Living on the Edge

Oh, Heaven help us!

They just posted a SNOW ADVISORY for tonight!!  I can't wait to see how the soccer game goes tomorrow morning on the South Hill at 8:30 in the a.m.!!  I'll pull out the snow boots, gloves and hats again! Wonder if CC can fit the shin guards over her snow boots? 

Oh darn, everyone had to take their snow tires off by tomorrow or they will be ticketed here in Washington!!!!

&!*#!?#% = SNOW

Even Snowmen Are Tired of Winter

A friend of mine sent me this email.  I had to share the picture.  I'm sure many of us in the Inland Northwest are finding this one in the email box!  2008, the winter that would not end! We've had over 80 inches of snow this winter--so says the weather man the other night!

Alaska's Iditarod Race

Spokane has its Bloomsday.  Boston has the Marathon.  Hawaii has the Iron man triathlon...but Alaska has the Iditarod Race.  It's truly an amazing race and it's not for the weekend athlete.  It's been called "The Last Great Race on Earth." 

The race travels over 1150 miles over some of the roughest, but most beautiful terrain.  The route travels from Anchorage to Nome.  The sled race teams consist of 1 musher and 12 to 16 dogs.   It will take them 10 to 17 days to travel the 1150 miles.  96 teams are slated to begin tomorrow in Anchorage.  There are 60 mushers from Alaska, but mushers have traveled from the lower 48 as well as from countries such as Belgium, France, Canada, Germany, Italy and Norway.  It's still a male dominated sport, but there are 22 female mushers this year! 

The official Iditarod website has lots of great information as well as current updates on the status of you favorite mushers.  www.iditarod.com

Our favorite musher is #10 again this year.  I'll explain why on another post.  Plus I promise pictures to go along with it. I've got to head off to school today.  HAPPY FRIDAY!

Whoops, originally I put that he was #11...that must have been last years number and they updated it since I had first checked the site. He's # 10 this year.

Ski FREE Days!

Did you know you can ski FREE at each of the Inland Northwest ski resorts?  Yup!  All you need is to bring 3 cans of food to the participating ski resort on the designated date and you will receive a ski pass for a free evening of skiing (Lookout Pass offers the whole day free!).

Here are the dates:

February:

• Saturday the 16th at 49 Degrees North  3pm-8pm
• Friday the 22nd at Silver Mountain 3pm-8pm
• Thursday the 28th at Mt. Spokane 3pm-8pm

March:

• Friday the 7th at Lookout Pass ALL DAY
• Saturday the 15th at Schweitzer 3pm-8pm      

So try out a new ski resort or visit a favorite one!  Bring your friends and help fill the local food banks at the same time!

Puxsatawney Phil is NOT My Friend!

I don't usually put much weight on a rodent forecasting weather, but he's historically more reliable than the weather people we have locally!  In case you haven't already heard, the rotund rodent Phil says we are going to have 6 more weeks of winter.  If that means 6 more weeks of snow...I'm going to have awesome arms by summer with all the shoveling!  And I will probably lose the battle of "no honey, we don't have enough snow here to warrant purchasing a snowblower."

I wonder what Phil knows about Global Warming?  Do you think Phil was one of the many sources that Al Gore ignored when he came up with his prophesy of global warming.  Phil just obviously doesn't own a copy of Al's book, An Inconvenient Truth.  And although he appears to have a pretty posh spread that he lives in, I'm sure he doesn't have a tv to watch the Gore Documentary either.

Here is Phil's official website:  www.groundhog.org

Inland Northwest is Ski Heaven!

With all the snow we've been receiving, the ski resorts are like heaven on earth!  Powder every day!  Can you believe that some of the resorts have already received over 250" of snow!? For those of you with a season pass somewhere--enjoy it!

If you don't have a season pass, this would be the perfect winter to hop around the five different ski resorts we have around here and give them a try.  Here's a recap of the five closest to those of us who live in Spokane or Coeur d'Alene:

Schweitzer Mountain Resort is in North Idaho.  It's 86 miles from Spokane.  To get there take I-90 to exit 12 near Coeur d'Alene.  Head North on Highway 95.  Drive to Sandpoint, ID.  The resort is 11 miles after Sandpoint.  Open 7 days a week.

Lookout Pass Ski Area is along I-90 at the Idaho/Montana stateline, Exit 0.  The exit is just east of Wallace, Idaho.  Lookout is 90 miles from Spokane and 56 miles from Coeur d'Alene. The ski area is open Thurs through Mondays each week through March.  They just began a FREE children's ski school on Saturdays.  Check their website for details.

