Outside Temp: cold, and getting colder... ~30
What I cooked today:
I think I've forgotten how to cook. Allen made macaroni and cheese, from scratch, while I slept off the drive.
Update:
So, yesterday (Thursday), we had clinic in Seattle. We decided after clinic, around 5:30-6:00pm, we would drive as far as Spokane (about 4-5 hours) and stay the night there. That way, we would only have another 6-7 hours left on Friday morning. Things don't always work out the way you plan.
I drove us out of Seattle (because Patrick hates driving in traffic, and I soooo love it... not) and made it up the hill a few miles. We were using the cool 'map' feature on Grandpa's andriod phone, to check for road conditions. Once we started seeing white things falling from the sky and staying on the ground, we decided that it was time to switch drivers. I can drive in the snow, I just don't like it. My husband, on the other hand, thinks it's fun. Have I mentioned that he is nuts?
So, I took an exit off the freeway, hoping to just switch driver and get back on. But no, I had to pick the exit to the Casino, which doesn't have a ramp to get back on going east. So, we just kept going on the back roads and after about 10 minutes, we found our way back onto the freeway. We did drive through a cute little town, all lit up with Christmas lights, so that was kind of cool.
The rest of the pass through Snoqualamie (the Cascade range in Washington) wasn't too bad. There was snow and some ice, but I just held my breath while Patrick cruised right past the trucks. Our totally amazing magical snow tires work great and he said the car never even slipped.
As we came down the mountain and onto the plains near Ellensburg, we stopped for dinner. There is a steak place, which sounded really good. Ryan managed to eat his entire kids steak (4oz) which is amazing. As we were leaving, the waitress warned us that the storm over Idaho was pretty bad.
We were driving through the plains of Eastern Washington (which is my least favorite part of the trip... it's about 200 miles of nothing... so boring!) and we kept an eye on the storm. The reports claimed that there was about a 8-10 hour window between the storm we just drove through in the Cascades and the storm that just passed over Idaho. And it was suggested that the storm over the Cascades was much worse, and they might have to close the freeway through Idaho.
Oh crap. We didn't plan very well, and only had one night's worth of TPN for Ryan. We needed to be home by Friday night. So, we had a choice. We could stay the night in Spokane, as planned, and hope that the freeway was open in the daytime and get home late Friday. Or, we could be crazy and try to stay in that window of time between the storms. Fortunately, my husband has a habit of staying up late.
I drove until we hit Spokane and Couer d'Alane around midnight, and the gas station guy said the storm stopped about an hour before. Patrick took over, and I had to just sit there, and pray.
The roads weren't too bad, for the first half of Idaho (the road is only 80 miles across), but by mile marker 50, it was starting to snow. We actually thought that the roads were dry, since the car was driving so well. But, it was actually still wet from the rain. Once the snow started, it got a little more scary. But, being almost 1am, there were very few drivers on the road. Most of the trucks had stopped for the night, and no one in their right mind would be out in this weather.
There were a few moments where I had to keep reminding my husband to slow down, or watch out, or something, but overall, he did fine. The car had no problem going through the snow. About 5 miles from the summit, and the Montana border, the commercial trucks were starting to have problems. There were a few points where trucks would just be stopped, in the middle of their lane, trying to get up the hill. The last 'chain up' area was so filled with trucks that there was no room for additional trucks to get in, so they were just lined up in the normal lanes of traffic.
The Montana side of the mountain was a little better, in that the snow got dryer and didn't cause as much ice. But it was a little worse, because it was downhill, which means that you go too fast. At some point, I had to just close my eyes, and pray that it would all work out (which it obviously did). It's the hardest part about being a passenger in a car.
The snow tapered off about a hour outside of Missoula, and I managed to fall asleep (it was past 2am at this point). Patrick said that there were no problems, when we stopped for gas. I asked if he wanted to try to get a room for the night, and pick up the drive tomorrow. He said no, let's just finish it. Oh, okay.
