Lemons and lemonade in International Falls

We are happy to report that our search for Wayne and MaryAnn, who experienced a minus 46 degree day yesterday, has yielded this report. They live in Ranier, on Rainy Lake, next to International Falls. They're OK, making the best of it.

Stan and Kathleen,
Good morning from the tundra. At this time yesterday (Friday) we were saying to Mother Nature, "Bring it on and get it over with." We sacrificed not having a garage to be on the lake in Ranier when we moved from our place two miles further up the lake. We gained city water and a location closer to MaryAnn's cottages.
So we rely on head bolt heaters to keep the pickumup truck and cars going. However, some damn fool, through all the snowplowing and shoveling this season, buried the electrical outlet on the outside of the house with several feet of now hard-packed snow.
I didn't bother the vehicles for the first few hours of the morning. However, life must go on and I needed to run errands. The Saturn would not even turn over. Truck would not stay started. MaryAnn's Chrysler LHS started right up.
Menard's, Kmart, drug store, bank deposit, post office and grocery store were on my list.
That complete, I stopped at the newspaper for a free cup of bad coffee and chat with a few of the staff. Immediately Christina approaches me and tells me that Bob (her husband, who operates a feller-buncher in the woods for a local logging company) just called her and said the reading in all three machines in the woods said 49 below. They got them all started, but didn't want to run them because he thinks it's too cold for the hydraulic hoses. The crew left the machines running and went to town.
Several people asked me why I was out and about. I said I needed groceries to entertain my nephew from Vancouver BC and his girlfriend and her parents. The parents arrived a couple days ago from Japan. We had met them and learned that they wanted to experience the cold and deep snow. Yesterday was their LUCKY DAY!

We also learned they wanted to taste venison or fish. We are preparing venison (two different dishes), fish, wild rice soup and a Minnesota hot dish this evening.
My nephew also spotted our sauna down by the lake and he and MaryAnn convinced them to sauna and roll in the snow tomorrow. I said I would join them after the Bear's/Packers game. (I hope the damn game goes into four or five overtimes.)
So when you have lemons you make lemonade and all that.
MaryAnn checked on her cottages where people were gone and there were no frozen pipes anywhere. I have two out of three vehicles running now and after today we will focus on our two-week trip to Playa Del Carmen in 10 days, 11hrs and a few minutes. But who's counting?
That's all from the tundra for now. MaryAnn is up, the dog wants out, and I have to check my power-ball number.
Wayne