Snow Canyon

Finally! The much anticipated tale of the weekend with my parents! I'm sure that all of my readers (all six of you - remember, one of Melissa's friends is reading now) have been waiting with bated breath. You've lived your lives in a haze of anticipation. You've worn out the refresh button on your computer. Okay. Maybe that's taking it a bit far. Regardless...here it is. In all it's frozen details. (Far be it from me to stint on the details.)

With rain and snow in the forecast, we were a little concerned with making the trek in the first place. After studying the weather forecast, we left during a dry spell Friday afternoon and, after a brief rain/hail storm, drove to Bakersfield with nothing more eventful than the occasional cow to mark the trip.

Side note: My mom swears the trip only takes an hour and a half. She's either going 90 or starting to get senile.

When we showed up at the campus, we were expecting to get just meet Mom and get on the road. We were not expecting the news that the 58 - the only way to get to my parents' - was closed due to snow and a two-semi truck accident. We waited around the campus for an hour, checking the CHP website for updates. Finally, we decided to go for it, see how far we could get and, if worse comes to worse, turn around.

We hit it just right. We were behind the snowplow and CHP escort. (Hmmm...I could get used to a police escort.) It was a bit slow, but we were just glad we didn't have to turn around.

Driving over the snowy expanse of dirt road leading to my parents' home wasn't as difficult as we'd first thought. We arrived with snow falling around up and the surrounding hillsides blanketed with white. Such a dramatic difference from the previous summer!

Side note: This picture was taken the next morning. We got to the house too late to take pictures.

The next morning, we awoke to a sunny, snowy day. After breakfast, we bundled up and went outside. We were hoping to make a snowman, but the snow was too powdery, crumbling like wet sand in our hands. Instead we went on a snow hike! (Can you just feel the joy in that last sentence? Or is it sarcasm? So hard to tell...)

I had a bit of trouble half-way through and had to sit down for a few minutes. Yes. I know I'm out of shape, but in my defence, a) I'm pregnant, b) we were pretty high up in elevation, c) we were walking cross country in the snow, and d) everyone was trying to set land speed records. Dad wouldn't let Chad go faster than him (it's a man thing), so he set a pretty brisk pace to begin with.

Side note: After having four daughters you'd think Dad would have learned a bit of sensitivity - especially in regards to weight. When I had to sit down Dad admonished me that I was out of shape and need to exercise more. Gee, Dad. Thanks.

After the hike, we went back to the house for lunch. By this time the snow had melted enough that we were able to build a snowman...err...snowwoman. She was lovely. I was especially proud of Joseph for finding arms and myself for finding a smiling mouth.

Chad was getting cabin fever (already) so he decided to make a run into town on the pretense of picking up some Diet Coke. (The man so does not need more caffeine.) While he was gone, Joseph napped, Mom and I chatted and what else.....Oh yes. The Book Bet began.

We were starting to get worried when Chad still wasn't back after two hours. Mom warned me that he probably had to stand in insane lines at the only grocery store. Sure enough, when he got back he had tales of shopping line madness. Well, actually, being Chad, he just said, "There were some really long lines" and left it at that.

He did end up getting stuck at the bottom of my parents' drive on the return trip. Mom would have me build up that bit of the story, but honestly, he got stuck and Dad pulled him out. In deference to Mom's love of a good story, here's a picture.

Overall, it was a pretty relaxing weekend spent watching movies, reading and talking. When we left Sunday morning, most of the snow had melted. We drove down the mountainside, sliding on mud and skidding down hills. When we take Joseph to Grandmother's House we truly go over the river and through the woods. He loves it.