Another storm at the castle

Yesterday we had some amazing weather. It was amazingly cold, and amazingly windy - which, of course, added to the cold. It was not sunny at all except for a few glimpses of sunshine late in the afternoon. However, it also wasn't raining - it was just cloudy, and freakin' cold out! It was the first time all summer that the visitor center has felt warm inside when I got there in the morning - usually it gets cold during the night and that cold sticks around. This time it was much colder outside than it had been during the night.

Marc and I were both working yesterday. (I've been working solo a lot while he covers at the other visitor centers.) So we had to keep taking turns going outside vs. staying inside hunkered over the space heater behind the counter.

The first time I went out, I mostly stood at the upper overlook and talked with people as they came out. The waves were really big, and kept coming in really hard, crashing against the side of the cliffs. It was very noisy! A spectacular show for those who braved the cold to see it! The wind coming off the lake and up the cliffs was incredibly powerful - I almost lost my hat.

When I went out later I brought my camera with me. I spent a long time at the upper overlook again, talking with visitors and taking my own photos and videos in between. Then I headed down to the lower overlook. If I had to be outside in the cold, I might as well get the full view!

Down there the waves were even louder, with a big boom every so often as one hit the rocks at just the right angle. There were big white-caps as far out on the lake as you could see, and the wind was blowing just as hard as ever. With the waves and the wind, it felt like I was shouting to be heard! People kept on coming to the overlook, so I stayed down there for quite a while.

Maybe for too long, because I never could get warm again after that - even when I was practically sitting on top of the space heater, still wearing both my sweater and my fleece jacket. When I got home I took a nap, and even in the warm house, wearing sweats, under a blanket, I was still cold. I finally felt okay after having hot chicken and rice and a big mug of hot chocolate with coffee in it.

 

 This is the fruit of a jack-in-the-pulpit!

The weather is supposed to warm up again this week - even up to the low seventies by Wednesday. Even the mid-sixties was a welcome improvement today - and after mid-morning there wasn't a cloud in the sky. The wind was totally quiet.

You can see there's just a bit of yellow starting around the edges of this tree...