Saturday morning the kids braved the cold and went to the lake shore to watch the polar dive.  Twenty-four brave (or stupid) persons paid $50.00 each for the opportunity to jump into the lake through a hole in the ice.  But not to worry because there were divers in the water and emergency medical personnel in case of an emergency.  After the Polar Dive, they watched ice bowling, hockey and other games going on upon the frozen lake.  It doesn’t take much to entertain a Mid-Westerner.  Everybody was having a great time.

Sunday was the main event.  My nephews had arranged for my son-in-law to drive a stock car, in a race, on the ice.  That’s right…. On the Ice.  My niece made ham sandwiches and we set out on our adventure.  After crossing the frozen lake, dodging fish houses, we arrived at the “race track.” Two snow plows were moving snow off the ice while drives revved their engines, raring to go.  Soon the plows were finished and the “hot laps” began.  I soon figured out that “hot laps” are simply practice laps.

We parked next to a race car that had a huge sign on it saying, “Fat Chicks Wanted.” A few minutes later a car with a couple and several kids drove up.  The family got out; the driver slapped a number on the car and then joined the other racers.

What fun.  But we got a little chilly sitting in the car on the ice so my brother-in-law went to get us coffee.  When he got back he said, “If you guys want a burger or a hot dog you’d better order now.  The line at the grill is really long.” We opted for ham sandwiches and chips.

Just as the first race was about to begin, a car pulling a stock car on a trailer pulled up beside us.  On the side of the car was a sign reading, “Deke’s pumping.  Your poop is our soup.” Lucky enough he made it into the race.

By now a large crowd had gathered on the lake and the races began.  Several drives loaded up women and kids and pulled into line for the first heat.  I noticed that none of the drivers or passengers had helmets or any protective gear.  When I questioned this, I was informed, “Naw.  No one ever gets hurt racin’ on the ice.”

For a little while I thought I might be at a NASCAR race.  Men were talking engines and swapping engines and what equipment is allowed, what should not be allowed and why can’t this equipment be used. 

My son-in-law drove in the first race.  With my son and my grandson in the back seat.  Horrors.  I sat there praying and saying to myself, “Slow down.  Don’t hurt my bunny.” Nevertheless, he did very well and came in fourth place which qualified him for a front row position in the feature race.  More Horrors!!!  But several laps into the race, he spun out and was finished.

When the races were done the guy who dropped off his family, picked them up again, took the number off the car and drove off.

I can’t believe I watched the whole thing.  But I did and I had a wonderful time.  Does that make me a Red Neck?

Sarah Palin already has a couple of Alaska firsts under her belt: first woman elected governor and youngest governor-elect ever.

She will also be the first governor from somewhere other than Anchorage or Fairbanks since Jay Hammond in 1974.

On Dec. 4, the 42-year-old former Wasilla mayor will add another first to her list: She’ll be the first governor in state history to take the oath of office outside the state capital.

Palin announced Wednesday that she plans to be sworn in at the Carlson Center, a sports arena in Fairbanks, rather than at Centennial Hall, the convention center in Juneau.

The break with tradition has gotten mixed reactions with some saying it smells like payback for a region that voted heavily against Palin in the Nov. 7 election. One of Juneau’s two election districts cast 71 percent of its votes for her opponent, Tony Knowles, and only 18 percent for her.

Sarah Palin, nee Heath, played basket ball with Rob’s sister.  They won the state class A tournment.  Later we’ll post a picture of Sarah and Rob’s sister in the last minutes of the game.  It’s priceless.

The worst thing we conservatives can do now is to moan and groan and predict disasters. Let’s face it, it still takes a 2/3 vote and the president still has veto power.

Lets sit back and see what happens.  Maybe good will come from it.  Who knows.  Lets not project gloom and doom.

Duct tape is good for fixing windows in Pennsylvania.

I had lunch at the Twisted Greens Cafe.  I had Shepherd’s Pie for the first time.  It was good. Kind of like our Tater Tot hot dish but with mashed potatoes.

I met two persons in the cafe and struck up a conversation.  They assured me that Canadians love Americans so we are not to believe what the politicians say.  They were very interested in our mid-term elections.  The one seemed to be very liberal, (and a little outlandish) saying that her idea of fighting crime would be to bring in the Mafia to control the thugs.  The other was pretty middle of the road to conservative.  He said he was on the side of fairness and justice.  He said he has mixed emotions about their socialized medicine because he feels people should take care of themselves but he has numerous sports injuries that need care.  Including being blind in one eye.

