12/16/08 WHAT'S ANTARCTICA GOT THAT WE HAVEN'T?

8;15 AM. –19 degrees, wind SW, calm at ground level. The sky is lightly overcast and the barometer predicts snow.
Ten minutes taking care of the new snow on the driveway were enough for man and dog this morning. The “lake smoke” is rising in dense clouds off the water, up perhaps a thousand feet before being carried off by the wind. It is a dense fog, obscuring the Island and the shoreline.
I called Andy and Judy Larsen last night and they report that son Erick and his contingent of four (one dropped out) European tourists are progressing nicely toward the South Pole and they have reached and found their first supply cache. The weather, without the greater wind chill factor, is about what we presently have in Bayfield, and when the sun shines they get too warm skiing. If the Antarctic can attract rich young European tourists at $50,000 a pop, Bayfield should have a bright future. We certainly have the weather, and the supply caches (Maggies, The Northern Edge, Old Rittenhouse Inn, Morty’s Pub, Bayfield Inn, Big Water Café, etc. ). And, we have cross country skiing, sled dog adventures, the ice road and the wind sled, and the ice caves…bring on the Europeans, or at least the Minnesotans!