01-28FEB19 - Sultan, WA (❄⛄snow-pocalypse or snow-mageddon⛄❄)

First let’s bring you up to date about VIADOOM discussed in our last BLOG entry.  Viadoom turned out to be a viadud.  The major gridlog expected to occur when 90,000 vehicles per day were forced onto city streets with the highway 99 viaduct being torn down along Seattle’s waterfront never materialized.  Apparently people figured out ways to change their commute schedule, or work from home.  The real test will be when the replacement tunnel is no longer free, & the tolls for the tunnel kick in?

The big thing for us, & almost the entire western half of the state, was SNOW!  This February turned out to be the third coldest on record, & the largest recorded amount of snow ever.  In chronological order here is what we experienced:

- Sunday, 03FEB, it starts to snow – weather people forecast that Seattle might get about one inch of snow?  Monday morning we awake to what would become known as - snow-pocalypse or snow-mageddon, with nine inches of snow on our property.  Thank goodness for four wheel drive, because no way we would shovel drivewayJ

- Tuesday & Wednesday below freezing weather arrives, meaning snow will be here for awhile.  First step in digging out was Dan clearing pathways on decks & patio.  One benefit of snow was an excellent day of skiing Wednesday for Dan with two of his Academy classmates, Rich Formisano & Steve Harvey.

- Friday AM, 08FEB, we head to the Edmonds ferry for grandkid babysitting in east Bremerton.  The weather is still freezing & more snow flurries already started.  Saturday we wake up in Bremerton to eight inches of snow on ground, dig our truck out, before hitting road back to our house.  We decide to drive around on major highways that should be plowed, rather than the two lane road back to ferry terminal, two hour drive takes three.  Our property has 6 inches of new snow – we unpack & clear the decks again.

- Freezing weather continues & on Monday, 11FEB, more snow – 9 inches new snow, decks buried again.  Tuesday temp just above freezing, snow off & on thru out day – 3 inches new snow.  Dan tries using tractor to clear driveway w/no luck; almost gets tractor stuck in middle of drivewayL  Dan resorts to using air dam on new toad to at least knock the snow level down.

Thursday (valentines day) wake up to gusty winds; head to the Highway 2 Fusion Diner for valentines brunch.  With the word Fusion in the restaurant name not sure what to expect in Monroe?  Pretty good we will be back.  Friday Dan clears decks for third time.

http://hwy2fusion.com/

Weather guessers predict major snow for 20FEB, doesn’t happen.  The rest of February’s weather had temps barely above freezing, w/the occasional light rain.  But the night temps quickly fell below freezing.  End result is frozen & crusty snow that is not really melting; in fact, where we have driven our walked, ice has formed!  Making the trip down our long, long, driveway a challenge.

Having this much snow & ice around definitely impacted our life.  All the things we had planned to work on during the month (preparing garden & flower beds for spring; finishing expanding the garden shed; finish our new fence; etc) did not get done.  No garbage pickup for three weeks.  Because we compost, recycle, & minimize waste, garbage was not an issue for us.  No mail delivery for two weeks; but because we were not trapped in our house (like some), we could drive to post office & pickup mail there.

During all this Rebecca, Raymond & grandkids found time to stop bye at the end of the month for an early dinner, cribbage & bingo, before heading back to their home.