Weekend Blizzard in MN

Last weekend I was in Rochester,
Minnesota for another
Jennie Finch Softball Camp: JFSC

The staff (mostly from California) was
excited for the snow and cold, winter
weather, but by the end of the weekend,
we had no idea how many memories would
be made in this weather :)

It started to snow on Friday night and
we were so excited, we all went out on
the balcony to take a picture. We
were sporting our new beanies! It
was our "Crochet by Dre" (Andea Duran).

This is what it looked like by the next
morning.

We were only about 10 minutes from where
we were holding the clinic, but as we
got closer, we could barely see out of
the windshield from the snow falling
and the frozen windshield wipers.
You couldn't see the road anymore
and on a turn, we got a little too
close to the left and got stuck.

We had to jump in a camper's car
and our driver, John, had to wait
for help. He was such a good sport-
we felt so bad.

We made it to the Dome for the clinic
and once inside, everything was great.
Out of 310 campers signed up, 300 showed
up! These people are tough- nothing is
going to stop them, not even a blizzard!
By lunch time the weather got worse and
worse and eventually we had to be
evacuated to the gym across the street!
Better to be safe than wait for something
to happen.



We were happy to be in the gym.

We were able to finish the day out a
little early and get everyone on the
road before the winds got too crazy
and while the roads (covered with
snow) were still accessible.

Making memories! (Me, Jennie, Toni,
Andrea, Stacy May)


FREEZING!!!

Crazy Road Conditions

Documenting this madness with pictures and
video

Toni goofing off outside while we were
warm inside

People were getting stuck in the snow
all over the place and people are
always helping out. Here are some
of Jennie's family members helping
out.

The valet attendant got stuck and was not
going to move anywhere so Casey (Jennie's
husband) and Justin (her brother-in-law)
came to help them.

These crazy snow tornados came out of
nowhere! You can't even see the guys,
it covered them completely!

The snow stopped by the next morning
but everything was completely covered
and the temperature dropped to -1 degrees!
They said there were at least 17 inches
of snow and that this was the worst storm
in 19 years. We couldn't believe that
CA was having 80 degree weather back at
home.

I didn't get many pictures on Sunday because
I got VERY sick with the flu in the middle
of the night on Sat night/Sun morning. I
thought I had escaped, but I wasn't so
lucky. I was able to take it easy the
rest of Sunday and work with the hitters
without moving around too much so it
worked out.
Jennie's family works so hard and the
staff is so great to work with. The
Rochester Amateur Sports Commission
worked so hard before, during and
after the event to make it all
work out. And the RCTC Softball
team helped at all the stations.

We will always talk about this
trip to MN!
These were the much better road
conditions driving an hour and a
half back to the airport on Sunday.

There was ALOT of snow all around.

The trees were beautiful all covered.

I got home late Sunday night and after a
good night's sleep, felt so much better.
I FINALLY put the tree up on Monday
morning and the boys helped me decorate.
This was the 1st year that Drew and Luke
really understood it and it was so much
fun doing it together with them.

We are getting excited for Christmas.

This Under Armour hat comes out in
Fall 2011. I think I'll have to get
me one for next winter if we head to
the snow again.