It's Cold Out There!

Most of the time, when you visit a state park, they don't hand you a slip stating you may not be able to get out!  Well, we got on of those slips going back to the campsite last Thursday.  Depending on rain in the mountains and surrounding areas, the wash that crosses the main road into Catalina State Park may be flooded.  You either make a decision to get out (and stay out) or possibly hunker down at your camp site.  As they say, "Forewarned is forearmed". 

So, on Saturday, as we were preparing to leave and go shopping, we couldn't.  This is what we encountered:

Yep, the wash was flooding and causing the sand to accumulate across the road.  Nobody in....and nobody allowed out.

People were lined up with their vans and trailers, patiently waiting for the Park Ranger to let them through. No worries for us.....we had enough food and wine to last for days and we didn't have to be out of our spots until Monday morning.  Guess you can say we are like the Boy Scouts: we are always prepared!  This had happened to Jerry and Sandy, Doris and Gary and us about 11 years ago.  The wash had deposited at least 3 feet of sand at this spot, and we couldn't leave on Sunday as planned.  The park finally got it cleared out on Monday, meaning I missed a day of work (shucks).

It was so miserable that even the saguaro cacti were wrapping their arms around each other to keep warm. I kid you not.  See for yourself:

Four wall fever was getting to us.  You can only play so many hands of cards and board games without getting antsy.  So we bundled up and walked down the middle of the road. After all, we sure didn't have to worry about traffic.

Uh, Sandy, aren't you worried about your feet getting wet with those sandals on?  Just wondering....

 Snow on the Catalina Mountains is a good indication that there is probably a lot of snow on Mount Lemon. 

Even though we had plenty of food, the road was opened up again in late afternoon.  Food options were weighed and then all of us decided to go out for burgers and fries.  After all, we could go in and out to the In-N-Out.  Makes sense to me.

This is the view from the restaurant, taken by Sandy on her phone.  The mountains were brilliant, and God once again blessed us with a beautiful sunset.