Sunday, January 27, 2008

Negative 15 Degrees

What better way to celebrate sub zero temperatures than to drive up to Minneapolis? Last weekend, temperatures dropped to -15 degrees Fahrenheit (with a wind chill of -30). You know you're going to be cold when the forecast is calling for a high of -4. Having never experienced such extreme temperatures, naturally we couldn't resist. We packed up our stuff and headed north for a weekend with Uncle Jim and his family.

One of the highlights of the trip was sledding down a nearby hill. We all bundled up and braved the weather on our sleds. (It was actually much warmer that day, a balmy +9).


We had a great time racing and trying to see who could go the farthest. For some reason, JoLee kept winning.


The hill was just about the right length to make several trips.


We just had to watch out for mid sledding collisions (which were frequent). The only sledding I did growing up was with my youth group in the CA Sierra. It usually took us two hours to find a good hill, two hours of sledding until someone got hurt, and two hours until our appendages thawed out. I'm pretty sure this was the first sledding trip I've ever survived without getting injured.


The top of the hill was extremely icy, and try as we might, we just couldn't climb to the top without using a rope.


You can see by JoLee's celebration, that it really was an accomplishment to make it to the top of the hill.


As always, Jim and Peggy were great hosts. We always have a fantastic time and look forward to our next trip.

5 comments:

Kristen said...

I am amazed that you would sled when it was that cold. You people are amazing with what you sacrifice for an adventure :)

Aaron said...

That looks like a blast! Wish I could have been there.

chickadee3357 said...

That is great! I love the pics and video.

S&J Jones Family said...

I saw your blog on Michelle Storey's page. I enjoyed reading your blog. Looks like you guys have been having a lot of fun lately!

My blog is www.sjjonesfamily.blogspot.com

Sarah said...

Hi JoLee! It's been a long time! Jamie told me you had a blog a while ago, so I've been following your posts. Sounds like life is exciting for you guys! Way to take advantage of all the snow we've been getting.
By the way, tag, you're it! Check out my blog to see what this means. The address is: http://sarahandzak.blogspot.com/
-Sarah