Doh! I mean, it’s SNOW fun! 🙂 Grandpa Gaub got a couple rooms at the Silver Ridge Ranch lodge in Easton for a couple nights last week so that we could enjoy the snow that we’re unlikely to get in our area. But as they say, getting there was half the fun… As long as you understand that by “fun” I actually meant “hell.”

The rooms were reserved for Wednesday and Thursday nights. We planned to head over to Ellensburg on Friday, so to get the most time for fun in the snow, we headed over on Wednesday morning. Not only did we forget to make a packing list, but we certainly didn’t check it twice. As it happens, the one thing I forgot turned out to be the one thing we really needed. Chains. For the van. And it snowed. A lot. Requiring chains. Which we forgot.

Fortunately, as is our habit, we tuned into the pass report on the radio as we passed through North Bend. We heard that there was police enforcement of chains on non 4wd vehicles at milepost 47, 12 miles out of North Bend. It was then that we realized that I forgot to pack the chains. So, we took the next exit and turned back to North Bend to try to buy some chains. If none could be found, we would go back home to get the old ones. Fortunately, there was a Schuck’s nearby, and so I went in there and got some chains. The nice lady sold me some nifty new chains that were much easier to put on than the ones we had. They should be, given their price. 😉

We got back on the freeway, and barely 5 miles later were passing people chaining up already, even though the road was bare and wet for another 10 miles. Since it’s not good for the chains or the vehicle to travel with chains on bare concrete, I decided not to put them on yet. By milepost 42, however, the traffic was stop and go, topping out at about 4mph in the fast times. I decided to go ahead and pull over and put the chains on, even though the worst on the road was some slush on the sides.

The chains weren’t effortless, but they were a lot easier to put on than any other I’ve done. Other than some cold fingers and having to re-tighten them a couple times, they were no problem. With the chains on, we could continue our journey with a feeling of safety. For another 2+ hours. It took an hour and a half to get the 5 miles from where we chained up to the police enforcement area, which was more of a show of force than anything else, with about 10 cops of different kinds in different areas of that milepost, scaring the crap out of people so that they would chain up and drive slow for the next 10 miles over the summit. From there on, it was smooth sailing to Easton. I admit that although the roads weren’t really that bad, I did feel better about having the chains on over the pass. The tires on the van are getting to that questionable point of lifetime, and should probably be replaced sooner than later.

Fortunately, we had plenty of entertainment and supplies for the trip, and so aside from a little bit of “how much longer?” whining, we made it there in relatively good condition. After checking in, we got the boys suited up for some fun in the snow. The next day, we all suited up and made a short trek to a larger “bowl” for sledding down where we all got in some sledding action, followed up by a morning of sledding for the boys on Friday before heading over to E-berg.

Oh yeah… I made a video. 🙂

One Response to “It’s no fun.”

  1. Steven Gaub AKA Grandpa said on January 2nd, 2008 at 8:40 am:

    Thank you for the cool pictures. The snow was wonderful. The fellowship was joyous. All was as planned. I had to purchase chains not because I forgot them but because the last time I used them they were demolished. The only thing I noticed about the time in the snow was that it was a little short and not everyone was able to go. Oh thank you Grandmother for taking care of the dogs. Too bad we could not have had the dogs. Charger would have loved the snow and peanut would have loved the snow bunnies in the lodge and the wood fire, hot dogs and summors. Rustie would have just loved being with the children. A must repeat I am sure.