I got up at 3:30 am and got on the road in Chuck’s 2004 Chevy Pickup about 4 am. It was going to be a long, long day. The reason for this sudden roadtrip: Charley, our new border collie. A beautiful, 16-month old puppy that had been Chuck and Cathy’s. (Their 3 other dogs were adopted out while we were in Texas). Charley turned out to be either the best traveling companion ever – or the laziest dog in the world. She curled up on the dog bed I put on the passenger seat, and slept through the entire trip. I left Temple, Texas and headed northwest on 36 towards Gatesville. The first four hours were all in the dark – two-lane, rural Texas highways, wide open and clear and fast. After Gatesville, through Hamilton, Comance, north at Rising Star, then west again at Cisco, then skirting around the outskirts of Abilene. Finally the sun came up.

Charley & Kt, on the road

Charley snoozing on the road

Abilene to Sweetwater, Raton, Spur, Ralls, Floydada, and then on into Plainview around 11:30 am – where I stopped to say hi to Chuck’s brother David, their mother, Opel, and Chuck’s sister, Mary Lou.

Kt, David, Opel, Mary-Lou

Left Plainview around 12:30 and it was on up to Amarillo where I gassed up and got a couple corndogs at Der Wienerschnitzel (hadn’t seen one of those since I was little). Texas is huge, I’d been on the road for almost 10 hours and wasn’t out of the state yet. On to Dalhart, then I finally crossed into New Mexico and into the western time zone and went through Clayton. At Raton I hit I-25 and went north and crossed into Colorado. Then it was straight up north along the front range – skirting the foothills. Gassed up for the last time in Trinidad, then rolled on through Walsenburg, Pueblo, Colorado Springs, Denver, and then finally Fort Collins. Driving down Mulberry Street, I had flashbacks to growing up. I got to my mom’s house around 8:30 pm – 968 miles for the day. She had El Burrito mexican food ready and waiting for me, and a cold beer. We ate, talked, cried, laughed, and then went to bed.

Charley watching the squirrels at Madre’s

Charley chillin’ at Madre’s

Madre & Charley out back

I slept in with Charley at my mom’s. In the morning she made me Chorizo hash & eggs for breakfast, we talked and visited for a while, then I got on the road again around 1:30 pm. The plan (since the previous day’s 15-hour marathon had been so tiring) was to make this an easy day, head up 287 to Laramie and then across Wyoming on I-80 to Rock Springs, about a 4 hour trip. Then drive about 8.5 hours the next day to Ontario, Oregon on the Idaho border, then the following day drive the last 7.5 hours home. All went well to Rock Springs, which was fortunate because driving across I-80 in Wyoming in January can be brutal. They can have crazy storms, 50 or 60-mile an hour winds, 10-foot snow drifts – they have gates about ever 50 or 100 miles that they can bring down across the interstate, closing it off to all traffic when the storms get especially bad. The weather I had was just clear and cold, with some patches of dense fog. Stayed at the La Quinta in Rock Springs, slept well – Charley too. Then got up and on the road about 8 am.

I-80 Wyoming desolation

Drove the rest of the way across Wyoming (about 100 miles) and then into Utah, eventually heading north on I-84 towards Ogden. That’s when the weather turned on me. It began to rain, then freezing rain, then small snowflakes, then larger snowflakes. Through Ogden to Brigham City the snow began to stick on the roads and our collective speed dropped to about 50 mph. Further on I saw flashing signs saying all trucks must have chains for I-84 to Idaho – my route. The snow got denser and our speeds dropped to the sub-40 area. I began to see cars that had spun out on the side of the road every mile or so. Just as I was coming into Tremonton, where I-84 meets up with I-15 (barely 40 miles from Ogden) a sign said ALL vehicles were now required to have chains. I was in Chuck’s 2004 Chevy C1500 half-ton pickup, but since he lived in Texas he had bought a 2-wheel drive version. I decided I had better stop and try to buy some chains. I pulled into a truck stop in Tremonton. They had no chains left, and a bunch of people were standing around discussing the weather. One guy had just driven to Tremonton from Twin Falls (where I was heading) and he had been going barely 5 mph in a huge 4-wheel drive pickup. He said it was almost a total whiteout and very slippery. He figured they would close the road any time if they hadn’t already. That sealed my fate – no way I could get through that in the vehicle I had. I got a room at the Western Inn – the furniture and bed looked like they had been new in 1973, but it was warm and restaurants were within walking distance. It was only noon, and I was still about 4 or 5 hours from where I had planned on stopping. Very frustrating. It continued to snow all the rest of the afternoon, eventually to about 6 or 7 inches by that evening when it finally tapered off.