So, we kept going, leaving Missoula around 3:30am, and heading into the mountains. Its about 180 miles from Missoula to Great Falls on MT-200, which is a 2 lane highway through the mountains. It's usually one of the most beautiful drives, but since it was pitch black outside, we didn't get to see anything.
I fell asleep again, and woke up about 1/2 way through the drive. There was a little snow but not much. Patrick had gotten his second wind, and said he was doing fine. The snow started back up again, and the roads were pretty snowy. But the little car did just fine. As we pulled out of the mountains, there was a moment where the weather just stopped and it was suddenly clear. We could see the stars and there was no snow on the ground. I'm assuming that we just drove through the storm and came out on the other side.
We pulled into our driveway about a minute before Grandma brought the kids down to catch the bus (7:25am). Exhausted, but safe, we woke Ryan up and put him into his bed. Then, we fell into bed ourselves. Of course, Ryan slept the entire drive, so about 8:15, he walked back into our room and asked if he could watch a movie. Ugh, sure kid, anything you want. Zzzzzzzzz....
I have told my husband to remind me next time, do not, under any circumstances, plan on driving back home the same day as clinic. It's not possible, and we just can't do it. In this case, it all worked out, and there is snow planned for most of the weekend. Boy, am I glad I'm home and not driving right now!
Showing posts with label Snow Tires. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Snow Tires. Show all posts
Friday, December 7, 2012
Wednesday, December 7, 2011
December 7, 2011
Outside Temp: 16 F (the snow has stopped, for now.)
What I cooked today:
Patrick's Tomato Soup Stuff: He offered to cook tonight, which is just great. I had a bit of a headache, so it was really, really nice to not have to cook dinner. Of course, the dishes didn't get done, so I'll have to do them tomorrow morning. :)
Update:
The snow came in today, as we were sledding, which was awesome. It was about 25 and the snow started in flurries, so you could see different shapes and formations when it landed on your hand or something. So pretty! The snow stopped after a few hours, and I think it won't be back until around Sunday. I just hope it stays cool enough to keep it from melting, or else the kids will be ticked that they can't go sledding!
We talked with the people in Geyser about our snow tires for the van. We realized that as awesome as the snow tires are on the Aveo, we really can't legally fit all 6 of us in it. We need snow tires on the van. There was no snow on the main highway roads, but the roads in town were a little snowy, and the van kind of slid around. It was time. So, the tires have been ordered and we should get them sometime next week.
The guys at the place we are getting the tires have 2 really cute kittens. Ryan kept chasing them around the garage. I really, really wanted to bring them home with us, but we are trying to be strong. It didn't help when Lance said we could take them... :)
The kids brought home a flyer about a bake sale at the school. They are raising money for the Great Falls Women's Shelter at the YWCA, which I thought was kind of cool. Each class is donating baked goods on a different day, and all the money raised is going to the shelter. Of course, that means I need to make cookies, or brownies or cupcakes 3 times in the next week and a half. Fortunately, I have everything I need already here, so it shouldn't be a problem. I just need to remember to actually do it!
What I cooked today:
Patrick's Tomato Soup Stuff: He offered to cook tonight, which is just great. I had a bit of a headache, so it was really, really nice to not have to cook dinner. Of course, the dishes didn't get done, so I'll have to do them tomorrow morning. :)
Update:
The snow came in today, as we were sledding, which was awesome. It was about 25 and the snow started in flurries, so you could see different shapes and formations when it landed on your hand or something. So pretty! The snow stopped after a few hours, and I think it won't be back until around Sunday. I just hope it stays cool enough to keep it from melting, or else the kids will be ticked that they can't go sledding!
We talked with the people in Geyser about our snow tires for the van. We realized that as awesome as the snow tires are on the Aveo, we really can't legally fit all 6 of us in it. We need snow tires on the van. There was no snow on the main highway roads, but the roads in town were a little snowy, and the van kind of slid around. It was time. So, the tires have been ordered and we should get them sometime next week.
