Long winter nights are for remembering past trips and dreaming of future ones.  But for me, winter days are for getting outside.  Last December and January in Minnesota, we had several glorious weeks where the lakes (11,842 of them, according to Yahoo!) froze over with hardly any snow on top of the glassy ice.  All I wanted for Christmas was a new pair of skates!

In my adopted hometown of Steamboat Springs, Colorado, we had enough snow (we always want more, of course).  But we had plenty of powder days.

The mountain closes in just a few days.  As usual, we have dueling forecasts for tomorrow.  Maybe we will get rain, or an inch of snow, or 5 inches, or 15 inches.  I’m hoping for the last option, of course.  After that, it will be spring, time to start looking for crocuses and planning my next venture into exploring the art and history of Europe.  Meanwhile, I’ll be writing about trips past, future, and dreamed-of.

Join me tomorrow.  I’ve been thinking about some of the free sights in Rome!