Foiled!

Had today gone as planned, Lori would have driven up to Orcas Island to get set up for Thanksgiving Day and I would have followed two days later to join her, Jordan and Jamie, and Jamie's parents and younger sister -- a total of seven people for a holiday celebration at our favorite place.

Unfortunately, Mother Nature had other thoughts. Lori wisely canceled her plans to drive up I-5 into the teeth of a winter storm that has dropped a frigid layer of winter weather on Washington state, making it treacherous and probably foolish to think about traveling north at this time.

Although the much-hyped winter storm stalled last night at the Columbia River, pretty much sparing Oregon, the cold weather has really settled in up north.

According to our neighbor Ken, there's been a five- to six-inch accumulation of snow on the road leading up the hill to our cabin, plus icy conditions requiring chains or cables. "It has been VERY COLD, 17 degrees this morning, now in the 20's. Not the best time to be on Orcas."

So, we hope Plan B will come together. That would mean Jamie and Jordan traveling south from Olympia and Jamie's parents, Jeff and Linda, and their youngest daughter, Katie, traveling north from the Medford area to converge here on Thanksgiving Day for a turkey dinner with all the trimmings. Easy enough for us to say, let's gather here. It's a little more complicated for our would-be guests, as they still have to navigate cold, possibly icy conditions, on the freeways leading to Portland.

Here's hoping we can pull it off. If not, Lori and I will have to tackle this 20-pound turkey by ourselves. Even for me, that's a bit much....

Photo: www.bigfoto.com/themes/nature/winter/