Teardrops n Tiny Travel Trailers

Christmas holiday was a good one for us. My wife decided that a trip north in the state to Sedona was in order, so we booked a space in an RV park right in town off Oak Creek. Our first stop was in Phoenix for the night. My mother turned 90 this month, so it was a lot of fun to visit with family & friends for her birthday party. Here she is with her youngest great granddaughter & the family.





Remember the old sailing adage? Red sky at morning, sailors take warning. Here's the sky in Phoenix before leaving for Sedona, another 1 1/2 hours north, at about 4,500' elevation just below the Mogollon rim.....



We decided to take a little nap after lunch, since it was raining fairly hard on Christmas eve afternoon. It was a fairly steady downpour & making a racket as we drifted off to sleep. When we woke up, it was quiet & Alice said "Oh, sounds like it finally stopped raining." She was correct, it wasn't raining any more, but it was snowing....



There was a little snow that afternoon & we were excited to have a white Christmas after so many years in the desert. Be careful what you wish for!



Here's the next morning after it had (mostly) stopped snowing.



No Dry Heat that morning, it was about 25 degrees outside, but nice & warm inside.



Here's some of the scenery, enjoy!





Leaving was a bit of a chore. Fortunately, the 300 watt heater we used was barely enough to thaw out the locks, one at a time, to get things moving with the extension cord. I began to remember what it was like growing up back east on a snowy morning. What was usually a 20 minute job took over an hour to thaw out the locks, move things around & hook up to leave, but it was a great trip & we saw enough cold to last us another 40 years. I was a little chilly, since it was 24 degrees that morning & my blood is fairly "thin" from all the years of heat in Tucson. The ground was a bit cold as well & a heat gun would have been a better choice. If it wasn't for the heater, we would still be there trying to wait for some warm weather to get us home. Let's see, I'll be 105 when we need to see another white Christmas.....

Beautiful pics! Sounds like a very nice trip, but in Indiana, we don't go out of our way looking for snow! LOL Thanks for sharing.

As always, very nice pics.

Looks like a good time was had with family and glad you managed to stay warm. Any driving issues, slippery situations, in the snow?

Thanks for the replies. Yes it was a good time & no, we didn't have any trouble with the driving. Interstate 17 & 40 was closed above us, but that was at & above the rim. Flagstaff got over a foot of snow, but it's at a higher elevation. There were 50 vehicles stranded on the interstate at one point & "numerous" accidents in the area.

Fortunately, there was a few days of warm weather prior to the snow, so the pavement wasn't too cold & ice wasn't a problem. The roads were in good shape. I waited a bit for the roads to be cleared, since we don't run snow tires & chains aren't something I remember how to use any more. With new radial tires & a 4 cylinder motor, it wasn't bad at all. The strangest thing we saw was a Lamborghini parked off the road near our camp ground & a young couple playing in the snow next to it. Not sure I'd want to drive that in an area of bad drivers who don't know about snow with a car like that.....

Yeah, Lambo in the snow sounds odd, but I have a vision of them sitting in LA (or somewhere warmer) hearing about the snow, jumping in the "fast" car, and driving like Sammy Hagar thru the desert to get there and see it.

Hi Tim, another nice trip for you two in the Tortoise. Love the photos
That sure looks cold though. We had about the same temperature whan we camped in Taupo a few months ago. We let the dogs sleep in the teardrop with us, and just as well as their water bowl that was left in the car had a layer of ice on it the next morning.
Happy New Year to you Tim and Alice and keep that teardrop mooving