On Second Thought....

There's a reason I put a question mark at the end of the title of the last post.  (Time To Hit the Road?)

I ran some numbers regarding the cost of fuel, food and lodging on a proposed Grand Tour and have decided that it's a wee bit too costly to make such a trip at this time. Especially since my better half has expressed an interest in doing at least the last half (Texas, the Gulf Coast, Florida and South Carolina) as well. Maybe it's my Scot's heritage that makes me quail at the expense. (The Irish and Dutch portions say. "Go for it!")

We may still make a run south to Florida and South Carolina sometime in March. And maybe a quick trip to Milwaukee and Chicago. But the larger tour may have to wait until the RV is able to get on the road. It may be slower (450 miles per day as opposed to 800) and eat up more fuel than the Tundra (10 mpg vs. 16-18), but campgrounds are less costly than motels and cooking your own meals is  cheaper than eating out every meal.

I'll also get in a short trip or two to the Adirondacks to check on the Bolt Hole before the Big Thaw comes around.

We will get a Big Thaw, won't we? When it comes I hope it's a slow thaw. With all the snow on the ground around here, there's going to be one heck of a runoff problem if it happens too quickly. With most of the rivers iced up, ice dams could produce a huge headache.

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Terry and I spent a couple of hours shoveling the driveway today after Mother Nature dropped another 2+ inches on us. On top of the 8 inches we got on Thursday, I'm rapidly running out of room to put the snow. Luckily much of it goes over the edge of the slope on the north side of the driveway, but there's still a tremendous amount on the west side of the parking area in front of the garage and at the end of the driveway where there really isn't any place to put it. If it goes down the slope, it ends up in the road and the plow just puts it back in the driveway. Where we shovel it off the deck, we've got a ridge that's almost four feet high!

We've now got close to two feet on the level surfaces and mounds on the verge of the parking area and at the end of the driveway that easily measure five feet. And that's after the thaw at the end of December melted our first foot of snow. Sochi should have so much snow!

Forecasts say we'll have a couple of cold days before we get up above freezing. Then it will be above freezing during the day and in the 20s at night right through the end of March. The guys working sugar bushes will be please by that. Maple sugaring could have a boom year.