Snowed In!

I doubt it will ever happen again, but our Oregon weather has actually given the Minnesotans a run for their money! We've spent the better part of a week and a half "enjoying" the snow, and got quite an ice storm over the weekend as well.
(These trees are normally tall...and straight!)

Considering the fact that there are almost no plows, sanders, or deicers in the Willamette Valley, we found ourselves pretty paralyzed by this strange white fluff falling from the sky. I ended up in Salem mid-storm and found myself snowed in there for about four days. Thank goodness I was able to hole up at Tim & Jessie's house even though they were away. The code to their garage door has saved my bacon more than once. Thank you, Tim & Jess! Having very little to do, I documented my snow days and the antics of the Adams' kitties.

This was the car on day two. It doesn't look like we had much snow, but this was taken after freezing rain flattened everything with almost an inch of ice. Did you notice how poorly this car is parked? Facing the wrong direction, at a wacky angle, and completely blocking the driveway? Yeah...that was the best I could do. I'd had to abandon the car at the bottom of the hill the night before, so the fact that I'd been able to get it up to the house was a major victory. When I came slip-sliding up to the curb I called it "good 'nuf" and bailed out to head for higher ground.

Having grown up in Montana, I feel like I have a pretty good handle on the snow thing, but this Northwest freezing rain is a whole new deal. There was about 3/4" of ice encasing my car. Nothing like having to chisel your way in...These two goofy cats were my company. They were really concerned about the weather. Really concerned. Like it might interfere with their napping.
So, the kitties and I adopted a life of leisure for a few days. We were really roughing it. We had a nice fire... ...and we laid around...
...and we watched the crazy weather come and go...
...and we blogged...


Finally, on Tuesday, there was enough of a lull in the weather that SoundGuy's sister and I were able to make a break for it! We slipped, slid, skidded, and scraped our way up to Portland on the worst freeway conditions I think I've ever seen (and it had actually improved from previous days - sheesh!)

Sadly, my flights home to Montana were canceled (as were almost all the flights in and out of our airport) so I'll be missing Christmas with my family. Thankfully SoundGuy's family took me in, and have begun to teach me their family traditions. (Along with telling me lots of stories about their son. I'm wracking up the ammunition here).

A peek out the window reveals that there is still about a foot of snow to deal with - and another storm on the way. Who knows what we'll resort to for amusement...stay tuned! As long as we can collect SoundGuy from the airport on Saturday we'll be good to go.

Hoping you're somewhere safe and warm! Merry Christmas!