Snowing here again, but it has almost finished... looks like about 2" of light, fluffy snow. A week-long thaw is forecast to start tomorrow, daytime temps in the low to mid 30's F.
Yesterday was cold but clear, so DW & I went for a drive along part of the Lake Winnebago shore line. Winnebago is a big lake, 36 miles long & 16-18 miles wide at the widest points... 137,700 acres (215 square miles). When frozen over in Winter, it basically becomes another county - with its own temporary population. This weekend the lake was the site of a massive ice fishing tournament, "Battle on Bago". People come here from all across the U.S.. It is an incredible sight; thousands of ice shanties & vehicles as far as the eye can see! The long stretch of sub-zero temps helped to really thicken the ice, which enabled heavier vehicles to drive out & no doubt increased attendance. Not sure how many thousands entered the tournament, but there were 3500 prize winners.
I took a lot of photos; but while I've generally been happy with the phone camera, I found its weakness. It was unable to adequately capture such wide panoramas - and when I maxed out the zoom, the phone restarted. After each photo.
So excuse the poor quality. Each of these photos was taken at a different point along the shore. It does display the enormity of our endless "white sand beaches", though.
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When we first moved here, I taught all of our early-teen children to drive by taking them onto the frozen lake, putting them behind the wheel, and telling them to drive slowly but have fun. Nothing to hit (the snow was not deep) and if they turned too sharp or braked too fast, all they could do was slide. They were too young at that point to get their learners permit, but they learned driving basics in safety, and it was an experience they all remember fondly.
