Hayward Night Life

.   
Our Hayward/Birkie weekend is nearing an end.  We decided we'd better party on our last night.

WARNING!!!

What follows depicts the wild and crazy partying of two senior citizens.

It may get ugly, so use your own discretion about looking any further in this post.

You have been warned.

We got the party started at one of our favorite haunts.  This is the same place where we got the Birkie brat which we ate on the street.

We took it indoors tonight.

No one else was eating on the patio either.  I don't know why not, it's a balmy 13° out.

After giving the menu very serious consideration Fisherhubby ordered sausage, pepperoni,  and hamburger pizza.

Fortunately for him this is health food containing 4 essential food groups: grains, dairy, protein, and vegetables.

I ordered the fat and calorie free Nasty Burger with portobello,  jack cheese, bacon, and caramelized onion.

The fries were full of fat and carbohydrates so I was a good girl and only ate four.

After eating a very light supper, (interpreted: stuffing ourselves til we could barely walk) we took in the lights.

Hayward goes all out to transform into a fairy village of Christmas lights.

They kept them up for the Birkie.

I LOVE this town.

After the light show we headed back to our hotel where one of us wanted to party like it was 1974 in the jacuzzi.

Someone also got a little carried away with the bubbly - - -

And was proud of himself for it.

Sadly, now that we've played late into the night, the party's over.

Someone partied too hard and is already snoring.

Well, it is late so that's to be expected.

After all it IS 8:13.

All's Quiet In The Northwoods Now

.
It's Sunday afternoon and nearly all10,000 Birkie skiers and 30,000 cowbell ringers have gone home.

Only a few nonHayward residents, like Fisherhubby and myself, are still here basking in the glory of the Northwoods.

It's so quiet now you can hear a snowflake drop - if it were only snowing, which it is not.

Truth be told, this is how I like the Northwoods best.

Oh, the Birkie crowds and excitement were fun while they lasted, but there's a whole lot to be said for the solitude of the boonies when peace descends upon it.

Fisherhubby and I are in no hurry to head back to the routine of our everyday lives, so we are lingering.

Most of the Birkie accouterments have already disappeared.  Now only hints of the Berkie remain - a tent or two, a porta-john here or there, and some Birkie decor in church this morning.

Fisherhubby and I are quite content to take in the view of Hayward Lake, now devoid of Birkie skiers, from our hotel room.

And should we get bored with the snowy vista, we have this view right in our room.

Perhaps Fisherhubby will avail himself of the jacuzzi later but I, not being a hot tub fan (nor fan of any tub for that matter) shall not.

Tomorrow will come soon enough and we shall then wend our way back to the real world and home.

Hayward, we love you and we shall be back.

A Dog On a Blustery Day

.  
We  hoped to arrive in Hayward today by 10 a.m. to ring cowbells for Birkie skiers as they come up Main Street and cross the finish line.  

That's what we do.  We ring cowbells.  We're expert cowbell ringers.

Some people skate ski in the Birkie.  Some people ski classic style.  Both take skill and endurance.  

The rest of us stand around ringing cowbells.

I am a cowbell ringer extraordinaire. 

HOWEVER, our "slip slidin' away" adventure of the morning (see previous post) took soooooo long we didn't hit Main Street until 1:17 p.m.

I know - I checked

By that time it felt so late the cowbell ringer extraordinaire didn't even bother to bring her bell.   She just hurried to Main Street and - - -  

Snapped some pix of skiers turning the final bend.

At this point I digress. 

These Birkie cross country skiers ski over hill and dale all the way from Cable to Hayward.  (look on a map) That's a 30 mile track for skate skiers and 32 miles for classic.

I SAID 30 OR 32 MILES.

I thought the three blocks I had to walk from the car was FUR 'NUF on a blustery 9° winter day.

So after taking these two snaps I was ready to find lunch.

This was not our first rodeo, er I mean Birkie, so I knew EXACTLY where to find a delicious brat.

I just gotta tell ta, there ain't much better on a 9° blustery day than eating a steamy "dog" right out on the sidewalk while Fisherhubby rings a cowbell in your ear.

Except I just really did think my brat holding hand was gonna freeze off before I could shove that dog down my throat.

Seriously.

After lunch and cowbelling we headed to one of Fisherhubby's favorite haunts - The Fly Fishing shop.

We've vacationed here for so long and hubs has hung out in the Fly Fishing shop so many times that the owner Larry is now a friend.

Good times.

Larry's shop even has fly humor!

