Winter beauty

 We took a road trip over the summit today to visit my sister. It was a beautiful  sunny morning - we left early because we needed to be back early to keep the home fire burning and have some daylight for chores. 

As always, the summit (Kootenay Pass, it is the third highest pass in Canada) has way more snow than we do; we have about 2 inches on the ground and the pass looks like this:

Christmas card type snowy trees!

 The roads were well sanded and we had 4 wheel drive turned on so no real issues on the icy roads. 

I couldn't help but smile at all the beauty .

The mountains are blanketed in snow. Yes that is a very deep valley with a creek flowing at the bottom.

The closer we get to the smmit the more the terrain opens up. The road is a lot steeper than it looks.

There is a large pull out at the top for trucks to check their brakes and their loads. The way down on this side is actually steeper than the way up on the Creston side. 

Yup 8% grade going down.

But oh so beautiful with the sun breaking over the mountain tops and lighting up the snow laden trees.

I do love the mountains. They make my heart sing. 

We had an uneventful trip and a good visit with my sister, taking her birthday and Christmas gifts and a whole lotta love. Her birthday is the 23rd. 

With snow in the forecast for the next week it's pretty much a given that we will have a white Christmas!

We got our tree last Sunday, it's up and decorated. We found a little balsalm that fit into the small area we have in our living room.

Up...

And decorated!