Silver Mountain Resort is easy to access. It's in Kellogg, Idaho at Exit 49 on I-90.  Silver Mt. is 75 miles from Spokane and 45 miles from Coeur d'Alene.  The resort is open 7 days a week through April 6th.

Mt. Spokane Ski Area is located in Mt. Spokane State Park.  There are new runs, beautiful views and affordable lift tickets.  For those of you who live near Spokane, this ski area is in your backyard!  They are open 7 days a week through February if weather permits.  In March they return to their Wednesday-Sunday schedule.

49 North is open 7 days a week now through February.  It's located 10 miles East of Chewellah, WA.  From I-90, head north on Highway 395.  When you reach Chewellah, turn right at the stoplight at Main Street(it's the only one right now).  Continue on Flowery Trail Rd for 10 miles to the ski area.

Here's an overview of the prices of a Weekend/Holiday, All-Day lift ticket:

(prices vary midweek and half days.  Check each website for special prices)

Ski area         Adults           Youth             6 & under

Silver Mt          $46                $31                 FREE

Lookout           $30                $19                 FREE

Schweitzer       $55                $40                 FREE

49 North          $43                $35                  $5

Mt Spokane      $39                $31                 FREE

Two Different Ways to Enjoy the Sun!

Sunrise along the Little Spokane River in January.

The sun shining on the floor in the dining room!  FULL SUN!  I was ready to lay on the floor and soak it in myself.  I tried to get the dogs to do it...but they wouldn't!

Saturday in Pictures

This is what the 18 inches of snow made our place look like this weekend!

The backyard...the snow is just about up to the deck.

The front walkway...Where am I going to put more snow?  Can you see our candy canes just barely sticking out of the snow bank?

My vegetable garden is here somewhere!

View of the mountain from our house...so pretty!

I love the bright blue sky behind this snow covered tree.

This is the best my camera could do for a close-up.  Oh I miss my old SLR...and my macro lense.  The snow crystals were so cool!

And finally my artsy shot of our red maple.  I love the sun making it glow from behind and then the shadow on the snow!  Hey I'm easily entertained.

Icicles

  ICICLES + CHRISTMAS LIGHTS** = MAGIC

              I LOVE ICICLES!!!!

**NO we no longer turn our lights on! This is from December.  Although, because of all the snow, we haven't been able to take any of them down!  Guess that will be a spring project!

Bald Eagle Hotel

I'm always entering things into the event calendar on my SpokaneMama website. Every time I hear of something, or noodle around on the internet and find something I make a note of it and add them to the calendar.  I had heard of this event before the website was up and running last year.  So I knew this winter, I would make sure and post the dates for it as well as drag the family out to do it!! 

We had a fun family day on Lake Coeur d'Alene with some friends.  Next winter we will bring my parents to do it when they come up for Christmas. (Don't worry mom, the inside is heated and has big windows)

Coeur d'Alene Resort Eagle Cruise

in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho  1-800-365-8338

This would be the resort.  Two things cross my mind as I placed this picture.  With the boats in the foreground it looks like it's literally on the water...kind of reminiscent of an airforce carrier carrying a hotel on top.  The second thing is....does it look like it should have flags flying from the turrets up top?

It's actually an awesome resort. Very lavish with an amazing view of the lake and the surrounding mountains.  Just not sure what the architect was going for..middle age naval ship?  I'm standing on the top deck of the Eagle Cruise Boat...see the snow on the tables?...it will become future fuel for a skurmish between dads and daughters.

Part of the view from the dock at the resort.

More view....this was the view during the whole cruise...just sprinkle in a few dozen eagles, some ducks, a few flocks of Canada geese, and a great blue heron and this was our day.

So we went on a 2 hour cruise...(the theme song from Gilligan's Island just popped into my head!)  It was very chilly when we headed out.  Even the kids ended up coming back inside till we arrived at the bay with the eagles...

You can't tell, cuz we grabbed the corner table, but the boat was full.  I'm sure they could have fit more people, but unless you went outside there really wasn't a single empty chair left inside. 

This picture was actually taken after the girls ran 247 laps around the deck of the boat (after the first couple laps they said "hey mom, we met the captain!"--yuh think?!), had a snowball fight (started by a couple of unnamed fathers), played animal mineral and vegetable, spotted a few dozen eagles, and drank some hot chocolate and nibbled a couple peanut butter cookies.

We think they will sleep well tonight!

Here's who we were looking for. Not a great picture...next year I will win the lottery and buy my dream digital SLR camera that will do all the hard stuff for me!

This one turned out a bit better.  They just wouldn't turn their good side to the camera for me!

How about a fun summer place like this one?  Little chilly this time of the year though!

Well to end the day...as if on cue...we had an awesome sunset!  We hadn't seen one of those in quite a few days too!