Back in the deep freeze (updated)

February 28 is end of the meteorological winter so the records are:

• Coldest winter in 35 years.
• 9th coldest winter on record. 
• 4th coldest February

 

This is crazy. The deep cold has returned with a vengeance. The forecast is for below zero mornings through the weekend.

Apparently we are approaching the 4th highest number of below zero temps in history.
The big problem now are the roads. Because of these extraordinarily cold days, the ice and compacted snow are permanently stuck to the road. Driving conditions are awful.

 

 

Snow-pocalyps -- the biggest storm of the 2013-14 Winter (so far?)

Nearly 10" of snow at the airport the amount was only half of it. It started as a misty rain then changed to big flakes of wet snow then it started to blow and blow and blow then it got really really cold.

This has been a winter for the record books. According to the news, it is the coldest winter in over 30 years. Since I have been here for just over 20 years, this counts as MY coldest winter.  And while we have gotten more snow previously this is the first year we have had no thaw and therefore no melting.

The snow we got back in December is still around. It is just buried under the January and now February snows.

The backyard... drifts and all. I sharpened this picture
because snow is difficult to capture in a photograph.
You can also see that the snow is almost to the top of the fence!

That pile next to the house is pretty much
has high as I can throw it.

In front of the YWCA.

A ball of snow.

Weiner dog pajama keepers for the history

I ended up with my brothers' and mine Weiner dog pajama keepers. Mom told me that they were originally made by our Grandma Alta. Alta is my Mom's mom.

I thought it would be neat to pass them on to my great nieces and nephew while I  was visiting them in Hawaii.

Each Weiner dog had some slight damage but for being 50 years old, they were in amazing shape. The stuffed parts were still stuffed and the zippers were perfect. I repaired the torn ears and legs, washed them and put Minnesota t-shirts inside.



Kaila, Alex and Megan.

I forgot to take pictures while I was there so Julia took this one for me.

Mediterranean Cruise Cafe

The gang went to a show at the Burnsville Performing Arts Center. After the show we went to the Mediterranean Cruise Cafe across the street.
Very good (mostly) Greek food and this incredible lamp. There were actually two. I honestly think it is beautiful.

This has been a very popular Facebook post. 

Isles Bun and Coffee

As almost everyone knows, I love my local coffee and bakery. I decided to treat myself to their famous cinnamon bun. As you can see it is almost as big as a paper plate. And tastes fantastic.

Team outing - curling

We had a project team event this week while in Eau Claire. We went curling - a very Wisconsin and Minnesota sport.

It is much more difficult than you would think. The curling club facility was very nice.

Eau Claire, Wisconsin

In Eau Claire this week for work. Drove my own vehicle. This morning was super cold. Though this picture shows the temp at 15, it started at 17. It was just too cold to get my phone out.

The Escape was not too happy about being left outside in the cold. It had a rough time.

Running For Brunch - Valentine's 5k

Our first group rum of the year. We have a new member, Mollly, who is an avid runner. The weather was a very cold 5 degrees.

The costume theme was puppy love as you can tell by the sign.

A more relaxing day (Saturday)

First off I have picked up some horrible crud. I can barely breathe. I am coughing whenever I move. My entire body is one big ache.

It rained all Saturday morning and Gracie had to go into work. Jenny and I read and relaxed. It was wonderful.

By the afternoon the rain had stopped so we went to the zoo. When I lived in Washington, DC, Gracie would visit me and we would go to the zoo.

Honolulu Zoo selfie

2014

1987?

Waikiki beach

Skydiving

The adventures continue non-stop. We met up with Todd and Julia to skydiver from Pacific Skydiving on the North Shore. Gracie had been skydiving 3 or 4 times already. Todd has parachuted for work (Army) but not skydived like this. Was definitely first time for Julia and me.

While we were waiting to skydive, Jenny went to the beach to swim and relax. We had to wait for quite a while. There was a group of tourists that arrived on a bus. Apparently they had done all their paperwork on the ride up. You have to initial about hundred (not kidding) different waivers on seven pages.

We met Jenny at the beach.

 Julia and Todd had to leave to pick up Megan from school. Gracie, Jenny and I went to Hali'eva for sushi lunch. Then we drove out to a park on the far north west point of Oahu. We were to hike to a bird sanctuary but it was really far and we gave it up. I was pretty exhausted. We did see a lot of whale spouts and may have even seen an orca.