Freak January Snow, Pretty, but damaging….

Well, we had a weird bit of weather here.  For the first time in the two years I’ve lived here on Sauvie Island, this is the first time we’ve ever gotten snow. 

The biggest irony is, when I left work that evening, which was at a higher elevation, there was only rain there, but by the time I got home to the island, two inches of snow had already fallen.

I thought it was rather beautiful, a nice change from the never ending pattern of grey and brown that is Oregon nine months out of the year.

Since I still had my Christmas lights up, I turned them back on again to snap a few snow pictures.

I used my tripod and an extended exposure for all of the pictures, absolutely no flash was used at all. 

By the time I was done, the snow had stopped and I thought, “well looks like we’re good for the night.”

I, like several other people, got a little caught off guard.

My patio room, the next morning….

I got off cheapest, my patio room only cost me a $100 to replace, however, eight different rigs in the park had their rather bigger and more expensive permanently mounted awnings collapse under the snow load that night.

Apparently, some time after I went to bed, the sky opened up and dumped roughly six inches of “Colorado Concrete” on us, that nice extra wet and heavy stuff. 

Several people got trapped in their RVs for a while as their awnings collapsed down against their doors.   I ended up having to mark off from work that day to both replace my patio room before the rapid melt off and oncoming rain that was in the forecast hit, as well as help neighbors get their awnings up enough to get their doors open.

My love of snow has been somewhat tamped down after this, next time, I’ll remember to get up once an hour to sweep the snow off the patio room roof with a broom.

Northwest Campers, Hoodstock Jamboree, Part 6—Circling Mt. Hood and a last goodbye in Sandy

Morning crept up quietly on us the next day and I surprised myself by actually being the first person up. A quick, hot breakfast was consumed and I began the work of loading back up any gear I’d gotten out the night before.

By the time I had the camper pretty much ready to go, the others had awoken and it was decide that while they took care of their morning needs and readied for departure, I would make a quick drive in to Parkdale and refuel, my tank being low enough that I didn’t want to risk trying to go over over Highway 35 without a mostly full tank.

$77 dollars in fuel later, I reunited with the group at the park and we set off to try and recreate a photo from an old Winnebago brochure that was shot on Mt. Hood many many years ago.

The drive up started with the wonderful and dry weather we’d been enjoying in Odell as we climbed up Highway 35, stopping part way for a traffic light on a section that was down to one lane for repairs.

It quickly turned into light blowing snow and sleet as we climbed higher and higher as we skirted around the base of Mt. Hood.

Near Government Camp, we pulled off at a Sno-Park to shoot the wanted Winnebago photo, but clouds obscured Mt. Hood from this side and the wind blew mercilessly.

Moby was not enthused with his very brief walk outside. We didn’t stay long on the mountain before it was decided to descend down to a lower elevation beneath the snow level to stop for lunch.

We stopped at a small convenience store, somewhere near Marmot or Rhododendron and had lunch, I joined Les and Sophie for some rather delicious salad and cheese before we all hit the road and went our separate ways in Sandy, Oregon.

Moby and I journeyed north again for a short while from the Highway 26 to Wood Village where we got back in Interstate 84 and drove towards home. The weather was with us and were able to unload the camper back into its site and get settled back in before the rainy weather returned once more.

First snow of the year

Well, the first snow of the year came last night, and with it a massive arctic front that quickly turned that little dusting of snow to ice.









Much to my dismay, I discovered that the zipper on the screen room closest to the deck had frozen solid, making it a necessity to go around to the front to enter whenever I wanted to grab something out of one of the cabinets or the chest freezer on the deck.

Ended up driving the truck in to work today, unlike the main highways and city streets, the little two-laner roads on the island don't usually get plowed or de-iced, or even graveled when the snow shows up, and the big off-road M+S tires and four wheel drive on the truck is always a better option than playing slip-n-slide with the Ford on icy roads!

Snow Pictures from Oregon's Incliment Weather (December 15th, 2008)

Well, I think this is the coldest the camper's ever experienced in my ownership, its definitely far colder than the time when I went camping with INSAYN up at Diamond Lake a few years go.

Here's some pictures from this past Sunday Morning, going through the day and to this morning.

Morning of Sunday, snow's just started....



And then by the evening.....




And by the next morning.....




Made the mistake of leaving that spare bayonet coupler on top of the jack... It's quite frozen there now...

These were taken while I was out and about Christmas Shopping. The Triangle Brand M+S Tires I bought are earning every penny of their worth so far, haven't spun a tire yet in 4 Hi and I've up hill and down hill and on patches of ice where I was watching cars slide sideways while waiting for the light.





This is the road I drive down on my way out to the main highway to work.



Looking back at the hills that lay all around me...