2022 – December part 3

hey!

Remember how I said we wanted it to feel a little more like Christmas? Well, we did a thing.

We were all sitting around talking about how we wanted to be more active since it is a little boring when you sit around and don’t do anything. Anyway, we decided to give Leavenworth another shot. Last time we visited they hardly had any snow.

I checked the forecast and it was pretty good. Rain was all in Seattle and flurries/light snow was expected the next day. Not bad. We booked the room for a night in Wenatchee (fairly close to Leavenworth and a fraction of the cost).

The morning that we went to leave, the news report was updated. Ice in the Gorge (near where we live) and so 84 was closed going east (that would have been the route we took) to get there the quickest. Okay, no biggie. Weather reports said the cold Arctic air was pushing in quicker than was forecast. I checked the weather reports going north. So far so good, as long as we miss Seattle by 1 because now they are expecting snow too.

We started up on 5 and it was pouring rain. I would say that probably most of the way I was going between 40 and 50 on a 65 MPH road. We had good solid heavy rain for the majority of the way up. We stopped in the Tacoma area and filled up – I noticed that the temperature was dropping ever so slightly every few miles. It was 40, 39, 38, 37.

Let’s get going! We went a few miles further toward Seattle and saw 36, 35, 34, 33. Seattle snow driving wouldn’t be on my list of things to do. I’ve seen the videos, they react like Portlanders (and go crazy).

By the time we were entering the city limits of Seattle, we were in a snowstorm. The snow continued. After a quick route check, I noticed that i-90 was closed due to snow. The only way over to Leavenworth was on route 2. A bit further north but didn’t seem to delay our time.

This was the event (click to read).

That was a fun time. The road ended up getting closed due to blizzard conditions and an avalanche. We sat on the road. In the photos above you can see it is daylight. After waiting some 4 hours it was dark. We didn’t have any option but to wait as our room was non-refundable (not that we would have turned around anyway). We eventually got word that they were almost done clearing all of the snow off the road.

When we started up and moving again we drove in some pretty crazy conditions. They happened to open the road up again only to have it start snowing pretty heavily once more. It was so snowy I could hardly see the road – if I was on it, and if there was anyone in front of me. Winter driving like I haven’t done before. I tried to keep up with the person in front of me so that I knew that I was on the road. Occasionally would see that they were a LOT closer than the snow made it seem.

But after all of that? We made it!

Leavenworth. We arrived on a night when fewer people than normal were in town (probably because nobody could get to the place). Look at the photo of the back of my car below. You can’t see a license plate, hardly that I have a car.

Was it worth it?

Entirely.

The photos don’t do justice. It was a cold -2 outside (Arctic air) but with the snow falling and the city lit up it made it magical. It is probably the closest I’ve ever gotten to stepping inside one of those snow globes.

It was amazing. I didn’t want the night to end.

We eventually got done and made our way to the hotel, grabbed some food, and went to bed.

just Pray