One of my greatest dreams has been to spend an evening at an ice castle.
While driving around Colorado I discovered a postcard in some town I was exploring. It had a drawing of an ice castle on it, with a horse-drawn sleigh in the foreground. The problem was- the ice castle was built in 1887, and had melted that same year.
My love of ice castles has only grown deeper since then, seeping into the everyday life of those who aren't nearly as impressed with the subject as I am. I make everyone watch documentaries about the "construction of an ice hotel." Repeatedly.
No one ever wants to go with me on my expeditions. They are usually very specific and not popular with the crowd. [for example: a trip to New Mexico to recreate Ansel Adams' Moonrise over Hernandez. Yes- I totally did it. By myself. [And got yelled at by a guy with a shotgun- story some other time]
This icy adventure to Quebec was no exception- nobody wanted to go. Except- guess what? Now I found that I could actually force someone to accompany me on my adventures- because now I had a child. How awesome is that! I was smart enough to leave the baby with my mom.
So- yes. I brought a kindergartner with me to sleep on a block of ice. To say it was cold would be the understatement of the century. My dream of sleeping in an ice castle had come true! But I really began questioning how this had ever made its way to the top of the list.
But wait- There's More! Click 'Read More' to hear the unexpected outcome ↓↓↓
While driving around Colorado I discovered a postcard in some town I was exploring. It had a drawing of an ice castle on it, with a horse-drawn sleigh in the foreground. The problem was- the ice castle was built in 1887, and had melted that same year.
My love of ice castles has only grown deeper since then, seeping into the everyday life of those who aren't nearly as impressed with the subject as I am. I make everyone watch documentaries about the "construction of an ice hotel." Repeatedly.
No one ever wants to go with me on my expeditions. They are usually very specific and not popular with the crowd. [for example: a trip to New Mexico to recreate Ansel Adams' Moonrise over Hernandez. Yes- I totally did it. By myself. [And got yelled at by a guy with a shotgun- story some other time]
This icy adventure to Quebec was no exception- nobody wanted to go. Except- guess what? Now I found that I could actually force someone to accompany me on my adventures- because now I had a child. How awesome is that! I was smart enough to leave the baby with my mom.
So- yes. I brought a kindergartner with me to sleep on a block of ice. To say it was cold would be the understatement of the century. My dream of sleeping in an ice castle had come true! But I really began questioning how this had ever made its way to the top of the list.
But wait- There's More! Click 'Read More' to hear the unexpected outcome ↓↓↓
It was beyond cold. It was Arctic tundra cold. I don't even like being cold. I just like watching snow from inside a really cozy house. My dream slowly transformed into a nightmare as the hours progressed. It was freezing the entire time, including Surprise! while sleeping on a block of ice. And there were fur pelts. They didn't help. We opted to upgrade the accommodations- this consisted of having a room with a fireplace, but nobody had told us that it could't actually work for real or the place would melt, caving in on us as we slept- but at least we would have been warm.
Guess who had an awesome nights sleep? My daughter. She was knocked out in DreamLand while I wasn't able to dream from inside my dream- because I was cold. I can't sleep when I'm cold. So when they rang the bell from outside of the curtain [yes- that's how they roll in the ice palace- someone rings a bell] I was already awake.
The trip was made way better because we went on a winter wonderland trifecta of adventure which included ice fishing, snow-shoeing and dogsledding. I was the musher. My daughter fell asleep on the sled so she missed the part of the expedition when I crashed into the pine tree.
Then we went snow-shoeing up a mountain that was beyond steep. I am positive there was a bear family and mountain lions that lived in the outcroppings. I was happy we didn't wake any of them up.
Since I can remember, I have wanted to go ice fishing. Each winter, after the lake had frozen, we would see fisherman drill holes into the solid ice. They would create igloo-style abodes and settle in for the day. Awesome.
So we went ice fishing. The poles were the best things I have ever seen. My daughter was the fishing champion, and caught two by the time I caught my first. This always happens. But I'm not bitter. We named our fish something really charming. Later we ate them.
So- the trip was an awesome adventure- but my favorite part was the regular hotel we had stayed at before spending the night at the ice palace.
Guess who had an awesome nights sleep? My daughter. She was knocked out in DreamLand while I wasn't able to dream from inside my dream- because I was cold. I can't sleep when I'm cold. So when they rang the bell from outside of the curtain [yes- that's how they roll in the ice palace- someone rings a bell] I was already awake.
The trip was made way better because we went on a winter wonderland trifecta of adventure which included ice fishing, snow-shoeing and dogsledding. I was the musher. My daughter fell asleep on the sled so she missed the part of the expedition when I crashed into the pine tree.
Then we went snow-shoeing up a mountain that was beyond steep. I am positive there was a bear family and mountain lions that lived in the outcroppings. I was happy we didn't wake any of them up.
Since I can remember, I have wanted to go ice fishing. Each winter, after the lake had frozen, we would see fisherman drill holes into the solid ice. They would create igloo-style abodes and settle in for the day. Awesome.
So we went ice fishing. The poles were the best things I have ever seen. My daughter was the fishing champion, and caught two by the time I caught my first. This always happens. But I'm not bitter. We named our fish something really charming. Later we ate them.
So- the trip was an awesome adventure- but my favorite part was the regular hotel we had stayed at before spending the night at the ice palace.
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