What a week!! Welcoming the new year at the Valeri Vista cabin at Schweitzer was the best new years celebration yet. I had such a wonderful time with loving and adoring people as we created adventures at every possible moment.
On the road.
Things were going smoothly until Snoqualmie Pass. I knew I was going to hit snow so I was ready. Suit up. Locked and loaded. Time me.
It took me longer to put my stuff on then to throw chains on. Cars full of guys surrounding me were shocked I was done before them. It was AWESOME! haha See ya!
Over the pass without a hitch.
I fueled up in Ellensberg just to be safe as I didn't want to be stuck in a storm alone without it. Starbucks number two.
Roads were clear until Spokane. Dan and I planned on meeting up and then I'd continue driving, but Spokane roads were pretty sketchy and weather alerts weren't looking good. Without traction tires or four wheel drive, my little Mazda should probably park it. I ended up driving to the Valeri's off the beaten path.
Snow drifts were brutal, but I didn't put chains on. I plowed through huge drifts that should have stopped me but I'm snow savvy enough... or maybe just a little stubborn. I was one with my car. I got ALL the way to their private driveway. Up most of the way. Close enough I could see the lights, and smell the smoke from the fire place..... and then my car gets stuck on the last corner. I tried to rock it but I was done for. I walked up to the Valeri's house and met Dan in the garage. We walked back to my car and couldn't get it so I decided to put chains on for traction but the snow was deep enough I couldn't get the chains on right. We tried to use a chain hooked up to their tractor, but the plastic went so far back on my car that there was nothing to hook it to. Time to try my tire chains again. After messing with it and getting NO WHERE, we had to get shovels. All while we were doing this we kept saying things that could go wrong. Popping the tires with the shovels. Chains eating my wheel well. Getting run over by the car. Or stuck for good. After intense yet careful work with shovels the chains were on! One went on backwards, but it was good enough. Movement!
"Do you want to try to get up there tonight?" Umm yes. I hate waiting. I just want to get there.
So we get all ready to go in Dan's car. Continue our "what could go wrong might go wrong game" as Dan informed me we were on empty. Uh oh. We started talking about school. Finishing. MBA school and possibly Australia. Dan thought he was invincible as the Subaru had NEVER been stuck in the snow plus he had traction tires, which his dad NEVER had before. Then almost in slow motion we hit a bump that had us sliding into the drift. How ironic. Dan's over confidence had him swallowing his words. ;) Ha! Of course we had to get stuck. It was a day for one thing after another, yet it all seemed hilarious. All you could do was laugh. I mean come on. What could go wrong WAS going to go wrong. Dan didn't want to call his dad for help. I don't blame him! He would never hear the end of it from his dad as I'm sure my dad would do the same thing to me. Plus there was nothing he could do. We got out and tried to dig the car our of a three foot drift. We got my snowshoes out to try to use as shovels. Probably made it worse as it was high centered and seemed to sink farther into the snow.
We saw lights up the road so we walked a half a mile or so. Dang just a barn, but there seemed to maybe be someone outside. Score! We ended up asking that guy for help. Not much older than me. Took time looking for a chain and once we found one, we hopped into the pickup. I got in the back and sat next to a hunting rifle of some sort. It didn't bother me as I knew it was for hunting, but I laughed. It just seemed ironic or maybe I was on laughing gas. No idea. Anyway, we tried to get the car out then HIS pickup became stuck in the bank. Honestly, not so sure he knew how to drive in the snow so I wasn't surprised. Another pickup came and couldn't get us out either. Finally a tractor pulled us out after 1.5 hours. It was ridiculous. We went 10 miles in 2.5 hours.
Next was fuel. We luckily hit a gas station right in the nick of time. So much in time that Dan's 13 gallon tank needed 12.9 gallons. Not sure we would have gotten any father than another mile.
We're FINALLY off! I just kept laughing as Dan wasn't as confident in his car any more. He was just a wee bit more cautious. lol
Talked about school. What we'd want to do before 2012. Where we could live if stuck for 20 years. Independence. Married life. What our perfect careers could be. Where we most want to visit. Christmas. Moosen. WOW. Siblings. Adventures. We covered a lot of ground :)
Finally got to the mountain around 1:30AM. To make sure we didn't get the car stuck, we parked at the bottom and walked up two miles. Finally, from start to finish, for me, 14 hrs. Poor Desilee. There wasn't cell service up there, so the last time we had communicated, she was expecting me at 7PM. Had every intention to be there by 7PM, but didn't walk into the door until 2AM. As we walked up the trail, we could tell she had made multiple snowmobiling trips to see if we had arrived. Our Schnapps and hot chocolate was a perfect ending to the trek. After telling Des about our epic adventure it was time for bed. 3AM. Only a few hours until their dad would show up. :)
It took me longer to put my stuff on then to throw chains on. Cars full of guys surrounding me were shocked I was done before them. It was AWESOME! haha See ya!
