Naked Dog with American Cheese, Pink’s Hot Dogs, Las Vegas, Nevada

Delta first class dinner: chicken salad, soup, bread sticks, brownie and screwdriver

Dole Pineapple Stand, Adventureland, Walt Disney World, Orlando, Florida

Salad shaker with ranch dressing, Baystreet Grill, Fortune Bay Resort Casino, Tower, Minnesota

http://commecarestaurant.com/las-vegas/

Hawaiian Host Maui Caramacs from my sister, Tower, Minnesota

Birthday dinner, Luci Ancora, Saint Paul, Minnesota

The way too small plate of cupcakes for kid one’s party, Eagan, Minnesota

Von Hanson’s Meats, Eagan, Minnesota

Well, I managed to go three-for-three today, eating out for breakfast, lunch and dinner. I generally do that all week at work, so I try not to do it on weekends too, but what can I say…

Tonight Colleen and I decided to try something the kids would hate, since one is on a sleepover and the other is out with the grandparents. We decided to try a Japanese place in Eagan, Kyoto Sushi and Hibachi, located in Town Centre, across from Best Buy.

The parking lot was fairly full and so was the restaurant. The all-you-can-eat option seems to be the big draw, but since neither of us really likes sushi, we decided to order off the menu.

Colleen started with an appetizer of shrimp tempura ($7.95, huge portions), followed by an order of fried rice with no egg, which she said was a seven on a 1-10 scale.

I ordered the beef with vegetable teriyaki ($10.95, pictured above), which came with what I think was miso soup, a simple salad with a milky dressing and a side of steamed rice. The meat was very tender and flavorful and I enjoyed both the soup and salad.

The service was very good – we told our waitress this was our first time there and she patiently spent time explaining all of the options to us (including the all-you-can-eat procedure). Empty plates disappeared from the table in the blink of an eye and she was very observant with drink refills (one of my favorite traits).

I always wonder a bit about sushi places in the midwest (and particularly the suburban varieties), but Kyoto seems to be pretty solid.

Kid two and her House Special Chicken, Leeann Chin, Eagan, Minnesota

Goes well with the pink hair, Eagan, Minnesota

Tonight we squeezed in a quick happy hour visit to Republic, located at Seven Corners in Minneapolis. The specials run from 4-6 and the place was packed. Given the close proximity to the U of M west bank, that’s not too surprising.

Colleen wanted to try the $6 turkey burger, which she said was good, but not good enough to knock off her favorite (which is still, somewhat surprisingly, Red Robin). Kid one had a so-so hanger steak and kid two just had fries. I ordered some fish and chips, which had a very heavy, peppery breading that I ended up removing and discarding. The chips were pretty awesome, though.

It’s funny how much that part of town has changed. The old Grandma’s building is completely gone, the Carlson School looks totally different from when I went there and Republic used to Sergeant Prestons (I think). One thing that hasn’t changed? Traffic still sucks as much as ever…

Steak and eggs at the Tamarack, Fortune Bay Resort Casino, Tower, Minnesota

Julie’s Birthday Party, Jax Cafe, Minneapolis, Minnesota

Western Money Systems visits the Vermilion Club, Tower, Minnesota

New York Strip, Seven Fires Steakhouse, Black Bear Casino Resort, Carlton, Minnesota

When my daughter’s favorite group, Atmosphere, announced they were performing in the first ever winter show at my favorite venue, Red Rocks, we had to figure out a way to make that happen. After some mad Google Mapping and creative budgeting, the road trip was on.

We packed up the MINI and hit the road last Thursday afternoon. After a quick stop at the Axel’s Bonfire in Eagan to eat some free birthday Bull Bites, we drove to Lincoln, Nebraska (420 miles). Holiday Inn Express was our hotel of choice this trip, thanks to their decent breakfast food and relatively low prices.

On Friday, we drove from Lincoln to Littleton, Colorado (500 miles) and checked in earlier than planned at the hotel. I totally forgot about the time change, so we had an extra hour before the concert started. We hit the local King Soopers grocery store to check on discounted lift tickets (not a great deal – skipped it) and had dinner at a surprise Chick-Fil-A (totally forgot they are in Colorado). I don’t care what anybody says – that food is damn tasty!

The concert was scheduled to start at 7:30, but I wanted to hike around Red Rocks before the sun went down. We had about 45 minutes of daylight, which turned out to be just about perfect. Since we were so early, we also got an awesome parking spot in the VIP area immediately below the main exit. We hung out in the car until gates opened at 6:30 and made a beeline to the merch table, which unfortunately was at the very top of the amphitheater. Many stairs later, the kid got what she wanted and we hiked back down to row ten to watch the show (it was general admission, so we took what we could get).

The bill consisted of Get Cryphy, Grieves and Budo, Common and headliner Atmosphere. Get Cryphy was playing as soon as the gates opened, which was nice. The set by Grieves and Budo was brief, but entertaining. Technical difficulties delayed the start of the Common set by about 30 minutes – I felt bad for his band (two keyboardists, a drummer and an MC), who just sat there in the cold the whole time.

