Not so sure about this winter stuff.

27 hours.
That is the extent of time we spent enduring self inflicted torture in order to have face to face contact with those we love in Wisconsin (and because my wife is frugal and gas for the trip here was $72 vs. appx $800 for two plane tickets).

The normal trip takes somewhere around 22 hours. Everything was rosy until we hit Iowa. In high school my geography class did a survey to create a map that showed the desirability of each the respective states. Iowa was overwhelmingly ranked last and earned the coveted title of "armpit of the nation". The "Hawkeye State" did nothing to improve it's status in my eyes. After a regular meteorological check up with Mom (Barb), who advised we would move through the upper midwest just ahead of the storms, it started to snow just south of Des Moines, Iowa. That was about 10:00 AM. From Des Moines to Beaver Dam, Wisconsin were Joey and Bethany live, is normally 5 hours. Well, 9 hours, 50 cars in the ditch, and one fatal rollover later; we made it.

Since being back in Wisconsin, I(Phil) have been reminded of a few things:
1. We moved to El Paso partially because I hate winter.
2. We have definitely acclimated to Texas weather (I still think I may die with every excursion outside).
3. We must really love our family and friends to go through hell (even though it has obviously frozen over) to get here.

And - through all of this, we are still thrilled to be here and visit our friends and family! We can't wait to see the rest of you!