My vacation didn’t go as planned. I’m sure anyone who’s taken a vacation could say the same thing. But before you think I’m an over planner, I’m not. The extent of my plans involves checking the map to see where I want to go/see then get in the car and go. Packing, etc is reserved for the last minute. So where did my vacation go off track? Um, it snowed. Big time up north right where I planned to go. Yeah, most of you are probably laughing. But I have been in snow 5 times in the last 40 years–you know the kind that sticks to the ground. I’ve seen it– on TV and it has snowed in Phoenix but it barely touched the ground before melting or in rare cases lasted an hour. The last time I was in snow was when we drove up to Flagstaff for my daughter to check out NAU. Cars and tractor trailers overturned in front of us or skidded off the road. Not exactly encouraging me to repeat the experience. Now my husband is from Brooklyn, NY and has snow experience. So he could have driven, like before. And I trust my husband with my life–even though he takes those left hand turns a little close when I’m in the passenger seat. But on our Arizona backroads, towns are 60 miles apart and cell phone service is non existent. As for those ‘call for help phones’ on the side of the road–forget about it. There ain’t none. So… we did some home improvement projects while waiting for the weather to warm up and melt some of that snow. And it did, well at least most of it on the roads. So on Wednesday, we piled into the car and set off. Now might be a good time to mention that aside from a brief foray into the wild in October, my husband and I haven’t really been alone for a road trip in over 22 years. It was a bit freaky not having children asking when we were going to get there or asking when we were going to stop. The silence was quite nice. We actually could talk about nothing and something or not talk at all. So what did we do? We toured the northeastern part of the state to see what could happen during the bug out in the Redaction sequel. And my husband was very good at laying out defensive positions in Strawberry, Arizona where part of the convoy would travel and be ambushed. And of course, part of the trip isn’t going to work for the book so I’ll be taking another road trip in May but this time, we’re going to sleep over without the kids. Here are my observations from the trip which are completely random: Old butts need comfortable seats to travel in, which may mean an investment in lumbar pillows. God help the characters traveling in those personnel carriers. There are very few passable routes during a snow storm for vehicles. Fireroads are out of the question and washes will be flooded. Yet, there aren’t enough small towns, side roads to get around the rim country other than the state roads. Many of the small towns have been hit hard by the changing economy. Along the main road, many stores/restaurants had already been closed and boarded up, making it very easy to see how they would look if a pandemic really did hit. Add in the recent fires and the devastation to the old stand pine forest is mind boggling (and can lead to mud slides) Folks in my state are actually preparing for the end of centralized government, are generally ticked off at the government, and sell ammo and guns near churches. Gotta love that. Pine trees make effective road blocks on narrow streets. There was a totem pole in Strawberry, which was very cool. Most of the diners on the main drags (when there were some) served Mexican American food. But the burgers, etc were only served after 4 pm. So did fast food chains drive out the others? Some towns didn’t have any. And there is only so much fast food I want to eat. EVER. You can see the San Francisco Peaks in Flagstaff from Holbrook, 90+ miles away. The train tracks are well maintained. And lastly, my husband can catch snowballs and throw most of the snow back at me. He’s a man of many talents:-)