Purple Cow Vineyards : December 2008, Started Fun, ended almost like Donner

Well, this went from entertainment inconvenience to near insanity and fight for survival pretty quickly. We started out with arctic air that yielded to snow, with one day of freezing rain in the middle for that crunchy step, and a really slow and slushy melt. In fact, we still can only leave via 4x4 AFTER plowing again on the 28th. Here are the Chronicles of an almost slaughtered Purple Cow.

12/8/08 - Refrigerator, well pressure tank, and Wendy's computer all die on the same day. Pressure tank fixed same or next day, for $800. Frig took several days as we comptemplated replacement and tried to find a good model that fix our space. Hours of research later, decided on repair.
12/12/08 - The last day the kids went to school (should have been 1 more week). Also, the refrigerator repair man gets our frig back running on temporary fix.
12/14/08 - snow begins, just a couple of inches, but slick. Jon, anticipating the coming freeze, goes to turn off the well and switch to the gravity feed from the tank. Unfortunately, the valve crumbles. Time spent to cut and cap the feed from the well to the tank and prep the well box for a low of 8 degrees.
12/15/08 - deep freeze begins, 6 days of teens or less at night and never getting above freezing. Mostly sunny days, but slight snow accumulation at night. Fireplace monitored 24 hours/day as heat pumps don't work below freezing.
12/16/08 - Jon remembers his snow tires. Puts them on with AJ after attempting Les Schwab but refusing to wait 3 hours. Breaks window in process of changing tires by attempting to roll-down window for conversation, but gets the window back up and in place.
12/17/08 - Wendy's Mom comes to town. Van is snowed in unless using chains. Jon takes truck to airport through the snow. Gets flat tire on way, and window attempts to fall out. Tire goes by Les Schwab and they fix it after a wait. Jon able to get window back up except for a slight breeze. Oh, and the glass cracks on the fireplace door.
12/18/08 - day spent at various vehicle repair sites. Did get replacement fireplace glass on way home (thankyou Hot Spot, you guys are superb). Refrigerator repair man comes to make the permanent fix. Just in time...
12/19/08 - 8 more inches of snow fall. we measure 9 inches accumulated. Lots of great sledding when not feeding fire. Polaris can no longer reach barn, using tractor to haul palates of wood.
12/20/08 9am - 10.5 inches, 10:00pm - 18 inches. Skip Christmas in Seattle for lack of trans.
12/21/08 4:00pm - 19.5 inches. Power goes out at night, restored by morning. We notice frig isn't cold. Leave msg, unplug, and throw everything outside in coolers.
12/22/08 9:30am - 21.5 inches. Power goes out at night, restored by morning. Chains go on the van and we plow the driveway to gain freedom, and groceries, if only for a short while.
12/23/08 snow unchanged. Power goes out at night, restored late evening.
12/24/08 Skip Christmas in Sunriver for lack of trans. Attempt an outting to close friends in order to enjoy consistent electricity. End up needing to stay for safety reasons. Jon and Dave make a harrowing run back to retrieve Santa's deliveries. Only Dave's vehicle would have made it and it got stuck in our driveway (thankyou B3030 for the midnight rescue).
12/25/08 Enjoy a wonderful Christmas morning and attempt a return to PCV at 2pm. Temperatures have been above freezing for a short while. After 1.5 hours, we cover 8 miles, fail to reach our driveway, and abandon the vehicle 1/4 mile away in a neighbor's driveway.
12/26/08 The Thaw begins. Totally stuck. No in or out traffic due to slush, but promise of early release lifts our spirits.
12/27/08 The Thaw made enough progress that brave souls emerge. Dave, Liz, Ally and Lanna all come out to sled. Good times had by all until water pressure suddenly drops in the house. Look up hill to see a really thawed section of land right near a faucet riser. Dig dig dig. At the VERY BOTTOM of the riser, 30" under ground, is a T on the line from the well to the house. The T is blown. Party over. Everyone out, Dave and Jon going to get supplies. Ooops, Ally's car has sunk into the snow at the end of the driveway (did I mention she got stuck twice in one day?). Finally got her out. Got parts. Put in a leaky temp fix by about 11:30pm.
12/28/08 We left the well pump off all night just as a precaution. So why is the entire hole full of water?? After digging a lengthy drainage trench, we are able to get in and remove the very leaky temporary fix and permanently splice the line. Spent the rest of the day plowing the driveway in hopes that a vehicle other than Dave's can pass before the family implodes. The pickup gets out and back comfortably. We celebrate freedom by going to see "High School Musical 3"... at the Grand Lodge pub (whew!).
12/29/08 Good thing the snow knocked the stove pipe off of the barn, because I was getting bored...
12/30/08 Got the refrigerator repaired again. Plumbing hole filled with sand and backfilled with dirt. Cars can get through with care. Things are looking up.
1/2/08 Flooding of the garage started. Heavy rain was the method by which the snow melted, so things just got overwhelmed. Pond looks nice though...
1/3/08 Rob and Renee saved our weekend by taking us out on a planned tasting visit to a few wineries.
1/4/08 Took a break from the chronicles. Things pretty much melted, but not all the way. Enough water that I can't get to fixing the stove pipe because it's a lake underneath. Snowed another 3 inches today, but it turned to rain as I am going to bed so let's hope it's not serious.