College World Series

Hubby is a huge baseball fan. Huge. I kind of hate baseball. But now I watch a lot of it. And whine about some stuff. But know more about the game than I wish I did. Anyways, he and his family have been going to the College World Series forever. His mom's aunt and uncle first got season tickets maybe in the 60's. His uncle still gets season tickets, but mostly it's the cousins that go to the games now. Hubby tries to go to every game possible. This year I think he made it to 6. I went to 3. I like the tailgating better. I think I tailgating more games than I went to.

At the second game I was at, we did get some of the stadium donuts. For reviewing of course! They were the mini donuts that are made with a conveyer belt contraption that they put in a bag and sprinkle with cinnamon and sugar while they're hot so the sugar starts to melt just right.

 

They were surprisingly tasty for stadium food, although somewhat pricy. I would give them a 4/5 for taste and a 2/5 for value. I guess that averages to a 3/5 doesn't it.

And now to end with some lovely sunset photos we took while waiting for traffic to clear because Omaha scheduled both the College World Series and the Olympic Swim Trials the same weekend with similar ending times. Yeah. Not smart.

Glacier National Park

I guess summer is the perfect time for photo dumps. Sorry y'all. Just focus on pretty pictures!

(Ok, a little background. Went to Montana. Stayed at a vacation home near Kalispell. Drove to Glacier. Hiked on a super muddy trail for 3-4 hours. Almost slipped on my butt more times than I can count. Saw lots of pretty stuff. Would definitely visit again)

Hurt's Donut, the actual review

What: Peanut Butter Oreo and Andes Mint

When: Monday, June 27th, 2016

Where: 10th and P, Lincoln NE

We kept it simple for our first visit, also because we were half asleep. Hubby was excited to try a mint donut since he had never seen one (I don't think I have either) and I couldn't move past the peanut butter oreo once I saw it.

They were both fantastic. They were on giant chocolate cake donuts and there was no scrimping on frosting or toppings. I thought the cake donut was a perfect base for them because it was fluffy and moist and not overpower so the frosting and toppings got to be the stars. I would give both a 5/5 and I can't wait to go back to get more. They were $2 each, but because I bought a shirt (for $22) we got one free. Only 10 more visits to pay for the shirt...They also felt so heavy, I wanted to weigh them when we got home. Just to see. Quarter pound donuts!

Lake McConaughy

First of all, I can never remember how to spell the name. It has a nickname, as all long named things do. Either Lake Mac or Big Mac. It's the largest lake in Nebraska and man made, formed by the creation of a dam in the 1930-1940's. It is located in Western/ West Central Nebraska (Exit 126 on I-80 out of about 460 miles of interstate). I have fallen in love with it. And I think I know why.

1. It is a huge body of water that is wonderfully refreshing in the middle of Nebraska.

2. It is so not over commercialized it's amazing. The shore is almost all part of Lake McConaughy State Park, so it is open to the public. You can literally camp wherever (I'm serious, their official policy is on any mowed areas or the beach, camping is allowed) but it isn't over crowded. There are a fair amount of little tiny independent convenience stores around the lake that aren't overpriced.  

3. Despite all the primative camping, still a good amount of real bath houses with showers and vault toilets that are so new they spell like a new car inside!

4. At least half the sites are first come first serve, so it is the perfect park for last minute trips! We were tenting it and had no problems finding a site. With an rv it may have been a little tougher, especially if you wanted electricity or water/sewer hook ups.

I met my friend from Denver there because it is almost exactly halfway between us and then hubby and his friend drove out for the second night. It was maybe 100 degrees the whole weekend, without taking into account the heat index. But the water was perfectly refreshing and we spent as much time as we could in it, under the shade of the trees on the shoreline. There isn't a lot of sandy beaches, some of the locals told us it was about 95% full and that they should be emptying water via the dam by the end of July. I hope to make it back at least one more time this summer, but it is about 4.5 hours from Lincoln.

The site I picked, there was a small path down to the water, but
it was a four foot drop to the beach, so we only swam there once.

So much stuff!

The lake view from our campsite.

Lake McConaughy also doesn't have firepits and you can
make a fire anywhere it's safe, preferably surrounded by rocks.
We went with the grill, mainly because we also needed to cook
over it for dinner.

Near our site was a picnic shelter were we hid during a brief rainstorm.
Another awesome view of the lake.

Ryan pumping gas at the convenience store by our campground.

Dunkins

The donut that started it all, maple raised from Dunkin Donuts. And it's still one of my favorites. Probably because it is just so basic. They opened a new Dunkin Donuts in the library at the University of Nebraska - Lincoln, and they had a tray full of maples when I stopped in. Heaven. Although they didn't have any sandwiches, which made me a little sad. Oh well.

So you want to tow a camper...

Finally found a nice chart for all the makes and models with two capacities. Obviously, check the make's website and actual information on your car if you are going to start towing, but this is a great place to start for looking for the right car to tow the right trailer for us!

http://www.onlinetowingguide.com/guidelines/2015towing_capacities.html#chevygmc

Hurt's Donuts!

This place has been blowing up facebook for months, I got my shirt back in April, and they finally opened on June 27th. At 5am. Now, they did invite people to camp out and were giving away prizes, and maybe I'm not the best donut spokesperson, but we didn't camp out. I'm going to blame the giant scab on my knee from face planting so hard while running last week the bruise on my chin makes it look like I have a goatee.

We did set our alarm for 5am (opening time), threw on some clothes, and drove down there. We arrived right after the crowd that camped out had been in and out, but the news lady was still there waiting to interview more people I suppose. We got two donuts (to be reviewed later) and lots of pictures of the inside. Very well decorated and over the top, and I cannot wait to go back. So many donuts to try!

Meadowlark

Back in February the hubby and I rented the tiniest modern cabin at Platte River State Park (their modern cabins have bathrooms and kitchens and are open year round). It was adorable! There was a fireplace and a little kitchenette and it even had a coffee maker and microwave! I took tons of pictures, so this review won't be very wordy. You can just look at the pictures yourself and get an idea of the space. It was definitely small, the couch wasn't a pull out so it only sleeps 2. One weird thing we thought is that it was right next to one of the camper cabins and therefore that camper cabin wasn't near the bathroom or other camper cabins. Maybe the idea was that parents could stay in the modern cabin and put kids in the camper cabin? Not sure. The camper cabins aren't available in the winter, so no one was there when we were there.

Seriously, adorable!

The sink, stove, and fridge were all one unit.

Standing by the couch looking out the front door.

Standing by the front door looking to the left into the living room.

Standing in the front door looking straight. You can see into the bedroom.

At Platte River they always leave your bedding in a grocery bag to make your bed.

Standing between the bed and the window looking at the bathroom. There is a shelf and hanging rod on the left.

Fire!

As is our tradition, brats are always the first night's dinner.

View from the front door to the parking area.

I can't wait to go back!