Return Trip

Our return trip from Victoria provided a memorable experience in its own right, but let me back up, just a little.

After we left our vehicle in Seattle and rode the bus to Vancouver, Rhonda received an emergency phone call from her brother in Spokane. Rhonda's mom suffered a minor heart attack and was admitted to the hospital. As we waited to board the ferry, we huddled together at the back of the bus and cried. Both Rhonda and I felt helpless and confused because we had no independent transportation until late the following evening. We certainly couldn't return as quickly as we would have liked.

Over the next few hours, positive updates trickled in and brought some degree of comfort. We learned that everything would be okay, so we were able to enjoy our vacation somewhat. However, we did decide to end our trip early, once we had our car again.

From the northern suburbs of Seattle, we thought we could get back to Spokane more directly through Stevens Pass. Unfortunately, about 10 miles past Monroe, we encountered a series of flashing road signs saying the pass was closed. We had to turn back to Monroe, head south to North Bend and connect to I-90. The detour brought us right by Snoqualmie Falls (pictured above).



Crossing Snoqualmie Pass, the snow began to fall in blizzard proportions. More flashing signs advised us to tune in to the AM radio to receive emergency updates. It turns out that Snoqualmie Pass was about to close for controlled avalanches. We made it over the pass within minutes of the announced closing time.

On the east side of the mountains, the sun reappeared. At about Sprague Lake (pictured above), the clouds returned.



The skies grew darker with each passing mile...



Except for brief moments of sunshine....