Nomad Life - Day 153

With no plans to drive today and lower temps again, I didn't have a lot of things planned.  I hoped to sleep in, actually, but this didn't work out - instead, I woke up at 0530 (without an alarm set) and struggled to stay in bed until 0645.  After giving up on sleep, I worked on puzzles, Duolingo and my blog, with a little bit of reading too.  At 0745, I went to breakfast in lobby or Alliance Hotel (Alliance, NE) and then returned to catch up on social media posts.  Outside, it was snowing steadily, with temps below freezing (low single digits) until about 0930.  Coupled with the cold, it was a "gray day" (some clouds and sun but the swirling snow on the prairie obscured the views).  For the first time during all my Nomad Life travels, I had a chance to return to the same Catholic Church for Mass as I had attended the previous weekend.  With a bit of curiosity, I drove to nearby Holy Rosary Catholic Church for Mass (arrived at 0945).  Almost immediately, I noticed subtle differences between the Sunday morning (1000) Mass and the Saturday Vigil Mass the previous weekend.  For one thing, there were fewer people.  Also, the choir was smaller.  I liked that the kids came up to the front of the church to deposit money in an offering basket held by the priest.  I suppose the fact there was no Blessing of the Catechumens this week might have been the difference...  All that really mattered, though, was that the building was warm!  Afterwards (1050), I returned to the hotel and took care of some more admin stuff.  Along the way, I deferred lunch.  Hoping to continue my lucky break on fitness equipment, I returned to the hotel gym (1130) and started my workout.  First, I walked 3.25 miles on the treadmill (in just over an hour).  After that, I rode on the stationary (recumbent) bike for 20 minutes (4 miles).  My timing with these first two activities worked out perfectly because a child's birthday pool party, which had been going on outside the fitness center for the previous hour, ended just as I got off the bike.  Since everyone had departed by then, I was able to change into my bathing suit and swim laps for 15 minutes (0.25 miles).  What a great deal!  I finished my extensive workout at 1330.  As I was drying off, one of the hotel staff told me I was lucky because there was another party scheduled at 1400 and I'd have had difficulty with the laps (he admitted he does the same thing as I did whenever he can).  Back in my room, I caught up on some eBird entries (I'm actually going back to record historical entries now) and continued digitizing files.  At around this time, I made a (very) late lunch in my room.  Feeling very productive, I thought it would be a good idea to head out for some beer and to watch the AFC and NFC Championship games.  So, at 1530, I left the hotel again and headed to Brewery 719.  Unfortunately, I found that they were closed (because it was Sunday?).  After exploring the entire town, though, I couldn't see a single place that was actually open for football and beer!  Something else I noticed, though, was that if I was a member of the Elks or the American Legion, I might have been in luck (they had lots of cars in their lots).  After basically giving up on social interaction, started on my way back to my room.  Suddenly, I saw a few lights on (despite the dimming afternoon sunlight) in a strip mall close to the hotel.  The business, Sam & Louie's, turned out to be a pizza restaurant that was almost empty.  Initially, though, I wasn't even convinced they were open until I saw games on the TV.  Funny story: the playing surface was all white on the screens and I thought the were showing hockey!  I was going to ask them to turn on some football before I realized the game (which was happening during a snowstorm in Denver) WAS the AFC Championship.  At 1600, I sat down at the bar and ordered a tall boy (Fat Tire).  The first game, which was already winding down when I arrived, ended up being pretty close because of the elements.  Everyone who worked at the bar (and the patrons who arrived after me) were clearly Denver fans and they were very disappointed when the game ended in a Patriots victory... During the break between games, I ordered a bowl of the soup of the day, which ended up being a tasty chili.  When the NFC Championship game began (1645), I ordered another beer.  Meanwhile, the restaurant gradually filled up with local people.  As usual for the Plains States, I found everyone was very friendly and was very pleased that I could socialize during the game.  At halftime, I paid up and departed for my hotel, which was only one block away.  After arriving there (1815), I spent the rest of the evening watching movies and didn't get to bed until 2300.  Great, lazy Sunday!