Adios Boise, Hello Issaquah

After the most wonderful week in Hawaii (check out last post), Dellas and I came home and had 3 days to finish packing and cleaning before we made our way to the Great Northwest on Thursday the 12th. As we were hopping into vehicles to head out, I walked past the moving van and saw this view:

Oakley ridin' shotgun with Dad

 Absolutely hilarious. I show this pic to Del and said, "Honey, this is what you look like driving down the road, just fyi." haha I got a kick out of it. Less than an hour into the trip I received a text message with this pic:

Del said Oakley sat RIGHT next to him the entire way. Often laying his head down on his shoulder until they'd hit a bump or until Del would intentionally hit the brakes to wake up his passenger.

We made the 8.5 hr drive, well more like 9 for Dellas hehe, to Olympia and stayed at Mom and Dad Vance's place for a night. On Friday morning, we loaded back up and drove the remaining hr to Issaquah. By Sunday evening we were about 75% unpacked and set up but with me having an extra day off on Monday, I was able to put some finishing touches on the place.

Living Room, as seen from the door to the backyard

Living and Dining rooms (and a piece of the kitchen, far left) as seen from the stairs

Now, here's where my book starts...Dellas started work bright and early last Monday morning (the 16th) and I started Tuesday. Late Tuesday afternoon it started snowing and didn't stop much for about 24 hrs. We awoke Wednesday with about 4-6 inches (not a ton but Seattle isn't known for being prepared for snow) and the entire Western side of the state was closing down. I went to work but my bank closed at 3pm before things got worse and because all of our customers were headed home instead of the Bank haha. Thursday morning we woke up with still the same amount of snow, but anything that had semi-melted had turned to ice and we were better off skating to work than driving. When Dellas headed in at 6:30am he called and told me to call work and say I'd be late in hopes it'd clear up or just stay home cuz there was freezing rain and the roads were horrible. I debated back and forth, but before I could get ready for work we lost power at about 7:30am so my boss said to stay put. (They ended up closing at 3pm again anyway)
Oakley and I hung out by our fireplace most of the day (thank goodness the fireplace, stove and water heater are gas!) and listened to the trees crack and break or fall all around us. I ventured out to let him play with a neighbor dog and as my neighbor and I talked we watched a huge branch crack and fall down about 20yards from us. Before calling it quits outside I snapped a few pics.

Ice and snow weighed down all the plants

Looking down our street on Thursday, after a plow came thru

Why they call it an "ice storm" freezing rain coats EVERYTHING

Broken branch behind our back fence

It started warming up on Friday so, even though our power was still off, we trudged thru the massive amounts of slush and both went to work. After meeting for dinner after work, we came home to power!! For about 15 mins....haha. So right after starting some laundry and the dishwasher we were back in the dark until midnight.

SO! After a total of 39 hrs in the dark, we're back in business. We got our internet hooked up yesterday and ran lots of errands. Today we're watching the wind blow and just glad it waited until the ice melted off the trees.

Welcome to Seattle! I guess... ;-)