I am so thankful I'm from the upper-midwest

[eauclaireliberal]

No hurricanes, terrorist attacks, earthquakes, brush fires, sand storms, mud slides...just summer tornados/thunderstorms, which are easily dealt with by taking yourself and your weather radio down to the basement.

Blizzards? No problem. If you are from Wisconsin (or the Dakotas, Sota, etc.) you KNOW how to handle them. Stay indoors, get in your thermal PJ's and put an extra blanket on the bed. The only ones who don't survive winters here are the knuckleheads that are not cautious around frozen lakes, or get drunk in the middle of the woods while ice fishing/deer hunting/snowmobiling, etc.

I wish the folks in N.O. the best. They are really getting the shit-end of the stick.

[WeRQ4U]

1. I couldn't agree more.

I'll take 20 blizzards before one of what they are going through.

[no name no slogan]

2. Any day

Blizzards aren't matters of life and death anymore, like they were in the old days. Now they're just a pain in the ass.

Hell, I'll take three feet of snow over 20 feet of water any day.

[WeRQ4U]

3. Hell, in three feet of snow, I might have some FUN. lol

Water sucks. Grand Forks was miserable during the flood.

[KitchenWitch]

4. I am so with you on that

No earthquakes either!

Just about everything can be prepared for here...

My heart keeps breaking over the NOLA, Mississippi, Alabama tragedies.

[eauclaireliberal]

5. Hey-you Soters...quit givin' us yer thunderstorms! LOL.

Soon, it will be fall, and our trees will be in full color again... :-)

I am sooooo looking forward to cruising off of 53 or going north on 61 this November.

[no name no slogan]

6. 61 is a GREAT drive

My mother lives in Rochester, and the drive from Roch to Winona up the river to the Twin Cities is SPECTACULAR in the fall. Definitely my favorite time of year up here.

[Left Is Write]

8. I love the drive down to Lacrosse, but I can't remember the highway.

[KitchenWitch]

9. That is highway 61

From Red Wing to LaCrosse, it is GORGEOUS - I love Lake Pepin.

[KitchenWitch]

7. LOL

No doubt!

Sorry, I do not control the prevailing flow!

:hi:

[no name no slogan]

10. Well, you know why the storms go east, right?

because Wisconsin SUCKS

:hide:

[eauclaireliberal]

12. I'm glad I'm here, and

another reason: All the stuff. Drive 2 miles in any direction and you are in the middle of nowhere. Farmland, rolling prairies, and the North Woods.

And only 90 minutes away on 94 brings you to the Cities. Reagardless of what some may say, Minneapolis is just as "cosmopolitan" as Seattle or San Francisco (if not MORE)...I've been to all these cities more than once and Minneapolis is quite impressive.

[no name no slogan]

17. all kidding aside: I like Eau Claire, too

I really love the upper Mississippi valley. One of these days I'll have a place on the river. And I've have to agree with you about Minneapolis. I'm a lifelong resident (although I just recently moved across the river to St. Paul, which is also a very nice place).

[eauclaireliberal]

11. heh...The Severe Weather center in the Cities is like gold to us, BTW

I've got one of those NOAA weather radios with the computer generated voice giving you the weather...sets off a REALLY LOUD alarm when it gets beyond a thunderstorm watch. The reports are aired over WJXX. At least 50 times a summer you hear:

"...the severe weather alert facility in the Twin Cities has issued a ...SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING for...all cities in...RAMSEY...county...HENNIPIN...county... E-A-U CLAIRE county in... WEST-CENTRAL WISCONSIN...SHIP-AH-WAH County in...WEST-CENTRAL WISCONSIN...RICE LAKE in...WEST-CENTRAL WISCONSIN..."

You get the idea-it's usually no more than two areas in Minnesota, and it's funny the way it pronounces names like "E-A-U CLAIRE" and "SHIP-AH-WAH" (Chippewa Falls).

[eauclaireliberal]

13. Oh yeah-I forgot to mention....

MAYO CLINIC in Rochester, MN...which rivals any hospital/medical college in the nation (hey, I'm a nursing student, cut me some slack).

[LissaM]

15. How about Duluth in fall?

I went there for four years of college and even doing the drive/flight in now takes my breath away! :)

[eauclaireliberal]

16. I told my wife

that after I'm out of nursing school if we want to leave Wisco and move to a bigger city, then Duluth would be it. We lived a year in Marquette, MI, and fell in love with the Lake. We go through Duluth every time we go camping at Cascade River State Park, or over to Ely. The Mrs. loves watching the ore boats sail in and out of port.

[Left Is Write]

18. I honeymooned on the North Shore.

We stayed at Superior Shores Lodge in Two Harbors, but we spent a good bit of time in Duluth. I've loved Duluth since I was a little kid.

[alarcojon]

14. All true, EClib

You have to admit that a terrorist attack in Eau Claire, of all places, is unlikely. Actually brush fires are fairly common - and can get serious - around here.