...to Grandmother's house we go...and back

I worked until noon on the 24th, and caught a plane at 4:30...a direct flight from D.C. to Salt Lake City. Good timing, in between storms in both places...and since the airport in Portland was closed due to the blizzard (that's right, a once in 40 years blizzard) going on at home, I was kinda grateful I was headed to meet up with my beautiful wife and my daughters (minus Missy...at least...) in Salt Lake instead of flying home. The flight was a little rough and bumpy at times, but uneventful.

We did the Christmas thing on Thursday with the fam...presents, big dinner, etc., but I missed the family photo (major sadface) and the big pageant on Sunday night.

It snowed hard there Christmas night, and was still snowing as we were getting ready to leave the next morning.

As we overslept (ooooops!), Papa got up and cleared the snow from the driveway...which I backed down to load up the Jeep. (To the gills. Including overstuffing the Rocket Box. Christmas booty, donchaknow...) I had to move out of the way when it was time for him to go to work, and he spun the wheels as he pitched their Isuzu this way and that getting up and out of the driveway. I can't be too sure, but by his laughter when he was exiting the car to tell me goodbye, I'd guess he was more having fun than he was fighting the conditions...

Then, starting about 9:00AM, we drove home...through 850 miles of ice and snow. Woohoo!!! Right off the bat, the main route (I-84 through northern Utah and southern Idaho) was closed, so we had to take the long way 'round (60 extra miles) up I-15 through Pocatello.

It was a bit slick and slow getting out of the Salt Lake Valley, but by Ogden the snow had stopped...although it was still very icy for a while...but soon we were headed north doing the limit.

By the time we got to Malad Pass (in southern Idaho), it was back to 30mph. At the crest of the pass, we saw where one of the huge highway snowplows had gone off the road, and the monster tow-trucks were trying to get it unstuck.

It got better, then it got worse: in gusty wind conditions for the 80 miles between Pocatello and Burley, driving on I-86 (which, in reality, was a sheet of ice), we watched the pickup truck right in front of us play sailboat...it got hit by a gust of wind, spun out, went off the road, flipped over, and landed in a ditch sunk in snow up to to the door handles. After we (me and a couple other drivers that had stopped) dug them out and got the door open, the couple inside was okay, completely unhurt. Amazing.

It was icy and snowy in spots after Burley, but not too bad through the Blue Mountains in Oregon...had to slow to 30-40 mph many times, but not too bad. Then it got icy again after passing through Pendleton, around Umatilla and Hermiston, but we just kept a steady pace going.

The 40 miles of the Columbia River Gorge was quite an interesting driving experience, particularly as it was at the end of the trip and I was really freakin' tired. It started snowing in The Dalles, was snowing heavily by Hood River, and raining by Cascade Locks. In the transition area, watching the semis in front of us slip and slide, looking for a wide spot to pass them without getting hit by the whipping trailer...great fun!!

(I love my little Jeep Cherokee, Paddy...so named by my girls because it is deep green, and we bought it on St. Patrick's day, 9 years and 140,000 miles ago...with 4WD and the the studded mud & snows I put on it every winter, it drove like a dream, getting us there and back safely through some hellish weather both ways. With the work I had done on it over the past year, it should be good for another 200,000 miles. And I guess my girls know that I love it, because they bought me a new stereo [with CD player, which it sadly lacks now] for Christmas!)

We pulled into our driveway about midnight, and there was still 6" of snow on the ground here. I had to shovel parts of it so we could unload the car.

Didn't do too much (well...except rest, sleep, and cuddle...) on Saturday, but I took the kids out with me that night to help me with some last-minute shopping...and that's when I stuck the Jeep.

Messing around with the kids, climbing snow piles left over from plowing parking lots...I heard the hitch dragging, and before I could stop we were sitting on it...at a 45 degree angle, nose in the air and tail on the asphalt, with the back tires off the edge of the pavement and in a hole. All of us were laughing. They went to get shovels (only two blocks from home), and when they came back we dug the nose down and got the hitch off the pavement, but with the tires in the hole it was lookin' pretty hopeless...until the tow-truck pulled in to the repair shop lot...the repair shop whose snow pile I happened to be climbing...and I gave the driver $20 to yank me out of the hole. Probably the fastest, easiest $20 he ever made...took less than 5 minutes total...

and provided a memory that I imagine will remain for years to come...

