Every year for the past I don't know how many years, Kathy A. has invited us up to her Big Lake cabin for the day. So after the Ward Breakfast, we headed out of town. Of course we took I94. There were no lanes closed, no construction going on no accidents and no reason but it was stop and go most of the way to Big Lake averaging 10-15 MPH at times. No reason for it. Stupid drivers!
Gretchen loved the water but she was to have a floaty or a life jacket on at all times. It was in the mid nineties and very windy, with large waves and white caps on the lake.
Lorelei was slower into the water but once in she stayed in.
The girls really like the water and sometimes didn't know the danger they were in.
Joseph wanted to be with everyone and joined in the fun.
Joseph had a thrill by being towed behind the boat.
I did not know how dangerous it was for him until he got back. Apparently just after they took off, one side deflated and caused it to flip in the middle of the lake, spilling all three. I am thankful there were two older guys out there with him and that they cared for him and got him into the boat.
While we were there, we, or the ladies, had a baby shower for Emily who was in town with Josiah (or Jo Jo as Taylor calls him) for a few weeks.
Gretchen was too busy playing to know what was going on.
One of the best gifts was a "Tiger" hat for Josiah that Tana made. Emily tried it on. It was too small.
Josiah's cake.
Then Josiah tried it on. Oh my! It was too big. But by the time he will need it, it will fit just fine. Congratulations.
Looks like dirt but the giant asphalt eating machine ground up all the street surface and the dirt below and mixed it up. Then they leveled it out and compacted it (several times) with the giant vibrating steam roller. This shook the whole house so much that I thought it was going to crack.
The part of the project from 57th to 67th was only for resurfacing the road and spot replacing sidewalk and curb. But what has happened was everyone got a new gas line, they replaced all the fire hydrants and pipes and all the storm sewer (but we do not have a storm sewer on my block so we did not end up with piles of old storm sewer pipes in front of the house). The main part of the project is from 67th to 73rd where the water main, storm sewer will be replaced - that means they will be digging down about 10 feet, and they will be widening the road and adding curb to both sides and sidewalk on one side only.
As you can see, every intersection is being narrowed to 33 feet but the rest of the street is 44 feet. This is to give the illusion that it is a narrow road and slow traffic. A lot of cars are already going 40-50 MPH, including some buses, so we will see if this is true (no more passing on the right, which is illegal anyway).
Better shot of the new curbing. I have a question. If they are resurfacing the asphalt, that usually means they grind off some of it and throw it away and put new asphalt down. But here they ground it all up and packed it all down, so it is the same height as the old road - NO ROOM FOR ANY NEW STUFF.
How do you like my new car? Have to park it in the street because there is not room in the driveway. Does not go very fast but people don't get in my way very often. Since Dupont is completely baracaded at 57th and Lilac Dr (63rd) the only way we can access our house it to drive through the neighborhood, either Colfax or Emerson. That way we are still able to use the bridge - so far.
