Wedding in a Winter Wonderland

This past Wednesday (the day after Christmas) we packed up the SUVan and headed for the frozen north (Minnesarctica) to bear witness to our Nephew's (Ben) wedding.

On the way up Lightnin' was able to catch a shot of the Chicago skyline.

Once we arrived in the room I snapped a few shots of the wintry surroundings

Yes, that's a snow blower attached to a Bobcat, clearing a sidewalk!

That is serious winter up there with the high temp at 24F and averaging around 18F during the time of our visit. It was supposed to get even colder after we left. It was pretty, and the wedding was a grand event! The beauty of the church was breathtaking, but of course none of our photos did it justice!

Here's the happy couple, looking as though the weight of their commitment is sort of registering. Or was it just that they were listening to the directions from the photographer?

Here's a much happier couple at the reception

We left the reception a bit early in the evening to return to our room to pack as we were to hit the road for home early the next morning. We had a long, cold drive ahead of us.

Sunrise at the Arctic Circle! (OK not quite, but as close as I'll ever get!) We had already been on the road for about 2 hours at this point and went through patches of freezing fog, which added to the beauty of the scenery. The trees were encased in ice giving them a glass covered appearance.

Back home safe and sound now we can snuggle by the fire and reflect on yet another fun road trip, but first I need to get out there and split some firewood!