snowed out - shoed in

What have I been up to, you ask? Well, mostly work and shoveling snow. But this weekend we decided if we can't beat the snow, we might as well revel in it. So we rented snowshoes and came up to Bumpalot. After arriving in the dark and snow, we found one of the pipes down by where we drain down for the winter had frozen (full of water despite the draining) and popped a joint. So after a lot of cursing on Mr. Bump's part, a lot of hover-worrying on my part, and some nervous vomit from the dog for good measure, we just collapsed in our (thankfully) electric mattress pad warmed bed. After a trip to town, some further (under his breath this time) cursing from Mr. Bump, some fabulous plumbing repairs executed by the Best Husband Ever, we had water at about 11:00 am! Never was I so happy to take a shower. Now I remember what I dislike about camping. Though we were hardly roughing it, we didn't have a flushable toilet and very little water to make tea! We were roughing it, really.

Anyway, after an eventful and exciting 18 hours, we settled in for a healthy 4 day weekend. We saw wildlife:

Elk at the pond in front of Bumpalot

and

Bunny! Oh Bunny!

But mostly what we did, besides making Rice Krispie treats and tearing through several books, was snowshoe out of our front door into the snowy loveliness. Here, I can prove it:

Glamorous, ain't I?

Actually, you can see the house behind my right shoulder.

Further proof:

Mr. Bump, Plumber Extraordinaire

So, this is the shape the fun we've had has taken. Oh, and I do want to give a shout out to a fabulous new purchase which we've gotten a lot of mileage out of. Oh, Zojirushi, will we ever know the limits of your extravagant decadence? Hot cocoa in the woods when you're somewhere between sweaty and exhausted and cold and cranky? Oh hell yeah.

So come on out--we can hook you up with snowshoes, piping hot cocoa and some genuine wildlife in the front yard. And I'll even break trail.



P.S. If this wonderful winter wonderment isn't enough to make you want to come visit (I'm looking at you, Mrs. Arnold) then I give up. We'll hoard it selfishly. More cocoa for us.