Not how you picture Arizona?

What a different winter this has been for us. Although we lived in NH til 2003, the kids were so small, that all they remember really is the Phoenix area's warm winters. It's when we get out and do things. It's the best weather of the year! They don't remember staying in 7 to 8 months out of the year because of cold, snow and days of downpouring rain.

This winter, we're in Concho in the White Mountains. It's cold here! Granted, it's not like NH with a "high for the day" of zero degrees with a -10 wind chill, but it's cold here right now. If we're lucky, the high for the day will reach the low 20s. The house is 60 degrees with a good fire in the fireplace and the blower on. There's 4 to 6 inches of snow on the ground (hard to say since it's SOOO windy that it blows and creates uneven drifts everywhere). Yesterday we drove Adam into work, only his 2nd day on the job. We live 30 miles away and he was there 10 min. before he was supposed to be there, even though we got stuck going 20 mph behind a snowplow, and drove through literally white-out conditions, and had to travel through some unplowed areas. His boss who lives just 3 miles down the road? She was 2 hours late! Had I not sat in that parking lot for the whole 2 hours, another employee who walked to work would've been outside the whole time, at about 30 degrees! Anyway, don't get me started on my responsibility soap box. I'm just glad we're teaching Adam that he's responsible to do his work no matter what. You don't slack off because it snows, with a 2 day warning, and then use weather as an excuse.

My point is, I bet this kind of winter isn't how you picture Arizona. I know I didn't when I learned about it in school. They show you pictures of a cactus, a rattlesnake, a desert in full bloom (which I still haven't seen no matter how hard I tried), and lots of rocky mountains. They don't show you white-out snowy winters in the single-digits, do they? Fortunately the air is so dry and the sun is warm, so our accumulated snow should be gone in just a few days. If we get an inch or two, it's gone that same afternoon. This may take 2 or 3 days, but it'll be great walking weather with cleared gravel roads soon enough. Anyway, here's a picture I took while Tim was driving Adam into work - and right before another white-out, and one from the KFC parking lot while we waited for Adam to be done working.