Even though the snow caused our Holiday travels to be much more hectic, I still loved all the snow and ice. I'm sure this is because I didn't have to drive in it. It also turned out to be not so bad that I didn't have a job to go to either! I don't think I could have handled that. I didn't drive in any snow until this past Saturday. I am pretty sure Graham never wants to see another snowflake again, unless its on the mountain and he is snowboarding!
Saturday Morning - the big snow starts.
Enjoying Breakfast and watching the snow.
Our Front walk and drive way.
Our Front Porch.
Saturday night we were supposed to drive to Lebanon after Graham got off work. We were leaving for Southern Oregon Sunday morning and didn't want to get up at the crack of dawn and do an entire day of driving. As news of the storm was coming we kept cautiously optimistic that we would make it, and on Saturday we were going to make the call. We were watching the news and the snow outside and I was checking the web cams of I-5 to assess the situation. If it wasn't too bad we would leave that night and if Graham felt the conditions were too bad we would try for the morning. My feelings were we would be OK if we could get out before the freezing rain came, which was due in our area at about 12am. Otherwise, we had no hope of leaving in the morning, and I think I was right.
Originally Graham was going to get off work a little early so we could get out sooner but due to the snow, he was having to pick up and drop off Chef Aaron and thus he couldn't get off early. He got home about 11:30 pm which was actually pretty early for a Saturday night. I had everything ready to go and was waiting on his final decision when he got home. Accoriding to him it was fine and we were going to leave, then came putting on the chains...After only 2 of the 4 chains making it on the car, shoveling the driveway, some swearing and door slamming, the car was loaded up and we were on our way at 1:30am.
The freezing rain had actaully started on time so we filled up a couple of bottles of hot water before we left. We only made it to about the 217 exit before we needed to pull over and de-ice the windshield. The wipers were not doing their job as they were frozen as well and caked in about 1/2" of ice.
We actually were able to drive at a pretty good pace and there was little to no traffic, that was a plus. Just before we got to Keizer, a chain broke. Graham took them off and we did another de-icing of the windshield. Salem was the pot of gold at the end of our rainbow and we were just hoping that we would make it through and all the snow and ice would be gone, and it was! By the Enchanted Forest we only had wet pavement and barely any snow around.
Once we got the the first Rest Stop, we pulled over, pounded an inch of ice off of the headlights and traded places. I drove us to Corvallis to drop Roxy Roo off at Granny Nanny and Poppa J's white G slept. We arrived at their house at 3:30am and Graham groggily got her inside and exchanged a few words with his Mommy.
Next we made our way to Lebanon to Grandma and Papa Rick's, we made it there at 4am. Chatted for a few minutes, had a couple of snacks, calmed down Mr. O and headed off to bed at 4:30am. We got a few hours of sleep and got up at 8am as the temperature was steadily and quickly dropping and we wanted to get on the road before roads got icy.
Oliver sleeping on the way to Williams, OR.
We made it Granma Lou and Poppa Joe's around 12-1pm and were glad to be off the road for a little while. This year was a break in tradition in a few ways. First it was on a Sunday instead of a Saturday so that Graham could make it (also he was cooking the entire dinner this year) and so presents were opened BEFORE dinner!
Ready to Open presents!
Not quite sure what is going on. (Sofi Rose is helping out of the picture. Interesting thing, every picture with Sofi, she is a blur, i think she must be related to a hummingbird!)
Getting the hang of it.
Daddy's close up shot. He looks like such a Big Boy!
Another Daddy shot.
As I mentioned before, Graham was Chef for the night. On the menu was Roast Beast, Brussel Sprouts, Butter Carrots & Death Potatoes. The S.O. contingency took care of BRead, Salad and Appetizers.
As Sous I poached the Roast Beast earlier in the week. Graham did all the work. I just stuck it in water and made sure it didn't go above 120 degrees.
Finished Roast Beast.
Butter Carrots. Eli was Graham's Sous and peeled and cut these as his own project. Very tasty! We actually ran out!
Don't forget to eat your Brussel Sprouts!
1 of 2 half pans of Death Potatoes. We ate 1 1/2 alone at dinner. The other half were finished off for breakfast the next morning...Sorry to the Harts and younger Allens!
After Dinner Oliver found a pear on the table...mmm mmm good.
Auntie Chelese, Uncle Randal, Auntie Stephy & Uncle Larry. Oh and Annie too (i think)
The White Elephant Wine Exchange. I think we need to WRITE the rules down!
More of the wine.
After all of the festivities, Uncle Randal, The Baby Whisperer, got Oliver to fall asleep in his arms and put to bed by 6:30pm. They left shortly after as he had to get up at 4am to drive over to Klamath Falls. Oh the life of your Neighborhood FedEx Ground Man!
Graham actaully fell asleep on the couch and I was finally successful in getting him to bed at 8pm. Unfortunately Oliver woke up and was in his "only mommy" phase, so we let him sleep in the bed as I was too afraid he would wake up if i moved him. That had to be one of the worst nights of sleep as he tossed and turned all night. Taking turns to jam his head into one of our backs while kicking the other in the spine. Finally at 7am he went to see Grandma! We got some more sleep and woke up to a light dusting of snow.
The Pond the morning after. Light Dusting.
Select images from our drive back north on I-5.
After our drive back to Lebanon, we loaded up the Suby and headed over to the Elder Chaney's for dinner and sleep. Oliver was in rare form still in his "only mommy" phase and refused to even sit in his chair to eat. He did eventually submit to some Boston Cream Pie but that didn't last long...
The next morning we piled back in the car and left Roxy Roo to hang out with her Grandparents, I'm sure excited to get a break from the Rugrat.
We were once again surprised to see a light dusting of snow. As we got to Hwy 34 we noticed it was icy, then we got to I-5 and noticed it was REALLY icy. Note, we still didn't have chains on the car, though Graham had fixed the one that morning.
We had watched the news the night before and they had shown that none of the valley below the metro area would get any precipitation for the next couple of days. Well, they were wrong. We got to Salem and a good 6 inches of fresh snow on the ground. The roads were terrible and in some places there werefoot high mounds of snow between the "lanes". As we got closer to Portland the roads were actually better and I-84 wasn't that bad as ODOT had worked overnight to plow and clear it. Our street was a different story...
I-5 Tuesday morning.
Daddy concentrating.
Oliver Sleeping.
This is where it got REALLY bad...
ODOT needed to plow even though it caused a jam and pissed off people. Just glad we weren't STUCK in it!
Our Driveway and street Tuesday morning.
The Front Walk.
We made it home safe and sound and Graham broke the truck free of its Ice casing and headed off to work. The next day was Christmas Eve and we got to do it all over again!
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