Part 2/2

November 2023 was another California visit. I have to get any traveling done before ski season begins!

Greg and I don't have to work tomorrow!

November was also one last chance to visit Many Glacier before the road is closed for the winter.

A nearly snowless December meant very limited downhill skiing, and no Nordic skiing. Barely any snow on the golf course for this Christmas Eve photo

One highlight in December was the opportunity to see and touch THE Stanley Cup, which was on display in Whitefish. Drop the Puck!!

The drought of snow continued until mid January when we were dumped bigly in one storm. But hopes of downhill skiing were dashed by ...

The coldest weather we have encountered since buying the house. Our eventual record reached -39.9 degrees F. Bitter cold.

I take care of snow blowing not only our driveway, but three of our neighbor's driveways. I at least waited until midday when it was -20 to go snowblow. It was unclear how well our ground source heat pump would do to heat the house before the backup electric resistance coil heater would kick in, and we were very pleased to see that the backup did not get used. We had a few days that were entirely below zero. This forced us to stay at home since we weren't sure the cars would start.

Note: the indoor temperature is skewed as the thermometer is set between two windows on an outside facing wall. We were comfortable warm at 66 inside, warmer in front of the fireplace.

The thermometer says at -40 to bring the dogs inside the igloo. We literally had a three dog night (and day!)

Stuff that happens at extreme low temps. The vent for the dryer freezes over, as the moist air freezes instantly.

On the flip side, the cold brings out the absolute clearest air. Layer up and take as many photos as you can while there is feeling in the fingers. It was -15 when this photo was taken, and just look at the smiles on those faces!

The bitter cold was followed by yet another snow storm with high winds, leaving sizable drifts. I used our neighbor's 30" snowblower "The Beast". It's a bit big, heavy and unwieldy, but boy can it cut thru deep snow at 7am

February starts with the Whitefish Winter Carnival, culminating in a parade. Winter is a festive time to enjoy the great outdoors ...

... and finally have a bluebird day of skiing above the clouds covering the Flathead Valley below.

February is also the time for the annual Cabin Fever Days in the canyon, featuring the barstool races. The thrill of victory; the agony of defeat!

We stayed at the Gordon Reese forest service cabin for 2 nights in February. No running water; a separate outhouse somewhere between 15 feet and a mile away; 8 adults; cross country ski in only pulling sleds laden with food and copious libations. What a blast!

The highlight of March was a 3 week trip to Australia. One week spent in Melbourne, and two weeks spent in Tasmania. Since our return was just a few days ago, there has not been an opportunity to deal with those photos. But two special ones are

Me with the ever so ferocious (and cuddly) Tasmanian Devil

Sandy with the very cute Wombat

And so begins the next non working year for me. More travel, more visitors, more hikes, skiing, running biking, kayaking and probably even less time to sleep. I accept the challenge!