.: So Much Snow

We left for WA Dec. 19. Ten days out, as soon as he could, Brian started checking the driving forecast. He bought chains for our van, just in case we might need them. He told me several times he was concerned we might hit some bad road conditions in northern CA and southern OR, through the Siskiyous. We set off on our drive, stopping Friday night in Red Bluff. Saturday morning I was nervous what the roads would be like. There was nothing to worry about! The roads were bare, with snow only on the edges some of the time. This is a scene near Weed, CA: We'd never seen CA look like this before on our drive north!

We continued on, running into some rain in OR. Then, the rain turned to snow, and just south of Salem snow was covering the road, and we saw many other drivers stopping to put on their chains. We decided it would be best to install our chains too, so Brian did, about 4 pm.

I was supposed to be helping him, turning the wheel far to the right or far to the left, driving a little forward when needed. He'd told me before we left, that when you put on chains, you have to drive a quarter mile or so to make sure they're tight enough. So, the first time he told me to go forward, I did. I kept going and going and going, wondering when he would tell me to stop! He never did signal from outside, and finally I stopped. Brian walked toward the van and asked me why I went so far?! I told him I thought I was supposed to go a quarter mile! ??? It turns out he didn't even have the chains on at that point, and what chains had been on, fell off on my drive forward! Ooooops! He made sure to be very specific giving me directions after that.... :D

So. Brian installed the chains, and did very well, I might add. He got them tight and they did their job. The kids were watching a DVD the entire time. On we continued, going 30 miles per hour through Portland. Over the Columbia River. Into WA. My cousin said we were welcome to stop and stay with him in Portland, but said if it were him, and we had our chains on (which we did at that point), he'd continue going north. A big storm, blizzard and ice, were forecast for Portland and we were afraid we'd be stuck there at least a couple nights if we stopped! And I think we would have, after watching the news of what a mess it was in the days following! Brian drove from 4:30 pm to maybe 11? 11:30?, going 30-40 mph in the snow. We stopped twice: to go to the bathroom once and to get dinner at McDonald's the next time.

There were hardly any cars on the road. That was nice, b/c then we didn't have to worry about crashing into them, but a little eerie to be driving in the black night with snow continuing to come down on us. It almost made me a little crazy, and I wasn't even the one doing the driving! We just kept trudging along in the black, with the white coming and coming at us, never letting up! We hoped we might get past the storm, but did not. We slid once, on a bridge near Centralia, and there was a big truck on the bridge at the same time. Brian straightened the car quickly, but it was enough to scare me to convince me to stop for the night. Brian was tired and agreed! It was stressful driving (and sitting in the passenger's seat) on those treacherous roads. We were consulting with my mom and sister who were checking their computer and/or TVs to see what the weather forecast was for different cities we'd encounter on our route. A lot of people were calling us on Brian's cell phone to check up on us, where we were at, what was the weather like, were we stopping, were we crazy...?! We heard several people say they'd been praying for us, and let me tell you, we certainly appreciated those prayers!

We decided to stay in Olympia for the night, and got into the Phoenix Inn about midnight? I think. The kids had all fallen asleep in the van, and Lauren and Caroline were crying in the hotel lobby while we waited for Brian to bring in our things. Thankfully I have learned to pack for these road trips--and we only bring in one smallish suitcase into the hotel and use their Pack-n-Play for the baby. We had a nice room there, and everyone slept well. The hotel also had a hot, cooked breakfast with lots of choices, so that was nice too! We were so glad we stopped, and much more refreshed Sunday morning (Dec. 21).

We later learned that pretty much all the snow that was going to fall, had fallen, while we were driving through it. Indeed, when we were driving through Olympia, there was hardly any falling. Here is the Capitol building Sunday morning:

When we stopped in Bellingham for lunch, I needed to change Caroline's diaper, and we realized we'd left the diaper bag in the hotel lobby in Olympia! Brian called them, and sure enough, they had it. On our way back home we stopped there and picked it up. Here is the Capitol a week later:

Thankfully the roads were pretty much just wet on our drive north Sunday morning. Brian took the chains off just aways north of Olympia. It was so nice to go faster than 30 mph!! There were patches where snow was falling, but mostly it was just cloudy. I have to say, Brian did a great job driving in the snow, especially in the really, really bad conditions we had to go through Saturday night!! I was proud of how well he did, born and bred in southern California, after all!

Some pretty trees south of Bellingham, on our drive north:

More snow fell, after we arrived at my mom and dad's. Our poor CA van has never experienced weather like this before!

And that wasn't even the worst of it for our poor van (or the poor people--like my dad and brother who have to work in it and drive in it! :P ). The snow continued to fall. It just kept falling and falling and falling. Brian and I wondered if we'd have to leave a day early to make it home in time, with all the snow that was falling in the NW. I thought we heard on one of the news channels that it was the snowiest Dec. since 1940! The year we pick to drive up! Although I think it wouldn't have been any better, had we flown, considering flights were cancelled for quite awhile in Seattle! Here is our van on Christmas Eve: Austin punched those holes in the snow.

See how much is on it?! The front license plate was iced over, and black from road grime. You couldn't see where we were from, or the number at all!

Dec. 22, Monday morning: That's a lot of snow for a little girl to go trudging through!

The temperatures were SO cold the first couple days we were in WA. The snow was dry and powdery and didn't pack well for the kids to build a snowman or throw snowballs. No worries, though, as they found other things to do. Like slide down this board on Grandpa's burning barrel.

And carry around big sticks... to help you walk through the deep snow... and to knock the snow off the trees.

Sliding down Grandpa's tarp-covered gravel pile was fun too...

It was a lot of work getting through that snow!

Monday was the only day I went out and "played" in the snow. Also see the neat icicles hanging outside the kids' bedroom window:

Christmas Eve Brian went out to clear some snow away from the driveway. Julia and Austin wanted to go out and play with him. Such fun to gang up on Daddy!

Pretty trees

Yes, I really did take Caroline outside in the snow! I plopped her right down in a snow drift and she liked it! Kind of a molded little chair shaped just for her!

The fun only lasted so long, though. See her little red nose--getting cold...

Saturday, Dec. 27, it warmed up some, and rained. I was surprised how quickly all. that. snow. seemed to melt! The rain made the snow pack better, so Grandpa, Brian and the kids made this snowman and a couple of snow forts and had a snowball fight. Grandpa made most of the snowman, as he was busy at it while the kids were still dressing in their coats and gloves and all.