Brainerd or bust!

 

 It was snowing heavily today so we decided to hit the road.

Well, we had planned this trip to a hotel with a waterpark for some weeks now, everyone was REALLY looking forward to it, and we weren't about to let a little snow . . . or a lot of snow . . . stop us.

Visibility?  What's that?

Svea took some pictures.  I love this one.

And this one.  First plow we saw.  The thing is, when it snows in Minnesota, the roads are nearly instantly plowed.  Especially highways.  So we were putzing along on Hwy 10 and it hadn't been plowed.  I'm just saying it was a little unexpected, but Nate is a master driver in the snow and we knew we were in capable hands.

To pass the time, Elin took pictures with the camera too.
One boot.

Two boots.
The snow just kept on coming.

Nate had to get out a few times to thwack the ice off the windshield wipers.
The windshield wipers weren't really working.  Like, at all.

So we stopped in Little Falls at the Wal-Mart to get some new ones.
The kids thought it was so funny that Daddy left the windshield wipers sticking up.
I told them that's what smart people do, to make sure their wipers don't freeze to the windshield.

See?

Svea fell asleep.  Our one-hour drive was turning into a two-hour adventure.

Here we go!

Nate had the new ones on in no time and we were off.  Now, we could actually see out of the window - what a bonus!

In the meantime I was busy reading.
This is the book that my moms group is reading, and after reading the first couple of chapters I already recommend it.

After I got my moms reading done with, I moved on to The Sunne of Splendor.  It's on King Richard III.  I reserved this a few days before it was announced that his body was found beneath some parking lot in Leichester, so that little bit of news made me all the more eager to get my hands on this book. When I reserved it, I had no idea how long it was.  It's about 3" thick and seems to be the equivalent in length of reading an annotated reference Bible.  I'm taking notes on all the characters and am determined to not forget who everyone is by the time I reach the end.  For what it's worth, I was addicted after reading the first few pages.

 Elin also had her own reading material to keep her occupied while on the road.

We arrived safely and were in the hotel for less than ten minutes when we got in the pool!  Everyone was having such a great time, I only took one (steamy) picture, but will post more about all the fun we have been having!

 

Good night, from snowy Brainerd, Minnesota.