"Do you realize all of our kids our coming with us on this outing?" Yep, I said, and then some. For some reason every one wanted to go see the snow. Most of the little ones had never seen it so we knew then it would be a treat. We had to wait for my sister in law's husband to come off from work so we hit the road at about 10:30 a.m. already a bit late but the best we could do. I suggested for us to take the 101 up to the 17 as it would be faster, but if you know about Murphy's Law if anything can go wrong it will. Not even three miles into our trip we found out they had a freeway closure. Man they have those every weekend and they are a pain in the rear. It took us almost 40 minutes to cruise a 4-mile stretch, that was valuable travel time.
We got to our first stop at the McDonalds at the Camp Verde exit. Got off the van and realize that the long sleeve shirt I had was not warm enough anymore, so on went the sweat shirt. We ate home made tacos, bought drinks, went to the rest rooms, and some 35 minutes later hit the road again.
Next stop should have been in Flagstaff, except mi chica noticed that one of the four cars we were traveling in was not in following us anymore, she got on the cell phone and found out that the car kept stopping for some reason. So she called all everyone and we all got off on exit no. 315 on Rock Park Rd. There was already plenty of snow there so we all got off and the kids started to experience the snow for the first time ever. Some of them thought, wait a minute this is not nice at all, they kept sinking in the snow, they couldn't walk, they were cold and all of a sudden they decided that this snow business was not nice after all.
We took pictures with "Mike" a snow man made by some previous travelers, our stranded team was only about five minutes behind us so we didn't even have to wait for too long. We deiced to put them in the middle and pushed on towards Flagstaff.
We finally got to Flagstaff at around 2:00 p.m. Since we didn't have drinks we stopped at the local WalMart, big, big mistake. The store was crowded, it was hard to find parking spots, we were scattered all over the place and winded up wasting a good hour and a half there.
Now it's late so we decided to push on, we started heading towards the Grand Canyon and couldn't find a suitable spot. Mi chica once again noticed the same car from before was missing, she gets on the phone and finds out that they got stuck in the snow, but had been able to get the car going again.
At this point we were hungry as well as frustrated, we headed back to an area we saw with some activity and just parked there. We all ate, and mi chica found out she wore the wrong boots for the snow, as they had a smooth sole all the way, she had to skate instead of walk and was afraid of falling. So, there was a huge pile of dirt and tar covered with snow about a quarter of a mile away and we all headed that way. It was a pretty steep climb and the cardboard boxes we took to use as sleds did a good job. The kids were coming down so fast that we had to catch them at the bottom but after doing it once they got the hang of it and they loved it. The hard part for all was getting to the top of the slope.
After a good hour there and once all the kids were totally wet and with running noses, we all headed back to the cars where a dry set of clothes waited for each one of them and decided that the next time we would prepare better. Yes the plan is to go up there again later in the year before the snow melts.
All in all we had a trip that was a little stressful, as too many of us went without a previous plan, but was so much fun never the less. Next time should be a lot better. But always remember about Murphy's Law.
8 comments:
What a delightful Holiday with the family!!! The pictures are wonderful!!
LOL
Sliding down in cardboard boxes?
I can tell you're Mexican just like me.
When Crystal was a little girl, we went to the snow and our version of a "Ski Outfit" for her was:
Snow Boots = Two sandwich bags over her tennis shoes.
Gloves = Crystal's extra pair of socks.
Snow Pants = A Pampers Diaper over her "Abuelita-Wear" jogging suit.
I actually have a picture of her with this ingenious outfit.
I'm glad you guys were able to still have fun among adversity. But then again...you guys always do. that's what's special about you all!
Besitos,
wanda - I am glad you enjoyed the pictures, took forever to upload them but it was worth it. We did have a fun time even with all the poor planning problems.
chely - They were talking about bags for the shoes but no body took any. Brianna's feet were soaking wet as but Michelle as usual was wise to buy Diego and Alynna rubber boots for the water. Sylvia and I packed a whole duffel bag with extra jackets, gloves, scarfs, etc. We knew someone would need them and we were not wrong. Notice Talyanna wearing a huge jacket as was Brianna, otherwise they would have been freezing. I say we had a lot of fun, if we would have planned a little better it would have been even more fun. There's always a next time.
Siempre que vamos a la nieve, por mucho que se planee no siempre resulta muy agradable, aunque a final de cuentas se divierte uno suficiente como para querer regresar.
En cuanto a que uno va resolviendo los inconvenientes segun se presentan, Chely tiene mucha razon en lo de la inventiva de nos. los mexicanos, sino echale una miradita al blogg de Chely de cuando fuimos a la playa y mi mami se quejaba por el sol y termino con sombero y sombrilla. ja-ja.
elena - De que la pasamos padre, la pasamos padre. Pero los contratiempos nunca faltan. Ya se como nos la gastamos nosotros con nuestras ideas originales. Pero si te fijas en las fotos los ninos se la estaban pasando a todo dar sin importarles que no tenian trineos si no solamente pedasos de carton.
Wow! Look at all that snow!! If we had that much snow here in Virginia the whole place would shut down for a week! lol! Great pics of you and the family!! Looks like you all had a great time! Enjoy AI tonight! I know I will!! Hugs...Lisa :)
We have summer like weather in Phoenix and just two short hours away there are tons and tons of snow. We did have a great time.
Thanks for the memories. My grandparents lived in Mesa, Tempe, and at the end of their lives, in Sun City. We visited OFTEN from Los Angeles. Anyway, I've done that same trip you described many, many times in my childhood! One memory is that they rented coats because children in Arizona don't have heavy coats! Not much snow in the valley!! I also love, love, love Sedona and the Grand Canyon. Oh, and Slide Rock!!! Wow, the memories are flooding. My brothers and I had the best times at Slide Rock. That was back when you had to climb down the rocks off the side of the road to get to it. Now they made it a park. But sadly, you have to pay to get in. Times change.
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