Longest drive to Seattle, EVER!

And that's saying something because I've had some long drives to Seattle in my day...

I started early in the Tri-Cities thinking I could hop a bus and then have my sister pick me up after the surgery. I went to the bus station and found out, after I was already there, that the morning bus was canceled. So, I called my ride(Thank you Matt) back and we headed up to the Airport. Saw that the lines were huge and didn't want to wait around, so I decided to just go home so I could check on flights. As we were leaving my sister called and said her fiance had to go up today because all the passes were closed and his son has a dental appointment also. I was bound and determined to get up there so I gladly accepted. Didn't know what I was getting into!

After a while it shakes out that I should meet them in Yakima, where I can leave my car at his place, then we'll head down to I-84 and then come up the I-5 from Portland. At this point I'm just itching to go, I need to make sure I'm there and I can get this all done! We get headed out and it is totally dry, even breezy, and warm on the east side of the state. No inclement weather to speak of. We are driving through the gorge and noticing how full all the waterfalls are along the way. These little trickles have become raging cascades...Odd I thought for this time of year. Still just trucking along.

We cross into Washington again and get back on the I-5. People are calling me telling me that this and this is closed, they are going to close I-5 etc etc. And, the rain really starts to fall. Just a huge amount of rain. We drive for several miles, 60 or so, when we begin to start looking for an exit for a break. Still raining, and peculiarly, some of the exits are closed and that water looks high, is that a parking lot or a lake... We pull into one of the exits, but everything looks closed so we get back on I-5 for about 10 more miles when we find a decent rest stop. I'm in the restroom as I overhear the radio indicating that they are closing I-5 in 15 minutes from Exit 58 to 68. Crap! I'm not sure which exit we had taken, but I'm moving quickly to get back on the road. I informed Jeff, my sister's fiance, and we grab his son and are off shortly!

Well that was the closest it really got for us, but it was weird to see all those little towns totally blacked out and at one point the water looked nearly a foot below the road level!! Exciting stuff! The rest of the drive was rain, rain, and more rain. It slowed all traffic down, but we finally made it. Jeff and his son dropped me off at my buddy Allan's and then they went to where they were going to stay. I was due at 6:45 and so I went to bed almost directly...