Come inside from the warm

The Off The Curve Vacation Party Bus has relocated to the great Northwest, but let us take you back to Texas for a moment.

In getting with the holiday spirit, we went to see ICE! (their punctuation) at a large hotel/resort/convention center/Office Depot/munitions factory (only one of those is not true) in the burbs.

ICE! is your basic display of impressive ice sculptures. Except instead of being outdoors in a cooler locale such as Quebec or Sweden, it's in an exhibition hall that I'm guessing more frequently holds events for groups such as the Greater Ann Arbor Accountants Association (GAAAA).

Anyway, it's $20 bucks a head, with some of the cost going to benefit research into ways to close the giant hole in the ozone layer that's sure to develop over the Metroplex in the month or so that ICE! runs, as a result of whatever they're using to cool the exhibition hall to 9 degrees. (I just couldn't wait until January, when I will be able to experience 9 degrees for free.)

A few other fun facts we learned:

* 2 million pounds of ice was used in the display
* 40 Chinese artisans spent 34 days carving 5,000 blocks of ice
* Strollers and scooters are not allowed in the ICE! exhibit

Most of the photos I took don't do ICE! justice, but here are a few. And I might have better ones later, so stay tuned. It really was an impressive display, and there's a super fun ice slide at the end of the display.

Plus, you get to wear goofy looking parkas.