blizzard '11 or BEST DAY EVAH!

I've been meditating on a blizzard for a few years now and I finally got my wish:  we got 20 inches of snow!  My wish was dampened for a few hours when my good friend, Scott, called me from his car Tuesday evening in a panic because he had been trapped in his car off of Lake Shore Drive for four hours*.  Once I found out he was safe, I was able to continue with my regularly scheduled blizzard celebration program.

Ignacio was his usual crazy self, woke up early Wednesday morning, and left the house at 5:45 am to walk to work.  He called an hour later to inform me he landed safely.  A couple of hours later, he walked  an hour back home.

Ignacio and I love this weather.  We live in a great location, and we can get by without a car quite easily.  Once Ignacio got home, I laced up my snow boots, and out we went on our Blizzard Adventure.  The first thing we saw was this car stuck in the middle of the street facing the wrong way.

Next, we ran into our friend, Walt, who we have been meaning to get to know better.  Walt treated us to coffee, and the three of us had a great blizzard chat.  Then, Ignacio and I headed towards the lakefront.  We just had to see Lake Shore Drive which had been shut down for close to 24 hours at that point.

Crossing Lake Shore Drive was crazy.  Normally, LSD is a mini expressway, and difficult to cross.  Today, I could have done cartwheels up and down LSD as it was still shut down. (Why in the hell didn't I do cartwheels up and down LSD?)

On the lake side of LSD, we found this bicycle.

As we approached the lake itself, I was surprised we were even allowed to get near the lake.  It was difficult to see where the road ended and the water began as everything was covered in snow.  If you looked closely, it seemed like the snow was breathing, but it was just the water moving underneath the inches of snow.

This is Ignacio pretty close to the water.  It's hard to tell where the water starts.

Then we continued south towards the Museum Campus.  Here is the Shedd Aquarium.

It was an amazing Blizzard Adventure.  It was so quiet and peaceful.  There were few cars on the road, and the city was much more quiet than usual.  The people that were out and about were just as happy as we were.  Everyone had their cameras, and who knew that so many people owned snowshoes!  

 To be honest, Ignacio and I were a bit disappointed in the amount of snow.  I was expecting (and hoping) for so much more.  The news reports say this was the 3rd largest snowfall on record.  I wasn't all that impressed.  I'm hoping that winter is still young and that there is a chance for a real blizzard.  

*Scott turned out to be a lucky one.  There were 700-900 cars stuck on Lake Shore Drive for eight hours.