Winter Fun

Sam and I had Monday off, as school was closed for MLK Day. Amy invited us over to their house, and we made a day of it. Will and Sam played really well together, we brought donuts (of course ;)), Amy and I had the chance to catch up while the kids played inside, and then while the kids made colored snow out on the deck, the two of us took a short snowshoe trek out into the woods and around the house. Snow fell the whole time we were there - big white flakes - but luckily by the time we left 5 hours later (!!), the roads were much better than on the drive over. Much fun was had!

Sam had fun playing Batgirl for the afternoon!

Snowy trek around the yard on our snowshoes

I neglected to actually get up on Tuesday when the alarm went off. In my defense it was darn cold and windy but really, I was just being lazy. Sigh. So Wednesday, there was nothing to do but get up when the alarm sounded and get ready to head out. It takes me a while some days to actually get out of the house but I did manage to get out at 5:50, only 5 minutes after I had hoped. It was dark, cold and windy but temps were nearing 20 so I was plenty warm enough in all my layers. I ran with my snowshoes in hand across the street, and was happy to see that several snowmobiles had been out along the powerlines. This made the way up and over Mt A much easier! At the top, I hit the groomed ski trails down the backside and across hole #3. Soft but packed. Around the Heath and down to the river was in good shape and had seen a fair amount of traffic. By the time I was heading back on hole #3, it was just light and open enough to turn off my headlamp, and enjoy the early morning light. Sometimes it is hard to get out the door, but the vast majority of the time, I'm glad I did. What a nice way to start the day. A good 5.4 miles for the morning. 

Morning light

This morning, I got up and decided I wanted to check out the snowmobile trails. I found them in pretty good shape, with things a bit softer and more churned up between the high school and Rt. 24, but darn solid overall. From there I ran out to Lover's Lane and out along the back loop. The loop was in great shape - packed nicely by the snowmobiles and then packed down further by the fat bikes. Good running. Another cold but lovely morning. Got in 6.9 miles for the day. The sky this time of year truly is beautiful. Also saw four of the five planets before the skies lightened - very cool!

Snowmobile vista