Our next stop was Backroads Coffee - where skiers come to warm up and refresh.

(And cowbell ringers extraordinaire come to find a little girl's room.)

It was warm, cozy, crowded and the little girl's room was available.

In Backroads I met Ken.  Ken skied 32 miles on the classic Birkie.

In one day. 

In just a few hours of one day. 

I couldn't walk 32 miles in 10 days, so Ken is my hero.

Wherein The Adventure Spins Out of Control

. 
Sometimes adventures take unexpected turns.

Sometimes adventures are a bit scary.

And SOMETIMES adventures spin out of control like ours did today.

The morning was sunny and bright.  The fresh white blanket of snow made an absolute wonderland.

The highway was not so gorgeous unless you enjoy glare ice as slick as a soapy baby's hiney in a bathtub.

I was tooling down the road at a moderate 40 mph OR less as conditions warranted.

Foolish drivers, and by foolish I of course mean more foolish than me, were zipping by at ridiculous speeds.

I fumed.  I fretted.  I told Fisherhubby those speeders were gonna end up in the ditch and take me with them.

I spied a rest area which I needed for coffee elimination.  I slowed and attempted to GENTLY ease over one lane.  Suddenly- we were spinning across the ice.

When we came to a stop, this is what I could see out my window:

Thankfully we were not teetering in the edge if a precipice - which in a few yards we would have been.  But my door wasn't opening.

Fisherhubby could open his door so he got out to take these pix while I called 9-1-1 to beg for a tow truck.

Because obviously I wasn't going anywhere.

The cars and semis whizzing by slowed nary one bit and I began to fear we'd be squashed like bugs in a rug if one of them lost control and came slamming into us.

In a little while an angel, cleverly disguised as a wrecker operator, came.  He said he had two other cars besides us to extract from icebergs but that he came to us first because we were in a danger zone.

Ya think???

About that time an unmarked police car pulled up and stopped to observe my foolishness.

He asked for my driver's license to check my criminal history.   I guess it is now a crime to innocently spin out on ice and bury yourself up to your gills in a snow bank.

After about half an hour's hard work the angel released me from my icy prison. The undercover state trooper took pity on me and gave me back my license.

Joy to the world!!!  We were on our icy way.

Oh but my joy was premature.   Our transmission would NOT go out of 4 wheel low.  Fearing the worst we slowly limped into Hayward and our hotel. We thought we'd be paying a pretty penny to some mechanic on Monday.

Later in the day this man, known to blogland as Fisherhubby, figured out the problem and got the car back in 2 wheel drive.

Now he expects to be paid mechanic's wages.

So the adventure saga continues.

Feast or Famine

. 
After a famine of blog posts from me -  today I'm serving up quite the feast. 

Drought's over.  

At least for now.

While I'm on the drought topic - if you're still stopping by this little ole blog even after all this time I surely do thank ye.

The cessation of the blogging drought may or may not have something to do with the fact that Fisherhubby & I are on an adventure which is providing me with both fodder AND time for blogging. 

We went to our FAVE, Red Lobster, for dinner tonight.  We don't have one near where we live so it's famine until we visit the city.

After we sat down to eat I noticed Fisherhubby was the ONLY one in the entire place wearing a hat.

Naturally I pointed this out to him.

"Well", says he, "If the Duck Dynasty guys were here they'd have theirs on too."

There is that.

Shaking my head.

Later a few more hat heads arrived.  Whew!

We ordered our feasts.  And WHAT a feast I had!!

Dueling lobsters fit for a queen!!!

Check back in tomorrow, if you're interested, for another installment of Miss Keetha and Fisherhubby's Excellent Adventure.

Stuck in The Middle With You

.
We traveled today on the heels of a fairly significant winter weather event.

 For much of the way there was only one clear(ish) lane - if you call a thin strip right down the middle of the road a lane.

I DO so I took it until forced over by the rare oncoming logging truck.

Atlantians:  Yes we DO continue to travel in these conditions or we'd be hibernating until March or April or quite possibly even May.

We do expect to be completely snowfree by July.

Sad to say we passed three vehicles along the way whose drivers had failed to account for the less than pristine conditions.  Two of those were on their sides and one was completely upside down.

While we are very thankful to be safe and sound, I feel a wee bit sick for those others who took what turned out to be a much greater risk.

Off We Go Into the Wild White Yonder

.
 Headed to the Northwoods to once again spectate at the Birkie.

Last step before departure - a good old fashioned Fisherhubby staffed carpet steam cleaning.

See you soon!!