The guys at the place we are getting the tires have 2 really cute kittens. Ryan kept chasing them around the garage. I really, really wanted to bring them home with us, but we are trying to be strong. It didn't help when Lance said we could take them... :)
The kids brought home a flyer about a bake sale at the school. They are raising money for the Great Falls Women's Shelter at the YWCA, which I thought was kind of cool. Each class is donating baked goods on a different day, and all the money raised is going to the shelter. Of course, that means I need to make cookies, or brownies or cupcakes 3 times in the next week and a half. Fortunately, I have everything I need already here, so it shouldn't be a problem. I just need to remember to actually do it!
Sunday, December 4, 2011
December 4, 2011
Outside Temp: 3 F (yes, 3, like single digits... But still above zero, for now... )
What I cooked today:
Cream of Wheat: I had Allen shovel the front walkway and driveway this morning, so he got his choice of breakfast. Of everything out there, french toast, pancakes, eggs, etc, he picked cream of wheat. Ahh, nice and warm and cozy. Everyone inhaled their breakfast and went looking for seconds.
Take Home Pizza: Since we went into town for shopping today, the parents asked us to pick up a Papa Murphy Take Home pizza. You pick out your pizza in town and they make it and you bring it home and bake it. Since it takes 45 minutes to get home from town, any normal pizza would be frozen by the time you got home! This way, you get nice warm pizza, and all you have to do is cook it! :)
Update:
With Ryan being at the hospital all week, we were a little behind on our shopping. So, today we decided to have the kids stay with Grandma and Grandpa, while Patrick and I went into town.
The snow was falling lightly, and the roads were pretty slick, but Patrick's new snow tires (with the studs) were totally awesome! We had no problem driving the whole day, up to the parents place, into town, back home, etc. I can't imagine trying to drive in this snow without them!
In Sam's Club today, Patrick saw a 70" flat screen TV. Not only do I not have a wall big enough to house a 70" tv, but I can't imagine being spoiled enough to spend $2500 on a toy like that. Of course, he was quick to remind me that only 5-10 years ago, you couldn't even buy a TV that big, and if you could, it would be over $10,000. Wow, how the times they are a-changing. :)
The kids had no complaints about staying with Grandma and Grandpa, since they got to go sledding, and then movies with the grandparent's big TV. Our TV is only 32", so it's pretty small. And they have BlueRay and 3D and a whole mess of really cool things. We had to stay and watch the last 45 minutes of Indiana Jones (Raiders of the Lost Ark, for those who wanted to know), which was kind of cool. I haven't seen it in years, but it's still pretty awesome. Some great lines...
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What I cooked today:
Cream of Wheat: I had Allen shovel the front walkway and driveway this morning, so he got his choice of breakfast. Of everything out there, french toast, pancakes, eggs, etc, he picked cream of wheat. Ahh, nice and warm and cozy. Everyone inhaled their breakfast and went looking for seconds.
Take Home Pizza: Since we went into town for shopping today, the parents asked us to pick up a Papa Murphy Take Home pizza. You pick out your pizza in town and they make it and you bring it home and bake it. Since it takes 45 minutes to get home from town, any normal pizza would be frozen by the time you got home! This way, you get nice warm pizza, and all you have to do is cook it! :)
Update:
With Ryan being at the hospital all week, we were a little behind on our shopping. So, today we decided to have the kids stay with Grandma and Grandpa, while Patrick and I went into town.
The snow was falling lightly, and the roads were pretty slick, but Patrick's new snow tires (with the studs) were totally awesome! We had no problem driving the whole day, up to the parents place, into town, back home, etc. I can't imagine trying to drive in this snow without them!
