I visited Snoqualmie Pass this weekend, just 1 hour east of Seattle. Life in the mountains here at just 3000 feet of elevation is dramatically different than the maritime climate of Seattle.

The Alpental ski area, about 1 mile north of the Pass, has received 234 inches of snow (i.e., 19 ½ feet, or 6 ½ meters) in the last 40 days, according to the records of a local resident who keeps a running tally of the snowfall.

So what does all that snow look like? To give a sense of scale, here's my car dwarfed by the colossal snow banks. The other is the barely visible roof of my cabin, festooned with unstable snow mushrooms... The entire building shakes when one of them lets loose from the roof.

Noah's ark would do me little good in these conditions. Our solution was to concoct a sled to carry the twins around. So I spent my weekend as a glorified mushing dog, competing in the "Identical Iditarod." We were not beating anyone to our destination, but we certainly had the cutest brood on the trail.

Now that's traveling in style.