NL Central Champions!

The Major League Baseball season is over and the Cubs somehow managed to pull out the NL Central. Maybe it wasn't the prettiest of seasons, but none of that matters now. The Cubs will face off in a best-of-five series with the Arizona Diamondbacks, starting Wednesday evening in Phoenix. Prepare yourselves for a little more baseball coverage until the Cubs win the World Series... or fail miserably and I snap. Anyway, just wanted to congratulate the Cubs and throw my support out there.

Pretty Exciting Weekend

Well, what we planned on being a nice, relaxing weekend turned into an ulcer when Ball State decided to give #24 Nebraska a run for their money in Lincoln. Katie and I drove to Malcolm, Nebraska on Friday night and camped out at Branched Oak State Recreation Area, a pretty big lake outside Lincoln with about 18 different campgrounds.

We got up Saturday morning and had breakfast at Sundaes and Fundaes in downtown Malcolm, had a nice conversation about football and Muncie and parking and other stuff, and then drove to Memorial Stadium in Lincoln. Although I knew the BSU football team was much improved from my time in Muncie, I don't think even I expected them to be as much a test for the Huskers as they turned out to be.

They were ahead by nine points with about seven minutes to go, before blowing the lead and missing what would have been a game-winning 55 yard field goal. Final score: BSU 40, Nebraska 41. If Ball State had caught one of the three dropped passes that were sure touchdowns, it would have been a very different outcome. Regardless, it was a great game, rivaled only by the win over #23 Toledo in the old college days. (Spazz, you were there... on the 50... with six seconds left on the clock.)

After the game, we slowly made it back the the car and headed back to the campground for another night of camping on the lake. It was a pretty good weekend, but a couple more points would have made it just a little bit better.

The World Ends?

As many of you have probably read, a meteorite has struck in Peru and people are now getting sick (article). Being the rocket scientist/astronomy guru that I am, I know that it is more likely the meteorite has struck a particular spot in the ground that is now releasing gases, making the villagers ill. However, the initial idea certainly makes you want to run screaming for Tommy Lee Jones and Clint Eastwood or Bruce Willis and Ben Affleck.

Bikes

Today I got a bike. Now I'm sore. I also got a sweet blue helmet that I didn't wear. Katie got her million dollar bike all tuned up for the... upcoming winter, so I decided to pick up a cheap bike just to hang out with her. I'm finding out that it's more of a workout than I expected, especially in this brutal Kansas wind. Maybe I'll get in shape after all.

A walk in the park

Carey Park, originally uploaded by scott_allen13.

Monday after work we decided to go for a walk on the walking trail between Carey Park and Rice Park. While we were out there, I snapped a few photographs, including this decent shot.

Football Season

Even though the Colts already opened the season with a big win, today is finally the reall beginning of football season. And you know what that means... it's Fantasy Football season! So today, I'll be watching all my players hoping for big yards and a lot of touchdowns. I'm sure there will be more posts on this in the future, and you will all love it.

Labor Day Weekend, Part 4

Today we had to drive back to Hutchinson, but on the way, we stopped in Ashland, Nebraska at the Simmons Conservation Park & Wildlife Safari. Yes, it was as awesome as it sounds. Most of it was a drive thru nature preserve, but we also got to do a little hiking in a few areas. We saw quite a few North American animals, including elk, bison, antelope, wolves, and black bears. It was actually a pretty cool place, with a lot of land. The animals really felt like the weren't captive for the most part, even tho they are probably totally domestic. Anyway, it was a good way to break up the drive and get in a little more outdoor time before we start the work week up again tomorrow.

Labor Day Weekend, Part 3

Today, we went tooling around Sioux City looking at museums and historical landmarks. Turns out Sioux City is a very important location on the path of Lewis and Clark. The only guy on the expedition who died is buried in Sioux City. We checked out the Lewis and Clark interpretive center in Sioux City and another museum next to it that's on an old steamboat. We also went to the Seargent Floyd Monument where Floyd was buried. It's like a miniature Washington monument, but it was there before Washington's.

Labor Day Weekend, Part 2

Today, Katie's family came to the Mohning residence for some lunch, tubing, and outdoor enjoyment. After a much shorter mass than the first one I attended, we got back to the house and had a really good lunch and some beverages. The younger kids then hit the lake for some swimming and tubing, all of which later involved Katie's grandpa jumping into the lake. Later that evening, we ordered pizza and watched some Sound of Music. Brandon, I'm wondering about you now. Then I spent hour upon hour cutting out little pieces of paper for Katie's brother's wedding invites and then watched quite an interesting movie with Katie's dad that starred Charlie Sheen and two of the main guys from Red Hot Chili Peppers.

Labor Day Weekend, Part 1

Today I managed to go to Art Splash with Katie and the fam down on the river in Sioux City, Iowa. It had lots of paintings, sculptures, pottery, etc for sale, a handful of things for kids to do, a few performers, and a lot of fair-like food. Not a bad time. After it started warming up, we made our move to head for home, stopping a few times, including Best Buy, where I picked up a brand new Nikon D80 with an 18-135mm zoom lens. So let's just say I took a picture or two the rest of the weekend. I'm sure they will follow. Once we got home, we headed out onto the lake and did some tubing (for about 10 minutes). Katie and I are unexplainably sore, and apparently very old. We got back to land, cooked out some steaks, and had a nice dinner on the waterfront deck at sunset. Pretty good day.