Ice Storm Aftermath

On Tuesday we came upon the aftermath of the Ice Storm that went through Oklahoma. As we entered the state all seemed well- it was cold but there was no sign of snow or ice


Quite suddenly- as if there was a line where the ice started/stopped- we were surrounded by ice draped trees. It was really quite pretty- even glistening in the sun. Luckily again for us, the roads were perfectly dry and not icy.

As we drove on---for the next 100 miles!! -- the ice coat thickened. The trees were sagging, even the blades of grass were coated

Eventually the trees were broken from the weight. We saw where power poles had snapped too.

As we approached Oklahoma City there was more evidence of why the interstate had been closed during the height of the storm. Many vehicles were in the ditch.



AS for us...........we sailed on through. The roads were dry the whole way. We are in Amarillo Texas tonight.

Winter Storm!

Almost everyone in the country has experienced a winter storm in the last 5 days. Washington state was pounded (again) with snow and then freezing temps. Denver had the same- only colder. The middle of the country either got snow or an ice storm and the East coast has gotten lots of rain. Luckily for us we dawdled on the east coast over the weekend and we decided on a southerly route to cross the country.
On Monday morning we checked the Weather Channel and saw that we would be meeting the storm in Tennessee. Again- luckily for us—the storm was all rain by the time we crossed under it. Here are three pictures of us approaching and going though the storm
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Two more states for us

We loaded chocolate in New Hampshire on Friday, spent Saturday with Tim and Amy, visited my uncle in Washington DC on Sunday afternoon and drove into southwest Virgina by Sunday night.

On Monday we finished the rest of Virginia and then crossed all of Tennesee and half of Arkansas- both new states since Joanie started traveling in June.

JANUARY - On the road again

After a wonderful break at home for the holidays we began a new journey in the Big Red Truck on January 4th. First we had to drive the 300 miles from home back to where the truck is parked - our "commute". Here is a picture of the snow laden trees near Kettle Falls as we left.

We have hit more snowy weather on this trip. We were forced to stop in the middle of Wyoming on Saturday 1/6 because the next 200 miles of Interstate 80 was closed-the driving conditions were too treacherous. We think they would have been wise to also close the 100 miles we drove before we were stopped. We saw 10 jacknifed trucks and nearly as many overturned cars.

We were lucky- when they opened the road on Sunday morning - the sun was out and the snow was cleared well off the road- we sailed through (Literally- most of the time we were being pushed by a very strong tail wind. Made us glad we had a full, heavy load). Here is a picture of the hiway on Sunday as the sun came up and the wind was blowing the snow across the road infront of us.

We delivered our apples in Rochester NY on Tuesday night. We hadn't seen snow on the ground for a 1000 miles but it started snowing as we sat in the truck backed up to the dock. It was very pretty. (And thankfully it only lasted long enough to drop 1/2 inch.

We will be in New Hampshire on Friday to pick up a load of Chocolate :) then we will be heading to Los Angeles

More Christmas shots

The snow falling on Christmas Eve

We all got AVENGERS t-shirts. Here are Amy, Kurt's sister Kathy and Lisa modeling theirs.

Wonderful Christmas

Christmas in Kettle Falls

We woke up to 6 inches of new snow on Christmas morning. What a nostalgic way to ring in our first Chistmas back in our old home. Amy, Tim, Lisa and Ben were all there and we were joined by 8 additional friends and relatives for dinner. It was VERY special.