Road Travel in Winter

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The entry is a bit of a warning about driving in winter in Washington.  Being from an area where snow is rare the snow and ice on the road although beautiful can be dangerous.  In some areas chains, snow tires, or four wheel drive may be required to drive.  Fines may even be given out to those without chains in some places.

The lower valleys get a lot of cold rain, but just a few miles from the lower elevations you can run into snow, lots and lots of snow.  Until this trip I had never seen snow like this except in movies.  The icy slush build up can cause a car to lose traction.  Pretty scary for a southern boy but such an incredible sight as the big conifer trees become flocked and the deciduous trees turn into icy sculptures.