Mountain Traffic...

5:36 pm - 42 degrees - raining...

You would think that living up in the mountains we wouldn't have a lot of traffic or any traffic issues.  Well there is and we do.

On nice days there are people up here who just want to drive around in the mountains, or some are heading to a trail head to go hiking.  With all this rain we've been having lately, there are a lot of kayakers who are braving the swollen river - apparently its a great class four run. In the fall there are a lot of hunters out and about scouting getting ready for hunting season and even more during hunting season.  

Currently its the loggers who we're seeing the most of.  There is quite a lot of land around us that is owned by a large timber company and there is always something going on, so we run into loggers rigs, company rigs, equipment trucks, log trucks, semi's bringing in large equipment, etc. 

They were parked there to let everyone know to be extra cautious
on the blind corners, a lot of dump truck traffic on the that day.

Normally all the traffic isn't really a big deal, but there is one sharp hairpin corner on the gravel road to our house where accidents regularly occur.  And this morning the county road struck again...   

The lowboy trailer was too long and didn't quite make the corner.  They had to unhitch the trailer from the semi and unload the bulldozer.  They used the bulldozer to pull the trailer back onto the road.  After getting the trailer straightened out, they hooked the trailer back up to the semi and off it went, with the bulldozer following at its own leisurely pace.

 

It's not the first time this has happened {click here} and it definitely won't be the last time.

The Ups And Downs Of Life...

11:32 am - 42 degrees - raining, foggy...

I haven’t posted in just over a month and there’s a pretty good reason for that...

On Valentine’s Day, our computer crashed, or rather the hard drive did.  We lost all our photos, videos and most of everything else since I only had a very small portion of it backed up.  I was pretty upset.  It was not a good day.  But lessons were learned.

I was also in the middle of our Girl Scout cookie season – yes I’m a Girl Scout troop leader to 25 amazing girls.  Cookie season is already an insane whirlwind, and without a computer it just made it that much more interesting... not it a good way.

2 of the 5 vehicles we needed to haul our troop's 375 cases of cookies.

Caitlyn out working a cookie booth.  It was cold out!

And that whirlwind of craziness was topped off with snow, snow, a little bit of rain, and oh yeah, more snow. 

 

Clearing off the road so we can get through.

Snow and fog.

  

We always keep a handsaw in our rigs
so we can clear the road when needed.

Breaking trail on the county road as we head down the mountain.
Have to get the kids to school some way.

Because we have gotten so much snow this winter, Tony has spent a lot of time in the tractor blowing off the driveway and part of the county road.  Because he does this, we haven't had any real problems getting on and off the mountain.

Blowing off the county road...

...until we met the county plow guy!

Last Monday, while we were all in town, we got 16" of new snow.  So when we tried to get home, we got stuck on the last tight corner on the driveway... well, I got stuck, then Tony got stuck trying to get me out.  

Tony was going to try towing me up, but then he got stuck.

Tony and Caitlyn hiked home, while Jack and I stayed with the rigs and busted into a box of Girl Scout cookies (what else are you going to do when you're stuck in the snow?).  

I managed to rock my rig back and forth enough to get unstuck, before Tony came back with the tractor and towed his truck up while Jack steered - he didn't want to put his chains on.  I don't blame him, I don't like putting my chains on either, they're a pain!  In fact, in order for me to put chains on, I have to be completely stuck-stuck and unable to move at all. 

The last seven miles of our drive home that night only took about 2 hours or so, but we finally made it home.  And Tony once again jumped into the tractor to go blow off the driveway.

Snowy sunset.

Fast forward to today, and we once again have a working computer, I just finish the final cookie season reports (YEA!!!), the last several days of rain has helped to melt out the driveway and life is calming down again... and just in time for the next round of heavy snowfall which is due to start tomorrow.

I'm ready to be snowed in again.  No winter cabin fever here!  Guess where I'm going to be... yup, curled up on the couch with a book!  

Spotted a used book sale the other morning while
running errands and I got all this for $6.50!

Driving Home - In Hyperspeed...

9:06 am - 25 degrees - 32+ mph wind gusts...

Our area was hit hard this month when about a foot of snow fell on the metro area in a 24 hour period - that usually only happens about once a decade.  The snow moved out and the colder air moved in and kept the winter scenery around.  Schools, businesses and most activity in the area was either halted by the snow or severely reduced as a white blanket draped the metro area and surrounding communities.

