Portland received a foot of snow, a record. Normally, snow falls and it melts before noon the next day. This series of storms closed the airport and the interstates. Our flight was delayed and we feared it would be canceled. The same flight on the previous night had been. We spent about six hours in the food court of the San Jose Airport. Ted read and I knitted, while watching people. We didn't care if we got to fly to Christmas with our kids and grandson.
We made it at midnight on the 23rd. We upgraded to a rental car with four-wheel drive. The interstates were only wet, but the side streets had four-inch icy ruts. This was the mall in Vancouver, WA at about 11 am on Christmas Eve.
The only way that it will snow in Portland is when the wind blows West out of the Columbia Gorge. This kind of accumulation is unbelievable in a part of the country where the winter low is usually in the 40s.
Christmas Eve we walked from where we were staying to McCormick and Schmidt's on the Willamette River in Portland for dinner. The walk took us back to our years living in the Midwest. A couple of snowballs flew along the way.
Christmas day was celebrated in great style at Erin's. The next day Erin had to return to work. We met Brent and Tyler at Mother's Restaurant in downtown Portland. This is a great breakfast/lunch place. Tyler delared his pulled pork sandwich as the best sandwich that he had ever had. He didn't even eat his French fries. We managed to spend time with the kids and Tyler and friends. It was hard to say goodbye since we are going to be away for a year this time. We managed to get on a flight that left three and a half hours earlier than we had planned, making the trip back to San Jose easier.
Ted and I left Morgan Hill on Monday, the 28th and drove to Bakersfield for the night. It was our second time to stop at an RV park in an orange grove, where guests can pick oranges. The next morning we drove to Palm Desert. What a magical view as we climbed East out of Bakersfield.
From one magical view to another. The last time we went this way it was overcast and gloomy. The scenery wasn't remarkable then.
Would you believe that this is the Mojave Desert? There were frozen puddles along the side of the highway.
Soon after the snow we came to the Mormon Rocks, aka Rock Candy Mountain near Wrightwood on CA 138 in the Cajon Pass. The San Gabriel Mountains are being overlapped by the San Bernardino Mountians. The formations better resist weathering compared with those that made the desert.
This is Emerald Desert RV Resort, Palm Desert, CA. We watched the balloon come in for a landing behind the resort right from our RV site. The weather was in the 70s. I had to put on a short-sleeve shirt and sandals. Aaahh! Neighbors are from Jacksonville, OR and we met another guy from Albany, OR. Home is never far away no matter how far we roam. It is now New Year's Eve and we have listened to someone playing the bagpipes in the park. The unexpected makes for a perfect ending to 2008.
Portland received a foot of snow, a record. Normally, snow falls and it melts before noon the next day. This series of storms closed the airport and the interstates. Our flight was delayed and we feared it would be canceled. The same flight on the previous night had been. We spent about six hours in the food court of the San Jose Airport. Ted read and I knitted, while watching people. We didn't care if we got to fly to Christmas with our kids and grandson.
We made it at midnight on the 23rd. We upgraded to a rental car with four-wheel drive. The interstates were only wet, but the side streets had four-inch icy ruts. This was the mall in Vancouver, WA at about 11 am on Christmas Eve.
The only way that it will snow in Portland is when the wind blows West out of the Columbia Gorge. This kind of accumulation is unbelievable in a part of the country where the winter low is usually in the 40s.
Christmas Eve we walked from where we were staying to McCormick and Schmidt's on the Willamette River in Portland for dinner. The walk took us back to our years living in the Midwest. A couple of snowballs flew along the way.
Christmas day was celebrated in great style at Erin's. The next day Erin had to return to work. We met Brent and Tyler at Mother's Restaurant in downtown Portland. This is a great breakfast/lunch place. Tyler delared his pulled pork sandwich as the best sandwich that he had ever had. He didn't even eat his French fries. We managed to spend time with the kids and Tyler and friends. It was hard to say goodbye since we are going to be away for a year this time. We managed to get on a flight that left three and a half hours earlier than we had planned, making the trip back to San Jose easier.
Ted and I left Morgan Hill on Monday, the 28th and drove to Bakersfield for the night. It was our second time to stop at an RV park in an orange grove, where guests can pick oranges. The next morning we drove to Palm Desert. What a magical view as we climbed East out of Bakersfield.
From one magical view to another. The last time we went this way it was overcast and gloomy. The scenery wasn't remarkable then.
Would you believe that this is the Mojave Desert? There were frozen puddles along the side of the highway.
Soon after the snow we came to the Mormon Rocks, aka Rock Candy Mountain near Wrightwood on CA 138 in the Cajon Pass. The San Gabriel Mountains are being overlapped by the San Bernardino Mountians. The formations better resist weathering compared with those that made the desert.
This is Emerald Desert RV Resort, Palm Desert, CA. We watched the balloon come in for a landing behind the resort right from our RV site. The weather was in the 70s. I had to put on a short-sleeve shirt and sandals. Aaahh! Neighbors are from Jacksonville, OR and we met another guy from Albany, OR. Home is never far away no matter how far we roam. It is now New Year's Eve and we have listened to someone playing the bagpipes in the park. The unexpected makes for a perfect ending to 2008.
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