Yesterday we all loaded up and did the 3 hour drive to Minneapolis for a road trip.  We had planned on taking Keith and Catherine to the airport, but at about 1 am, after a few glasses of wine, they decided to change their tickets to fly back to Seattle on New Year’s Day.  But, Dennis and I had already made appointments, so we loaded up and did the drive.

Dennis had to drop his Audi off to get an oil change and his serpentine belt replaced, then we headed over towards Bloomington.  Dennis needed to stop at Ikea and get a screw for a cabinet drawer.  I was thinking about getting a new cell plan, either at the Apple store or Verizon, but that didn’t materialize.  But, I needed to go back up to St. Paul and check out Pat and Gwen’s bathroom.

We did the loop and got back up to check out the bathroom by 6 pm.  They live above Grand Performance bikeshop and have a pretty sweet setup going.  They had just returned from a two day trip to Florida, for a triathlon camp, and were heading to Australia for 3 months today.  So, they aren’t going to be back to the US for months, like 6 or 8.  So Gwen was a little frazzled trying to collect all the stuff she needs for her whole season.  I learned something about her.  She was timing the packing on a stop watch on her iPhone.  She had been at it 2 hours and 13 minutes when we showed up.

The bathroom should be pretty easy to do.  Get rid of the junky plastic bath/shower wall and tile, plus a few other things.  I have a while to complete it, so it should be fun.

We didn’t get back up to Cable until after 10.  The drive is a bit too long for just a day trip, really.  6 hours of driving takes a chunk of the day.  Plus, we haven’t really been up here long enough to go completely stir crazy.  It was fun just hanging though.

It is supposed to get warmer today, in the mid-teens.  We’re going to ski some, maybe snowshoe out to a bear den, take a wood-fired sauna and then do a progressive dinner.  Last year it was -30 something when at the start of the new year.  It is going to be much warmer this year.

So, this is the last post of 2014.  This year was a little trying for me, but I’m not complaining.  I had a pretty good year in reality.  Things could have went way worse.  Wishing you all a Happy New Year!

Gwen modeling in front of the future bathroom remodel.

And she gave out parting gifts as we left.

Two bikes for Pat, one for Gwen.

The Mall of America was jammed. This Build-A-Bear place had a super long line. I would like to build a bear there, it looks fun.

Catherine was a bit under the weather the whole day and this was her whole mall experience pretty much.

Mall of America group sho

So, first day of the year.  Sometimes it seems that time just flies by and other times it just drags and drags.  Last year did both those.  It seemed to drag when I was hurt and flew by when I was doing fun stuff and travelling.  That doesn’t seem right or fair.

I need to go out and ride just a bit today.  It is nearly mandatory that I at least pedal a bike some on the first day of the year.   It is supposed in teens today, so it isn’t hot by any means, but it ain’t -25 either.  We’re going to stay up in Northern Wisconsin for a couple more days and then make our way back to Kansas and then Austin for cyclocross Nationals.

I’m so far removed from cyclocross right now I’m pretty excited about going.  I purposely didn’t renew my license, just in case I get a wild hair and want to race.  But, with this new electronic licensing, I guess that won’t really be a problem.

Last night we went over to Jeff Bradley’s house for some snacks and hang.  We came back to Dennis’ and headed out into the woods for our annual New Year’s hike.  We didn’t need snowshoes this year, which was great.  It was 40 degrees warmer this year than last and it was still in the single digits.  We made it out to the Hemlock ridge right about midnight.  I like being out in the middle of nature at memorable moments in time.

I was thinking about how New Years is just a way that humans keep try to keep track their time and that it doesn’t apply to any other animals.  It is just business as usual for the rest of the life forms on the planet.

There is going to be an exodus today with the Walbergs flying back to Seattle this afternoon, from Minneapolis and Parker, Trudi’s nephew, driving back to Chicago.  I’m going to try to do a long ski, probably from the North End to Hayward.  I only have a couple days left to ski and I think it is doing wonders for my hip and shoulders.

Okay, hope you all have a great New Year!

Me and Parker about ready to head out last night for the New Year’s hike.

The long ski made the front of the local paper yesterday. Bill and I happened to be standing there. I wonder if we’re going to get some photo bonuses for the exposure?

The gang at midnight up on the Hemlock Ridge.

Stacie made apple crisp for after the hike. Nice way to keep it warm.

The highschool hockey team was bagging groceries at the local grocery store in Hayward last night.

Catherine decided to do 30 pushups at 2 am last night, while Keith was brushing his teeth.

Keith skiing up the last big hill coming towards OO from the South.