SEVEN LAYER BURRITO

Yep, that is what we look like anytime we head outside for any period of time. I compare it to suiting up for scuba diving. When you are finished dressing, you can barely turn your head because of all the gear you have on. In order not to freeze off any body parts you have to cover every inch of your face (we even wear goggles). If you take off your gloves your hands actually start to hurt. We bought Sorrels before coming up here that were rated for minus 40, but apparently that is not enough. Our feet were getting too cold (apparently the 40 below rating is only if you are moving), so we took a page out of Damon's book and bought "Bunny Boots" which is what they issue to the military. I don't know what they are rated for, but they are REALLY warm. The weather has been below zero just about every day. Today it was nine below, and with wind chill it has been as low as minus twenty. We are still trying to get outside for rides as much as possible.

Below are a couple of the pictures that we took on some of our rides. The one right below is from a couple of weeks ago. The ocean is more frozen now, but we thought it was a pretty picture.

The town of Stebbins at sunset. Looks a bit like a postcard.

SEND ICE SKATES!

The last couple of days we noticed what looked like slush out on the ocean. When we woke up yesterday, the ocean was covered in snow and big sheets of ice had piled up on the shore. It is a pretty amazing sight to see the ocean in the process of freezing. We have had some pretty cold weather (obviously)--enough that some of the smaller lakes in the area have frozen and kids are actually ice skating (which looks like fun--I'm jealous). Somebody drove their Honda across one of the lakes and it went through the ice. There must have been no way to get it out because it is still there, and probably will be for the rest of the winter. We drove down to an area that we had never been before and walked down to the shore. The tide was really low and the rocks were COVERED with about an inch of ice. Since the sun was out, the rocks were sparkling like diamonds. We were so mad that we forgot to bring the camera. Lesson learned--keep your camera on you at all times. Anyway, we will have to try to get a picture of that before the winter is over.

As you can see above, sheets of ice washed up on shore and piled up onto each other. At first, I was going to try and climb to the top of the pile, but quickly changed my mind. Apparently, once the ocean freezes people go ice fishing, crabbing, and even drive out to the island and go hunting for caribou.

ONLY FOUR DAYS!!!

Yep, that's right. This letter, with only our name and zip code, arrived in Stebbins from North Carolina in only four days!

So--to answer your question--we got it :)