Christmas Tree Adventures!
We got our christmas tree this past weekend, making for a fun little story :)
We drove out to the same christmas tree farm as we went to last year (Four Winds Ranch) and found a tree we liked in record time (about 20 minutes). It was in the same general location as the tree we got last year — another noble (or is it douglas, sigh) fir and was about 11 feet high when I cut it down (luckily, the farm charges $50 per tree regardless of it’s size).
I tied it onto the top of the highlander and we drove off. As we came down the mountain, however, I realized that I’d put the tree on the car such that it’s top was facing into the wind — so I was worried that, once i got on the free way, the branches might get blown off or broken. So, I stopped by the reservoir (at black road, right before 17), cut the twine i’d used the first time, reversed the tree, and tied it back down to the car.
We then drive off to the Willow Glen area and grab some food for lunch and get massages (always nice) … with the tree still on top of the car, of course.
After that, we hop in the car to drive back home. We’re driving along just a bit above the speed limit in the left lane of 280 when, just as we pass the saratoga exit and start going up the overpass, we hear a few popping sounds and then a big “whoosh” and there goes the tree!!!
Apparently, the twine we used to tie the tree down wasn’t quite strong enough and it snapped (all three lengths that i’d used to tie down the tree).
Luckily, nobody was driving behind us as the tree landed in the left lane, bounced a bit, and settled directly in the lane. I pulled over into the median, put on the hazard lights, and went back to get the tree (we weren’t really sure what to do, but that seemed the best option). As I got closer to it, I had to stop for a bit to wait for a moment when there were no cars coming in the left lane — since the tree was pretty big, cars in the left lane had to either swerve to the right (into the middle lane) or left (into the median) and i didn’t want to be run over by a car trying to dodge my christmas tree. Once the coast was clear (so to speak), I grabbed the tree and pulled it out of the lane into the median. I then picked it up and walked back up to the car (where, apparently, michelle was sitting looking back at me with her phone out ready to call 911 right away if necessary). Obviously, I wasn’t about to try tying the tree back to the top of the car, so i put down the back seats and shoved the tree into the car. It fit (barely) and we drove home with pine needles (and branches) in our faces.
Once we got home, we pulled the tree out and took a look at it. All things considered, it survived quite well. One or two branches were snapped, but they’re pretty small and removing them didn’t make the tree look bad. The top of the tree shows some, uhm, asphalt burn, but i had to cut off most of the very top anyway (11 feet is too tall for our living room), so that worked out.
We’re both remarkably glad that we’re alive & unharmed and that we didn’t accidentally kill (or injure) anyone else with our christmas tree!