Snow Emergencies in Minnesota

If you live in Minneapolis, and have to park on the street, you're probably well aware of snow emergencies. However, you might not know which side of the street you can and can't park on. Good ol Minneapolis has finally thought up a solution, and gone straight to the source -- to Facebook and MySpace. Now my only question -- when do they roll out the iPhone app?

Ready, Let's Go!

Take a roller coaster and cross it with a pinball machine. Then bring the temperature down below zero. Throw in a bunch of snow and ice. Next, toss a handful of uber-excited, incredibly strong dogs that live for nothing in life but to pull (something, anything, and everything), and you have the perfect recipe for dog sledding.

I think my friend and coworker Heather summed up our dog sledding trip quite well with two very different statements:

• "what the hell [have I gotten myself] into"
• "I was amazed at how relaxed I was upon completion of the experience...we spent 4 full days not thinking about work, regular-life obligations or anything else. It was all about the experience and getting from point A to point B. Such a clear mind is so hard to come-by and it was weird to experience it so fully for such an extreme amount of time."

Outward Bound led our 4 day dog sledding expedition through the Boundary Waters Canoe Area. This was my second Outward Bound trip, and I can't speak highly enough about the organization and all of the instructors I've interacted with. They're incredibly knowledgeable, concerned about your safety and well being, and give their all to make sure you have an amazing experience. If you're ever considering an outdoor adventure, I highly recommend checking them out and the wide variety of trips they offer.

From sun-up to sun-down, we were active. Whether it was stomping through thigh-deep snow to find a good tree to saw down for firewood, or pushing and pulling with all our might to stop our sled from falling into a ravine, or chipping away at 24 inches of ice to get a water hole, we were working.

In the morning we boiled water, fed the dogs, took down camp, ate a little breakfast, and got the cross-country skiers off to break trail and set the pace for the day. The ones mushing were left to finish packing the sleds and harness the dogs.

The dogs were fantastic. Each had his or her own unique personality. Some were crazy, others shy. Some drank their soup as fast as their tongues could lap, while others didn't budge when you set a bowl in front of them. At night they would randomly start howling in unison, and then stop on a dime as if a conductor had flicked his wrist.

The one thing the dogs all had in common (for the most part) was their love for pulling. They would bark and whine if we stopped on the trail for more than 2 minutes. And getting them hitched in the morning was like trying to get a child to walk and not run on their first visit to Disneyland.

The Boundary Waters proved to be a perfect place for a dog sledding trip -- beautiful wide open lakes, tight portages for exciting ups, downs, and turns, and nobody for miles and miles. I'm happy to report that although we woke up to -10, we were never really cold. I did smash my pinky between the sled and a tree, but that was the worst of it for our group. Oh yes, and I (and the rest of my team) did hop in the frozen lake at the end our trip after getting in the sauna. There's nothing quite like it -- much like dog sledding -- and I encourage you to try both.

Snow!

I can't believe it's finally snowing!

When Mimes Go Sledding

This past weekend was not only my wonderful parent's 35th wedding anniversary, but it was also the Subway Bed Race for Bridging event. The concept, although a little nuts, is very straightforward: Assemble a team of four, dress up in random costumes, hop on a mattress, and race down a snow-tubing hill.

Due to the last-minute assembly of our team, we only had a day to plan. Somehow, we decided to go as a team of mimes. We were welcomed throughout the night with numerous side comments such as "Nobody likes a mime", and "Mimes don't talk". It was great.

In our first heat, we smoked the competition. We easily beat the next bed by 30 yards. My face nearly fell off from the extremely cold combination of wind and snow blowing in my face the entire way down the hill, but I didn't care. We mimes were going to kick some butt.

Our second run was a complete 180. We got stuck in the slowest lane out there -- so slow in fact that we got stuck twice on the slope. Our bed racing dreams were over.

I wish I had taken more photos, so I'm hoping someone else in Flickrland was at the race (I did find a YouTube video, which is decent if you skip to about 2:30 in). The winning costume award went to a team of giant silverware. The topper was that one of their members was Asian, and he dressed up as chopsticks. Everybody loved it.

Snow Snow Snow

Minnesota is finally living up to its name. The snow just simply will not stop.

How much is it snowing do you ask? Enough that around 12:30 today we were notified over the PA system that we were allowed to leave work at 1:00 if desired. I couldn't believe it.

Colorado Avalanche

Anybody hear about the avalanche 50 miles west of Denver that hit U.S. Highway 40, taking out cars as it roared down the mountainside? Jordan Cook, a high school classmate of mine, was driving one of the vans that was swept off the road:

“It felt like forever,” Cook said of the rolling. “I was just waiting to see what was going to happen to us next, wondering when it was all going to end.”

Amazingly, he climbed out of the van with just a few scratches. Talk about freaky. What are the chances?

And speaking of avalanches and getting swept away, what happened to The Ohio State last night? I think they just lost the right to their precious "The".

Cotton Balls are Falling!

There was a lot of commotion at a window near my cube (yes, I love the fact that I'm surrounded by 3.5 neutral-colored temporary "walls"), and so I decided to get up and look for myself.

It literally looks like someone far up in the sky is shaking an enormous bag of cotton balls. I've never seen such big round flakes in all my life!