Christmas Eve in Florida

Finally 

WE MADE IT!

Just in time to celebrate Christmas Eve.

That's the European tradition.

A candle, taken from the Christmas tree 

that stayed at home.

A good meal of beef mignon, broccoli and potatoes...

... and a gorgeous sunset at the Gulf of Mexico.

"All trouble seem so far away!"

What do we need more?

We miss our families and

our friends in the desert!

But we cannot have it all, can't we?

Merry Christmas To You All!

Stress Management

Two flat tires within 24 hours.

 Trucks always choose THIS spot,
even when there is
lots of space available farther away.


 Take a deep breath and RELAX
 Think of something BEAUTIFUL

THAT'S BETTER!

"Always walk on the bright side of life!"

What a drive!

What a drive, getting to Florida in the Christmas Season!

10 days to California seems a dream compared!

We covered a lot of conditions, that's for sure.

Icy and snowy roads until Boston, MA

Terrible congested Interstate- 95, stop and go for hours. Everybody was on the road to somewhere....

Empire State Building

One World Building

I tried to capture some of Manhattan skyline, seen from New Jersey's I-95.

Finally open country Highway (29 South) where we ended up after making a Break out of the mayhem around I-95. We should have done that from the start on.

Torrential rainfalls, that kept us put for a night on a truck stop.

And more, stay tuned!

But we are all well.

Somehow I miss the Island.....

Mulholland Lighhouse, Campobello
December, 19 2013

Snow - and more to come!

ANOTHER 20 cm of snow was dumped on us.

Now we are looking at about 38 cm (15 inch) in total and, for the coming weekend they are predicting additional 

50 cm (19 inch) on top of this!

Can you imagine how this will be, come January and February?

Do I really want to know?

In the late afternoon I took a last walk with the dog and these are the photos from our neighbourhood, just to show you...

Until now I have been enjoying a cosy warm house and watching the flakes swirling by the window, taking a walk with Molly in the snow. I really like it. As soon as the sky clears it is very pretty to look at too, all white and blue and gold. I probably would have dug out my Norwegian cross-country-ski and would have taken a tour in the park. Maybe I would have built a snowman as well.

But what shall we do when hubby finally decides that he wants to leave for sunny Florida after all?

Well: pack, Baby, pack! 

Yes, and mascot "Rosie" has to travel with us too!

I hate leaving the house in a hurry but this time it cannot be helped.

Luckily I have list, so the last two days I have been packing and we have been scuttling between the house and the camper trailer.

When we return the Christmas tree will still be sitting in our cosy living room.

 view of North Road today, and hopefully...

... the roads will be plowed by tomorrow morning 

(and look like they did last week) 

so we'll get ourselves out of here.

Dream on!

See you on the road!

Let it snow!

When the day dawned the storm was over us 

 with strong winds and whiteout. 

We only left the house for brief sequences 

when Molly had to do her walks.

Otherwise I went from window to window to look at nature's force.

By 4 PM in the afternoon the whole thing was over and

the snow showers stopped.

Hubby started to dig out his van.

Luckily a helpful neighbour came over to clear out the driveway 

were about 15 inches (38 cm) 

of hard packed snow had accumulated.

Otherwise we would have been shovelling until Easter!

Yeeehaaa! 

No power outages here, no freezing rain either.

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!

The day before the first big storm

All day long we were informed about the 

Nor'easter that will hit the region on Sunday. 

Lots of wind and snow is predicted. 

Why is it called Nor'easter if it approaches us from the South?

As of today it is sunny, but cold -16°C (3,2 °F). The clouds are not supposed to roll in before evening.

Rather than to fret about it
I choose to see the pretty side of this vision. :))
Overnight we got new "curtains" on our
old fashioned windows.

Around noon Molly was getting bored 

and I decided that

it was high time to go for a walk.

We walked towards North Road 

that runs about 11 meters (12 yards) below our road.
It was all abandoned on this Saturday morning. 

Towards the water the raw see air
 covered the wood with
white frosting.

Access to Deer Island Ferry landing.
We went all the way down towards the water.

 The humidity close to the water 

brings lots of ice onto all branches. 

Molly didn't freeze at all. 

She found herself something to chew on.

Sea Smoke, a wintry type of fog, 

was drifting in from the sea. 

An icy wind blew out of the Northwest. 

What a difference just 15 meter (16 yards) in elevation makes. 

Down here it on the beach 

it was several degrees colder than 

at our house.

I stayed long enough to take a good look 

at the icy beauty of it. 

Sea Smoke drifts over the water,
view towards Eastport, Maine.

and west towards Lubec, Maine

Can you even imagine that we had summer 

just a few month ago?

That's all for today. 

We'll see how the upcoming snowstorm will change 

this view in the coming days.....

Ice cold and beautiful

For all of you sitting in the desert or other places nice and warm: think about what you are missing! 

Crisp cold air and bright sunshine. Cool, white snow.....

Lots of fun - or?

Well, while we are still here, why not making the BEST out of it?

Driving to the park I saw "Santa and his Reindeer" riding through a yard, nicely illuminated by the afternoon sunshine. 

Kind of funny.

On our way to the trailhead there were these tracks on the snowy road! 

Santa's foot prints?

Wouldn't it be nice?

 What an opportunity!

Unfortunately, it was not Santa.

Just J.P. and Molly walking ahead.

You come?
Wait a sec. - I have to take some photo first.

These blue patches on the ice look kind of intriguing....

OK, we'll go ahead and wait for you near 

Gibraltar Rock.

The "Thinker"
How many years may this rock have been laying here?
My guess, since the last ice age.

A half frozen, small creek

Beautiful - glittering ice decorating the tip of a spruce tree.

And if you wonder what I carry in the bag, it is fallen-off birch bark.

Excellent help for lightening up a fire in the wood stove.

Thanks for walking with us, stay warm and safe where ever you are!