Most commuters weren’t prepared for the snow storm causing abandoned vehicles and a lot of accidents.  A week later and freeways are clear, main roads still have icy patches and side roads are covered in packed snow.

With all this crazy weather that we have been getting lately, several of our friends have made videos of portions of their commute.  They wanted to see what our commute home was like so here it is...

A Simple Trip To Town...

5:33 pm - 14 degrees - windy...

...isn’t so simple – especially in the winter time. 

When we have a lot of snow, each trip to town has to be planned out.  Extra time is needed to unbury, scrape off, and warm up the rig and extra time is needed to slowly (and hopefully safely) make our way down the mountain.

During the winter months, the drive down the curvy mountain road (that’s skirting the edge in numerous areas with no guard rail or anything to stop the rig from going over) can be extremely nerve wracking, especially when you are supposed to be driving straight and all of a sudden your rig slips sideways due to ice or super slushy snow, sliding towards that 100+ foot drop-off.  At least there is currently a built-up wall of snow on the edge of the cliff that gives me a small false sense of security.

Besides the nerve wracking drive itself, there is always the very real possibility of getting stuck (it's happened a few times).  So when there is snow on the ground (regardless if it’s an inch or a foot), before I ever head out, I always make sure that I have a snow shovel, tire chains, extra food, blankets, snow shoes, and snow gear for everyone in the car.  This year I even added a few travel games to help the kids beat the boredom of being stuck.  It’s always better to be safe than sorry.

This mornings adventure took us just over 2 hours to make the 30 minute drive to school.

  

The wind was blowing so hard, the snow was blowing back into the road.

Clearing snow drifts on the county road.

Over the past several days it has been very windy causing a lot of snow drifts to form on the road.  After last night's 62+ mph wind gusts (all night long and into the morning) Tony jumped in the tractor and slowly started clearing the snow drifts on the county road as we followed behind for a few miles.

Due to the extreme wind, in addition to the big snow drifts, there were also a lot of downed branches and trees.

Some of the smaller trees and branches the kids and I were able to move.

Some were too big for us, but thankfully two wonderful loggers were able to clear the road for us!

Our trip came to another halt with this downed tree that also took some lines with it.
But the two wonderful loggers once again showed up and cleared this one also!

When we finally do make it off the mountain and into town, I try to have all my errands done as quickly as possible so I have time to make it back up the mountain with plenty of daylight to spare; just in case we get stuck or have to put chains on.

New Generator...

5:37 pm - 25 degrees - overcast, windy...

This past weekend our generator died.  So we had to run out and buy a new one before the next winter storm hit.  We spent all day shopping and ended up buying a Champion 7500/9375 Duel Fuel generator we picked up at Cabelas. 

Tony was looking at a couple others online, but everything he liked had to be ordered.  Since we were in between storms, we had to pick something out that we could take home with us.

Less than two miles from home, after putting ice breaker chains on the front tires, the rear end almost slid over the edge.  So he had to put another set of ice breaker chains on the rear tires as well.  Whew, that was a close call.

Finally made it home, took the generator out of the box, then had to push/slid/carry it over to the power house so Tony could hook it all up and we could have power again.

So far, we have run the generator on propane and gasoline and it's working great!

Freezing Rain...

9:56 am - 38 degrees - raining...

We had several days of freezing rain which left behind a thick layer of ice giving everything a beautiful semi-gloss finish.  

Although it was beautiful, it was horrible to drive in.  After the the county road and our driveway had been blown and plowed, we were left with a thick ice layer that would not go away.

We were having to chain up and drive in 4-low, 1st gear every time we traversed the super slick road and driveway.  After a day and a half of chaining up my rig to take the kids to school and go pick them up, I was able to put on and take off my chains in 5 minutes!  I think that's pretty good.

Nothing would break through that thick ice layer so we were stuck with waiting until we had a few days of warmer weather.  Tony was then able to break up the ice a bit and the above freezing temperatures and rain has done the rest.

We are now left the ugly snow...  the snow that has been plowed, blown and shoved that has dirt, mud, gravel, and rock mixed in.  

At least the driveway and road are finally melting out though!  It has now been two days since I have had to use chains.  We're still having to use 4-wheel drive in a few spots on the driveway, but after the rainfall today, we may be back to regular driving conditions!   

