"Adventure" Home

This morning I got up, went with Mary & Doug to drop dad at the Phoenix International airport and enjoyed visiting with Mary for a bit.  Ben & Doug had been watching the weather and decided we should leave town in order to “get ahead of the snow.” After exploring several possible routes through the mountains, they decided that it would probably be best to head straight up I-17 to Flagstaff before getting on I-40 for the remainder of the trip (stay on 4-lane Interstate the whole way).

change in scenery within 60 miles or less

As we left Scottsdale there was a light drizzle, which progressed to harder rain as we left town, to light flurries and suddenly full-blown snow as we wound up through the mountains along I-17.

We had cruised about 90 miles and were at 7,000 ft. when the traffic came to a sudden halt…

and STAYED that way for over 3 ½ hours!

Ben's best fake smile after about an hour of sitting still.  Notice the people in the median... sledding!

Apparently there was a wreck (due to the snow) about a mile ahead, which caused the backup.

BUT due to the heavy/accumulating snow, it was hard to get a tow truck up ahead of everyone. 

AND since the highway hadn't been plowed, there were vehicles sliding, veering sideways and getting stuck everywhere once we were able to get moving.

I don’t normally get nervous driving through rain or snow, but today I terrified of getting stuck this afternoon.  I literally had sweaty palms & weak knees, praying we wouldn’t get stuck along the side of the road as I tried to steer into the snowy tracks. We had several “Little Miss Sunshine” moments, where Ben pushed us forward until we gathered speed…
Only to run along side our car and jump in. We must have done this at least 6 times as one of the cars ahead of us would get stuck.  Kaden must have been entertained watching all of this from the back seat because he barely let out a peep the whole time.

Kaden, not sure what to think of it all.

Instead of driving for 7+ hours and being much closer to the Texas border, we made it about 120 miles (total) before calling it a night in Flagstaff. 

Finally reaching a cruising speed of 25 mph for the last 30 miles to Flagstaff, Arizona.

The Prius prevailed!

I am told that when travel plans don't quite go your way, it is called "an adventure."  Right now Ben & Kaden are asleep here in our (nice) hotel room. 

This "adventure" has offered me some peace & quiet to reflect over our holiday & update our blog while listening to the snow/sleet hit our window.  Not bad.