Wishing for Reindeer?

Friday morning, after buying tickets to Hawaii for a weekend (what were we thinking?), Phil and I set off from Walla Walla towards Seattle, about a 5 hours drive away. After missing the exit for the Pasco airport, count them, 3 times (where I was to drop off Phil), I continued by myself. After traveling about two hours northwest to Ellensburg through slushy conditions, I was informed by glaring signs and flashing police lights that the interstate was closed. Instead of driving straight over the pass, I had to backtrack an hour, go south into Oregon, west to Portland (in driving rain), and north to Seattle (in one of the worst wind storms the region has seen in years). After a grueling 11 hours. I arrived. I'll finish retelling the account of my journey to London later. It gets better. Really... Actually... not really. I changed my mind today.