Holly and I traveled up to Timberline Lodge yesterday for Christina and David's wedding and had absolutely no idea what was in store for us.  When I checked the weather report on Friday it showed a total snow accumulation for Saturday of about 4-6 inches.  It began snowing at about 9am and became increasingly more heavy throughout the day with near white out conditions from 6pm onward.

Immediately following the wedding ceremony, Christina approached me and said, "We are going outside for pictures, right?"  How could I possibly pass up this offer?!?!  In a true frenzy, the bride, groom, and I jumped outside for some pictures when next thing I notice, Holly is right by my side shooting away as well.  It was an absolute blast -- and ABSOLUTELY freezing!!

As the evening continued on, so did the snow.  At one point I recall looking out the window and seeing snow blowing completely horizontally.  I was becoming increasingly concerned about our drive home that evening.  At 10pm, Holly and I packed up our gear and consolidated it as much as possible for the trek out to our car -- which happened to be at the very lower edge of the parking lot -- what I would estimate to be about a tenth to two tenths of a mile away.  If there was any way that I could pull the car up to the lodge I certainly would have but by this time the snow accumulation was so great and the lot was so slippery that there was just simply no way.

So Holly and I -- dressed in wedding attire -- went for it!  Within moments, Holly slipped and fell and was covered in snow.  I turned around to make sure she was ok and with a huge gust of wind, I too fell.  We picked ourselves up and continued onward.  We proceeded to each fall two more times on our journey to the car.  When we arrived to the car soaking wet and frozen, none of the doors would open!  Everything was covered in ice and frozen shut.  We pulled and pulled on each of the doors desperately trying to get in.  Holly and I joined our efforts and finally opened up the back of the car.  She crawled in through the back, slipped into the driver's seat and started the car.  We both used all our strenght to finally open the passenger side door where I was able to climb in and anxiously wait for the car to warm up for some HEAT!  We were shivering to the bone and just soaking wet.  It was 18 degrees outside and with the wind chill, I can only imagine.

It was so cold outside that our car just simply was not heating up.  Feeling the desperation of our situation, I grabbed our ice scraper and braved the weather one more time to try to clear enough windshield space to see.  I climbed back into the car, trading seats with Holly, with hopes of getting us home.  I drove not 20 feet when all of a sudden we were stuck.  So much snow had piled up under our car that it lifted us up off the ground and our wheels were barely touching the pavement.  The story goes on and on but finally someone came by and pushed us out from the snow.  We were free at last!

The snow was coming down so heavy that visibility was a mere 5-10 feet in front of us.  We inched down the mountain just hoping for the snow to disipate or at least turn to rain.  It took us over an hour just to get to the base of the mountain.

We finally got to an elevation where the snow turned to rain and we were able to drive at a more reasonable pace.  The car began warming up at this point and we felt as though we were in the clear when all of a sudden I noticed flashing lights in my rearview mirror.  I couldn't believe it.  I'm getting pulled over!!!!

The officer approached our car and said the reason why he was pulling us over was because our tail light was out.  Thank goodness I was not speeding!  I climbed out of the car to inspect the tail light and of course began telling the story of my evening.  The officer said, "That's funny.  I just pulled someone else over who was coming down from Timberline from a wedding."  He was very sympathetic to our situation and sent us on our way with a promise that the tail light get fixed.

Holly and I pulled into our driveway at 1:15am completely haggard from the trek home.  We unloaded the car and went straight to bed.  Christina and David's wedding was an epic experience for Holly and I but in the end it is the wedding photos that make it all worth it!!