In Sam's Club today, Patrick saw a 70" flat screen TV. Not only do I not have a wall big enough to house a 70" tv, but I can't imagine being spoiled enough to spend $2500 on a toy like that. Of course, he was quick to remind me that only 5-10 years ago, you couldn't even buy a TV that big, and if you could, it would be over $10,000. Wow, how the times they are a-changing. :)
The kids had no complaints about staying with Grandma and Grandpa, since they got to go sledding, and then movies with the grandparent's big TV. Our TV is only 32", so it's pretty small. And they have BlueRay and 3D and a whole mess of really cool things. We had to stay and watch the last 45 minutes of Indiana Jones (Raiders of the Lost Ark, for those who wanted to know), which was kind of cool. I haven't seen it in years, but it's still pretty awesome. Some great lines...
Thursday, November 17, 2011
November 17, 2011
Outside Temp: 24 F (and getting colder)
What I cooked today:
Angel Hair Pasta: So lazy today. I offered 'leftovers' to the kids, either spaghetti sauce or chili. They asked for spaghetti, without the sauce. I know, no protein, no dairy, nothing of much use, but it was easy and cheap and they were happy.
Update:
So, we dropped off the car to get snow tires today. This has been a long, drawn out discussion on 'All Season' vs. 'Snow Tires', and the snow tires won out. Then we had the long, drawn out discussion between the van and the Aveo. The Aveo won out. I think it won because it get's better gas milage and it's lighter, and the tires were about 30% cheaper. Of course, we can't fit our entire family in the Aveo, but who cares about little things like that.
We decided to get the tires from a place in Geyser, instead of Great Falls for a few different reasons. If I'm going to spend $500 on tires, I'd rather have the profit go to a local company rather than the 'big city'. And the guys in Geyser were so nice and friendly and they're going to install them for us, included in the price (the Great Falls place would have charged extra for installation). The guy at the Geyser place is also on the school board, so we'd already met, which was kind of cool.
There is a big storm scheduled for the next 2-3 days, so we figured we should drop the car off early, in case we couldn't get over to the store once the snow started falling.
I dropped Ryan off at school, and drove the 5 blocks across town to the Geyser Elevator (yes, the place that we are getting the tires from is actually in the old grain elevator). I chatted with Bruce for a few minutes, and gave him the keys. I almost took a picture of the cute little kittens that were running around the store. The first one I saw was sitting on top of the internet router next to his computer. All I could think about was the fur from the cat getting into the router, but I didn't say anything. Bruce said he would call tomorrow if the tires show up, and he would install them right away.
I then walked the 5 blocks back to school, which was actually kind of nice. I got to see the entire town of Geyser, so now I know where everything in the town is. And by everything, I mean: the post office, the cafe, the bar... hmmm, I think that's it. The walk was great and the weather was still pretty nice, although the wind had kicked up a couple notches. I think I was blown the last 2 blocks.
So, now you may be asking yourself, how was I planning on getting home from school? Why, the bus, of course!
Now, I haven't been on a school bus since the swim team at Napa High my senior year, which is going on almost 20 years now. And before the swim team, I had to take the bus to middle school, which scarred me for life. So, as I climbed aboard the bus, I felt a wave of nausea, and had to remind myself that I was an adult now, and no one was going to give me nasty looks if I tried to sit next to them.
I didn't need to worry. Katie, Ryan and I were, of course, the first ones on the bus. I settled Ryan into a seat and tried to clamp down on my anxiety. Then, two other kids came on board. Then the driver, and we were off. Yep, that's it.
We had 2 stops to make. The other kids lived on a ranch about 2-3 miles off the main highway, so we dropped them off first, then headed to our house. As we were coming into Raynesford, a deer ran across the road, so we all had to comment on him. Then the driver pulled right up to our how and we got off.
Yea! I survived the bus ride! Ryan even did okay. I think the time may come when I allow him to ride home with the other kids!
