, a Farm-to-Table restaurant near Lincoln.

Looks like Clayton had a good joke for Rusty.

Bicycling has caused me to become more involved in planning sessions advocating for better bike routes in Lincoln.

...learning about the Lincoln Bike Plan at the Jane Snyder Trails Center.

...identifying problem areas on Lincoln maps

Rusty and I attended the annual luncheon for the Friendship Home, a safe shelter for abused women and children.

It is sobering to realize the great need in our community.

Sissy (pictured with T.C.) was our table host for the luncheon.

There wasn't much spring in Lincoln this year.  We went from freezing temps at night to tornado season with high winds and temps in the mid 80's.

Our service berry tree in full bloom

My lovely tulips, before the storms hit.

I'm proud to report my asparagus bed is now fully functional. We've had asparagus for dinner 5 times in the last two weeks.  My snap peas are about 2 inches tall and the lettuce, arugula, and kale are all up.  Go garden!