The Things We Do For Friends

I and a friend who is keeping her horse here promised to supply two horses to another friend that was doing a demonstration workshop in McMinnville on Saturday. I was a little hesitant with the road conditions since the cold and snow from previous days, but I heard 26 was all clear.

The decision was now if I'd use the half ton to haul all that weight over the pass. The good thing about the 1/2 ton was that the trailer break controller works and the tires on that truck are consider as traction devices. The other choice is the new truck which has less than traction device tires, a trailer break unit that isn't operational. On the info I had I went with the new truck.

Everything was fine all the way until we got to Quartz Creek and we were confronted with icy roads. There is something very disconcerting about feeling a horse trailer altering your position on the road. As we slowed to avoid the fate of other cars in the ditch, I shifted into 4 wheel drive and shifted out of overdrive. We crept with white knuckles through the ice and snow all the way from the Quartz Creek Bridge to the Vernonia Junction. When we were again on dry road my companion said she could use some whiskey.

The problem with a day trip such as this is knowing that you have to return home at the end of the day. No way were we going to take Hwy 26, and I wasn't too hot taking 47 to 30 or any of the other roads that cut through the hills between 26 and 30. There was evident snow covering all the hills. We opted to take Interstate 5 up to Longview and hope the predicted evening rain and snow would hold off until we were safely at home. The longer haul was fine and it started snowing on the final pass, Bradley Hill, but when we got to the top it starts snowing really hard. Within a mile we were back in white-knuckle mode and by the time we got to Knappa we were back in 4 wheel drive and scooting along in second gear until we got into the South Slope of Astoria where it appeared to be raining.

Though we arrived safely and put the horses away my neck and shoulders were a wreck, but a good night sleep remedied all. I will never drive horses in a trailer through snow again.