Green Grass and Skiing

 It is the heart of February and the snow in the yard is almost entirely gone and I swear the grass is starting to look green.  It is a strange feeling for me to walk outside and cross the grass on my way to go skiing.  For the first time in my life I actually put on my roller skis in February.  Thankfully there are still places to find great skiing in the Twin Cities Metro.

Last winter was ideal for cross country skiers in the Midwest with several feet of snow and trails 'groomed' or 'skied in' all over the city.  We are very fortunate that one of these areas is Theodore Wirth Park which is literally out our back door.  A few years ago the park put in an artificial snow making system and have been able to produce a 3.1km loop.  Sometimes there are things beyond your control and you simply have to make do with what you got.   The loop takes about 10 minutes skiing easy.  One advantage of the repetitions of the laps is that you can get really good at skiing the different sections of the course.

Another option for Metro skiing is at the downhill ski areas prior to their opening for alpine skiing.  The lifts open at 10am so you need to get up early to cross country ski.  This past week was a beautiful one with the sun rising into clear blue skies each morning as the full moon set to the east.

On top of the hill with downtown Minneapolis in the background.

It has been fun to train and race at home for the past two weeks.   The neighborhood kids have been excited to have us back in town and to follow the races.

We have also been playing my favorite card game Nickel.  

The game is similar to Rummy and requires some simple math and the calculation of odds.

Not much snow this winter, yet it is still awesome!