"Remember that Christmas when we came home through the snowstorm, and then the next day Rick stuck Paddy in the snowpile...?"

Good times...good times...

getting to papa's for the holiday

Becca, Kristen and I left on our great adventure on Friday (12/19) in what appeared to be the only window between storms. School and work had been closed most of the week before due to snow and ice, and I had been getting around only in the 4x4 Jeep (way to go Paddy!). 16-hours later, two intense white-out snowstorms, 10 degrees in Burley, snow-packed freeways and 4-wheel drive all the way through Snowville and we arrive safely at Papa's. Hoffman girls RULE!



It was an adventure to remember - one I would not like to repeat. Portland is buried under 18" of snow and ice at the moment and expecting more. The Columbia Gorge has been closed for the last couple of days with 2-3 feet of snow and ice.

Missy stayed in Portland to work and has been snowed in, her poor little car Sue-the-Banana buried. The Clackamas Town Center was even closed on Sunday due to the weather. We miss you Missy!

Rick is in Washington, D.C. until Christmas eve. He has been plotting our alternate return route, watching the Blue Mountains and the routes around Mt Hood or north through Yakima to Seattle if the Gorge does not re-open for us to get home.

Meanwhile, the household has been rocking with children and grandchildren. A brave photographer herded the clan (only missing Rick and Missy) into a big family photo in the rotunda of the Capitol building. Followed by dinner at Papa's and the Hale-Christensen-Burnett-Hale-Rolfson Players presented the Annual Nativity Play, including piano, flute and violin performances. Uncle Brad called it organized chaos, but I think he was just being nice.



Nichole's flight was canceled yesterday with the Portland Airport closed to all flights. She is rescheduled for the evening of Christmas day.

Outside, more snow. Back home, more snow. Unbelievable.

Sherri

ice, party, and random acts

The office is closed today due to the freezing rain and snow. Not that I am complaining. The girls have been home for three days now. If we can catch our break and the Gorge doesn't freeze up, we will head out for Utah on Friday in between storms. It doesn't look like much because I'm used to lots of snow, but it is a deceptive sheet of ice that is the problem.

If you read Rick's recent post, you know that he is stuck in Washington D.C. until his job finishes. I wouldn't worry too much, but he has seen some strange creatures there. He changed his return ticket to fly to SLC on Christmas Eve.

Nichole has moved into her very own apartment in Milwaukie. Very excited for her. She has been sharing living space for so long. She sounds happy. Still waiting for pics and the housewarming party invite. (hint, hint)

Saturday night Becca and Kristen threw their First Annual Christmas White-elephant party. It was a great success. Friends came. Gifts were exchanged. All the food in the house was eaten. A smaller group of girls spent the night, and there might have even been some sleep. We delivered the last friend home just before the first round of snow/ice hit the area. It was perfect.


Tuesday night we drove a set of chains down to Missy who can't get her car (Sue the Banana) out of her driveway. We picked her up at her work since her neighbor had driven her there. The Clackamas Town Center was a complete ice-rink, and we hung out in the parking lot waiting for her to close her store (Wet Seal). And entertained ourselves.


Isn't tongue curling a genetic marker?



Sherri

comedy(?) of errors

Washington, D.C.

The day before we get here, we find out that the teevees, of which 60 are supposed to be delivered daily, aren't. We get a delivery of 180 rushed instead...which creates a storage problem, but we know we can figure a way around that.

We get in after midnite and the hotel doesn't seem to know we're coming. They have no rooms reserved for us and say they're fully booked for the night. After some coaxing, they manage to find 3 rooms, so the 7 of us double-bunk and hit the sack.

