What happened to Dave?

Well as most people who read my blog know, it was a very interesting Christmas season for our little family this year.
Sam and I left for Utah on the 18th of December, and Dave was supposed to follow us on Saturday the 20th. But, due to the insanely crazy, worst timing ever weather, he was unable to get a flight out of Portland from the Saturday before Christmas! That's 5 days!! And nothing!! He couldn't get a flight because everything was cancelled or booked. People were camped out for days at the airport. His flight had been rescheduled from Saturday to one on Monday. So I thought "well that kinda stinks, but at least he'll still be here." So on Sunday, Dave spent at least 3 hours digging the car out of the snow and trying to get the thick ice that was layered around it off as well, just so he could get up early on Monday and head to the airport. This he all did without a shovel, but a plate because no one has shovels in Portand. So the next morning he got up, went outside, and it had snowed again with another thick layer of ice surrounding the car and on the ground which prevented him from even moving it. And to top that off, the popular mode of transportation in Portland, the Max line, wasn't running, there were no buses, and there were no taxis to get him to the airport. So he was stuck again, but he did find out a little while later that all the flights were cancelled that day anyway. So he was stuck again with little hope of finding a plane ride dwindling. The only possibility of any plane ride would have cost $550, and he would have arrived the night of Christmas, assumming his flight would have been on time.
After that realization we explored every single option: drive to Utah? No rental cars, roads froze n with ice, freeways closed down going north to south, and east to west, towns declaring state of emergency. Train? no tickets, and nothing going out of Portland. Bus? no buses coming in or going out. Ya know, at least on the movie "planes, trains, and automobiles, he eventually makes it home." But that wasn't the case for Dave this year. His dad ended up driving from Salem to Portland in what usually takes 1 hour, ended up taking 4 hours to pick Dave up and bring him down to at least be with his family. After the 4 hour trip back to Salem, and after 5 days of being alone, he at least was with his family.

Yes, it was weird and sad waking up on Christmas Day with no Dave to watch Sam open up presents. Hopefully this crazy situation won't ever happen again. I was sad we didn't get to see many of the people we'd hoped and planned to, but hopefully next time!

But in spite of all that, I was still happy to be with my family. We had a great time with everyone! Sam loved playing with all her cousins and spending time with Grandma and Grandpa. We miss everyone already. Thanks Mom and Dad and Al for taking such good care of us at home while we were there. And to the rest of my family. I love you all!

just a couple of pictures from Christmas!