{09dec2011: Thanksgiving weekend part 2}

In the morning we decided to check out the beach again. The only problem was the tide was almost at high tide and so our wide open beach we were able to run on the afternoon before was now gone.

All the waves and moving logs were a bit disconcerting so we left the beach and packed up our things so we could head out for breakfast and the hike we had planned.

Before leaving the coast we stopped at one more beach just to check it out.

We then headed to Forks to stop for brunch, then continued on our way. It was a bit of a drive from Forks to Sequim where were planning on hiking so we didn't get there til 2. As we drove up the hillside the dry grounds turned to snowy/ice. I was driving at this point and Jason's usually the snow driver (me being from Hawaii and all) and I slowed down to pass a fallen branch in the road. I guess I slowed too much because our wheels lost traction and we started slipping. EEEK. After awhile we stopped moving and the wheels were just spinning. Jason had to get out of the car and start pushing. I was aiming for a flat spot on the side of the road, but it took a good 10 minutes to get there because I kept sliding in the wrong direction. We luckily had our snow chains in the car and got out to put them on. Can I just say those things are NO FUN. A couple tries in the chain on the right side popped off and got wrapped around the back of the wheel and we couldn't pull it off. I was worried for a minute we'd have to call a tow truck to rescue us, but instead I got out the car jack and jacked up the car (my first time ever). We managed to reach under and behind the tire to get the chain off. Whew. We decided to try one more time to get the chains on and we somehow managed. By this point it was almost 3 and the sun was going to go down around 4-430 so we drove a little hoping to find a place we could let Darwin out to run and stretch her legs (we had let her out while we were chaining up the car, but we kept her on her leash close by so she wouldn't run off). We drove and drove and  couldn't find anything so we turned around and headed back down so we wouldn't be caught driving on the snowy hillside in the dark. We passed the snowy road, and took of the chains and ended up at the base of the hill at a closed campsite near a river and let Dar run around. 

After that we loaded back in the car and headed home.
It was a LONG road trip and we didn't even get one hike in! It was disappointing, but I have to say, entertaining. Snow, rolling logs on a beach, rain, icey roads, snow chains, jacking up the car... it was a pretty filled couple of days even if we didn't get to do what we were planning.