Twenty Weeks! – Snowed-in In Seattle!

Well, today is exactly twenty weeks into the 100 weeks period of my personal challenge, and so far I think things are going pretty well overall. I have completed 23 goals now, so am slightly ahead of the game. However, travelling has quite suddenly become a bit trickier lately.

I think so far I have been used to everything falling nicely into place for me, and generally everything has been pretty easy. The weather has been fantastic everywhere I have been, and I really have been quite spoilt.

So you can imagine my surprise and disappointment when the weather turned very cold and icy in Seattle. Everybody here says that it hardly ever snows in Seattle! I decided to park the RV up for a few days to err on the side of caution, expecting things to get better quickly, but that just hasn’t happened.

Seattle is now buried under a blanket of snow, and conditions off the main highways are pretty chaotic. But it really is time to be moving onward to Vancouver, and my next goals. It has been difficult in the RV in terms of keeping everything working. There is very poor signal on my phone, which therefore goes flat very quickly. The computer battery does not hold power very long, and to charge either item up requires the engine of the RV to be running.

So today, as fuel in the RV dropped down into the red on the guage, I decided it was finally time to move on, regardless of conditions. Having lived in the UK for most of my life I have had a reasonable amount of experience at driving in snow. A couple of quick calls to contacts in Vancouver confirmed that traffic is moving there, and conditions are no worse, and so a decision to move on was finally made.

I have now left Seattle in grim conditions, and am currently sat in a Denny’s Restaurant (my first visit to a Denny’s) for a quick lunch, and they have the travellers golden trio – hot coffee, access to a powerpoint, and free WiFi. But it’s only a quick update today, as I am keen to get back on the road, and hopefully finish today’s journey before it gets dark again!

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Leave a Reply 2 comments

David S - December 22, 2008 Reply

Things aren’t any better in Portland. 11 inches of snow covered by half an inch of ice, and more falling now! One thing I’ve learned is, things are much easier if you have the right equipment. I hope you have some tire chains for that RV. Good luck, take care and keep warm, and remember: Once you get to the Yukon, this will probably seem minor in comparison. You’re probably wishing you had some sled dogs handy right now!

The Woods Clan - December 23, 2008 Reply

I hope all goes well for you in Vancouver. We’re just leaving Vancouver for Calgary for the holidays otherwise I would have been interested in meeting you!

Best regards,

aw

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