Ice Cave Adventure

As some of you know, we've been having a very cold winter. So cold that Lake Superior is frozen over. I wanted to take advantage of this so I asked Todd to take me to the Apostle Islands National Lakeshore to view the ice caves. Here we are on the shuttle bus.

We went with our friends Steve and Signe. We caught the shuttle and I'm glad we did; the -25 temps would not have made walking another 2 miles very fun.

So fortunate the sun was shining all day, it sure was beautiful.

According to the National Park Service, nearly 78,000 people visited the caves from Jan. 15 through the end of February. The last time the ice was thick enough to walk on to see the caves was in 2009, but only about 8,400 visited in January and February that year.

 It was amazing and I'd like to return in the summer to kayak in the caves.



Cold Weather Food

Winter weather calls for soup. Made potato bacon soup - it's really about the bacon and cheese, right?

 And Todd wanted some rice custard. I like custard and rice separately, not together.



Nature's Art

Walking the dogs around the neighborhood offers some beautiful sites. The trees in front this home were bent over from the heavy snow.

 Now that's being flexible.

 Although most of the snow has fallen off, I think the branches are now frozen into the snow on the ground. When spring arrives, hopefully the trees will spring back into an upright position.



Cuddly Friends

When it's cold out, it's best to have friends to cuddle with (a fleece blanket helps too).

 



A Weeee Bit Cold

This morning is definitely a "wear your long underwear," cover every part of your body, kind of day.

Sunshine - we love it!

Outside it's cold and a blanket of snow covers everything, but inside, you find a patch of afternoon sun and bask in it. 

 Pancho soaking it in or meditating.... perhaps both.

 Misty is a sun worshiper, I'm sure if she could talk, she'd say she's looking forward to spring and summer.

 I thought the sun might help to melt a little snow off this tree, but those flakes are still hanging on.

New Frig

Got my new frig..... so shiny and pretty.



Winter Wonderland

The snow storm we received last Friday was nearly 8 inches of heavy, heavy snow. Over the weekend, the sun came out so the trees looked beautiful. However, the roads are covered in 1- 2 inches of ice.  I went out on errands over the weekend and saw a few too many fender benders. Here are a few videos.

 

......and you can see at the end, the destruction in my driveway. It doesn't look that bad in the video, but believe me..... it was bad.

 

Nature's Wrath and Beauty

 We got hit by a big storm. It was warm so the snow packed a punch with a lot of moisture. Despite my efforts of taking a 6 foot pole to knock off the snow from branches and bushes, we again lost some huge limbs from our old growth pines. A couple of the limbs are more than 10 feet.

This makes me so sad. 

 This big branch took out several others on its way down. There's nothing I can do, Todd needs to bust out his chain saw. Thank goodness it only blocked only one side of our driveway, we were still able to dig ourselves out the other side.

It is quite a site. I'm thankful for my awesome snow thrower, our four wheel drive truck and cute puppy dogs who manage to wade through 2 feet of snow to go potty. 

Fresh Air & Sunshine

It was absolutely gorgeous on the weekend, I decided vacuuming and ironing could wait. It was more important to get out and enjoy.