It's not sailing but at least we used the stove!

We caravanned up to the Cascades today with 5 of the 6 grandkids, one Mom, one Dad, one Tia (auntie) from Mexico who'd never been to the snow, and another couple and their two kids.  The Dad and 2 of the 10-year-olds rode with me in the truck; the Admiral rode with the Mom, Tia, and the 3 other grandkids in the van.  Our friends drove their own SUV.

I should have known we were in trouble when, despite the WX forecast that called for sun, we hit snow 1/2 way up to Tombstone Pass.  We soldiered on though, and actually found 3 parking spots in the snow park at the top of the pass.  We then undertook the most strenuous one mile hike I've ever been on, seeking a sledding hill we'd used in the past.

It's amazing what a difference 20-30 inches more snow makes when you don't have snowshoes!  Last time I was there I think we had 24 inches of snow.  This time it's 58!  Two of the 10 year olds and I did the full 1/2 mile in, only to find the trees have grown since our last trip and the hill is unusable.  I was blowing like a whale by the time we got there.  We slogged back to the rest of the group, who'd stopped to rest a good 1/4 mile back, and we all returned to the vehicles.

Here's the Admiral and our friend before we turned back.

Our friends, in their SUV, lead the way back onto the highway, headed for Benson Snow Park on Santiam Pass.  A couple other cars pulled out at the same time so we ended up bringing up the rear and falling behind due to slower cars in front of us.  Twenty minutes later, as we came around the corner at the Hwy 22/34 junction, we saw an accident ahead.  It turned out to be our friends who'd lost control, crossed the westbound lane, and half-climbed the snowbank.  Thankfully there was no traffic coming the other way when he lost control.

Nobody but the SUV was hurt (crunched the grill a bit) and in about 10 minutes, after we'd pulled him out (4-Low Rocks!), we all continued the trip up to the top of Santiam Pass for some sledding!

While we were out on the hill, the Admiral stayed at the truck with the handy Origo stove.  She said it took a while to get going but eventually the lighter heated the alcohol up and she got a steady enough flame for hot chocolate when we got back. 



Note the steaming pan of hot chocolate and the trusty Origo just inside the canopy where it's protected from the wind.

The run home was uneventful except that our friends missed the turn at the Hwy 22/34 junction so they ended up taking the long way home. 

Not saying I wouldn't rather be in Havasu for the Trailer Sailor meet, but it was a fun day and at least part of the boat was involved!

Chris