A Winter Trip for Christmas

This year for Christmas we went to our Daughter's home in Washington.....the first time we had ever been away from our own home at Christmas time!

The weather on our journey north from southern California to Washington was beautiful, at least it was once we were about 2 hours down the road...the rainy skies cleared and it was clear weather for most of our trip....so I decided to take photos of the trip home and share them with everyone :)

My first photo is the I5 heading south, just below Seattle, a clear road...beautiful scenery....not bad, right?  Until you pay attention to those low foggy clouds in the distance...a harbinger of things to come!

As you cross the Columbia River and leave Washington you enter Portland, Oregon...I knew you would all love to see a photo of the river, with the city in the background.....well remember those low foggy clouds?  In Portland they became heavy rain and low foggy clouds....so the only photo I could get was of the bridge we were on *the lower level of the bridge that is...

So...here is my Portland photo for all of you to enjoy!

As we drove the 300 or so miles from Portland to Medford, Oregon the weather only changed from rain...to heavy rain...to downpours of rain...and of course the fog remained pretty constant too...a difficult driving day for my husband, we were so happy to check in to a hotel for a night's rest because we knew the mountain pass we needed to drive through to reach California was closed for tonight because of SNOW!

The Siskiyou Pass usually is cleared and open to traffic about 10AM in the morning so we slept in, ate a good breakfast, made sure the car was fueled up and started down the I5....only 27 miles to the Oregon/California border....20 miles...chains required signs...surely not?  14 miles...flashing lights...no chains?  Turn around and put some on...Please!  

This was a rental car, it did not come with chains :(  One hour, $111.00 and a pair of chains on the front tires later...we start out again...slowly, since you can only drive 20 to 30 mph with chains on your tires.

Up and over the Siskiyou Pass...WooHoo and on to California, where the weather cleared and most of the snow disappeared....

At least until we left the I5 and headed East on hwy 58 toward Las Vegas, Nevada....somewhere between Bakersfield and Temecula, Ca. we found snow again...but at least the road was open and chains were not required!

Onward to the Las Vegas area to deliver my Dad home....lovely soft beds, a nights rest and a homemade meal from my sister. The next day we headed back to California and home...another 250 to 300 miles but this time through the California desert, here is the state line...it is lined with casinos...on the Nevada side....

250 miles after we saw this from our car window we saw the lights of home....Ohhhh...lovely! Even if the temperature INSIDE our home was a chilly 51 degrees...time for a fire in the fireplace and a cup of hot chocolate...

Trips are fun but it is wonderful to get back home!

VE

Views From Our Truck Windows

We arrived home this evening after a 2 week  trip through California, Oregon, Washington, Idaho and Montana....want to see some of our favorite views from our truck windows?  The fall season is our best trip time of all!

The first thing we do is put pumpkins on our dashboard to celebrate the fall season of the year...they seem to set the perfect mood!

We drove from California to Montana but took pictures on the return trip and that is how we will show the trip to you, in reverse order...first up Libby, Montana....

A beautiful stream surrounded by mountains, pine trees and larches.....

or a close up of the trees....

From Montana we travel to the mountains of Idaho where rivers and farmland are tucked in the folds.

Traveling south on I95 takes us to the I90 west and into Spokane, Washington.....beautiful fall colors and a spectacular bridge over a river....incredible!

 We love the look of this bridge but taking a photo of it from the window of a moving truck with cold wind blowing in was a challenge!

We turn south again in Ritzville, Washington and head down to Oregon, traveling along the Columbia River Gorge on the I84...heading West into the Portland, Oregon area....

about 30 miles out of Portland are the Multnomah Falls... luckily for us they have a big parking lot right in front of the falls....makes picture taking a lot easier....even in the poring rain!

Another turn south in the Portland area and another 300 miles of driving takes us into Northern California, and after about 100 miles we find Shasta Lake

More photos from the window of a moving truck....cold weather but beautiful scenery....

What a trip, we love the NorthWest portion of our great country....in any season...but Fall is really the best time of all...VE

Before the Antique Show Starts

Do you love going to Antique Shows?  Ever wonder what goes on before the show starts?

Well first you need a big empty room....Like this one at the Exposition Center in Portland, Oregon.....

Next, open up that truck load of wonderful "stuff" you have been saving just to sell at this show....

Now...you get to carry all that wonderful "stuff" to your 10 x 20 foot section of the big empty room.....while several hundred other dealers are also trying to do the same thing as you, at the same time!

be sure to bring in the rugs for the floor, your fake "walls", curtains, table drapes, shelves and any other display items you need....first.....get them up and in place before you bring in your merchandise....this will make things go much smoother...

Since at this particular show you are only allowed to bring your merchandise in and dump it, no opening boxes, no price tags showing, no arranging items...just carry it to your space and dump it on this first day...
your space will now look something like this...

Or this....

Finally everything is loaded into your space.....now you get to leave the show location until the next morning when the show opens...to you the dealer and the customers who are willing to pay the extra money to get in early....while you are trying to empty boxes and  set up your space...this is known as CHAOS!  But hopefully those early lookers will also be buyers....

After several hours of CHAOS your space starts to take shape...

And you can start to relax....the next morning the show opens for the general public and this is when most people see the show....

The "CALM" lasts until Sunday evening when the show is over and all the wonderful "stuff" that did not sell has to be packed back up, carried to the truck and somehow made to fit back into it......because now it has mysteriously expanded and doubled in quantity.....after all dealers are shoppers too!

Until the next show!

VE

http://www.palmerwirfs.com/