What I did on Vacation

Here it is, 2007.

Right before and after Christmas, I worked like a dog and my poor wifey had to do all the shopping and keep Nicole occupied while I was at work. Then we packed like crazy people to fly up to Seattle for our bimonthly visit.

We drove up to our friends' house in our rental car in the dark and were greeted by blazing holiday lights on the house and a lighted walkway. All the lights were beautifully reflected by the snow that was still on the ground from the snowstorm they had had a few days earlier. It was so nice to be up there in the woods! Our friends recently put a wood stove in their living room, so we got to keep a fire going most of the time we were there. Wifey got to chop wood (shhhhh don't tell the doc), and we played with and fed the kitties while we house-sat for nearly a week.

I finally did get to see Snoqualmie Falls! We drove up there on New Year's Day and got some great pictures. It was freeeeeezing cold up there, though; the wind was howling and the mist was blowing up from the falls. We didn't stay long, and as we drove back over Tiger Pass on Hwy 18, we got snained* on.

The other thing we did was go to Tubs. I wish we had places like that here in the LA area! I got a half-hour massage, and then we sat in a hot tub for an hour. What a relaxing thing to do!

Our friends came back from their trip on Wednesday. Wednesday night the temperature started dropping and we woke up Thursday morning to a dusting of snow. We had to go into Seattle on Thursday afternoon, and on our way back we got stuck in horrible traffic. Apparently no one knows how to drive when there's snow on the road! The snow level had dropped to 500' and there was 2 to 3 inches of snow on the highway. Grrrrrrrr I hate sitting in traffic!!!! We finally made it back to the ranch. Later that night, the sky cleared up and the temp dropped some more, and then the full moon came out. What a sight! the reflection of the full moon on new-fallen snow.... We tried to take some pictures by moonlight, but they just couldn't capture the reality. We went to bed around midnight and when we woke up Friday morning, even more snow had fallen - I'm not sure when the clouds moved back in, but we were very sorry to have to leave that day. What better vacation than being in front of a roaring fire with a hot cuppa in the woods, with fresh snow on the ground?

* "Snain" is a weather phenomenon that seems to strike only in the Puget Sound area of Washington, a unique situation in which rain and snow mix in such a way that you are not entirely sure if it is rain or snow; thus, "snain".