Temperatures soared into the mid-fifties on Thursday, so even though it was damp and dreary Anne and I knew that this was the day.  If Anne was going to make her annual cycling mileage goal of one-thousand miles, it was going to be that day.  We launched from the house and headed to the Park.  We did a turn around the bike path, including the new section, which is now open.  The dual-path system may be finished, but it is not done yet.  Men were still working on landscaping, plus the old pathway has not yet been reopened, so much for a November completion date.  After once around, we exited stage east on Clayton Avenue and headed over to Tower Grove Park.  On the way back home, we stopped off at the Gardens and had a late lunch at the restaurant there.  Afterwards, we visited the Christmas exhibit, Gardenland Express, picture trains, lots of poinsettias, small children and grandparents too.  I didn’t last long there.  We sailed home with a strong tailwind and got 23 miles.

Wednesday night we met friends from my work for dinner at Pi.  Pi is that pizzeria that Mr. Obama liked so much that he chose this Saint Louis rendition of Chicago style pizza for his inaugural ball.  I can still hear the echoing wails from that little town in northern Illinois.  Two colleagues and their spouses, Don & Erin and Dan & Mary joined Anne and I there.  So what do three engineers discuss at a place called Pi?  What else but quiz each other on how many digits of the number Pi can be recited from memory?  I topped out at seven, which only gives me about a 32-bit precision.  Later, I saw a waitress with 20+ digits on the front of her t-shirt.  Baby, where were you when I needed you!