2-4 - Spent part of the morning digging out the fire hydrants on our street and touching up the snow piles - the sun came out and it was beautiful! - ran a few errands and then started sorting out gear for our ski trip north to Ironwood Mi - it looks like we are going to have cold weather this year - the current forecast is OK for the trip up (low 20ºs} and then from Mon. thru Thurs. the early mornings will be below zero and only warming to the low single digits for the daytime highs - then it warms very slightly for the trip home - if it is sunny and no wind in the woods the skiing should be OK - Brad would feel right at home, - We plan to leave at 7:30 am on Fri. 2-6 - it is about a 7 hr drive - LET'S GO HAVE AT IT!

2-2 - BLIZZARD YES!!!! - We really got it - Continued to snow all night and until about 10:00 am - I planned to get out early but the wind was still gusting - I understand we had gusts as high as 50 mph - at the lake front they had gusts as high as 70 mph - they had a couple of of minor accidents along northbound Lakeshore drive one of which involved an articulated bus that jack knifed and blocked all lanes - traffic came to a complete stop - heavy snow and high winds slowly filled in between cars - EVERY THING was slowly buried trapping hundreds of cars. - there are still more than 100 cars waiting extraction - I understand there was a total snowfall of 20.2" making the accumulation the 3rd highest in the history of Chicago - I finally was able to get out and start shoveling about 10:00 am - the entire neighborhood turned out to help each other with snow blowers and shovels - we were all dug out by late afternoon then they started a fire in one of those "fire pit things" broke out the hot dogs etc and had a picnic - the kids were having a ball and the adults enjoyed watching them frolic in the deep snow piles - we are now to get a couple of days of near 0º and then back to normal - we will leave on sunday (2-6) to go up to the UP of Mi. for 6 days of X-C skiing with the EBC bike club - the Blizzard was quite an experience.

2-1 - Managed to get the last hike in (Ted's Tours part 9) - had 17 hikers - finished up about noon - wind was picking up - 23ºcl - had lunch at Portillo's - snow arrived about 3:00 pm with high gusty wind - snowed steadily til I went to bed 10:30 pm - I looked out the window at 9:30 pm and saw Steve and KT busily shovelling my drive - I joined them and then they quickly left to go to the Sr.Roesslers to shovel them out - I stayed out about another 1/2 hr moving snow around (like shovelling sand against the tide) - at this rate we may get our forcasted 2 feet - wind gusts reported up to 50 mph. - may be a record breaker.

1-31 - Went on a EBC hike at Blackwell FP (near Warrenville) led by Laurel Savador - about 5 mi - I had not been out that way for quite some time - still significant snow on the ground but the footing was OK - we had lunch at the Warrenvill Cafe & Pancake House (corner of Rt 59 and Batavia Rd) - good spot and good food - Home by 1:30 pm - Temp 23º at start - warmed to high 20º cl. Big news is that we are to get a BIG BLIZZARD starting tomorrow nignt - they are forecasting 1 1/2 to 2 feet of snow with winds to 40 mph and gusting higher-we will see. - Can't wait (or can I)?

1-30 - Did some errands (walking est 3 mi) - stopped by to drop a letter off @Steve&KT's - had a nice short visit - Steve gave me Brad Weber's blog address plus his E-mail and the info I needed to enter him in my contacts - read a couple of magazines (I have vowed not to let them stack up) - Brad's blog was VERY interesting and I spent more than an hour reading it - E is getting plenty of time out doors - Brad even takes her downhill skiing in a backpack carrier. - mid to high 20º cl.

1-29 At last I got out for some fresh air - just a short 3 mi hike down the SC bike trail to Wolf Rd - spent quite a bit of time cleaning my road bike - it is ready to roll - in the evening we, and the Bachmans, took an nice meal over to the Walkers and had a good visit - Melisa had some major surgery on her left ankle and has to be in a cast for 6-8 weeks and cannot put any weight on it so moves around on a scooter devise. - home by 10:00 pm.

1-27 - Same as yesterday except I did shovel a light coating of snow (shame on me).

1-26 - Rest Day (lazy) Just took it easy - did some chores-reading-ran some errands -Cloudy-temps 20º in eary AM only warmed to near 30º-need some sunshine to lift the spirits.

1-25 - Led a EBC hike starting at Waterfall Glen - 17 hikers - temp at start 23º but warmed to the low 30º - cloudy - I slipped thru the wilderness section just like I knew what I was doing - hiking time 3 1/2 hrs (I was tired) - 10 of us stopped at Portillos for lunch - watched the Presidents State of Union address - it was very well delivered and lasted a little over an hour - it was inspirational but one has to question whether all that was mentioned can be accomplished - it never hurts to listen to an upbeat, positive speech.

