The Weather Gods are Laughing…

 The best-laid plans of mice and men often go awry – Robert Burns. Did he drive an RV too? The good news: we are on the road again! The bad news: we cannot get where we planned to go, when and how we planned to get there. Sigh. We spent weeks carefully crafting our route, making reservations and plans. I have a spreadsheet! And then Riley’s snow mojo went totally out of control and the weather gods had the last laugh.  

We left home on Wednesday, 2/22, around 11:30am with plans to arrive mid-afternoon at Hazelnut Haven, a Boondockers Welcome site in Hubbard, OR. This is the same place we stayed last July when we first picked up Raney and we were eager for them to see how she’s grown from 9 weeks (28 lbs) to 9 months (167 lbs). We made a couple of quick stops on the way and noticed a few snow flurries around Lacey, WA. No worries. Then it started snowing harder… but still not sticking. No worries.

  

Snowing... but it's not sticking (yet!).

Ok... snowing a little harder now.

And then we got close to Portland. We took I205 and by the time we made it to the bridge across the Columbia Gorge we were driving through nearly white out conditions. The snow was now a couple inches deep, visibility sucked, the winds were howling and even the semi-trucks had started to get off the road. At one point Rog had to brake and the front of the rig started sliding sideways. Now we worry!! We were frantically checking road conditions and weather apps as Rog inched along in bumper-to-bumper traffic, skirting abandoned vehicles and accidents. Ugh! We seriously debated trying to get off the freeway but were afraid if we pulled off in the middle of the snow globe, we might be stuck for days. The traffic cameras showed bare roads just past Portland, so we powered through. By the time we got to our exit at 99E it was clear sailing. We made it to Hazelnut Haven around 6pm. Easily the most snow we’ve ever driven the rig through and one of our most white-knuckled drives ever. A record we hope never to break. Lol.

 

Driving through a frozen hellscape. Lol. 
I didn't even capture the worst of it on the bridge over the gorge. This was bad enough.

Meanwhile, somebody was totally unconcerned. 

Offering morale support to Dad.

We stayed just one night at Hazelnut Haven and I regret that I didn’t take many pictures. Our hosts were suitably impressed with how much Raney had grown and we appreciated the delicious hazelnuts and cookies they brought us. After that exhausting drive we went to bed early, looking forward to a good night's sleep. Unfortunately Raney had other plans. At home she is only allowed on the bed while we drink our morning coffee. She decided she would like some different rules for the RV and made several attempts to climb onto the bed in the middle of the night. Recognizing a fight we dare not lose, I had to wrestle her off the bed while she valiantly tried to claw her way onto it. Girlfriend outweighs me and has some serious WWF moves, but Mom won in the end. Lol. She voiced her displeasure and demanded pets and cuddles every couple hours, but finally settled down. Hopefully, it won't take long for her to get into a routine that allows us some uninterrupted sleep. 

Morning snuggles with coffee.
Raney power napping after keeping us up half the night. Lol. 

We had a light dusting of snow Wednesday night but the skies were clear and the roads were bare into Albany, OR. Yes, our next stop was just 46 miles down the road at the Linn County Expo Center where we had three nights reserved to attend the Albany Dog Show. With a 9am ring time on Friday, we opted to arrive on Thursday. It was bitterly cold the first day, but we did some exploring with the puppers and took them for walkies twice at the nearby Talking Water Gardens. We had a little rain mixed with snow, but then clear skies. Yay!

 

Enjoying our bubble of blue skies and sunshine in Albany, OR.

Raney and Riley with Rog at Talking Water Gardens.

But Mom, why can't I chase the ducks??

Loved the bright flowers floating in the water.

Riley and Raney.

It was a good thing we arrived early, since many folks were unable to get through Portland and only three of the eight mastiffs that were entered on Friday made it to the show. The other two were already champions, so Raney took Winners Bitch, but there was no competition (literally). Lol.

Friday at the Albany Dog Show.

Hitch, Aslana, and Raney.

Friday afternoon we went for a snowy hike in the McDonald Research Forest about 20 minutes west of town. We missed the trail, so ended up walking for an hour or so up a forest road. Both Raney and Riley had a blast! Riley was thrilled to finally get to play in the snow, all that mojo at work and we drove right through it and wouldn’t stop to let him romp!

 

Riley and Raney both enjoyed the snow!

Looks like we have another snow dog. 
Hope her mojo isn't as powerful as Riley's!

Snow walkies are best.

On Saturday we had five mastiffs in the ring. Raney’s breeders, Mai and Dave, arrived with Raney’s Mom, Kiska, and her sister, Nova. Still several no-shows, but Raney was thrilled to see her sissy. Gma Mai also took Raney around the ring for me, so I could watch. They did great, but still took 2^nd place to Nova. No shame there! I handled Raney on Sunday and it was pretty much a repeat performance-wise. Nova is only three points away from her championship and then maybe it will be Raney's turn. Lol. 

No love from the judge,
but Raney did great with Mai handling her.

In the meantime we have spent many hours obsessing over weather forecasts, road closures and conditions, potential routes embraced and then abandoned. Ugh! Seems there are no really good options, so we may be winging it. We must leave Albany on Sunday and have to decide if we try to wait out the weather and stick with the original plan to go south on I5 or head for the coast. Given that there were also closures on 101 and more storms on the way that’s not an ideal plan either. Anyone want to flip a coin?

Whichever we choose, I’m sure it will be an adventure which we will happily share with you!