spryng | (no subject)

We made it through the pass. It was harrowing at times - the weather started out as a light rain, then a full-on downpour as we made it to the foot of the Cascades. We climbed and we climbed and I noticed there wasn't many other people on the road. The advisory lights flashed on the signs, warned of impending ice and snow-pack, but we kept on. It was still raining, properly. Then we spotted white through the trees, then there was white all around, and the rain very abruptly became thick snow. It was gorgeous.

But also scary, because I'm very much not used to driving in ice and snow and everyone was driving in one lane which was clear enough from everyone using it that it was pretty much fine. And they were going slowly, which was excellent for me. But if you went too far out of that lane, into the actual snow and ice, you'd start rutsching, which is no good. And we also discovered at this point that our windshield wiper fluid was out, so we had to wait for enough of the snow to catch and melt on the windshield before we could wipe off some of the dirt and see again. Harrowing I tell you, harrowing!

We made it out of the mountains to a sunny sky and white desert as far as the eye could spy. It was gorgeous there, too. Trees were coating in ice and snow and snow covered the ground and lakes. The sun lasted a good twenty minutes and was about all the sun we got this weekend. Then we entered the Fog. And this Fog consumed all. There were points where we could barely see more than twenty or thirty feet ahead of us. Closer to Spokane, there was actually a point where we came out of the fog for a moment and off to our left it was sunny, overhead it was raining, everywhere was snow, and ahead was more fog. Oh weather. You make sense. Sometimes.

After five and a half hours we made it to Coeur D'Alene, found where Amber lived, and promptly took a nap. It was a very good nap. The rest of the weekend was also excellent, and somehow ended up feeling longer than just three days - possibly due to the drive? But we ate and we slept and we watched things and we cavorted downtown and had entirely too much food and took photos and finished Buffy and laughed and talked and pretty much did what we had intended to do. All in all, a good way to start the New Year. (Rest of photos here, as always.)

And now I'm home and I have plans to attend to and goals to work on. I need to outline those goals tonight, after writing and after work. Because if I have daily, tenable goals, and weekly goals, and monthly goals, and yearly goals, and bi-yearly goals, and so on, I might actually get where I want to be at the end of this new decade.

I'm excited. Are you?