The Long Snowy Weekend

Salem Keizer School District is known for not cancelling school, but Thursday morning we woke up to a light dusting of snow... and school cancelled.  I had a bunch of paperwork to finish up at Judson and since the roads were still relatively clear I decided to go in for a few hours. Fred talked me into driving him to school at Chemeketa Community College, but when we got there we found the parking lot empty and the campus closed. It was a pretty drive though, the small dry flakes were blowing all over the road creating beautiful whispy spirals.

Heading back to south Salem I talked Freddie into helping in my classroom for a few hours.  So I took the guys to Judson where we all worked on various tasks until hunger drove us home.  We had a good lunch and watched the snow fall. Slowly at first but picking up day.

Friday school was cancelled to nobody's surprise. After a cheesy egg breakfast (for those who are lucky enough to eat eggs and cheese) Ru and I walked to the store dragging our sled behind.  I was out of fresh veggies and as the snow continued to fall, and an ice storm on the horizon, I was worried they would close the store and I would be without my swiss chard.  Ok not that worried, but it was fun to go for a walk in the snow.

We got some chard, some chips, and stopped at Redbox for Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs 2. We didn't watch it though, after lunch we watched more snow fall and got ready to do some sledding. Fred on the other hand wasn't eating, he went to meet a potential buyer for my convertible... yes in a snowstorm. When he came back with cash in hand asking me for my extra key I was gobsmacked. Still am.

The man who can sell a convertible in a snowstorm

We stashed the cash, put on our winter gear, and headed up the street.  About 8 blocks from us is a great hill, with a side street with very little traffic.  We arrived to find a crowd gathered already taking turns going down. Unfortunately these people were unorganized (I declined to say dumber than rocks) and kept walking right up the middle of the road, then going down the middle of the road, and it was like a bowling alley of kids and their less than responsible parents.

On our way to go sledding

About to be snowballed

Waiting for my turn

We arrived home just after dark, and watched more snow fall.  When Ru got up on Saturday he measured over 9 inches of snow. After some pancake we went out and shoveled the patio. Heavy flakes were falling on us, and by the time we finished shoveling it was all white again. I suggested to Fred that we move the TV upstairs so we could watch the winter olympics in the warmth of our bedroom, so he walked to Radio Shack and bought an adapter. Ru and I watched the Meatballs movie while he was gone.  When he got back he did his magic with cords and antennas and inverters and decoders and now we have TV upstairs. The downstairs of our apartment is so drafty its ridiculous to heat it. with both heaters going full blast its still cold. So it was nice to lay in bed, and watch people jump, spin, slide, and fall.

Our neighbors were headed out to do some sledding so we hitched a ride with them in their 4wd rigs. We took our little grey toboggan, and our big red inner tube that is designed to be towed behind a ski boat. As we left a light rain was falling and freezing on the ground. It kept falling as we were sledding and eventually formed a thick slick crust on top of the snow.  The sledding was incredible. And I guess since we were sledding at a school (Crossler Middle School)  people were a little more conscientious about not walking up the same places people were sledding down. Fred and Ru were sledding for hours, while I sat in the warm cozy truck and finished a book.

 

I didn't take pictures of the sledding, they were moving too fast! Good times :)
After dinner Saturday we watched more Olympics. Ru slept very well! Those were tired guys!

Watching TV in the cozy upstairs. We'll move the TV back when the Olympics are over. 

Ru and Grace, helping me shovel the walk. We decided to wait on the car until Sunday. 

Sunday morning it was starting to thaw at our place, and our main objective was to de-snow the car and park it under the carport. Fred went for a walk with Ruben before lunch and after returning the DVD they went to buy bagels to make pizza bagels for lunch. After that deliciousness Fred helped me get the mountain of snow that was my car cleared off and shoveled out so that we could move it to the carport. I was worried that I'd have to go to school on Monday, and that it would refreeze. That won't be a problem however, as I was watching the news I found out that Salem schools are cancelled for Monday. I'll likely go in for a while anyway, I have a big meeting on Wednesday I need to have paperwork ready for.

Fred came home from his walk, took off his boots, and I saw his foot steaming. 

Ru on top of the snow mountain in the parking lot of the grocery store. 

So after getting the Camry moved into her new home in the carport (previously occupied by the convertible) we settled in for more Olympics, some dinner, and some blogging. Normally I don't have much to write about during the winter, I am officially in hibernation, but it was such a fun and rare event to have so much snow that I wanted to share our experience, and keep a memory for us.

The t-shirt I bought Freddie for Valentines day. He couldn't wait to open it.
"Its the Stay-Puft marshmallow man"