The Trail's End

It's the end of the trail for the snowshoe crew for winter 2011. We had a lovely 2.51 mile hike through the woods on crusty snow this afternoon. I didn't take too many photos today, but here's a great one from Dave Eide:

This was up on top of the hill in a large clearing. Here are a few from me:

Ken (new "shoe-er" with our group), Mike, Ann, Wendy, Elaine, Dave, Shelly

Aaron

The sugar maples had been tapped for sap.

And provisions for boiling it into syrup.

We covered 2.51 miles. It doesn't sound like much, but it's really quite a workout. We then went to The Bear's Den where I had popcorn for lunch. (Didn't have my morning oatmeal until 11:28 AM, after my 10.02 mile run. :-) Spotted Deb Dilling running, Steve Roelofs driving, and someone in a silver SUV on 2nd St SW honked six times. I waved back, but didn't recognize the vehicle. Hello, whoever you are!)

A very Happy Birthday to Ron Giles!!! Here's his birthday treat ... to be delivered tomorrow. I KNOW he'll read this!!

I had a leftover egg yolk so I made a batch of The "Perfect" Chocolate Chip Cookie. (Left out the chocolate chips.) Well, they are indeed perfect ... when you remember all the ingredients. This is what they look like when you forget the leavener ... baking soda. I'll just rename them "The Perfect Walnut Shortbread Cookie".

It's already time for another Cooking Light get together tomorrow night. On the menu at Mary's house:

Appetizer of choice (Margo)
Bread of choice (Kathryn)
Lemon Broccolini p. 84 (Laura)
Spinach, Endive and Tangelo Salad p. 128 (Diane)
Guinness Lamb Stew p. 112 (Mary)
Chocolate Dessert of choice (Renee)
Wine (Barbara)

I'm not a lamb fan, but I certainly will try some. And I gave up chocolate. I guess it's going to be heavy on the veggies for me.

Bill Nevala posted on Facebook that the Las Vegas Rock & Roll Marathon has a 4 hour 30 minute cutoff. Yikes. That's really an aggressive cutoff time. I have a feeling there are going to be more than a few disappointed people at that finish line. Bill ... you can do it!

Yesterday I was on the phone with a gal from Verizon. She said that the change I was requesting in my phone service would raise my monthly bill by $30. I said that the website indicated it would be $20 and the gal I spoke to on the phone the previous evening also said it would be $20. She said, yes it was $30. It was going from $90 to $110. Go figure ... New math??

Good night all.