Charley at the Western Inn, Tremonton, UT

Charley checking out the snow in Utah

In the morning the news was that it hadn’t snowed at all during the night and the roads were plowed and sanded but could be icy. I grabbed some coffee and was on the road by 7:30, once it was light out. The first 40 or 50 miles were slow going on snow packed and slippery roads, between 20 and 35-mph at times. Then it began to snow again, big thick flakes. I stopped at a truck stop to try to buy chains again. They were out but I decided to buy some other gear that I might need. Since we had planned on flying down to Texas and back, I didn’t bring any winter gear. I had running shoes, a hoodie, and a thin rain jacket – that was it. Not good if I happened to get stuck out in the snow. I walked around the truck stop and picked up some gloves, a knit cap that had “Utah” stitched across it, an ice scraper for the windshield, and a bit of food. I walked up to the counter and reached down and realized I didn’t have my wallet in my pocket. That was a bit disconcerting. I tried to remember the last time I saw it. Perhaps on the hotel desk? I put all the stuff I wanted to buy on the counter and told the clerk I left my wallet in the car and would be right back. I dug through the cab of the pickup, under the seats, between them, around them. Nothing. I pulled the suitcase out of the bed of the pickup and tore through that. Nothing. Panicked now, I tried to think straight. Where was the wallet? I got in the cab shaking and called the motel in Tremonton and asked them to check my room. It was barely 9 am, so they probably hadn’t even stepped foot in it yet. She sent someone to check, but when she got back on the line she said they didn’t find anything. My stomach dropped. I was still two days (at least) from Seattle and I had no wallet, no credit cards, no driver’s license, no cash. I remembered I had stuffed some of our cash in my dress shoe in my suitcase so I wouldn’t be carrying hundreds of dollars around. I pulled the suitcase back out of the bed, opened it up and took about $200 out of the shoe. I still had about $500 or so dollars left in the shoe. As it was still snowing I decided I had better buy the stuff I needed anyway. I went back into the store and grabbed my pile of stuff. As I walked to the back of the line, I felt something odd in the pile. I looked down and my wallet there mixed in with the pile of stuff to buy. Relief flooded my body. I must have pulled it out of my pocket without thinking as I walked around the store picking out items. I just had everything all together in my hands without realizing the wallet was with them, under the knit cap probably. I had set it down on the counter with everything else when I panicked and went to look for it. I was so thankful that I barely felt foolish, just happy. I bought the stuff and got back in the truck and headed out. A bit further out the snow stopped and the roads cleared down to dry pavement. I began to make up lost time.

New UTAH knit cap

lazy dog

I eventually crossed into Idaho, then through Twin Falls and then Boise. Then I passed Ontario at the Oregon border, where I had planned on stopping the night before. I kept going, now into the Pacific timezone. Between Ontario and Pendleton, Oregon are 3 or 4 low, but steep mountain passes, including Mt. Emily, Deadman’s Pass, and Cabbage Hill (a 6% grade with several hairpin turns). I was hoping, since the roads had been clear for hundreds of miles, that I might have put the snow behind me. No so fast. The first pass went OK, it was snowy, but the plows had been out and the roads weren’t bad. A bit slow and cautious, but fine. The next two passes were anything but fine. At the base of the first one the signs called for all trucks to be chained up and all vehicles were advised to have chains with them. I still had not been able to buy any chains. I kept going. About half way up it began snowing, hard. The roads were completely covered and the going was very slow. As I crept along at about 25 mph, all along the right side of the road big rigs were stopped, chaining up. It seemed like hundreds of them, mile after mile. Worried, I kept going. I got to the top of the first pass and then had to worry about the descent. Warning signs for the truckers to use low gear because of the grade percentage were troublesome. I slowed further. Eventually, after creeping along like this I made it down out of the mountains onto the plain and on into Pendleton. My nerves were frazzled. The last 45 miles had probably taken me two hours.

Deadman’s Pass, Oregon

I gassed up in Pendleton and checked the weather ahead. I didn’t really have any more mountains to worry about until I got to the Cascades and Snoqualmie Pass – but that’s a big one. There was a winter storm warning for the pass and they were expecting to get 8-12 inches of snow that evening. It was already the afternoon, and I still had hours before I got to the pass. I called an AutoZone in Yakima, about 150 miles up the road from me, to see if they carried chains that would fit the pickup. They did, so I decided I would stop there and buy them and then just try to inch my way over he pass later. I was not looking forward to it, especially after those last couple of passes in Oregon. I got on the road and headed west.

As I approached the turn off for I-82 north into Washington state, I saw the sign that said Portland 200 miles. I began to think, if I drove across Oregon on I-84, I wouldn’t have to fight any mountain passes. I-84 runs right along the shore of the Columbia River, all the way to Portland. No climbing. It was about a hundred more miles than driving I-82 to I-90 to Seattle – but with that route I’d have to go over Snoqualmie – if I could get over Snoqualmie. Not guaranteed with a 2-wheel drive truck, even with chains. And the Winter Storm Warning was in effect for the next 3 days! That sealed it for me, I shot past the turn north and continued west. The drive was pretty cool, winding along the Columbia River canyons, right at the water’s edge. Barges, trains, boats, and tumbleweeds marked the journey. As I got to Hood River, it began to rain just as the sun set. Rain hard. All the way into Portland it was downpour – but way better than a foot of snow on the pass! After Portland the trip north, 175 miles to Seattle was uneventful, with a steady rain. I pulled up in front of the house around 9:30 pm. Another 15 hour day… but now the journey was complete. Charley was in her new home, and I was home with Stacie and Sennet.

Temple, Texas to Seattle, WA: 1 dog, 2 snowstorms, 3 time zones, 4 days, 8 states, 2,332 miles.

Sennet & Charley playing

Kaiser, Charley, Kramer: copacetic.