County Road Strikes Again...

2:30 pm - 83 degrees - blue sky...

Yesterday Tony was attempting to come down the mountain and go to town when he ran into a road block.  There is one sharp hairpin corner on the gravel logging road to our house where accidents regularly occur.  It's not the first time and it won't be the last time where this happens...

Once help showed up, it didn't take them long to get the flatbed pulled out and the culvert pieces reloaded.

Pros and Cons of Mountain Living...

12:05 pm - 84 degrees - hot and windy...

A large amount of literature exists that puts great emphasis on the alluring qualities of the mountain experience, and as a result the more “negative” aspects are often overlooked.  Most everything you do in daily life will naturally have some negative features associated with it, and life in these mystical hills is no exception.

Clear streams from every direction; clean, fresh mountain air; majestic valleys filled with rich fir trees; and a host of recreational activities through the summer and winter.  This is likely the picture many of you paint in your minds when you think of the mountains, but what about the negative?  Is there any?

 

In our opinion there are two – the really crazy weather and the gravel county road.

Winds in the mountains are unlike anything we have ever experienced.  To say that the trees dance in the wind is an understatement.  The trees really do flex and sway from the bottom up to the tips.  You would be amazed to see how far a tree can sway.  It takes a while to become accustomed to the high winds, with gusts over 60 mph.  We’ve gotten used to it now.  It’s not such a negative anymore...until you add rain to the mix.

Rain really is a good, it keeps everything lush and green and I love the sound of the rain on the metal roof.  Rain turns into a negative when you’re trying to unload a car full of kids and groceries and you get absolutely soaked to the bone in the process.  Since the winds like to swirl around the house, the rain comes from every possible direction.  After the rain, comes the fog; fog so thick that you cannot see anything out the windows but white mist.  Trying to drive the curvy, narrow mountain roads when you cannot see past the hood of your car can be a bit unnerving.

 

And of course we cannot forget the snow...which is usually on the ground for at least six months of the year.  Whether it’s a lot or a little, you will see snow.  Some years we have just a few inches (like 10-36 inches), and other years we have anywhere from 2-10 feet.  Unless you make plans far in advance of the snowfall, you will be repeatedly inconvenienced by the snow storms.  If you have a steep gravel driveway, as we do, you will be snowed in several times a season (which can be fun sometimes).  You can plow or blow gravel, but you lose gravel with each pass.  The snowfall is beautiful, treacherous, and inspiring.

Overall the weather isn’t sooo bad, mainly because we have gotten used to it. 

The county road on the other hand is a negative year round.  We drive 7 miles (one way) on a gravel/rock/dirt county road that is poorly (in some areas not at all) maintained.  Most days I drive this road several times – that’s 28 miles or more on a bad gravel road a day.  You can probably tell this is a sore subject with me and it is!  It is killing our rigs {click here} and putting a huge dent in our wallets – money that should be going towards the construction of our house.  

I don’t mind gravel roads, really I don’t.  I have even gotten used to swerving from side to side to avoid the numerous boulders sticking out of the road, the too-many–to-count tire swallowing potholes, or the metal culvert that is being unearthed.  I have gotten so used to it that it has become normal.  I am only reminded of it when we have people up and they comment on the horrible road conditions... or when my rig breaks and I almost go off the edge of the narrow road and down the steep hillside (which is what happened yesterday morning).

 

Here are just a few obstacles...

That darn county road is slowly (or maybe not so slowly) killing our rigs.  Yesterday morning I was on my down the mountain heading to take the kids to school, I was coming around a corner heading into another corner when my brakes and steering locked up.  This caused me to almost go off the edge of the road and down the very steep hillside, but somehow I managed to land in the ditch instead.  Yes, I had to sit there for a few minutes and calm down – it scared me so bad that I was in tears.  There is no cell coverage in that area, so I started the car just to see if I could make it the rest of the way down the mountain or if I had to sit there and wait for someone to come by and rescue me.  Somehow the kids and I made it down the mountain where I was able to call Tony, and somehow he was able to understand what I was trying to say in between sobs.  Handsome, handy husband to the rescue!  I love that man!!!

Over $400 dollars later (that was supposed to be a bathroom cabinet) my rig is back up and running. 

 

 

This is not normal wear and tear maintenance; this is flat out abuse from the poorly maintained county road.  Just one more speed bump in our off-grid mountain life...