Leaving The Snow Behind

 Once more we are fortunate to leave the snow and cold behind and spend several months in the United States southwest.  This year, we delayed our departure  somewhat and planned to hit the road on November 19.  But Mother Nature had something else in mind and Mr. Weatherperson was forecasting some heavy snow for that day so Gerry picked up the motorhome as planned on Monday and a couple of hours later we were on the road. Not only was packing done quickly, so was unpacking.

We make a final check of the weather to decide which direction we would head and off we went.  Our border crossing was likely the easiest we have ever had.  Generally the customs officer comes in and checks, asks about what we are taking with us, etc.  This year, it was like "the weather is going to be bad so hit the road".

Day one the roads were good although we did have rain on and off throughout the day. 

We stopped for the night, and shortly after the wind blew, and there was some snow throughout the night.  With the wind and rain and snow along with -5 temps, the door was frozen shut.  Morning came early as Gerry decided that there would be no traffic at 4 a.m., and he was right.  The roads had some intermittent icy patches but on the whole was not horribly bad.  But it sure made for a long day because we decided to bypass Denver (a city that Gerry prefers not to have to drive through) so we went on a number of two lane highways and some of them were not in very good condition.  With driving slower than normal (because of possible ice and some poorer roads) we didn't seem to make very many miles considering the length of time that we drove.

On the upside, we did see some interesting things.  Driving through Nebraska, corn was being harvested and we would see huge piles of harvested corn alongside the road. 

Then in Colorado, we saw one of the biggest wind farms - it stretched for miles and miles and miles. 

And then along the way we passed a pickup truck towing a car, towing a car. 

In one of the towns, there were putting up Christmas lights.  At home they would block a portion of a street in order to do this.  Not in this town - you just drive right under the bucket truck.

We are currently just outside of Tucson.  This is an area I have always liked.  There are still some cotton crops waiting to be harvested.

We had decided to spend a week or so just north of Phoenix.  Well, that didn't happen.  Instead, we decided to go to Tucson, and spend some time at a place where we had spent some time with friends, Dave and Bonnie, several years ago.  That is likely when we are asked where we were planning to go this year, we always said "south".  

For all you folks in Saskatchewan that are being hit with a second snow storm this week, hopefully next week will bring sunshine.

Have a nice weekend and a good week ahead.  Until next week, take care.