Merry belated Christmas! My Christmas was spent in the Turtle Mountains. Before I left home for the holiday, it drizzled all across the state and coated everything in a layer of ice. This was promptly followed by many inches of snow. The Turtle Mountains, near the Canadian border in North Dakota, saw two feet of snow in one shot.

The result of this winter weather was dreamlike. Snow coated everything for days. It certainly was beautiful.

At the foot of the hills, the town of Bottineau thrives on winter recreation. Riders of snowmobiles flocked to the area for some long-awaited winter fun. It has been three years since a good snow fell in this state. My brother and I rode the trails - I managed to get stuck eight times in two days. You can see my brother digging his sled from a drift in the photos above.

Everyone is happy to see a white Christmas at last. After all, that is the way it is supposed to be.