Over the pass without a hitch.
I fueled up in Ellensberg just to be safe as I didn't want to be stuck in a storm alone without it. Starbucks number two.
Roads were clear until Spokane. Dan and I planned on meeting up and then I'd continue driving, but Spokane roads were pretty sketchy and weather alerts weren't looking good. Without traction tires or four wheel drive, my little Mazda should probably park it. I ended up driving to the Valeri's off the beaten path.
Snow drifts were brutal, but I didn't put chains on. I plowed through huge drifts that should have stopped me but I'm snow savvy enough... or maybe just a little stubborn. I was one with my car. I got ALL the way to their private driveway. Up most of the way. Close enough I could see the lights, and smell the smoke from the fire place..... and then my car gets stuck on the last corner. I tried to rock it but I was done for. I walked up to the Valeri's house and met Dan in the garage. We walked back to my car and couldn't get it so I decided to put chains on for traction but the snow was deep enough I couldn't get the chains on right. We tried to use a chain hooked up to their tractor, but the plastic went so far back on my car that there was nothing to hook it to. Time to try my tire chains again. After messing with it and getting NO WHERE, we had to get shovels. All while we were doing this we kept saying things that could go wrong. Popping the tires with the shovels. Chains eating my wheel well. Getting run over by the car. Or stuck for good. After intense yet careful work with shovels the chains were on! One went on backwards, but it was good enough. Movement!
"Do you want to try to get up there tonight?" Umm yes. I hate waiting. I just want to get there.
So we get all ready to go in Dan's car. Continue our "what could go wrong might go wrong game" as Dan informed me we were on empty. Uh oh. We started talking about school. Finishing. MBA school and possibly Australia. Dan thought he was invincible as the Subaru had NEVER been stuck in the snow plus he had traction tires, which his dad NEVER had before. Then almost in slow motion we hit a bump that had us sliding into the drift. How ironic. Dan's over confidence had him swallowing his words. ;) Ha! Of course we had to get stuck. It was a day for one thing after another, yet it all seemed hilarious. All you could do was laugh. I mean come on. What could go wrong WAS going to go wrong. Dan didn't want to call his dad for help. I don't blame him! He would never hear the end of it from his dad as I'm sure my dad would do the same thing to me. Plus there was nothing he could do. We got out and tried to dig the car our of a three foot drift. We got my snowshoes out to try to use as shovels. Probably made it worse as it was high centered and seemed to sink farther into the snow.
We saw lights up the road so we walked a half a mile or so. Dang just a barn, but there seemed to maybe be someone outside. Score! We ended up asking that guy for help. Not much older than me. Took time looking for a chain and once we found one, we hopped into the pickup. I got in the back and sat next to a hunting rifle of some sort. It didn't bother me as I knew it was for hunting, but I laughed. It just seemed ironic or maybe I was on laughing gas. No idea. Anyway, we tried to get the car out then HIS pickup became stuck in the bank. Honestly, not so sure he knew how to drive in the snow so I wasn't surprised. Another pickup came and couldn't get us out either. Finally a tractor pulled us out after 1.5 hours. It was ridiculous. We went 10 miles in 2.5 hours.
Next was fuel. We luckily hit a gas station right in the nick of time. So much in time that Dan's 13 gallon tank needed 12.9 gallons. Not sure we would have gotten any father than another mile.
We're FINALLY off! I just kept laughing as Dan wasn't as confident in his car any more. He was just a wee bit more cautious. lol
Talked about school. What we'd want to do before 2012. Where we could live if stuck for 20 years. Independence. Married life. What our perfect careers could be. Where we most want to visit. Christmas. Moosen. WOW. Siblings. Adventures. We covered a lot of ground :)
Finally got to the mountain around 1:30AM. To make sure we didn't get the car stuck, we parked at the bottom and walked up two miles. Finally, from start to finish, for me, 14 hrs. Poor Desilee. There wasn't cell service up there, so the last time we had communicated, she was expecting me at 7PM. Had every intention to be there by 7PM, but didn't walk into the door until 2AM. As we walked up the trail, we could tell she had made multiple snowmobiling trips to see if we had arrived. Our Schnapps and hot chocolate was a perfect ending to the trek. After telling Des about our epic adventure it was time for bed. 3AM. Only a few hours until their dad would show up. :)
Boldly challenging the status quo
You certainly captured all of the excitement with your words!! This is why I love you...always looking for the best in some of the most challenging situations :)
ReplyDeleteDefinitely had a blast the whole weekend and the ride up was one that I will remember for a long time. Again next year?
ReplyDeleteWe sure had fun! Dan, Round 2 in 2011?! Heck yes!
ReplyDelete