Written by hbrown on Friday, January 2nd, 2009 ( Start discussion )
Dear Grandma,
I got my new blanket/Christmas gift in the mail today and love it. In fact, it replaced the baby quilt you made me on my bed and I was so excited to sleep with it tonight. It’s very pretty and matches my room great! Thank you.
Love, Charlotte
Written by pbrown on Friday, January 2nd, 2009 ( Start discussion )
There are two problems with the photo above. First, this flight was supposed to leave at 10:30. Second, this flight never got to Pullman. 
Welcome to Day 6 of Hoops Tour Northwest, and I’m back on the road, finally heading to a place I truly love: Pullman, Washington. After an uneventful morning, we got to the airport and found out pretty quickly that our pilots weren’t going to even try to land in Pullman. Because of “white-out snow and frozen fog” we were going to be diverted to Lewiston, Idaho. That’s typically not a big deal, as Lewiston is only 26 miles from Pullman, but today it was a challenge. Since we found out early we were going to be diverted, we were able to call and get our car rental changed so we could pick it up in Lewiston. We also got upgraded to a 4-wheel drive, which turned out to be a good idea.
The flight finally took off about 11:10, and once we got across the cascades, it was clear and sunny for the first time in weeks. The rolling hills of central Washington were beautiful under the a thick layer of snow. Things got interesting shortly after this photo was taken though. we hit a cloud bank that made everything white outside, and lasted almost all the way until we landed.
The final approach to LWS was really bumpy, and we had a very heavy headwind that really blew the plane around. Our captain brought us in for a great landing, and I was grateful to be on the ground. After picking up our car, we were off for Pullman. The Lewiston/Clarkston valley had very little snow on the ground, but that changed as we worked our way up highway 95, otherwise known as the Lewiston Grade. Two-thirds of the way up the hill conditions degraded to the point where you almost couldn’t see the car in front of you.
When we got to the top, we found that highway 195 to Pullman was completely closed, so we ended up having to go to Moscow, Idaho, on 95, then over to Pullman. Fortunately for us we had famed basketball producer Jon Bradford at the wheel of the car, and he did a great job of navigating the icy roads.
We eventually got to Pullman about 1:40, only 2 hours later then we would have if we had left Seattle on time and flown to Pullman! We were pretty hungry by then, so we ran over to Basilio’s for lunch. After that it was over to Beasley Coliseum for Cougar basketball practice, and finally to the hotel.
Today I’m finishing up some paperwork for tomorrow, and then we’re going to have a production meeting/dinner tonight. I hope to get some good sleep tonight before what is sure to be a L-O-N-G day tomorrow.
(Ok, I probably need to retire the whole “Trouble on the Horizon” thing, but I think it’s funny. I’ll try not to use it tomorrow. Or Sunday.)