The next morning that issue gets resolved...the teevees show up, the furniture shows up...but the countertop delivery we're expecting doesn't happen. Frantic, my boss calls the supplier, who calls the freight carrier, who informs us all that someone has dropped the ball and the granite is still sitting on the dock. In Long Beach, California. Mapquest tells me that's 2,686 miles away.

The carrier promises to find a tandem driveteam to get it here by Saturday. On the worst weather weekend nationwide so far this winter.

It gets delivered Monday. By a solo driver that doesn't speak english.


On the plus side, the late delivery gave us an unscheduled day off. I got to hang out with Sherri's cousin Jim and wife Stephanie, which was fun. We did some whirlwind sightseeing and had dinner at their place...and that was so infinitely much better than restaurant food. Their kids Liv and Theo are cool, too. Good food, good company, definitely a plus.

On the minus side, unscheduled days off strain the production schedule and push us hard up against the completion date. At that point, I'm hoping that maybe I can push production so I can still make my flight to SLC for the family picture.

I start cutting the furniture Monday afternoon, and it's a decorative shape that involves a more detailed cut than usual. Slow going, and no rushing it.

One of the more volatile members of our crew got into an in-your-face shouting match with the hotel's Chief Engineer at the end of the day today, and is likely canned for it. Being down one guy sure isn't going to help this get finished faster.

At this rate, we'll be doing good to get out of here by Christmas Eve...

the children are wondering

why would someone have a secret stash of vanilla?

really, just why?

Random thoughts from the road

Well, from my head, actually...I don't know that roads think.

I am traveling again...left San Diego, came home for three days, and am now in Santa Fe. I'm leaving Tuesday for Washington, D.C. I fly from there to Utah on the 20th for another chapter in the saga of Hale family picture adventures...which have been a part of my interaction with them since I joined up. lol

It was actually before I joined up, because Sherri and I were only engaged at the time, and I'll never forget her mother's admonition to me about not backing out now that I was in the family picture! (Like that was gonna happen...) I'll also never forget Sherri seeing the picture for the first time, and wondering how I appear to be taller than her in it. ;)

So, Christmas with the fam, then we drive home on the 26th (which will hopefully not be too much of a challenge, over the river and through the woods...and mountain passes...in late December), then second Christmas with the local chapter of the Hoffman family, then I leave again for a job starting on January 5th in Beverly Hills.

I feel kinda like a jet-setter, all this travel, all these fancy hotels. I'm in a Hilton right now, right off the historic plaza in downtown Santa Fe. Amazing art and shops and museums and food, all within a stone's throw. In fact, there's a huge art auction at the hotel here tomorrow, by Altermann Galleries. Some amazing stuff...all well out of the range of my pocketbook...

I get Sunday off and will spend the day wandering the neighborhood, do a little shopping and a lot of sightseeing.

I like it here, even though it's sooooo dry. One of the guys on the crew was complaining about trying to acclimate to the altitude (7000'), he keeps waking up from dreaming that he's running and can't catch his breath...and he cracked me up talking about the (lack of) humidity, he said it was so dry his boogers cut his nose.

Now that's dry.

So here I am. I miss my beautiful wife, and I miss my kids, and I miss my home, and I miss my friends. But I'm okay. And I'm making lots of money, so that makes it better, yeah?

Ehhhh...not really, but I'm okay.

Most of you reading this are probably well aware of how cool Sherri is...but there's so many little things that I know and appreciate that I know you don't know. And I guess that's the way it's supposed to be, since I'm the one married to her...

But what is probably the thing about her that amazes me the most is the depth of her love. For her children. (ALL of them. Yes, you.) For me. For her siblings and her parents. And for the rest of the friends and family that are part of her and have touched her life.

She is tough as nails when need be...and when her guard is down she is softer than velvet, and mushy and tender. I am so grateful that she came into my life, and that I get to see that side of her...probably more than anyone else does.

Sorry, baby...'cause maybe that's ratting you out just a little, and I know you hate that. I just love you. I think you're the coolest, and the best, and I don't care who knows it. In fact, I want to tell the whole world.

So I did.