This Christmas was definitely one for the books. We spent it up in Oregon and for those of you don't know, Oregon doesn't generally get snow. In the 8 years I lived there, the most I ever saw was a couple of inches that would melt by the next day. Of course the year we decide to drive, not fly to Oregon it has to be the Arctic Blast of 2008.
Tim, Carson, and I headed out at 4:30 in the morning to try and beat some of the storms that were headed in the same direction that we were. We were actually making really good time, until we were about 1 1/2-2 hours away from Portland, our destination. That 1 1/2-2 hour drive turned into 4 hours of snow packed roads, single lanes, semi trucks galore, and off and on "whiteout" conditions...SCARY! I'm just glad that I wasn't the one driving. At one point we pulled off the freeway and were going to get a hotel, that is until we heard that there was a freezing rain storm on it's way which would make the roads even worse, thus leaving us stranded until who knows when. We finally made it to my parents house at 7:30 pm, which is 8:30 Utah time. UGH!
It was just a horrible time for traveling period. My poor sister, Shelley, was supposed to fly in the same night (Saturday) we were driving in, but then her flight got cancelled. She tried again on Monday and it was cancelled again. She finally made it Christmas night and that flight was almost cancelled as well. Everyone elses' flights made it in on time thank goodness. What a stressful time it was though.
So for the first half of the week we were practically snowed in because Oregon doesn't know how to take care of their roads. We were able to sneak away one night to meet up with Tim's sister, Angie and her husband (who is from the Portland area also) to go to a Blazers game. We borrowed my parents van, but even then the driving conditions were still scary. The only other outings we made were to visit my Dad's two new Ashley Furniture stores. We had planned to go to the coast and several other places, but it just wasn't worth it with the roads the way they were. One afternoon/evening (before the whole crew was there) the power went out, so to make the most of it, Tim, Bry, Carson, and I decided to play hide and go seek in the dark. Carson thought it was the greatest and still loves to tell everyone all about it. The rest of us had a good time too. :)
Despite the crazy weather we had a great time, especially when the whole gang finally made it safely. I just wish it didn't go by so fast. We only got to spend a couple days with everyone there before we had to drive back. It will definitely be a Christmas to remember.
6 comments:
I can't believe all that snow. There is nothing worse than snowy roads. I am so glad you guys made it safe too. Looks like you still managed to have a really fun trip. Love the pics. Carson just gets cuter every time I see pics of him.
The pictures are really cute and I am so glad all of your family made it in, eventually. Love you and can't wait for baby girl smolka to be born!
That stinks about all the snow. We missed you guys. It was ok though because we were sick the whole time:) oh well . maybe next time;)
Wow..that is crazy! We drove to Arizona for Christmas and we ended up leaving to go down there 2 days early, just to avoid the snow storms. Glad you guys had a Merry Christmas! Sorry we missed out on New Years!
Sound horrible. I am so glad your home safe. Driving that far is hard anyways..let alone an ice storm.
Sounds...memorable. I agree with Oregon, and the roads. My sisters and I went in March, and it snowed more than it had for the past 50 years or something...no one knew how to drive in it! Crazy. Glad you made it safe and had fun.
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