The reason why I am not a fan of snow & ice.

So first off let me apologize that I haven’t written in a long time but as we all know college can get pretty busy. I can’t believe I am already done with my first quarter at PUC. I am glad to be done with most of my classes! Ahhah… and what better way to celebrate the end of a quarter then by taking a little adventure. Well it all started when Drew told me that he was going to PUC next quarter but didn’t have a way to get his stuff there. So me being the nice friend I am told him I would drive up to Walla Walla and get his stuff and take him home as well. The plan was working out perfect but I forgot about the fact that it was winter and the weather is not nice this time of year. But Stephanie and I headed off the hill and drove her car to Rio Lindo (Drew and Ricky would drive it to southern California so I didn’t have to drive that far). After dropping her car off, Steph and I headed to Monterey to just hang out and relax. It was so nice to do nothing but sleep in and chill. We went to this cute little Italian restaurant one night and then the next day wondered around cannery row and did some Christmas shopping.

On Saturday we headed to MBA to pick up Ricky. We got there early morning and headed to the beach while we waited for him to be done with church. Now the beach was beautiful but so COLD and really windy. After he was done we headed north, but the weather was really bad that I-5 at Grants Pass was closed so we ended up driving to 101 and staying at my house for the night. We slept in the next morning to make sure the road would be open and we ended up driving up 101 all the way to the cut over to Eugene, OR. It was so amazingly beautiful driving right next to the ocean. Huge waves and snow on the coast…. weirdest sight ever. And of course I drove in the snow where the guy 2 cars in front of me got stuck in the snow… when we finally got on the 5 we were doing good till the sign above the highway said “Chains required for Portland metropolitan area” now thankfully we had chains so we pulled over to the side of the road and went out in the freezing weather and put the chains on.

We were making time even though we could only got 25 mph because of the chains and then all the sudden we hear a weird clicking noise. So of course we pulled over and checked it out and one of the chains had broken. But we didn’t really have much of a choice so we kept driving. We drove all over town trying to find new chains. No chains ANYWHERE!!!!! Well we had reserved a hotel by the airport that was about 10 minutes away so we decided to just drive on. On the way there 2 more chains broke but we made it to the hotel. It was nice to just relax after driving 10 hours that day. We started watching Harry Potter and Steph fell asleep after 30 minutes but I made it almost all the way through but fell asleep also (ahh I am sure you wanted to know every little detail) well the next morning we decided to press on an make it to Walla Walla by that night. Even though the road had been closed the night before the sun had come out and melted some of the ice on the road. The road was icy so the trip was slow but we finally made it that night. It was crazy to see all the cars and trucks on the side of the road that had slid off the road. I was so happy to make it WWU and see everyone. Even though we were there right during finals week it was still nice to see everyone. But unfortunately we had to leave the next morning because another storm was coming in and we had to make it through the Gorge before then so we left pretty much the minute Drew was done with his last final (10:30 am).

No the road trip was fun with 4 people but my car was not big enough for 4 people and all the stuff that Drew had plus our stuff. So we packed the car full and Drew ended up having to send 2 boxes of stuff home. The backseat was packed and half the backseat was full of stuff. And of course me having the shortest legs got stuck in the middle back seat was I got to be super close to Ricky for 10 hours. Now it might seem cozy but after that many hours my hips were hurting so bad. It was very crammed. Pretty much the only person who had room was the driver.

We finally made it home at about 12 am. It was so nice to be home. When we were home we just hung out and I got the privilege to show the boys the lovely town of Eureka, CA. We went to the beach and explored old town and of course I got to cook for them and we made a pie. Pretty much it was a party. I am very happy and grateful that we made it up there to Walla Walla and safely back to California.

On Friday morning we left at 6:30 for Rio where I could barely stay awake and I was driving! But we made it and saw the boys off.

I miss them already and will see them soon! Overall this was an adventure. No other word can describe it. But I do not recommend trying this trip in the middle of the worst winter storms in years! And I wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a Happy 2009!