Latest Improvements

Our big excitement for the week was finally getting our new fence installed.  We had started the process back in October, but our "fence guy" couldn't get to it before the winter set in and the ground froze hard.  Especially since we had a particularly snowing and cold December.  So the weather has finally warmed enough and he was able to get his crew in last week to take down the fence between my driveway and my neighbors and put up a beautiful new cedar fence.  It looks quite nice and it's really nice to have a fence that isn't leaning at a 25 degree angle.

Friday night we had tickets to see the Admirals play their next to last game of the season.  It was an exciting game as the Admirals scored six goals and fortunately this time we didn't land up with a puck whizzing by our heads.  I still remain amazed at their dexterity on skates but I certainly wouldn't want to put up with all the bumps and bruises you must get playing this physical of a game.  That will be our last hockey game for the season since we don't attend the playoffs.

Saturday we were in Chicago and had a wonderful dinner on the Chicago river with our good friends, John and Linda.  It has been several months since we saw them last so lots of catching up to do.  Sunday was spent enjoying a nice long walk as the weather turned balmy in the 70's along with enjoying a bit of a nap during the afternoon - just to get refreshed for the start of the new week.

An Exciting Final Four

While certain seeding mistakes were made and the basketball team we like to follow the most didn't get to make the trip (hint it might be a team from Madison), the weather was still warm with bright blue skies as we enjoyed attending the NCAA Final Four in Phoenix last weekend.  We spent the long weekend enjoying some down to the wire basketball games while attending the pre-game tailgate experience and discussing the relative merits/detriments of playing basketball in a football arena.  And yes, we decided to ride the Ferris Wheel to enjoy the vistas from on top - turns out there wasn't too much to see since the stadium is on a flat plain where the only mountains are far in the distance.  Still, it was fun riding the Ferris Wheel.

We did manage to sneak in a little hiking as well, between all the scheduled events, as we trekked to the top of Camelback mountain from the Echo Canyon trail.  We had both been to the top of Camelback before (although oddly, never together) but coming from the opposite side.  The Echo Canyon approach was significantly steeper and reminded us a lot of hiking the White Mountains, but there weren't any scary, I'm about to fall off this mountain moments in this direction.

We also had the opportunity to meet up with Jeff and Carol who we met on our Cuba trip.  They live in the Phoenix area and we all enjoyed a nice lunch in Scottsdale reminiscing about the trip and catching up on what we've been doing since.