USA.....USA......USA!!!!!

I have to be completely honest here......did I believe the U.S. National Team would win their first soccer match against Ghana?  Nope.  Why?  Because Ghana has had their number the last two World Cups.  There were a lot of unknowns about this USA team this year, but over 90 minutes some of those questions were answered.....1) Can they score....yup...they scored their first goal within the first 34 seconds of the match.....2) Can they defend.....yup....they spent 90% of the match on defense before conceding a tying coal in the 86th minute courtesy of John Brooks' header (see below).  Should they have to spend so much time on defense....NO, and ball possession is something they will have to improve upon before their next match.

John Brooks heads the corner kick in for the winning goal

The USA World Cup win over Ghana was the highlight of our Monday.....and was also the 3rd and final soccer match of the day Monday......next up for the USA is Portugal on Sunday.

Monday was also time to defrost the freezer again.......it has been over 3 months since "we" had to do perform this task, and the low humidity we have been living in over that time has helped to keep the ice accumulation down.  I use "we" in the "royal sense" of the word as that is TLE's* task.....I occasionally offer unwanted, unasked for suggestions from time to time, but basically stay out of her way for the 1 to 1.5 hours it takes her to do the deed.

The next biggest story for the day was the cold weather supplemented by very cold wind, which made it undesirable to spend much time outside.  I had aspirations of taking a bike ride, or going to the golf course to hit a bucket of balls, and I would have done both in spite of the cold, but the 20 mph wind on top of that convinced me Tuesday would be a better day for those outdoor activities.  TLE* did brave the cold, and the wind to do her 4 mile walk......I stayed home and watched more soccer.

Just after the conclusion the USA vs. Ghana match we got dressed and headed over to "The Cantina" for the weekly TVC** staff dinner.  Monday is their "half price" night for a limited menu so on that score it was a good choice.  If the food had only lived up to the half price promotion we would have been happy, but it lacked proper seasoning, and just did not demonstrate any pride on the part of the chef.  Yelp gives them 3 stars on 127 reviews, but I would be hard pressed to give them 2.5......based on the comments I heard from others in our group I would say we were all disappointed.  Nevertheless, the service was very prompt, and we had a delightful time conversing with our friends before heading home around 6:45.

We closed out the day watching "Longmire", "Master Chef", and "24".  The weather will continue to be cold for the next few days before warming up into the 70's again.....I think the high for Monday was only 62.

Thanks for stopping by!

* TLE = The Lovely Elaine
** TVC = Tahoe Valley Campground