Dodging Snowflakes

The husband and I do obsess about the weather. He works outside and I grow plants and travel. It behooves us to know what is on the horizon so we can make contingency plans.

I left last Monday morning for Spokane. I planned to run some errands and spend the night there. One of my stops was Regal Fabric and Gifts, the small quilt store where I taught in August. I popped in and had a lovely chat with Irene, the owner. The store is moving—hopefully some time soon after the holidays—and I am excited about the new location. The store will be located in the old Boyd-Walker sewing machine store downtown. Boyd-Walker was (I think) the oldest Pfaff dealer in the US until the store closed several years ago. I had been there a couple of times. The building is wonderful and that area has been renovated and cleaned up. There will be plenty of classroom space. Irene and I are going to visit again in January and get some classes on the schedule. Yay!

My original plan was to take my time getting to Seattle on Tuesday, but I looked at the forecast and decided that a better plan was to leave early and get over the pass before some predicted rain and snow moved in. I was very glad I did that. I left at 5 am—it was clear in Spokane—and by the time I started heading up the east side of Snoqualmie Pass, I was seeing warnings for freezing rain.

Given the choice, I would take snow over anything else. Snow is a visible form of precipitation that triggers something in people’s heads to tell them to slow down. Rain and fog don’t do that, especially if people aren’t also keeping an eye on the temperature. I saw vehicle after vehicle with Washington plates speeding past me as we climbed and I am sure it’s because those drivers think to themselves that they drive in rain all the time. Eventually, the freezing rain did get thick enough that the speed limit dropped to 45 mph and traffic crawled through it for about 25 miles up over the summit and down into Seattle.

It was 48F and pouring on the west side. I stopped in Issaquah for a quick visit at Gossypium Quilt Shop, Hobby Lobby, and Issaquah Sewing and Vac. That last place is a WonderFil dealer, and even though I have a WonderFil wholesale account, sometimes I just want a spool or two of something. This store carries many of the lines. I picked up a WonderFil Serger Thread pack:

I also bought a book of serger projects. I’m always looking for class ideas.

DD#2 was working on Tuesday and I couldn’t get into the Airbnb until 4 pm, so I continued on into the Seattle metro area and did some shopping at the half-price bookstore and a large Joann Fabrics. I came home with some fabric, but that’s a story for another blog post.

I’ll detail the rest of the trip in upcoming posts, but suffice to say that I had one eye on the forecast the entire time I was in Seattle. On Friday morning, I saw that a winter storm watch had been issued for Snoqualmie Pass from 10 pm Saturday night until 10 am Monday morning. My original plan had been to leave Sunday morning, drive to Spokane, and spend the night. I made a quick revision to those plans and decided to go home early. I have a rehearsal Monday afternoon and didn’t want to risk getting stuck in Seattle. All the snow tires and chains in the world wouldn’t help me if WSDOT closed the pass to travel. I left early yesterday morning and was up and over the pass by 7 am, although I drove in thick fog all the way from the summit to Spokane. The only way I knew my location was by the highway signs; I couldn’t see any of the landscape around me. Conditions cleared up in Spokane and it was sunny much of the way home. I arrived to find dinner and a happy husband waiting for me.

This is shaping up to be one of those winters where I probably won’t be able to travel much. I doubt I’ll get back to Seattle until spring, at least by car. A trip or two to Missoula or Spokane might be possible, but I think I’ll be staying put.

I’m going to skip church today even though it is the first Sunday of Advent. We made plans for the service without me and I hardly ever get a Sunday off. Being a church pianist is a job. I know people think I just come in and sit down and play, but as my friend Catherine used to say, “It’s hard work to make this look easy.” I’ll take the break.