The Night the Lights Went Out in Tillamook...

Well, we survived the storm! I left work early on Thursday so that Ross and I could get out to Hillsboro and clean out the apartment. We packed that car full of the rest of the stuff we left behind and high-tailed it back to the coast. We checked ODOT before we started over the mountain, and it was clear. By the time we were halfway over they had closed the road due to downed trees. It was like driving through a forest floor there was so much debris on the roads. Not to worry, however, Ross' expert driving abilities got us home safe and sound!

We were home for about 20 minutes when the whole town went dark. Very, very dark. And cold. So very cold. We bundled up in three down comforters, and put the dog in a sweater (with Ross protesting loudly) and we hunkered down for a long night.

The wind was blowing like mad, and at some point in the night Ross boarded up the windows in our room with cardboard in case the windows shattered in on us (it sure sounded like they were trying!). The storm blew itself out around 3am. We woke up to find that some of our tree had gotten up close and personal with ours (and I think some of the neigbors') yard.



We went to the beach on Friday (they closed the office - I guess therapy in the cold and dark wasn't anyone's idea of a good time). That was fun, and the dog seemed to enjoy himself as well.



When we got back to town, we saw that The Pancake House was OPEN! Bless those people, they had coffee! We ate a hot breakfast and drank our coffee - it was heaven. I even brought back a few pieces of bacon for Linus. He was a very happy little schnauzer! After it got dark we played more "Yes 5" (a.k.a. knock-off Yahtzee) and Monopoly by flashlight. When the batteries ran out on the flashlights we lit some candles.

At about 1am this morning the lights finally came back on. Ross turned to me and said "Do you see what I see?" It was a very welcome sight. We turned off the light, turned on the heater, and went back to sleep.