In Pendleton for the night

[fenchurch]

Yes, the place with all the wool. :-)

We'd been hoping to make it to Boise tonight, but per usual we got a late start on the day. There were just way too many things to get done before leaving the house for a few weeks, especially since they're expecting a humdinger of a storm to come whipping through there this weekend. But that's exactly why it turns out to be a good thing we were already planning on leaving today... because if we hadn't gotten out of Dodge, we likely would have been stuck there for Christmas.

Even more than the late start, though, are the roads. Bad but not horrible over Snoqualmie Pass and getting into Ellensburg (which was only 8 friggin' degrees Fahrenheit!!! Better than out near Cle Elum, where it got down to 3), then relatively clear until we got into Oregon. Yikes! We were forewarned, though... my mom called several times this morning with updates on the conditions out near LaGrande, and by the time we got to Ellensburg, we decided to look at booking a room in Pendleton (just in case they closed Meacham Pass again and the hotels filled up). I really do love my phone... I was able to reserve the room off their website while we were out in the middle of nowhere between Ellensburg and Yakima.

tomte and gidgiddoni are here at the hotel, too... they left a few hours before us, but decided the roads looked bad enough they didn't want to try hitting the pass after dark. I really can't blame them!
Ugh. It's apparently only 6 degrees out there tonight. You know, there's a reason I live in the Seattle area. We NEVER get this cold.

Comments

[ozma914.livejournal.com]

Anytime the weather involves the term "single digits", it's never good.

[zanthinegirl.livejournal.com]

good plan avoiding Cabbage Hill in the dark-- snow there even in daylight can be scary. Hope you had a safe rest of your trip!

[fenchurche.livejournal.com]

Yeah... I've actually gone over through Tollgate a few times in the past, just to avoid Cabbage Hill and Meacham (with the ski resorts up there, the roads are almost always more passable).

[ayinhara.livejournal.com]

Be careful driving. We just canceled our usual Saturday trip out to visit my father-in-law. It's sub-freezing here, with some snow and I'm sure that there is some ice, even though the roads in NYC are so heavily traveled that they are mostly clear.

[fenchurche.livejournal.com]

I can't believe how insanely cold it's been. Even back home, we've been getting down into the teens at night which is pretty much unheard of. But at least I don't live where my dad does, north of Spokane... it apparently got down to -14F last night! Yikes!

We're definitely going to be taking it easy. We figure one catastrophic car crash due to snowy weather is enough for us. :-)

[ayinhara.livejournal.com]

I think it would be more than enough for anyone. Have a safe trip and