Thanksgiving Snow

It's wonderful to go "home" for the Holidays......especially Thanksgiving. Ron and I were brave enough.....oh that's definitely the wrong word......we were excited to drive across the Cascade Mountains in the snow! We left our house on Camano Island, early on Thursday, Thanksgiving morning, and started driving to Pendelton. But, if you know anything about Ron and I....we don't like to go where the "herd" goes.....we'll take the road less traveled anytime.

Instead of crossing the Cascades over Snoqualmie Pass (which is where the freeway goes) we took Highway 2 across the mountains over Stevens Pass. It is much higher in elevation so we were expecting more snow....but there is always much less traffic (hardly ever a semi-truck!) and the scenery is more beautiful and peaceful. This time instead of going over Blewett Pass, we went through Wenatchee, and explored some new country. We got lost going through the Tri-Cities.....(their roads were not marked very well).......ended up on the Freeway again and crossed into Oregon over the Columbia River at Umatilla.

We arrived in Pendleton around 2:00 to a wonderful Thanksgiving meal that my mother had prepared. My sister Leslie, and another neighbor Brother Christianson were also there for dinner. Then we all curled up with a movie in a nice warm house, while it snowed outside.

The next day, Ron and I took mom for a ride up in the Blue Mountains. The wind was blowing like crazy.....must have been at least 30mph winds. The photo below I just snapped through the windshield of the truck......there were snow drifts beginning to form on the road. By the time we returned from the mountains, you couldn't even see the road in places because of the snow drifts. Ron got to put the truck into 4-wheel drive while we were in the mountains, so he was a happy camper.

I enlisted the help of my mother, as I tried to take a Christmas snow picture.........we parked at the Tollgate area. We were so thankful for modern machinery....here we were driving in 2 feet of snow in the cabin of a warm truck....when our son Michael calls from Salt Lake City! Can you imagine what it must have been like for the pioneers having to pull handcarts in the winter snow? We don't know how lucky and blessed we are!

I tried to get off the road, but the snow was so powdery and deep that I would sink up to mid-thigh. We finally decided to just stay in the snowmobile tracks. (the photo below, is the road back to Oliver Calhoun's cabin and the Bone Springs area.)

It continued to snow while we were in Pendleton.....it was great! We had lots of leftovers from Thanksgiving dinner, so we had plenty of turkey and pumpkin pie on hand. On Sunday, Ron put the truck into 4-wheel drive and went straight up 12th street (which is very steep) and we didn't slip a wheel. (the church is at the top of 12th street.)

We left to go home on Monday morning around 6:00 AM. We planned on taking our time driving home, and look for photo opportunities as we drove. You never know what you will find.....you just have to take advantage of what comes your way. Most of the trip, the weather was lousy for taking pictures, but as we drove through the Yakima River Valley and into Ellensburg, the sun was shining and the frost was almost a half an inch thick on all the trees. It was a picture perfect opportunity.

Heavy frost (besides the snow on the ground) near Toppenish, Washington. I think the monochromatic color is rather interesting.....it looks like soft white lace.

Ron taking a photo of the frost on the bushes in the valley near Ellensburg. We wish that we would have spent some more time here.....it was so beautiful!

The frost made everything look so delicate and soft. It was only 17 degrees here.

It was a beautiful drive home in the snow. It's always wonderful to visit "home" once in a while....to see old faces and renew old friendships. This morning as Ron and I started our day, we both made the comment that we are ready to go again.....snow and all!