Weather, weather, and yes, more weather
I had meant to post lovely descriptions of our holiday travels wherein we spent the key days with dear friends (e.g., New Year's Eve and Day with the beloved
rainkatt and gang), but the end of the hols was overwhelmed by the exciting winter storms we've had for the last few days.
We headed out from Portland last Thursday morning, planning to dawdle our way home and maybe get there on Saturday or so. A stop off in Salem took us to a couple of good bookstores and it was 3pm before we got back on I-5 southbound. I was fondly imagining we might stop in Ashland where I could get another yarn fix on the way home (after the indulgence of rainkatt's local yarneria) but as we got closer to the California border it became quite clear that we could either plan to hole up for several more days in the State of Jefferson or hightail it through the beginning of the winter storm warning and try to get through the Siskiyous in the dark before the real weather started,
There was snow falling on Mount Ashland, which abated once we got over the first pass, then rain and high winds (seriously high winds) until we got to Weed and more snow. Can't remember the last time I shared the road with so many big rigs, also rushing to beat the storm and make their deliveries on time. The chain requirement was only for the single axle trucks with trailers at that point, so we were happily able to slide through the slush without stopping for installation. Redding in the rain at 11pm was a good stopping point, but B was eager to get home by then and I was all for it as he was willing to keep doing the driving. We and the trucks battled the right-angled east-bound wind all the way down to Highway 80, where it finally became a tailwind. Even so, it was 2:30 before we got home.
An hour after we got up Friday morning, the power went out, but I'd gotten the week's orders processed and ready to mail before the computer died, so I trotted over to the post office to find power outages everywhere. It was dark there, but they let me leave the outbound and pick up the inbound packages. Got power back after 24 hours (yay for wood-burning fireplace inserts with ledges hot enough to boil water!), in time for snow all Saturday afternoon and evening. Since then we've had alternating rain, wind, sun, fog, drizzle, snow, sleet, sun, melting ice and more rain.
I do however have multiple knitting projects on the needles (three sweaters) and in planning stages (three skeins of sock yarn, two of hand-dyed/spun scarf wools) so I'm set for the rest of the week if necessary. I might even do some boring old data entry on all those books we bought last week...or not. When I get the pictures onto the computer, I'll upload one of the scarves I did at Christmas. And while electricity is available, we can try to catch up on the masses of DVDs lined up on the "Watch" shelf. Got B through all three collections of "Tales of the City" last week and there's a boxed set of "Lovejoy" with my name on it next. We do know how to party....
rainkatt and gang), but the end of the hols was overwhelmed by the exciting winter storms we've had for the last few days.
We headed out from Portland last Thursday morning, planning to dawdle our way home and maybe get there on Saturday or so. A stop off in Salem took us to a couple of good bookstores and it was 3pm before we got back on I-5 southbound. I was fondly imagining we might stop in Ashland where I could get another yarn fix on the way home (after the indulgence of rainkatt's local yarneria) but as we got closer to the California border it became quite clear that we could either plan to hole up for several more days in the State of Jefferson or hightail it through the beginning of the winter storm warning and try to get through the Siskiyous in the dark before the real weather started,
There was snow falling on Mount Ashland, which abated once we got over the first pass, then rain and high winds (seriously high winds) until we got to Weed and more snow. Can't remember the last time I shared the road with so many big rigs, also rushing to beat the storm and make their deliveries on time. The chain requirement was only for the single axle trucks with trailers at that point, so we were happily able to slide through the slush without stopping for installation. Redding in the rain at 11pm was a good stopping point, but B was eager to get home by then and I was all for it as he was willing to keep doing the driving. We and the trucks battled the right-angled east-bound wind all the way down to Highway 80, where it finally became a tailwind. Even so, it was 2:30 before we got home.
An hour after we got up Friday morning, the power went out, but I'd gotten the week's orders processed and ready to mail before the computer died, so I trotted over to the post office to find power outages everywhere. It was dark there, but they let me leave the outbound and pick up the inbound packages. Got power back after 24 hours (yay for wood-burning fireplace inserts with ledges hot enough to boil water!), in time for snow all Saturday afternoon and evening. Since then we've had alternating rain, wind, sun, fog, drizzle, snow, sleet, sun, melting ice and more rain.
I do however have multiple knitting projects on the needles (three sweaters) and in planning stages (three skeins of sock yarn, two of hand-dyed/spun scarf wools) so I'm set for the rest of the week if necessary. I might even do some boring old data entry on all those books we bought last week...or not. When I get the pictures onto the computer, I'll upload one of the scarves I did at Christmas. And while electricity is available, we can try to catch up on the masses of DVDs lined up on the "Watch" shelf. Got B through all three collections of "Tales of the City" last week and there's a boxed set of "Lovejoy" with my name on it next. We do know how to party....