Baby It's More Than Cold Outside

It is so cold!! So how cold is it? Zero and falling. With 4 to 5 inches of snow on the ground, there is not much hope of a warm spell. How are people up North or on the East coast able to tolerate this weather and the snow? Staying inside with the heat cranked up, watching tv, and reading facebook sound so inviting today. Nothing can entice me to leave my house today. Well, I hope nothing tries.

Snow Day: What Should I do?

I have a bonus day today--no school due to the snow and ice. I brought home lots of school work that I can do today, on my own computer, with the larger monitor. I should be able to accomplish a lot. But I have also volunteered to keep my granddaughter so that her parents can work. If Toots comes, we will need to do some fun things like baking several kinds of cookies, maybe make a cheese ball with crackers, make a pot of soup, make Christmas ornaments, read, do the Wii games, watch cartoons, and just enjoy one another's company. I can always do the school work later. Too bad she would tell or we could wrap Christmas presents.

More Snow Pictures

The mailman would have trouble delivering to the large mailbox on my back porch. I find it amazing that the snow continued to pile up on the box, continuing the shape. If you look closely, you can see the pile on the latch. The snow was so beautiful. But the best thing about the snow is that it is melting!

I promised some pictures of the huge snow we received last week. So here they are.

• The top picture is of the birdcage on my back porch.
• The next picture is of our neighbors' picnic table a few days after the storm.
• And the last one is of Toots as she comes out the end of her slide. Click on this picture to see that she is loving it!

Flying High, in a Plane

Our second full day in Alaska was also packed with adventure. We left Anchorage early that Monday morning and headed north. We were able to schedule an airline flightseeing trip to Mt. McKinley for late morning. Seemed like forever to get to Talkeetna, AK, but it was worth it. The flight lasted over an hour and took us over mountains, frozen rivers, glaciers, and very near Mt. McKinley. (In the winter they do not fly over the mountain. Didn't ask why.) Our speed was 150 mph, but it seemed as if we were hanging still in the sky as we soared through the other mountain peaks. At one point, I felt as if I could reach out and touch the mountain. Our pilot assured me that we were a quarter of a mile away. The valleys below were covered with glaciers. Hard to believe that at different times of the year the pilots land on those glaciers and then take off. Glad we didn't that day. The cost for our adventure was high, but not nearly as high as we felt from the whole experience. I would recommend the trip to everyone and would go again. I was just disappointed that the pilot couldn't take us the additional 350 miles north to cross the Arctic Circle. Maybe next time.

A Day in Alaska

We arrived in Alaska on Saturday, the night before Easter. As we drove to the downtown hotel in Anchorage, I was surprised to see similar sights to Michigan where my husband grew up. I was also surprised to see bare ground where one would still expect to see snow. The temperature was milder than our city here. We attended Easter church services at a Christian Church in the city of Anchorage. We both felt like we were in our own church with the same songs, same order of service, etc. Only downfall was that no one spoke to us. Guess that is much like our churches here in the states. We drove just 40 miles south of Anchorage to the Alyeska Resort to eat lunch. We were impressed with the resort at the base of the 4,000 foot mountain. They had definitely received more snow than in Anchorage. As we ate lunch in the resort, we were in a position to view some of the ski lifts and some of the skiers coming down the mountain. It was so surreal to come just 40 miles and be in a different climate. By looking at the crowd at the resort, we were definitely out of our league. After lunch, we headed further south to investigate for the day. We hadn't gone 5 miles when it began snowing--a lot! In just a few minutes, the road was covered with snow. We decided that it wasn't worth traveling along the coast with signs posted to beware of possible avalanches and heavy snow coming down. So we turned around and headed back to Anchorage. The areas where avalanches have fallen post a 10 mph FASTER speed limit to get you through the area. And the city of Seward where we were headed had received 4 feet of snow a few days earlier. We didn't travel 3,500 miles to be caught in a snow storm. We returned to our hotel to catch up on some sleep since we were suffering from a four-hour time change. We also spent more time plotting our agenda for the coming days. Although everything seems within reach on a map, it's not!

Winter Storm Advisory

I just listened to the weather forecast for today and tomorrow. Can you believe another storm is coming? We may be hit with more freezing rain, ice, and snow. Did I ever say that I am sick of winter?

Bonus Day

Today we have a snow day due to the winter storm that didn't meet the weatherman's predictions. It snowed, rained, froze, then snowed more. So even though the snow totals are not what were forecast, the layer of ice makes the going worse. I will count this day as a bonus day. With minimal travel, I will be able to finish up some of my shopping and will also be able to finish some of the jobs needing attention here at the house. I'm wondering if I should be tempted to bake several kinds of cookies, or should I NOT tempt myself with baking then eating them? Oh, such complex decisions.

Warning--Snow Cometh

All weekend we have sat in our house awaiting the storm than was predicted. The one with 10 - 17 inches of snow. The one with high winds. The one with intermittent ice and freezing rain. The one that will keep us home bound until cabin fever takes over. The one that will close businesses. The one that will close schools. The one that will cause us to make up the missed school days. So why am I sitting here disappointed that those predictions have not come true? We have some snow, ice, and blowing winds, but nothing like what was predicted. I should be jubilant but feel as if Santa did not bring me what I wanted for Christmas. Maybe this feeling will pass. Maybe it will snow more.