Wilsons, Bend, and Baja Bound

Life has not slowed down since we got home from Europe. We had a couple of days to recoup and prepare for the Wilson family holiday gathering. I fear we have unleashed a beast in our 'amazing race' style treasure hunt. It seems that the Wilsons, or as they have been recently been called, The Bush League Tribe, are quite competitive. What was designed to foster vigorous chatter, or smack talk, has quickly progressed to something that might strike a nasty chord in the family harmony. After a contested finish, resulting in a playoff round, Jared and Jonathan were named champions for the second consecutive time. In the end, I think a good time was had by all. At the very least, it gives us something to debate for the next year. Ultimately, it was nice to get the gang together and build some great memories.

After a day of quiet, I decided to ride along with Curt to his game in Corvallis. I caught a matinee while he worked, and that night we were going to drive to Bend. I should have known we were in for trouble. After the game, every guy in the truck was getting a call from his wife at home (Portland) warning him of the snow storm that had started. Curt assured me we were going to 'outrun' it because we were headed east, not north. Uh, OK honey.

It wasn't until we were 30 minutes into the drive that Wilson sheepishly admitted that this road might be like that steep, twisty, windy MF'er that we had to take to Yosemite. There were no other cars on the road. They're smart. It was a complete white out. And for the first time, the FJ failed us. The windshield wipers were freezing up. We had to stop every ten minutes to flick off the ice. Luckily, I have learned patience - and Curt is a good driver - and we made it to Bend safely. We checked into the McMenimans Hotel, and enjoyed a couple of pops in the fireside bar. Let the record reflect that we did 'outrun' part of the storm. Once we crossed the pass, the snow stopped, by the time we unloaded the car, it was a blizzard in Bend.

We enjoyed out stay in Bend. We went cross country skiing, had a soak in the fancy hotel soaking pool, went to MY favorite brewery (whoo hoo Deschutes).

But, we must get home. I need to pack for my trip to Cabo, and the weather is threatening.

Home again. But only for a day. Tomorrow I go to Cabo with Susie and company. How is it that after all of this, this time I feel like I am in for something COMPLETELY DIFFERENT?