I’ve listened to most of the Atmosphere albums, but there are still a lot of songs I just don’t know. This was not a problem for the kid, though, who sang along to everything. I do know that God Loves Ugly was the opening song and Brother Ali finally came out for the very last song (which wasn’t really an encore, as all the performers went off stage for only a minute or two at the end). The crowd was a little rowdy, but the close quarters and movement helped keep it warmer. A few snowflakes added character, along with lots of “special” smoke in the air, too…

The show ended around 11:45 and we were able to beat the worst of the traffic, thanks to our great parking spot. We made it back to the hotel around 12:30 and were back on the road by 8:30. I decided to skip Beaver Creek this time, opting to take the Loveland Pass over to Arapahoe Basin. I-70 looked good on the traffic cams at 7AM, but all three lanes were bumper-to-bumper about five miles up the grade. We finally made it to the Loveland Pass exit and I white-knuckled it up and over the treacherous two-lane road with no guard rails. Even driving my own car with snow tires, I wasn’t comfortable at all and will probably skip that option in the future.

A-Basin was just perfect. I had been there once before in high school and not much had changed. I take that back – they had a great new high-speed detachable lift right in front of the base chalet and a nice mid-mountain restaurant called the Black Mountain Lodge, where we had lunch. Rentals were quick and easy for the kid and I loved the pricing, which was cheaper than what we paid in Minnesota. Since they consider teens to be kids and not adults, her lift ticket and rental was only $59. Add in my $74 adult ticket and you had quite the Colorado bargain.

We took most of our runs off of that high-speed quad, with the “green” run Sundance being her favorite. Parts of that run are steeper than most “blacks” in Minnesota, so I didn’t mind skiing it like a mid-length cruiser. I was also quite fond of High Noon and took a few runs from the top of the mountain too. I would’ve done more up there, but the wind really picked up as the day went on. We managed around ten runs total before stopping around 3PM.

The rest of the trip was basically a big highway blur: Arapahoe to North Platte, Nebraska (320 miles), overnight one last time at the Holiday Inn Express, followed by 640 miles back to Minnesota on Sunday. We stopped for a steak lunch in Omaha at the lovely Upstream Brewing Company in the Old Market part of town and had some boring Wendy’s in Clear Lake, Iowa, for dinner.

Great trip, but oh so short. First vacation in three years, though, so I’ll take whatever I can get.

Now to figure out how to finally become a ski bum…

Smoked 1/4 chicken and sides, Black Mountain Lodge, Arapahoe Basin, Colorado

Chick-Fil-A, Littleton, Colorado

http://www.chick-fil-a.com/Locations/Locator

Lunch with Mayor Steve, Tower Cafe, Tower, Minnesota

Bambini, Punch Pizza, Highland Park, Saint Paul, Minnesota

The Original: Carbone’s on Randolph, Saint Paul, Minnesota

The filet, mac and cheese and a Macallan Cask Strength Scotch, Manny’s Steakhouse, Minneapolis, Minnesota

Fish and Chips from Mac’s – good stuff, but need to work it off this week…

Mac’s Fish & Chips, Hamline and Larpenteur, Saint Paul, Minnesota

Buy one, get one free buffet with dad at Mystic Lake Casino, Shakopee, Minnesota

Teriyaki and BBQ wings + meat lovers pizza, Vermilion Club, Tower, Minnesota

Two thumbs up on the new house chicken at Leeann Chin, Eagan, Minnesota

The Bay Muffin with tri-tators, Baystreet Grill, Fortune Bay Resort Casino, Tower, Minnesota

Lunch with the kids, Cossetta’s on West Seventh, Saint Paul, Minnesota

http://www.stpaulgrill.com/scotch_club/

Kid one in the kitchen, Eagan, Minnesota

Colleen at Great! Lakes Candy Kitchen, Knife River, Minnesota

New wall decorations at Sven and Ole’s Pizza, Grand Marais, Minnesota

Mac ‘n Three-Cheese (smoked cheddar, smoked gouda, parmesan and bacon over rigatoni), Clyde Iron Works, Duluth, Minnesota

Dorothy’s Isle of Pines Root Beer, At Sara’s Table Chester Creek Cafe, Duluth, Minnesota

The bar at the Saint Paul Hotel, Saint Paul, Minnesota

Lynn and that French toast (with Lake Superior oatmeal stout beer syrup), At Sara’s Table Chester Creek Cafe, Duluth, Minnesota

Juicy Nookie, Casper & Runyon’s Shamrock, Saint Paul, Minnesota

http://www.laphroaig.com/

Steak and pasta, DeGidio’s Restaurant & Bar, Saint Paul, Minnesota

Poutine (fries, gravy and cheese curds), Tom Reid’s Hockey City Pub, Saint Paul, Minnesota

Mountain Dew, United Hospital Cafeteria, Saint Paul, Minnesota

Happy Hour, Saffron Restaurant & Lounge, Minneapolis, Minnesota

Ye Olde Downtown Bake Shoppe, Farmington, Minnesota

A not-so-healthy grilled cheese with fries, Baystreet Grill, Fortune Bay Resort Casino, Tower, Minnesota

Thanksgiving breakfast with the in-laws, Denny’s Restaurant, Maplewood, Minnesota

Sort of wish I could take my family to Jason and Chef Dan’s feast, Fortune Bay Resort Casino, Tower, Minnesota