Christmas Trip

Carl and Diane said that they would have a Family Dinner on Christmas Day, so Stephanie and I decided to give it a shot and drive over, after all the weather was supposed to be getting better. So Thursday Morning I called Diane and she said "You should be fine the roads are getting better, but BRING CHAINS just in case."

So we loaded up the Yaris (think oversized roller skate), and headed for Gresham.

It was snowing lightly over the Pass, No PROBLEM, there was a delay in Tualatin, Packed snow and Ice at the Railroad crossing, still we made it through. 

By now we were looking for a potty stop, but seeing as how it was Christmas Day and nothing was open and none of the parking lots had been cleared, we trudged on behind people driving on bare pavement with chains on.

We spotted a parking lot in Damascus at the Safeway that  gave the illusion that the store might be open, but it wasn't, oh did I mention we needed a potty stop?

We poked along behind some more cars with chains to Boring then turned onto SE 282nd, at this point I thought about putting the chains on but there were well established ruts down to the pavement and we were still moving with no problems, Besides we needed a potty stop, I think I may have already mentioned that.

We soon found out that even though the roads were all right the intersections were the roughest. By the time we were on Dodge Park Boulevard we were occasionally scrapping bottom, when we reached Lusted Road we almost got stuck turning the corner, but we made it through which was a good thing because by now WE REALLY NEEDED A POTTY BREAK. so for the last mile not only were we scrapping bottom with our poor little car but now some snow was also coming up over the hood. Carl and Steven had been in and out of their driveway a number of times with the Tow Trucks but I just barely made it through.

Of course once we got off the road Carl had cleared his driveway and had made a parking area for all those people who would show up.

After running into the house and taking care of some pressing matters, Diane said almost everyone else had cancelled due to the weather, (Bob & Jan, Steve & Keri and Beeper showed up). So we had a smaller gathering then planed but it was good food and we played cards and had a great time.