What about Colorado??

Soooooooooooooooooooooooooo, as the title says, this is something about Colorado, right? Not exactly....

The northern United States has been hit hard by recent winter storms. I can definitely say, that I have never seen anything like this in the lower lying areas of Oregon.

So, Tuesday night I got my chains on. Wednesday we had enough rain to melt away most of the snow. Thursday and Friday I was off work, so I stayed home. Glad I did, because it was nice. Cold as uh, yea, but still decent. Saturday morning was a mess. 2 to 3 inches of snow had fallen over night, the roads were very slick, and I passed a couple of accidents on the way to work. That just made me more twitchy.

By the time I left work Saturday night, the entire city of Portland, and outlying areas were buried under a minimum of 6 inches of snow. Not freezing rain. Not itty bitty flakes. But full on, golf ball sized flakes of snow. Because of the winds, and the way I parked, my car was surrounded by a three foot deep snow drift. Getting in and out was a challenge. Not to mention getting the foot of snow on the top of my car off without a scraper. *sigh* We got about a foot and a half at my apartment.

This morning was nuts. We received more snow, and a touch of freezing rain over night, so my car was covered in a sheet of ice on top of 2-3 inches of snow. I had to beat on my car to break the ice, and then brush it all away. It took me almost an hour and a half to clean it off enough just to legally drive it(need to be able to use at least two of the three mirrors). Glad I didn't take the chains off.

I got to work, two of my agents in tow, and took some pictures of the parking lot before they plowed it.

Because of the extreme conditions, the city basically shut down. Told ya it would. Public transit had delays of several HOURS, that's only if it was running in the area at all. Stores closed yesterday, and did not open back up today. Our client, understanding the extreme conditions, lets us close early today too. The entire contract was able to leave. So at 11:00, one of my co-workers and I, busted butt to get everyone out before the next batch of freezing rain hit.

I had an agent that needed a ride, so I offered, and instead my co-worker, my agent, and I went out to lunch. While I'm not comfortable driving in the snow, the restaurant was on the way, so no big deal. We stopped for gas along the way, and I was shocked that the attendant didn't have gloves on. So I offered him my extra pair. He was really surprised, but didn't hesitate to accept. Guessing his fingers were as cold as they looked. He wished me a Merry Christmas, thanked me several times, and I was on my way.

We had a fun lunch, cocoa and pancakes, then decided to walk across the parking lot to Safeway for some necessities. Freezing rain mixed with snow falling from above, the parking lot, yes parking lot, actually looked kinda pretty.

Milk, eggs, and batteries, and we were on our way.

Walking back to our cars through a semi, but not so semi-empty parking lot, some idiot in a yellow mustang tries to do doughnuts in the snow, and wait for it..... wait for it..... Got high-centered on a snow/ice drift that was covering a median, and was just spinning his back wheels in the air. I don't typically encourage pointing and laughing, but I really couldn't help it. Here I was worried about wrecking my car, and some idiot in the same kind of car is purposely trying to. *shrug* Not my car insurance.

Several choice comments later, we were walking again. Moron, f'n moron, and me: "he'll be a dead moron if he hits my car....." Some people are just missing the necessary brain-cells to function in society. Too bad too, because some kid's dad is about to be without a car.

Anyway, beat the newly formed layer of ice off my car, and headed off to take my agent home. The snow got worse on the way back from dropping him off. Near white-out conditions.

Got home, took some pictures of the snow. Look, it's Lizzie's first experience with snow, last night:

I don't think she learned. Here's her second experience tonight.

Step, step, what the?! Screeching halt, and book-it back into the apartment. I giggled. I do wish they lasted a bit longer, so I could get video.... I tried tonight, but she was in a BIG hurry to get back inside. heehee.

The squirrel cave---- A bunch of squirrels built a nest, that is now holding a 1 foot deep chunk of snow/ice.

Waiting for the trees to cave in....

Ah, what a weekend................