Bouncing around

Ah, nothing like spending six hours in traffic getting over the pass to let you know you're back in the Northwest. We would pick the night of the major windstorm to drive to Wenatchee. Seattle streets? Not a pleasant sight in heavy rain. I'm pretty sure that the whirlpool on the corner of Corliss and 40th sucked down a bicyclist.

It took us an hour to get from Phinney Ridge to the I-90 entrance in SoDo, and then we spent an additional five hours rumbling up Snoqualmie with our new chains. Want to test the strength of your marital relationship? Try hooking up chains in freezing rain on a dark I-90 onramp, sandwiched between two snorting semis, sharing a single pair of gloves and relying on a trickle of light from one decaying flashlight. I'd also recommend letting the person with no snow driving experience remain at the helm so she can spin you halfway across the road just after you leave the summit. Hey, at least I remembered to steer with the spin in time to stop a foot away from the snow-encrusted guard rail. The guy in the SUV who blitzed past us earlier? Not so lucky. After I slowly steered the car back in the right direction, we found him facing the wrong way, up to his grill in snow. Apparently, he'd done this before: he had a shovel in his hands and was lustily working on the buried front wheels. Good to know our state has such fabulous drivers.

By the time we reached the east side, we were barely functional. We greeted our monster tortoise, who is about ready to outgrow the pen we thought capable of holding him for five years, and staggered to bed. Since then, it's been a lot of random errands, family time and job hunting. Let's not talk about that last one, mmkay?

Lots to write about regarding our L.A. adventures, but that will come soon. We're off to the west side again on Wednesday for a major basketball game, and hopefully my car won't pull any figure skating moves this time.