It Hurts to Breathe

     That was the complaint I heard from Abby when we went out to the car this morning.  "Hurry Mom, I can’t breathe."  We only had two steps to go from the house to the warm car but that was far enough in sub-zero temperatures.  My car thermometer read -22 degrees, but that’s all the lower it goes. 

     For Christmas I received a wireless indoor/outdoor thermometer.  When I read the fine print it said the lowest temperature it would read was around 15 degrees.  Obviously that thermometer was not going to cut it for the end of the Gunflint Trail.  I returned it, went online and found one that would go as low as -39 degrees.  I guess I should have found a thermometer that went even lower.

      Knowing cold weather was coming I decided yesterday that I better get the outdoor sensor put up.  I wanted to make sure I could tell everyone just how cold it got up at Voyageur.  I’m not sure if the thermometer is correct or not but it said -33 degrees this morning.

     When I met the bus driver this morning she said it wasn’t that cold in town.  As she drove up the Gunflint Trail the air would get so cold in the bus she thought she had an open window somewhere.  After checking to make sure all windows were closed she continued on her way wondering if the heater was actually working.  There are different elevations along the trail and the hills create pockets of air that are sometimes warmer and sometimes colder.  When I checked the Seagull Guard Station temperature this morning, just 6 miles from Voyageur, it said -38 degrees. 

     22 below zero, 33 below zero or 38 below zero, it doesn’t make a difference, it just hurts to breathe.