Ron and I did go over to Mill Hollow over in Vermilion and enjoyed the festivities of the Ice Festival. They estimated that 800 of us cold souls turned out to enjoy the day. Those of us that braved the cold were well rewarded! Like I said, I had a blast!
Let me first give a shout out to the ranger that stood at the entrance. This poor guy has to tell 90% of the cars that there was more parking down the road. Once we walked back from parking, this guy's job was to stop traffic and get every one across the street safe and sound. It sounds like a crappy way to spend a very cold day but this guy was awesome! I'm sorry I didn't get his name for this shout out but he stood out there in the cold and just had fun with everyone! So, thank you for working today and making sure everyone was safe. Awesome job!
We met up with my fellow PhotoPhunner Lisa and her husband Chuck. I also got to finally meet our other PhotoPhunner, Mark! While the guys were camera shy, Lisa and I mugged for the camera.
My dumb ass never thought of wearing boots to an wintertime outdoor activity. To say I froze is an understatement. Well, not all of me, but parts of me such as my poor feet. My feet and my hands froze. Oh well, I still had a blast and by now I am finally thawed out.
First, over by where we parked there was a bunch of people sled riding. Of course I had to stop and watch that for awhile. It brought back great memories of sledding at Wilson Middle School. At least back then, they had the stairs back there that made getting back up the hill much easier!
The pictures of the ice sculptures will be posted for tomorrow's PhotoPhun, but I can share the other pictures today.
We went to watch the ice harvesting. This is where crazy men stand on the ice and cut blocks out of it! Ok, if it was warmer, this might have been fun. But have I mentioned that it was darn cold out?
They had this crazy ice saw that they would let bystanders go out and cut the ice. Personally, I thought that sounded a lot like helping them white wash a fence, so I stayed standing in the snow where it was nice and cold but without chance of falling through that ice. This brave young man in the red jacket made it look easy though. A fast course on how to use the saw and he was off and running. He did a great job!
They offered free horse drawn carriage rides. Ok, this was awesome! Ron, fellow PhotoPhunner Lisa and I went for a spin. Here is what the horse drawn carriage looked like.
They would fill up the carriage and take a fast spin. It was actually kind of fun until some one's dog got loose and decided to chase our carriage. Yeah, I panicked! Lisa and Ron protected me and the dog didn't get into the carriage. Luckily, his human was a pretty fast runner himself and was able to catch up and grab the dog. Whew!
Once we got off of the ride, I took a picture of our drivers. I think the one on the right was smiling at me!
This was my personal favorite shot of the day. Who doesn't love a nice butt with a bow!
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