Marina Ice

On this first day of spring, the snow piles are slowly dwindling. We escaped the predicted 6-10" earlier this week with only a dusting, not even enough to shovel. The ice on Lake Superior changes day by day depending mostly on the wind speed and direction. I took a day last week to check out the ice at the Silver Bay Marina.

Naked branches 

Ice meets open water 

On the docks 

I like both the shape of these icicles and the reflection in the water 

The hill up to the lookout; the snow was still very deep and I sunk in past my knee more than once

Las Vegas and the Valley of Fire

As I sit here looking outside at more large piles of fresh snow, I'm grateful that Barry and I got to escape the Minnesota weather and go to Las Vegas for a few days. The weather was perfect, in the 70's (with low humidity of course) during the day and 50's at night. We went to a couple of concerts, did just a little gambling (ending up a bit ahead), had a nice Valentine's Day dinner, saw the Blue Man group, and even met up with Barry's mom and a friend who happened to be in Vegas at the same time. One of the highlights was a drive we took about 45 minutes or so outside of Las Vegas. We drove by the Hoover Dam and Lake Mead, then on to the Valley of Fire. The scenery was gorgeous, unlike anything here in Minnesota.

Lake Mead

An old train tunnel

Big horn sheep

Rugged scenery

Winter in Two Harbors

When none of my kids jumped at the chance to go grocery shopping with me recently, I happily shopped alone.  I brought my camera with, as it was about 10 degrees outside, certainly warmer than most of the month of January. The sun was shining and it was a beautiful day.

Heavy winds form some interesting drifts

 

No shipping this time of year, just lots of ice

Ice-covered rocks

Shoreline

In the Backyard

Last year at this time, we didn't have any snow on the ground. This year, we have piles of snow.  We're finally out of the frigid below zero temperatures that started the year, and the kids have been thrilled to finally be able to play outside. While I haven't gone out to take photos of sunrises, I have looked around the backyard for interesting things to photograph.

January 4, it was only about 10 degrees, but we had some snow cleanup to do, and the kids were itching to get outside:

With so much snow so early, we bought a little snowblower to help blow out the driveway.  I think we've almost got our money's worth already.

I like the curve of the branches

If you look closely, you can see the snowmobiler through the trees

We won't be grilling for awhile!

When it's cold outside, the sun makes it feel much better

RPP

As I look out my window and see piles of snow, I'm longing for the warm days of summer.

Fourth of July colored hair

Foggy morning by the lake

Radishes from the garden; they're either the French Breakfast variety or the Watermelon variety

Eating outside

Bay Days parade

My Top 13 Lake Superior Sunrises of 2013

Between the busyness of the holidays, massive snow, and artic temperatures, I have not been out to photograph the sunrise since November. Since I don't have any new photos to share, I thought I'd give you my top 13 favorite Lake Superior Sunrise photos of 2013.

The first day I saw ice built up on the lake

This ice-covered rock looks like a large creature frozen in the middle of the lake. I love the reflections of the clouds in the lake, too.

Calm ripples

After the April snowstorm

I like the silhouette of the trees against the orange sky

We're Gonna Have a White Christmas

Last week we had our first major snowfall of the season.  I don't know what the official totals are, but I think we had around two feet of snow.  Areas near us had up to 42"!  The snow combined with the bitter cold temperatures that followed means I've only ventured out for snow photos in the backyard, not early morning sunrise photos.  Click here for sunrise pictures from last year at this time.

Round One: (pictures taken on Tuesday)

The kids couldn't wait to get out and play in the snow

These trees sure hold a lot of snow

Leftover Mountain Ash Berries really stand out against the snow

That's a lotta snow on this little twig