Jim & Maria Cross Came Up To Visit

Jim and Maria drove up this weekend to visit. They got in Friday night so we just had time to sit around the house on our back 3 season room. It was still pretty pleasant out there. That room has heated up some now that the temps here are up around the 90s. Saturday morning we stopped by the farmers market. The strawberry season has started around here and the vegetables are becoming more varied. For the first time I was able to buy some shitake mushrooms there. I can't wait to cook those up. After picking up a couple of things we headed up to Bloomer for breakfast. We ate at the Bohemian Ovens, a restaurant that I heard had pretty breakfasts. I had some oatmeal pancakes for the first time. They were pretty good but such a different taste; one I wasn't expecting.

In the afternoon we took a walk along the Chippewa River on a bike/walking path that goes through town. The river was full of people drifting downstream on rafts, inner tubes and even inflatable beds.

Pictures from Ropes Course

Recently I wrote about the Eagles View ropes course on the UW Eau Claire campus. I didn't have pictures of me at that time. Recently, Becky Seelen from the Eau Claire Chamber of Commerce sent me some pictures she took of the event. Here they are.

That's me up on the wires with Ted Okrzesik one of the members of my group. We were pretty high up there.

Springtime in Eau Claire

Our Spring blooms were all out in full glory for the last few weeks. I took some pictures before they all faded away. This has been a cold Spring here. I wonder if that has helped.

UW Eau Claire Ropes Course

Last week I went to the last meeting of the 2009 Leadership Eau Claire group. Each of these days, dedicated to allowing our groups to know themselves and the community, have included something terrific. The last meeting did not disappoint. In the afternoon we went to the University of Wisconsin Eau Claire Eagles View Challenge Ropes Course. I was thinking that there would be no way that I could get up in the air and complete some of these challenges but I was able to conquer my fears. I was thrilled that I could face my fear of heights. Lisa Schuetz took pictures of the event and has the proof that I actually went up on the "Pamper Pole" and swung by cables over the bluff above the Chippewa River. Below are some pictures from the universities site that show the ropes course.

The first picture shows the cable swing that shoots you out over the river valley. The second shows the "vines course". I didn't make it all the way to the other telephone pole (it was just out of reach when I pooped out) on this exercise. My balance was so bad that I ended up hanging from the vines for the most part. The bottom picture is of someone up about 25 feet in the air getting ready to jump off the pole and try to catch a trapeze bar. I made it to the top of the pole and jumped off but missed the bar. It was exhilarating!