Lost weekend, Winter returns

What a time!  The warm weather came at a great time for me to test my new Rivendell Hunqapillar,

(I haven't gotten tired of looking at it)  the streets became void of ice, the snow went away and I was scheduled to go north for a weekend with Venturing Crews expecting to cross country ski for the weekend.  What a joke, the snow that was left was crusted and refrozen so densely that snow shoes weren't even necessary.  We did have a good time though, I never would have expected a group of high school and college kids to break into square dancing for the evening, but they did. I spent the weekend with a couple of people exploring the world of portable ham radio equipment which looks a lot more versatile and practical than satellite phones when off in the wild.  But along the way I was asked to put together a cycle tour for the summer.
     Here we go again!  The last time somebody asked, I spent a considerable amount of time putting the trip together so a novice could experience totally unsupported touring.  Fourty- two people encouraged me and insisted they wanted to go, by the deadline for signing up, two people committed. Since it was a father and son, and the father was an experienced cyclist, I suggested they do a trip together.  It was good thing, it was the first time they had done anything together.  This time, I am telling people that I will be doing the trip, and if they want to come they are welcome, as long as they let me know before May 1st..  I guess we'll see who is serious this time.
     There were reports of a storm coming so I left early and the weather man was right for a change.  5 days of moderate temps had driven Winter away.   He came back and boy was he pissed!  We got 8 inches of snow dumped on us followed by freezing rain.  It was one of those storms that leave a wonderful crystalline coating on all the plant life.  It looks like a beautiful diamond planet, glimmering in the streetlights, a beauty which tears down trees, gutters,power lines and weak buildings leaving hundreds of thousands of us without heat or electricity for days, not only was it useless to ride on studded tires, the roads and walkways were too encrusted and rutted to even walk.  But it is really pretty.