Day One - and a half

We got out of Oak Harbor at 3pm yesterday (Thursday), after Bob installed a new tonneau cover on our truck – gotta keep the snow and rain out of our stuff! We stopped in Edmonds to visit with Bob’s mom – who is doing very well – and then down to Issaquah. We spent the night with Trina, after watching the Hawks beat the Rams (Go, Hawks! NFC Champs!).

This morning we left Trina’s at 7:30 and hit Costco for gas. While Bob was pumping gas, I checked my phone to find the closest coffee shop….waitaminnit….this is not my phone. This is Trina’s phone! Crap. So, it was back to Trina’s so I could put her phone back. So, we actually left Issaquah a little after 8. Oh, well. Snoqualmie Pass was pretty bare, until we got to Lake Kachess – then it got slushy. We got behind a timid driver who felt her best option was to drive at least 10 miles under the limit, and keep to the exact center of the road, making it impossible for anyone to pass. Sigh. We met her cousin a few hours later in Oregon. I’m afraid she has a large family.

Before we left home, I bought a couple of new “go” cups from Starbucks – they were on sale. I’m a fan…wow, those cups kept our coffee hot for 3 hours! Impressive.

Once we passed Ellensburg and turned on to I 82 towards Yakima, the sun broke through and we had a beautiful morning. Bright sun, white snow – got a lot of us out of my sunglasses! I’d have taken a picture, but this is what it would’ve looked like:          .

After we got on to I 84 (just by Hermiston, OR), the sun began to hide from us, behind a biiiiiiiggg, black cloud. Got to Pendleton just fine, and then, just before Pendleton, the snow started. Not a lot, but it’s about 17 degrees, so anything that comes down is going to stick. Our 4 wheel drive did just great, and we got to test the anti-lock brakes when the gentleman in front of us decided to stop in the middle of the exit ramp….no apparent reason, just stopped. (The brakes work just fine, thank you.)

So, snow from Pendleton to LaGrande, making progress slow, about 30 mph. So, here we are, In Ontario, OR, not quite as far as we had hoped to get on the first day, but not bad. It’s freakin’ cold – about 10 degrees, with 18mph winds. Brrrrr. From here, we’ll go through Boise and then south to Salt Lake City and east to Wyoming. Hoping to get to western Wyoming before stopping, but it all depends upon the road conditions. Right now, sun and bitter cold is forecast for Wyoming, with no wind – that’s perfect for us!

Here we are, in Ontario, sipping our Old Soul Zinfandel (thanks, Rachel!) and enjoying being the warm in the Red Lion Inn.

On to Wyoming! Question for the day: who is in charge of the drift fences??? Some places have them. Other places, where the wind was blowing the snow all over the place, didn’t. Seemed to us that if they took all the orange cones and barrels that they aren’t using now that construction season is over, and build fences with them (that they could remove in summer), it would solve two problems: what to do about drifting snow and where to put all those cones. (I don’t know why the DOT doesn’t call me – I have great ideas.)