Yesterday Karen and I both got caught in a powerful storm. While running, I got caught in a gully-washer of cold, pounding rain. Higher in the mountains, Karen got hit by pounding hail for 20 minutes. Then it began snowing! Screaming winds followed the storm for both of us.

Undaunted, Karen waited in the car and then went hiking with three inches of hail on the trail. Arriving home, I shook myself like a dog, kicked off my running shoes and dashed inside. Shivering hard, I was wet to the skin. Hello, hot shower.

On snowshoes, today Karen and I hiked to Beehive Reservoir for 7.5 miles total with over 1,500 feet of elevation gain. Overnight snow covered the hail.

We ate lunch standing up. We get too cold sitting on inflatable sit-upons on snow.

"Slow down, Speedy Gonzales!" I hollered to Karen while steeply descending. A former snowboard instructor, Karen visualizes snowboarding as she zooms downhill.

"Hurry up!" Karen called back. I laughed.

It was beautiful and fun.