It was interesting to get another view of our country and government.  It seems as if all of Halifax is waiting to see the outcome of our election.

We stayed in Niagara Falls two nights.  The Falls are absolutely breath taking.

We walked for more than four hours and still wanted to see more.

After leaving Niagara Falls we drove to Augusta, ME and spent the night.  Then we drove from Augusta to Halifax.

When we got here it was dark and storming, snow, wind, and rain.  We were following Mapquest directions but promptly got lost.  We were in a maze of on ramps, off ramps, roads, railroad tracks and crazy, suicidal drivers.  I was praying and hanging on for dear life.  We finally saw a Quality Inn (the only lighted building around) so stopped for directions.  After asking several men on the street, at last we arrived at our hotel.

Picture a couple of hicks from North Dakota checking in to the Halifax Harborfront Hotel.  First Rollie went to get a cart for our many bags (a hodepodge of bags because our good ones were stolen in Edmunton) and was told that he couldn’t use a cart on his own.  He had to have a cart attendant.  The cart attendant watched as Rollie loaded up the bags and then told him he had to park his car in the garage.  At $15.00 per night.  I tried to follow the cart attendant to our room but somehow she disappeared leaving me in this huge lobby with east elevators, and west elevators not even knowing what our room number was.  I finally got the room number from the front desk and found the room.  The cart attendant was waiting for me outside the door.

We hadn’t eaten since early that morning so we went exploring for a place to eat.  We found Salty’s on the waterfront, next to the hotel.  We were given our choice of dining upstairs or downstairs.  Since we were still in our traveling clothes, we ate (or dined) downstairs. The menu had several choices, some of which we had never heard of.  Keep in mind we’re used to eating at the truck stop in Minot where you can get a steak, potatoes, salad, bread and dessert for around 10.00.  We ordered lobster and avocado salads and an appetizer of artichokes, spinich and peppers.  When the appetizer came it was very small but then of course you don’t want to eat too much before the meal comes. We were visiting while we waited for our food when Rollie got this strange look on his face.  The waiter was coming with our food.  The plates were at least 18 inches across.  And in the middle of each plate were our salads.  About a half cup each, plus about one quarter cup of greens.  The look on Rollie’s face was priceless.  I was trying to look cool like I knew it was supposed to be like that but it was obvious on his face he couldn’t believe that was his meal.  He told me to eat very slowly to make it last longer.  It was absolutely delicious, as small as it was.  We ordered dessert to fill out.

Rollie is at his conference so I’m on my own to go exploring.  Our room has a view of the water with ferries and boats going by.  It’s a beautiful hotel.

More tonight.

The picture below is of Miller Park, where the Brewers play.

This next picture is driving into Chicago.  Which wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be.

The next picture is of US Cellular Field where the Chicago White Sox play.

The next picture is of Lake Michigan.  If you look very very closely you can see the skyline of Chicago.

We have reservations at Niagra Falls tomorrow night and maybe the next.  Talk to you from there.

I didn’t lose the pictures on my camera!  I downloaded them off my camera onto my computer and there they were.  The one above is of Paul Bunyon and Babe the Blue Ox.

This next one is of Lambeau Field.  It was getting dark so it’s kind of fuzzy. 

We were going through Monominie, WS and saw a sign that directed us to information about Laura Ingalls Wilder.  We followed the signs and came to this building.

We didn’t find any information about Laura but the building was amazing.  It was built in memory of Andrew Tainter’s daughter Mabel who died of “cancer of the side” which was probably a burst appendix, at the age of 19.  It was originally a library and church but is now a church, theater, and community center.

We checked into the hotel in Green Bay and were too tried to go out to eat so Rollie fixed this supper for me.

More tomorrow as we head for Chicago and points east.

We didn’t get far today.  Just to Minneapolis where we spent four hours in a traffic jam because of an accident.  If I lived in a big city I’d have to stay home all the time.  I can’t stand the traffic.

The biggest thing we accomplished today is I bought the material for Rob’s little girl’s flower girl dress.  That was a big load off my mind.

We’re off again tomorrow.  Hopefully I’ll have some interesting pictures tomorrow night.

The weather and roads were awful yesterday but today was a pretty day.  Lots of sunshine.  We listen the satellite radio to get the weather as we go east.  The reports are for good weather.  Highs in the 60’s.