Ice Skating Paradise

I finally decided it was time to test the ice out. We wait for this day every year where the ice is just thick enough to skate on and there is no snow. I have spent more money than I would like to admit for these awesome skates that I pull out whenever a day like this happens and savor it in my memory banks against the price for the blades and skate boots, but they are so worth it when flying across a frozen lake Nervously heading down the shoreline with my camera figuring that the insurance company will cover my cannon camera if I go through with the good camera and Iphone.... but really it looks safe..... Making it out to the snag to find frozen animal prints Funny to be skating over the snag Heading around the corner by Eagles Nest Kids following along with hockey sticks. If mom has made it safely through it must be ok Great views as the lake pings and pongs under my feet. My mind tells me it is atleast 6 inches think, but my ears hear the ping and pongs. Hey guys stick to the shoreline! Then you come upon ice that looks like this...... it is perfectly safe.... but it sure gives you pause especially with 2 kids following and the cannon camera.... where is chicken little??? He headed for the hills as soon as he saw us heading to the lake with skates One sure sign that all is safe, is the ice fishermen at the point. They confirmed it was 6 inches. They did not have an auger, but a chisel that they slammed into the ice to prove it to me..... More pings and pongs and I went skating back to shore quickly Heading back towards the resort. what is that we see in the distance, 2 figures that agree on a couple of things and one is their dislike of ice skating back to investigate skating in the sunset AWESOME! Yep it is chicken little making a cameo appearance on ice and Yep it is Troy on the ice as well. Troy follows a much more sane measure of the safeness of the ice, he waits to see a snowmobile go across so he is assured that all is stable. I think he came down to make sure he did not have to call the rescue squad after us Loving the ice and the skates! If you feel the need to get some awesome skates just ask me when you are here where they came from. They are an actual x country ski boot clipped into a ski binding attached to a blade. They have been clocked at just slower than the best speed skates. They are comfortable, warm and have great ankle support and make me never want to put a pair of figure skates on again torturing my toes and cold as ice We left Troy and headed to the other side of the lake with confidence that the ice was in good shape. I accidentally pushed a wrong button on my camera and all the shots have a blue tint to them I took this picture for Rick Stockton as we passed by his favorite summer spot Creepy cracks in the ice that continue across the lake. Just skate over them and try to ignore them Always the creepy dark holes. Why does ice freeze this way... no idea but just skate by quickly We ran into more ice fishermen, fisher kids. I love the pink ice fishing chair. First ice is supposed to be some of the best to fish on. At this point the Green Bay Packers were kicking off against the Oakland Raiders and we all agreed that being out on the ice was hard to give up for the game. Bernie Lueth came down to see what his granddaughters were doing and give some pointers to his son in law Time to head back and follow the tracks of some animal on ice Once back, Grant had to demonstrate skating through the melt water from earlier in the day. The afternoon sun had melted some of the shoreline ice by our swimming area and it was too much of a temptation to not try skating through There has to be a name for this cross between ice skating and water skiing. Time to hang up the skates but it was an awesome afternoon and nobody needed rescuing