The Titanic thought IT had problems! We spent 3 days in Bellevue Washington on our way back south to visit with family. The first day, Tuesday, was a short travel day (mileage wise that is) from Orcas Island to Bellevue. We drove 5 miles to the ferry landing, spent 2 hours in line, drove 1 minute onto the ferry, sailed for 1 hour, drove 15 miles to Costco Gas, then added another 75 miles to get to Bellevue. Setup was a little chilly, but we got ‘er done. Wednesday we had a little snow in the morning, just enough to create an art deco Tiffany lamp atop the utility pedestal in our camping spot.

Our Tiffany Power Pedestal

So we got ourselves ready and drove to Julie and Glenn’s for dinner down in Kent. The forecast was for “some scattered snow showers”, but the weatherman had been wrong so many times we didn’t pay any attention. Besides, what’s a little snow shower when you have a big truck with big gnarly tires?

Big Gnarly Frozen Truck

Just before dinner we noticed a few small flakes start to wander down, and by the time we were eating they were getting really big and piling up. It was quite pretty, the kind of stuff that makes for great postcards. We visited for a while (also waiting for our laundry to finish) but eventually the time came to head for the barn. Now, Julie and Glenn neighborhood is in a small “hollow” at the top of a large hill, so you go up and then down to get there. Actually, you have to go up and then down a couple of times to get there. So, of course you have to go up and then down to get out. This was no issue getting there, but by the time we left there was about 4 inches of snow on the ground. We had great confidence in the truck, and the big gnarly tires. On our third try to get up the hill on their street, that confidence was wearing noticeably thin. And this was just the TINY hill we needed to climb in order to get the BIG hill. Luckily there was a very long flat stretch that allowed us to get up a good head of steam, and we slipped and spun our way to the top of that one as well. It was all relatively smooth sailing from there, although it did take us a little over an hour to go less than 20 miles. We arrived home safe (obviously), and it kept snowing, adding another 5 inches during the night.

It don't melt where the sun don't shine

Thursday dawned clear but cold. Clear is good because the sun melts the snow on the roads quickly. Cold is not because it freezes the stuff the sun doesn’t reach. So let’s get back to the Titanic part (I know you are dying to hear). On Friday we were scheduled to transit to McMinnville Oregon. From the INSIDE of the rig, everything looked dandy. Sunny, clear, roads plowed and looking dry. So let’s get ready and go! At 9AM I started the prep work outside to pack up, only to discover that the snow banks on the top of our slide-out rooms were really icebergs, and they had to be removed before folding up the rig. 2 hours later, me shoveling and chipping from the outside (has anyone seen The Deadliest Catch on The Discovery Channel where they crack the ice off of the boat with sledge hammers?), and Wendy using a spatula to remove the parts that managed to slip inside. So here we are chipping our rig out of an iceberg, or thawing it with a heat gun, and freezing in the process.

Melting open hatches with my new heat gun

But we got ‘er done (again) and hit the road. After that it was smooth sailing, and we arrived in McMinnville safely (and grungy from the road melt) hoping that the next 3 days would bring a nice big thaw and maybe even a little rain to rinse the rig down. Stay tuned as we migrate south in search of warm weather!

Here’s Tippy!