Hello Wonders,
This winter was full of adventure and excitement as we played many a winter camp in the snowy, snowy mountains. Here is a little story to help us all appreciate the coming of spring…
A couple of months ago, we were on our way to Big Bear for a winter camp and heard various rumors that we would need chains for our car. We called Cal Trans and they reported that the roads were clear; being the impatient people that we are, we decided to head up the mountain chain-free. About half way up, we were stopped by a barrage signs that said “chains required”. We were also surrounded by a large group of Southern California drivers who don’t know the first thing about how to operate a vehicle in the snow (ourselves included) and there were fender-benders happening every 50 feet.
So we turned around, went back down the mountain, bought the cheap, cheap, cheapest set of chains we could find and headed back toward the chaos. When we reached the stopping point again, Andrew got out of the car and tried to teach himself how to put chains on tires for the first time ever. I held the instructions up to the passenger side window and he went outside in his T-shirt and jeans. He would stare at the vague instructions through the glass, all the while, snow was dumping down on top of him… 40 minutes later he was successful! 
We made finally made it to the camp-a drive that normally takes 2 1/2 hours took 4 hours.
Humorously enough, we went back to Big Bear for a different camp the next weekend. This time, it was already snowing at 2000 feet: on went the chains, only this time Andrew had some fancy skills and experience so it only took about 10 minutes. Part way up the mountain we hit some more Southern California drivers and ended up at a complete stand still for a full hour… it was one of those traffic jams where people start getting out of their cars and wandering around the highway, cursing and going to the bathroom in the bushes… it was good fun. Between all of the traffic and snow, a 2 1/2 hour drive took 8 hours.
Our fun at camp ended early when the weather report said that we were supposed to get snowed in; needless to say, just about everyone went home a day early, including us. We were back on our way down that nemesis of a mountain. The roads were looking pretty snow free so we decided to stop and take off the dreaded chains. Spirits were high as 4 of us gathered round outside and took our chains off. Every tire was free except one… Andrew had been wrestling with it a while when Matt came over and started to help him, then Troy, then myself. Four people stood around this one stubborn chain that was beyond the shadow of a doubt STUCK. Not just a short delay stuck, I mean stuck forever and ever stuck. All of us had different brilliant ideas for how to get it off: we tried a cheap tool set that ended up breaking and some bass string cutters which also broke. Nothing was going to get through that steel, especially not four musicians at one o’clock in the morning. We eventually took off the whole tire in order to remove the merciless chains. Our 2 1/2 hour drive had a 1 1/2 delay from 12AM-1:30AM
So this is the life we lived this winter and we would not trade it for anything. But here’s to warmer weather.
-Jen of Lovelite
P.S. If you get a chance, please take a minute to read a review/blog about us on Evade the Noise. Also, keep your ears open for some remixes of a few songs from All Color.
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