Eddie & George Wake Up a Day Early in Camp Verde - Refugees from a Snowstorm

Eddie and George were surprised to wake up in Camp Verde, Arizona this morning!  They were sure that today was move day and that they would spend it watching the Arizona countryside whiz by as the rig moved south from Page.  But it was not to be.

The National Weather Service issued an alert (George thought it had been a mite tardy) yesterday afternoon, warning of heavy snow in Flagstaff and other high elevations (including, most notably, the summit at Sunset Volcano National Monument on US 89) which were to be our travel route today. Heavy rains were due to commence anytime, and they would become snow higher up before midnight, accumulating up to 6 inches.  It finally sunk in with Kathy and Dave that they needed to either (i) find another route south, or (ii) stay in Page an extra, indeterminate number of days, or (iii) get the heck out of Dodge RIGHT NOW.  After much discussion, we decided to head south immediately, and confirmed that our campground in Camp Verde would let us in a day earlier.

At 4:00 pm we were on the road.  Even so, the rain became a downpour as we headed south from Bitter Springs.  As we climbed toward Sunset Volcano, the rain became thick.  Then it became sleet, then wet snow.  It was heavy and leaving slushy accumulations on the highway as we reached the top, with visibility a bit of a problem, too.

Well.  So the temperature had plummeted and the snow had come even earlier than the NWS predicted.  We hoped we would be back to rain by the time we reached Flagstaff, which was generally true, but the downpour became a torrent and we had hail as we drove down the 18-mile hill south of Flagstaff.

We got into camp just after 8:00 pm and were greeted by our friendly campground hosts, Nan and Norm, who helped us park in a spacious, beautiful site.  By now, the rain had left Camp Verde and we were able to set up in balmy, non-rainy, 52F weather.

The news reports this morning were pretty explicit:

Boy, were we glad we had beat feet just ahead of THAT!  If not, we would have confronted a mess on the highways all the way down, with even heavier rain and snow all day today and tonight.

We woke Eddie and George and asked if they wanted to go out and explore.  Due to the threat of rain, we had them put on their rain gear, and we went for a walk down to Clear Creek, which adjoins the campground.  Eddie found a beautiful little cascade and the boys asked us to take their photo at that spot.  And so we did:

This area is so green, and the wetland through which the creek burbles so beautiful, strewn with stream-rounded stones, that we couldn't help but be pleased with out current camping spot:

Zane Grey RV Park is a beautiful, spacious campground, nestled in the Verde Valley, which is named after the Verde River running through the area, and which is aptly named for its leafy splendors.  Here is a scene from the campground:

After our walk, George and Eddie advised us that, in their opinion, we had been very wise to move south when we did.  We agreed.