By Friday night, in Eugene, our snow fall was officially being replaced by freezing rain. Which means it looked like a rainy mess out there, but was freezing to be turning into nothing short of a skating rink to drive on.
Our plan, all along, was to get Michele and the girls back up to Dallas as early as possible on Saturday morning. One, to get out of our mess as fast as we could. Two, to avoid any car wrecks. And, three, to get further up north to be back to a place where the falling precipitation was coming down as snow and not the icky rain. (And, to be able to enjoy it for as much as we could). We started moving about at 6:30 am, and John very wisely decided to be the first in line at Les Schwab to have our studded tires put back on the Denali. (Sadly, he just had them taken off last weekend!). He was first there, and by the time he and Mikayla had the traditional breakfast at Shari's while waiting, the rig was complete. In the meantime, Michele and I were busy packing and preparing. We were able to hit the road at 8:30. Well done, family!
As we drove, John was not hesitant to admit that without those studded tires, we would have been in a lot of trouble. With them, though, he was comfortable with the drive. I was definitely glad he was driving. It's one thing for me to feel like I've mastered driving in snow, another thing altogether to be driving on a skating rink that had just been "slicked up" by the Zamboni!
The freezing rain converted to snow just south of Monmouth - it was a welcome site to see those cotton ball flakes falling again. Such joy!
Not long after, we arrived safe and sound in Dallas. It's one thing to see this kind of snow, another think altogether to be walking in it and having it nearly over the top of my rubber boots. We put together an assembly line to get all of our bags and belongings in the house.
As soon as we unloaded, Michele asked if I'd be willing to go for a walk with her. EXCELLENT idea, Michele - as it will probably be remembered as the pinnacle highlight of this whole winter storm experience. She lives just a quarter mile from a bike path along the river.
It was breathtakingly beautiful. Despite the cold, I was constantly taking off my glove to snap pics - and very, very thankful for my LifeProof I-Phone case!
Love that tongue sticking out. Sydney was constantly stopping to lay down. Eventually, we figured out she was trying to lick off the snow frozen in her paws - but, even despite that irritation, I think she found it to be a highlight too.
Happy, happy memory!
A little panoramic fun.
A few days ago, on Pinterest, I found a pin suggesting the best photo apps. The first on the list was Rhonna Designs. I downloaded it, and have been loving the opportunity to step up the fun on my Instagram pics or photo collages. Definitely, a whole new era in scrapbooking!
Around noon, the hero status shifted from John (who skillfully got us to Dallas safely) to Michael who volunteered to take the kids just a couple of miles away to his parents' property to sled. He even snapped some pics of the experience. Michael's brother's kids were there playing too (who also live on the same property).
They played there for a long time - and all came back happy and ready for showers. The snow converted to freezing rain in the later afternoon, so we all chose to cozy up indoors with some Netflix movies (and of course, for Michele and I, our Kindles by our sides). Definitely a great choice to spend the weekend up north!
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