We spent five days at the beach, starting the 23rd and ending with our return today. Our original plan was to drive to the beach in the late afternoon on the 24th, but the snowstorms lined up such that we had to make the trip when the weather allowed.
All the highways to the Oregon Coast were closed on the 21st and 22nd. They opened for the 23rd, but with the threat that they'd close again on the 24th.
So we darted for the beach at around 7pm. The thinking was that we'd let the roads get as passable as possible, then scamper over before the roads could get icy again. The tactic worked. We had to use chains almost 70 miles, but we got through uneventfully.
Before we left, though, we had to make a quick trip to WL May Appliance Parts to get a part for the fridge in our garage. Turns out that some refrigerators get all 'backwards' in their operation when the room ambient is actually colder than the inside target temp. Our fridge is one of those; it stayed in the defrost cycle once the temperatures go below freezing, resulting in defrosted food during a blizzard. Imagine! It's easily fixed, however, with a 'garage kit.' The garage kit is just a resistance heater that wraps around the defrost timer. With that little bit of heat, the fridge snaps back to proper operation again.
The highways weren't closed on the 24th afterall, but they had accidents and traffic delays throughout the day. Others who drove to the beach on Christmas Eve reported that it was a long, miserable trip.
So the Typhoon got to the beach for Christmas. Aunt P, however, was completely snowed in. She was without power, too. Those conditions left her farm animals too exposed for her to make the trip to the beach for Christmas. So it was five days with the six of us all getting along nicely in a small beach house in the December rain.
Back in Portland, things warmed up and snow started melting. By the time we got home this afternoon, our two foot accumulation was already gone. Since I'd shoveled the sidewalk before we left, ours was already clear when we returned. No puddles or flooding in the back yard; no leak in the basement; no roof failures; no frozen pipes; no backed-up sewer lines; no broken refrigerator... nothing. Just a well-running house, warm and dry.
Grandma and Grandpa put on a fine show. The tree was lovely. The food was great. We played LOTS of games. Board games. Wii games. Cribbage. We read a lot of books, too. Interestingly, there were lots of board games and books under that tree on Christmas morning!
Santa brought M a ballet barre. He brought R a pommelhorse mushroom, too. Great tools for them to work with.
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