Coldest night of 2010 in Phoenix

We are all bundled up tonight ready to take on another below freezing night that is forecast to be in the low 20's.  The last time we did this was in Amarillo, Texas on the way down here.  We got thru the night without freezing the water system there, and we are confident that we will not freeze up tonight either.

We did lose our ice maker water valve sometime this fall, but we are fairly sure that it happened before we left KC.  We went thru some really cold nights there, without anyone inside the rig or heat running at all.

As we usually do, we dropped and rolled up the water hoses late in the afternoon, after we filled up our fresh water tank.  That leaves us on the pump for tonight and tomorrow morning, until it warms up some.

Last night was a rainy wind storm here, as the rain didn't let up most of the night.  It would stop, and then return in another half hour.  But what really was with us without a break was the wind.  As I went to bed, the wind was 15 to 20 but the gusts were in the high 30's.  And to add fun, it was out of the West, which left our passenger side broadside, since we are facing South.

Even though we have all four jacks firmly down, the wind rocked the entire coach.  And of course the slide topper awnings were flopping like mad.  I finally got to sleep, but before long Loyce was back up since it was driving her nuts.  Usually she sleeps right thru this stuff, so it was over the top for her.

In the morning, the sun broke thru the overcast, but the sky never became more than broken all day long.  The clouds were angry, and the wind went back up to gusts of 35 by about 2 PM.  Sometime around then, a low hanging cloud that must have been really tall came over Mesa.  It was quite dark underneath, but you could see the blue sky out in the distance to the West.

The wind was blowing our garbage bins all over the place, and even though it was in the 40s, it began to sleet and snow!  Of course it didn't stick to the ground, but folks here in Mesa were amazed.

I was sitting at home here waiting for the FedEx truck, as he had a package from my son Ben onboard, (the watch I ordered two weeks ago).  But as he pulled up, he expressed that he had never seen snow in the valley before.  Ever!  He was a young fellow, and it might have been more years ago that I remember the snow, than he was old!  I just told him that I had seen it before, but that it has been a long time.

He was totally amazed, and wanted to get his shift over so he could go park his truck.  He has never lived in the part of the country where snow is common place.  Let alone the Dakotas or Minnesota or the Great Lakes!  I grabbed the package and let him get on his way.

This evening, the wind was blowing away our patio mat, that is 6 X 12.  It is made from a plastic that is weaved together, and if the motorcycle wasn't parked on top of it, we would find it in Utah.  I carried over a concrete block from an adjacent site, and put it on the other end.

The fun is that we are not done with this in the morning, as they think tomorrow night is going to be just as cold.  The scooter is still hiding under his cover, and doesn't want to come out and play!

Retired Rod

As a post script, after reading the comments about the rig being parked right on the money here in the park, management doesn't trust you to park yourself correctly.  They send the park guy on the golf cart to escort you to your site.  But more importantly, he watches you to make absolutely sure that you don't run over the utilities at the back of the lot, and park your rig exactly.  He doesn't leave until the engine is shut down, or the landing gear is down on a 5ver!