A few hours later, it was time to pick up the boys from practice. Fortunately, the storm hadn't really started yet, and the roads were still clear, so I could drive the van to pick them up. We were also picking up two other boys who live a few miles east of us. And, as we were getting loaded up, we realized that another player was trying to get ahold of his mom. She was working, so could we drop him off? Well of course, where do you want to go... The bar. So, I found myself dropping this kid off at the bar. I neglected to ask if his mom was working at the bar, or if she was just there. I'll ask her tomorrow, since I see her every day.
Things are a little different around here. :)
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What I cooked today:
Angel Hair Pasta: So lazy today. I offered 'leftovers' to the kids, either spaghetti sauce or chili. They asked for spaghetti, without the sauce. I know, no protein, no dairy, nothing of much use, but it was easy and cheap and they were happy.
Update:
So, we dropped off the car to get snow tires today. This has been a long, drawn out discussion on 'All Season' vs. 'Snow Tires', and the snow tires won out. Then we had the long, drawn out discussion between the van and the Aveo. The Aveo won out. I think it won because it get's better gas milage and it's lighter, and the tires were about 30% cheaper. Of course, we can't fit our entire family in the Aveo, but who cares about little things like that.
We decided to get the tires from a place in Geyser, instead of Great Falls for a few different reasons. If I'm going to spend $500 on tires, I'd rather have the profit go to a local company rather than the 'big city'. And the guys in Geyser were so nice and friendly and they're going to install them for us, included in the price (the Great Falls place would have charged extra for installation). The guy at the Geyser place is also on the school board, so we'd already met, which was kind of cool.
There is a big storm scheduled for the next 2-3 days, so we figured we should drop the car off early, in case we couldn't get over to the store once the snow started falling.
I dropped Ryan off at school, and drove the 5 blocks across town to the Geyser Elevator (yes, the place that we are getting the tires from is actually in the old grain elevator). I chatted with Bruce for a few minutes, and gave him the keys. I almost took a picture of the cute little kittens that were running around the store. The first one I saw was sitting on top of the internet router next to his computer. All I could think about was the fur from the cat getting into the router, but I didn't say anything. Bruce said he would call tomorrow if the tires show up, and he would install them right away.
I then walked the 5 blocks back to school, which was actually kind of nice. I got to see the entire town of Geyser, so now I know where everything in the town is. And by everything, I mean: the post office, the cafe, the bar... hmmm, I think that's it. The walk was great and the weather was still pretty nice, although the wind had kicked up a couple notches. I think I was blown the last 2 blocks.
So, now you may be asking yourself, how was I planning on getting home from school? Why, the bus, of course!
Now, I haven't been on a school bus since the swim team at Napa High my senior year, which is going on almost 20 years now. And before the swim team, I had to take the bus to middle school, which scarred me for life. So, as I climbed aboard the bus, I felt a wave of nausea, and had to remind myself that I was an adult now, and no one was going to give me nasty looks if I tried to sit next to them.
I didn't need to worry. Katie, Ryan and I were, of course, the first ones on the bus. I settled Ryan into a seat and tried to clamp down on my anxiety. Then, two other kids came on board. Then the driver, and we were off. Yep, that's it.
We had 2 stops to make. The other kids lived on a ranch about 2-3 miles off the main highway, so we dropped them off first, then headed to our house. As we were coming into Raynesford, a deer ran across the road, so we all had to comment on him. Then the driver pulled right up to our how and we got off.
Yea! I survived the bus ride! Ryan even did okay. I think the time may come when I allow him to ride home with the other kids!
A few hours later, it was time to pick up the boys from practice. Fortunately, the storm hadn't really started yet, and the roads were still clear, so I could drive the van to pick them up. We were also picking up two other boys who live a few miles east of us. And, as we were getting loaded up, we realized that another player was trying to get ahold of his mom. She was working, so could we drop him off? Well of course, where do you want to go... The bar. So, I found myself dropping this kid off at the bar. I neglected to ask if his mom was working at the bar, or if she was just there. I'll ask her tomorrow, since I see her every day.
Things are a little different around here. :)
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