Well, Mark and I made it to Phoenix Sunday afternoon but considering what weather we encountered I have decided to become a mailman. We drove through rain, freezing rain, sleet and snow and still made it!
I landed in Omaha Friday night at 6:40 p.m. and Mark picked me up and we went to our hotel. Matt came by and the three of us went to dinner at Friday's. Our hotel was right by Westroads shopping mall where the horrible shootings had occurred on Wednesday. The mall was closed and it was very eerie driving by and seeing the Von Maur store all lit up brightly for Christmas and no one in the parking lot but a few police and media vans at 8 p.m........
Saturday morning we listened to the weather report and it said Kansas (which would be the biggest part of our drive that day) would have freezing drizzle all day. It did. Our truck was coated with ice but amazingly we only had one iffy stretch and the rest of the Kansas roads were clear and perfect driving conditions. Kudos to their DOT for getting that miracle stuff down on the pavement to keep it from freezing! The trees and powerlines were sagging the entire day but the roads were just great. We drove nearly 13 hours that day and made it to Tucumcari NM around 6 p.m. Obviously, we were pooped and most glad to get into that hotel and off the roads....until the next morning!
Sunday started out great. I-40 was clear all through New Mexico. When we entered in to Arizona we had to make a decision which way to descend the mountain to get to Phoenix. Our choice was I-17 through Flagstaff or a state highway through Payson. We settled on the Payson route and I was very worried at first because when we started to descend it was raining and 40 degrees. Shortly it was 31 degrees and snowing. It was beautiful up there with the snow covering the tall pine trees and the snow falling but I saw no beauty.....only a very curvy and sloping road ahead and prayed it wasn't slippery. It wasn't so then I started (sort of) enjoying the beauty of the day in those snow covered mountains. :-) We got to the town house Sunday right at 5 p.m. So, considering the horrible weather we drove through I will have to say the roads were great. Now today is a different story up on top of those same mountains! Flagstaff and Payson areas could get anywhere from 6" to 14" of snow. Yikes! Glad we came through yesterday! As for us today, I took the grandson and the dog for a walk and was sweating pretty good when we finished. Ah, my kind of weather! :-)
Mark and I are going to buy a Christmas tree tonight for the town house. It needs some holiday touches badly. A tree is a good start. Well, hope everyone has a great week and drive safely!
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