1-24 - Shovelled a light coating of snow and put down more ice melter on the back driveway. Finished reading "At Home" by Bill Bryson. A very different book - I'm still thinking about it? - Hiked 3 mi on the SC bike trail to Wolf Rd - the footing was better than I had anticipated. - cold again - mid 20º, cloudy.

1-23 - Spent tne morning working on the ice and snow on the driveway. Bought some ice melter and "Tube Sand" - The back driveway was a sheet of Back Ice"-also there was a thin layer of snow that had to be shovelled. It was so slick that even "YakTracks" didn't help much. - The afternoon was spent watching foot ball - The Bears lost to the Packers 21-14. The steelers beat Jets 24-19 so the Steelers will play the Packers at the Super Bowl in Dallas on Feb. 6. Had pizza for supper. Temps in the mid 20º cloudy.

1-22 - Another cold day - temp near 0º for openers. It did warm to the mid to high teens. I did get out and hiked the SC BT to Wolf Rd. (main trail to WR - Cross trail To North trail - and Home) est.3 mi. - In the afternoon we went to DAVID MCKEAG's memorial service at the Western Springs Congregational Church. Saw Steve and KT there. - Had dinner at The Grapevine in LG.

1-20 - This was a cold dreary day and I did not get out at all. I spent most of the day reading "At Home". It felt good doing nothing for a change (smile). In the evening we went to the Little Theatre in Western Springs and saw the play "The Quick Change Room". As usual they did an excellent job. It is supposed to get below 0º tomorrow - so be it.

1-19 - Went to the hosp. for a blood draw - 3 month PSA check - Hiked 3 mi on the SC Bike Trail to Wolf Rd. Did quite a bit of reading - In the eve we went to the memorial service for REV. DE KRUYTER at Christ Church. Quite a nice ceremony but long (2 hrs). Not a very productive day.

1-18 - I led an EBC hike from Teason's Woods FP. In spite of threatening weather 12 people showed up and we had a nice hike. The trails had some slick spots with light snow over ice. I chose not to come down the stairs at the the old palos slide as I thought they would be too slippery - however when we hiked past them headed west on the low trail there were several cars in the parking lot and people were using the stairs - they were very useable. Oh well. Not a very cherry day - no sunshine. We had a nice long visit with Brian in Denver - all is well there. He has applied for a new position with Vail which would be a promotion. He thought he would hear about it in about a week. It would be doing much as he he is doing now. Title - Procuremant Specialist. We wished him well.

1-17 - Did a lot of reading "AT HOME" by Bill Bryson - Shovelled snow - took down the outside Christmas decorations (not much to do).

1-16 - Went out to the Little Red Schoolhouse to pre hike the route I will use on Feb. 1 - Multi use trail W to Jct with the "Out and Back" trail - took this almost to the end then took a little used trail W to the CCC Shelter for a short break - then SW on a trail that is closed to Bikes to the Jct with the "Gravity Cavity" trail near 107th St. - then N to Wolf Road Woods and Jct with the multi use trail - then E back to the parking lot. - a light snow was falling - very pretty - back home by 2:00pm and caught the last of the Bears Game - Bears won 35-24 over the Seattle Seahawks - then watched the Jets (28) vs New England (21) - Had dinner at Palmers.

1-15 - I went back out to Waterfall Glen to retrace the trail thru "The Wilderness" and was successful this time. Did a little trail marking so I could repeat it after a fresh snow. Since it was only noon I decided to go over to the old Palos slide to check out the ridge trail that can be accessed from La Grange road to the top of the stairs of the slide. I also wanted to make sure the stairs were open and were suitable to take a large group down them next Tues. The stairs were completely clear of ice and snow and there must have had at least 25-30 cars in the parking lot with most of the people using the stairs. I was home by 2:00pm. - The rest of the day was consumed watching football games. A good day.

1-14 - This was a rest day. Did a lot of reading and caught up on a bunch of misc. chores. Scheduled my last 3 hikes on the listserver for the year.

JANUARY

1-14

The month got off to a good start with quite a bit of fresh snow.

This is a test to see if I can still enter a post correctly.

Looks like it worked. I think I will start using this journal again.

I am copying Steve and deleted my Twitter account and intend to just use BUZZ and this Journal. Stay posted. T