Most people know of the Pacific Northwest region of the USA as a place where "it rains all the time."
Sure, we do get what some call "designer snow" from time to time... which means it suddenly gets cold, a bunch of snow falls, we all take pictures, and the next day it melts because it's 48 degrees.
Looking out the window by our front door...
At the moment? Not so much!
Our neighborhood gets mail at a single collection point, which happens to be about 0.9 miles (1.5km) from our house. That's all fine and good, and normally we just pick up the mail when we're coming back from running errands to town.
Of course, we also live in a very hilly area, which means that when it snows and stays cold like it is as the moment... you don't go anywhere, unless you have all-wheel drive and/or chains on the car, which — of course — we don't.
Looking down our street... it's actually been plowed, but there's a sheet of ice there, too...
Our neighborhood maintenance guy does run a snowplow and spreads de-icer on the worst of the hilly bits, but it's far from adequate. Even our "transplants" from the Northeast don't like to drive here because the snow here is "different" from Boston or Buffalo, and there's always a base of pure ice.
Accordingly, I have been walking to the mailbox daily, so today I took my camera, so I could share this wee outing in the snow as a "Wednesday Walk!"
The reason we don't drive anywhere when it's snowy/icy starts with this hill:
Looks like Donny — our neighborhood maintenance man — has put de-icer down...
It curves left, then gets really steep, then curves right, then goes steeply up again, and curves left on the way out, before it T-bones on a different street. Then it's half a mile uphill from there.
This gives you a better idea of the slope:
At the bottom of the hill, we have a little neighborhood park with a gazebo, and it gives local access to the beach where I often walk and pick up stones to paint on.
Not at the moment, mind you!
Gazebo in the park
It's very nice in the summertime; people have picnics and there have even been a few weddings there.
Out across the water you can see Deception Island, which is actually a Bird and Wildlife Refuge. It's uninhabited (by humans), except for Marty, who has been living out there by himself since the 1980s. The island is about 400 acres in size.
Protection Island
A large part of what drew us to this part of Washington state is that the nature is spectacular.
There's water and mountains everywhere you look, and there's virtually no such thing as a bad view!
Looking across Discovery Bay to the Olympic Mountain Range
Of course, there's snow at the top of the mountains till June most years, but the freeze level typically stays at 2,000-2,500 feet or higher.
We often have frosty nights but we almost never have an entire week where it never even gets close to freezing... I think the warmest it has been since before Christmas is about 28 degrees (-3 C).
Standing stones in the snow
I really don't mind walking in the cold and snow... even though there are some fairly treacherous spots... really slippery.
I just like to look around a the scenery, and take it in as it normally doesn't look.
Getting closer! The mailboxes are behind the red barn!
It took me a good 20 minutes to get to our mailboxes, largely because it was super slippery. It was OK, as long as I could walk in snow... but that road there? That's a solid sheet of ice with bits of loose snow on top.
Time to get the mail!
Whatever else one might think of the US Postal Service, they do get the mail out, no matter the weather!
Of course, it helps that we have a cluster of boxes very close to the main road! That said, the main road wasn't exactly cleared, either...
Looking down the hill from the entrance to our neighborhood. The mailboxes are down where that car is.
Just for grins, I walked to the top of hill where the neighborhood road meets the main (county) road. The road had definitely not been well cleared!
Glad I didn't try to drive anywhere!
No, not an Arctic landscape... the surface of the road!
One of the lessons from childhood, growing up in Denmark, was always that "snow is matte, ice is shiny." That's definitely a shiny road!
And then it was time to turn around and walk back.
Looking in the opposite direction from near where I took the photo of the red barn.
I have to admit that my toes were getting pretty cold by the time I was getting back towards home!
Thankfully, the homeward trip is easier because it's mostly downhill. The elevation change between the main road and the park with the gazebo is about 350 feet (110m).
One final shot of the mountains, before getting home!
Thanks for stopping by and taking part in my Wednesday Walk! I hope you have a great remainder of your week!
How about YOU? Do you get unusual cold spells where you are? Do sudden snowfalls stop things, or are people pretty used to them? Comments, feedback and other interaction is invited and welcomed! Because — after all — SOCIAL content is about interacting, right? Leave a comment — share your experiences — be part of the conversation!
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Created at 20211229 23:37 PST
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