The Kassel Family Project Life 365

Laura finished up the year with the “Viking of the Week” award.  Great job, Red!

Look what was installed when I returned home today!  Thanks Andy and John!

Now, to figure out what to do for the backsplash…

Oh my!  What a fun, great day!  After picking up our packets, we took our first picture at the start line.

We followed that up with breakfast (bacon!) and began the ride about 8:45 am.  We had so much fun!  It was lots of riding, great food, interesting sites (as in a buffalo), and lots of laughs with two, great women.

The highlight of the day was the High Trestle Bridge.  We did not realize just how long the bridge was when we were here last night.  The views were amazing!

We spent probably thirty minutes just taking it all in.  We got lots of pictures from all different points of view and stopped to visit the professional photographer on the way back.  One of the perks of the ride is free professional photos with your group on the bridge.

After getting all the pictures we wanted, we began our ride back.  Our goal for the day was 50 miles and we were just over 27 miles as we left High Trestle Bridge.  We took it easy for the next 13 miles.  At the halfway point, you could see the rain that was in the forecast was threatening in the distance.

We knew it was time to pick up the pace!  We really pushed hard the rest of the way, riding close to 20 mph for several miles.  However, our hope to avoid the rain was not to be.  We were 1.5 miles from the end when the sky opened up.  We just laughed our way back to the car because it was just another adventure in our weekend!  We finished the day with 51.4 miles and met our goal!  I can say that I will definitely be doing this ride again.  I am already looking forward to it.

And, what were the rest of the Kassels doing while I was away?  There was no need to worry because they were having fun too.  Laura had a birthday party for a good friend and Andy and John spent the evening with the baseball team.  It was fun times all around!

It is girl’s weekend in Iowa with two of my bike group friends.  Karen found this women’s only ride online and Sue and I tagged along!  Tomorrow, we will be riding 48 miles on the High Trestle Trail with 800 other women!  Upon arriving, we headed out to see the highlight of the ride, the High Trestle Bridge, at night.

All I can say is that the adventure on Grant’s Woods Trail to connect to the High Trestle Trail was worth the five minutes of pure fear!  The bridge is beautiful and you can see the lights from so far away.

We all loved the High Trestle Bridge at night.  I cannot wait to see it in the daylight!  Bring on Pigtails!

Andy got the old kitchen computer rebuilt and Laura has a computer in her room now.  She spent part of the evening watching “Moana” on Netflix.  I think she likes it…

It was an evening of adult fun for Andy and I!  We attended PedNet’s Bikes & Brews event for Bike, Walk, & Wheel Week.

It starts at 6 pm and goes until 8 pm.  There are 6 to 8 stops with different types of beer samples at each stop.  Our first stop was our favorite bike shop, CycleX, where I had to get a picture with Angela.

From there, it was on to all the different stops for beer samples and time with friends.

We ended the evening at Gunter-Hans and enjoyed beer and lots of laughs with great friends.  I can’t believe that this is my first year attending Bikes & Brews.  I have no idea why I haven’t gone before!

Laura had her first band concert this evening.  Because John had baseball practice at the same time, Andy took Laura.

The 6th Grade Band played three songs and Andy said that the band did a great job.

Laura has really improved over this last year and I am looking forward to seeing how she progresses next year!