Sitting on a Winter Wonder Freeway

How dismayed were you to miss having a blog related e-mail show up in your inbox yesterday?
I too was dismayed that I missed blogging yesterday. It was not intended.

The weekend went something like this:

Thursday I worked all day and awaited the arrival of my mother, sister, and brother-in-law. We went out to dinner and discussed the imminent snow storm approaching our neck of the woods. The news was calling it an "arctic storm" which sounded a little extreme to me. Apparently the last big storm of 92 was called the "wild winter storm". They've at least gotten more creative.

It rained Thursday night and a good part of Friday, it was cold, but it was the usual winter fare here. We spent a good part of Friday seeing the sights of Oregon. We first went to PSU, both to pick up Rox and also for Alex and I to run a few errands. After acquiring information about financial aid appointments and returning library books, we headed up to the Japanese Gardens. In a cold rain in the winter, the gardens are empty. It was perfectly serene and lovely and easy to navigate and appreciate without any other visitors. 

Alex's school was next to meet up with Joe at the Duck Shop there and see where the magic happens. There was less magic and more mess in Alex's studio than there might have been during term. Joe and Rox parted ways with us then, and my mother and Alex and I headed to the Museum of Contemporary Craft. Its more of a gallery than a museum, but it was remarkable. The current exhibit is called Manufractured, and its essentially ordinary household objects shown in a unexpected way. Our favorite example was the bowl made out of partially melted plastic army figurines. 

A Pendleton store happened to be right near the museum, so we stopped by there as our last venture of the day.

Saturday was a trip to Eugene in the early afternoon. It was nice enough weather, though chilly, but that's to be expected.

My Uncle's retirement party was exciting, especially in surprising him. We had pizza and soda and cake, played some interesting quarter games, and chatted. After the party, Alex and I headed out to see friends, hit another (younger) party, and sleep in a garage, none of which was exactly planned out, but that's the way its always rolled when we see friends.

Sunday! Blog day! That was the real excitement. Alex and I awoke early. I expected icy roads and a slow trip back to Springfield to pick up my family, but it was actually rather warm for that early hour. The roads were wet, not slick, there was no ice, and little snow to be seen. We left Eugene to sunny skies. I slept in the back seat and awoke, not to blue skies and puffy white clouds, but dreary snow. Portland had been hit.

We were a ways outside of the city still and in one of the passes between the valley and the city, when we decided chains were required. In fact, we may even have been ordered to chain up by the Amber Alert signs normally designated for catching child kidnappers. They must not work on snow days either.

The chains took a little maneuvering but we got them on and piled back in the car to finish our trip. But wait? Why won't the car start? 

Try again.

Nothing.

Again. Well, it clicks, the battery is coming on at least a bit, but nothing.

Call AAA.

Call a friend. He brings a truck battery and we hook it up. Still nothing. The engine won't turn over.

Call AAA back (we hadn't cancelled our initial call, but no one had shown up yet). They say someone's on his way. Its been two hours.

We wait in the friend's VW on the heated seats. No tow truck.

Call AAA again. Oh, you say the driver couldn't find us and picked up someone else, huh? Oh, well that's nice. Thank you. Yes, we'd like another driver to come.

Back in the VW. We flag every truck that comes by, finally it was a AAA truck. But not ours.

NO, NO you are NOT leaving us. We don't care what the dispatch center says. 

We went to my boss's house behind the tow truck (also my brother-in-laws mother). She had chili and brownies waiting. I spent the night there and called some Honda specialist centers this morning. I found a very highly rated garage online that was within a cold walk from my apartment and called AAA again for a tow. Judging by the wait the previous day, I assumed that when they said 3:25 ETA they meant it. We got a call from the dispatch center at 12:25 after our food had been left at our table at IHOP. The truck was outside the house by my car waiting. Yes, they would wait for us to get there. Our breakfast was quickly shuffled into boxes, the check paid in cash, and we were back at the house in 15 minutes. 

And thus the saga ends. The car is at the shop. I will report on this shop's awesomeness after my car returns. For now, I am cold and tired. A hot shower and a nap await.

Lets hope for a better entry next week.