Frigid Flowers

Wow, accurate weather forecasting, who knew. I was pretty sure this "snow" would be just a dusting that imitated a heavy frost. Measurable snow falling at this time is pretty historical and has only happened a few times in the last hundred years. Last year on this day, it was almost 90°F!

It started innocently enough in the evening.  

We went for a walk to pick up some pizza and it was definitely going to be a little hard on Tulip Time at this point, it was still just menacing flurries. 

The next morning, it was clear the snow meant business.

I did fund the plowing of 1/4" snow depth somewhat comical.

After the storm was over, we had a forecast for pretty quick return to seasonal normal temps.

Once the heat turned back on, people came outside again. The food booths were bustling along.

Tubs for the street scrubbers had ice/slush on them.

Many of the West-Market Park vendors had a rough go of the weekend. Lots of collapsed tents with the fabric removed and frame haphazardly discarded. 

I think a person could have collected these and made a few good ones from the parts. They were all over the place. 

The snow melted off pretty quick and the city did manage to run a single day and night parade on Saturday. 

Suffering in Elk Rock Pt.2

Back for more punishment, we arrived at Elk Rock to run 8 miles. Yes, 8 miles. I started this one out slightly dehydrated and underfed. I totally bonked by mile 3 -sucked. Eating two Hammer gels helped, but I still probably only ran 5 miles total. Corrine on the other hand ran the whole thing with no problem, even after I drank all the water. Ah well, next time maybe I'll remember that if I brought a builder bar on the drive out, I should eat it.

Lots of horses out today, no doubt more people are around for Tulip Time. The trails have been dry long enough now that the horses are getting them pretty smooth in most places. We also saw lots of bright yellow flowers. I'm not sure what they are. It seems like they are way shorter than some we've seen last year.

Far enough from the trailheads, you can actually find some single track out here. I even saw some mountain-bike tracks.

We spooked a big group of deer that were hiding in a bunch of short trees. They took off smashing through everything in sight. I wonder what happens when a bunch of deer go shooting past a couple of horses.

I took a shortcut back on the all-weather trail while Corrine finished out her mileage. I ran across these very large mushrooms. They did not appear to be of the magic variety. The bigger one is about 8" across the widest part.

I've also got some parade pictures from last night. Only made it to one parade this year but that's alright, night ones are best anyway.