Heidi: Made it there, but barely

---

Thank Goodness is all I can say; WE MADE IT!!!

And as the title says, it was iffy there for a while...........

The 100 mile drive took us 3.5 hours when it only should have taken us 1.5. And from the stories I have heard from Cindy's friends, it could have taken all day. So, on the one hand we were lucky, but on the other.........


The day started out ok, we took our time getting ready cause we knew Snoqualmie Pass would be bad and wanted to go when it might be better. We left around 10am and the roads were bad in Ellensburg already. And the visibility was TERRIBLE. I didn't know if the road was going to go straight, turn or anything. But I knew it was only 100 miles; I could handle it. Then all of a sudden it was beautiful. We climbed out of the fog and the sun was shining, there was snow all around. It was absolutely breathtaking.

After about 25 miles all the fun started. We saw truck after truck pulled over putting on chains. There was snow and slush on the roads and in spots it was quite icy. The visibility was getting worse again and I was going slow. We kept commenting on the funny noise that the road was making?.....people were giving us dirty looks. Finally one generous soul rolled down his window and told us we had a FLAT TIRE. What the HELL. WE of course panic......Cindy looks out and sees that it is totally FLAT. We have no where to go, we can't pull over. I put the hazards on and go as slow as I can, looking for any place to pull over. The shoulder is snow covered and I am not going to stop in the middle of the freeway if I can help it. Finally we see an exit sign for 1 mile further. We know we aren't going to find anything, but at least we will be off the road. We get off and there is NOTHING around, just snow and a bridge. We get out and I get ready to start changing the tire; I am pulling out my ski pants, jacket and Cindy starts unloading the trunk, since the spare is underneath. Just then, some cross country skiers came by and a very very nice guy asked if we needed help. Cindy said yes, and he offered to change the tire. We are so glad that he changed the tire for us and we never even got his name. We are so very grateful, he didn't have to stop, but he did. It certainly was quicker than if we had muddled through. I know how to change a tire; but I know it would have taken us forever, the lug nuts were very hard to get off, etc.

Then we get the spare on (thank god it is a full size spare) and it is low......we think it will get us to the next gas station which is 32 miles away. And we find out that we haven't even gotten to the pass yet. It is also started to snow again. We get back on the road and slowly make our way even further up. The rest is quite a blur, but I can tell you that once you get to Snoqualmie Pass, and go down the other side it is quite a steep grade down. It was the worst downslope we had the whole trip.

Of course once we got all the way down off the pass there was no snow at all and it was quite warm. It also started to rain on the way into Seattle.

BUT WE MADE IT. We are currently watching Eurotrip and having a beer on Cindy's Aerobed. Thanks Cindy for insisting on taking your TV and Dvd player.

Cindy's post to follow and pictures too!!!!

---

Comments

[Chuck]

proud
Well girls you made, I had my doubts though I thought I would have to come rescue you guys, Very proud of you girls. Well Cindy I will miss you I hope to see you soon becarefull out there. and Heidi I will see you when you get home Yes and I do miss you too very much !!!!!! now you guys can say yes, I have drove cross country. What a experiance that alot of people will never get to do. Look at the memories you to have shared through your lifes and this one just adds to it (your bound as sisiters and a family) you will never forget !!!!! see ya soon . your brother-and law and husband Chuck