Christmas Tree Quest 2022

The day after Thanksgiving is our traditional get-a-Christmas-tree day, and it is an all day event! From leaving to get the tree to hanging the last ornament took almost 8 hours. We left at 8:30am and drove an hour and a half to the mountains on Friday, November 25th. Jeff tried driving up our favorite forest service road a ways, and I had to clench my jaw to keep from verbally freaking out. The road was was too steep and icy, and our van started sliding! I am still so amazed and proud of myself for NOT saying anything or even making any noise at all as our van slid sideways and Jeff worked to get us turned back around on the narrow tree-lined icy gravel mountain road. Thankfully we were moving slowly and we kind of just slid through a 4-ish point turn till we could drive back down the road and park in the first clearing. This year our friends the Kannelys couldn't come on the same day as us and until we were on our own I didn't realize how much reassurance it gave me to have another vehicle, more people, and especially a second strong, winter-savvy man in our group. A year or two ago, we had six or more of us pushing the van from behind while Jeff drove it out of the snow. Shudder.

The hike up the icy gravel road (that we couldn't drive up) was rather treacherous. We kept slipping on a thick layer of ice that was clearly created by a heavy snowfall that quickly melted and got packed down by car tires. Amber slipped and fell once. We finally got up to our favorite clearing for Christmas trees and Rose found a good one rather quickly. Jeff lugged our big Jackery battery pack up so he could use his electric saw on the tiny tree trunk, and it made me smile. Technology in the wilderness no matter how unnecessary! I am married to a Wallace. We don't have a Gromit, though, so it falls to me and the kids to carry the extra gear, haha. 

Our new van doesn't have a roof rack (yet) so we folded down some seats and laid a tarp inside the van and crammed the tree in. The kids rode home in the back snuggled up to the pine boughs, and our van smelled divine. The pine fresh scent plus some cheery Christmas music and the rugged wintry mountain scenery made the drive home quite festive.

On the way back, we stopped at the Ace Hardware store that's right off highway 12 near Naches, and bought two boxes of Christmas lights since our stash had mostly all died. That was the only Black Friday shopping we did, and we chose that store on purpose because it was kind of out in the middle of nowhere and right off the highway so it was easy to get to with hardly any people crowding inside.

We got home around 12:30, and then the real work began. Jeff began cutting the tall tree to indoor size while I cleaned out the van and parked it in the garage. Then Jeff put the tree in the stand and went to take a nap while I tried to put lights on the tree. Putting lights on these whippy whispy mountain pine trees is always an exercise in futility, but this time I was struggling extra. When I was 2/3 of the way done, I stepped back and thought the tree looked like a big tangle of cords. So I unwrapped all 400 lights and started over. When I was 3/4 of the way done, Jeff came out and offered to help. I gave him the lights and went to pout-slash-cool off on the couch. I don't know why lighting a tree is so annoyingly frustrating to me, but IT IS MADDENING! I can light triangle shaped full leafy fir trees just fine, but these mountain trees destroy my patience one thin bendy branch at a time. 

It was 2pm and I suddenly realized that I was HANGRY. 

I ate some turkey sandwiches on little leftover rolls, and then gave the green light to the kids to decorate the tree. They were done within ten minutes. Somehow I managed to get them to line up for a family picture by our fresh Christmas tree, and it made me happy. Then I had to itemize the 100 Christmas minutiae and nativity bits that Amber had scattered across the floor in her excited perusal of our Christmas box. For a mother of three, I am surprisingly not resilient to chaotic messes. They stress me out. I hate that clutter puts me on edge, but I hate the cluttered floors more than the fact that the mess puts me on edge. It's easier to just pick it up than to try to deal with the irritation and turmoil that the clutter brings. At last the room was put back into some sort of order, or at least the various nativity figurines were all put back with their matching sets and removed from the floor. Phew. I could breathe again. 

Christmas trees and decor are a lot of work, but the cozy festive ambience is completely worth it.

Slip-slide hike up the forest service road. This is NOT minivan territory.

So steep and slick!

Jeff, cutting down the tree.

Traditional mountain tree family picture! I used my handy remote trigger to take this picture and once again, I wondered why I didn't get one sooner.

Jay, trying to figure out how to carry the tree.

Hiking back down the steep steep slope.

Almost half of the tree dragged on the ground off the sled, but the sled still helped make dragging the tree half a mile back to our car much easier.

We had to fold the tip of the tree in to get the trunk to close.

Watching my family decorate the tree: way more fun than trying to get involved! I did hang 2 or 3 ornaments before relinquishing control.

Placing the star: Jeff lifted Amber up to put the star on, and Rose reached her tall body up to straighten it out.

Yay for Christmas trees!