The weather last night was a little exciting offering up some rain, lightning and thunder but nothing bad happened where we were. Over in Wickenburg, AZ, the storms overnight generated a large amount of uncontrolled runoff swamping some ‘hoods and giving stupid motorists opportunities to drive their motor vehicles into deep water. Several stupid motorists were identified, some by having their pictures shown on the news and some by internet. News of idiocy travels fast. Peggy and I have heard newspersons note that some of the four-wheeled submarine drivers are actually cited under a law they refer to as “The Stupid Motorist Law.” Seems like an excellent idea since the law apparently punishes the stupid, entertains the populace and fines are used to augment the tax dollars previously stolen from us.
Just after leaving our spot at the TT Verde Valley RV Resort we pulled onto I-17 southbound toward Phoenix. The on-ramp is right at the bottom of an enormous, steep hill and poor Charlotte had to work hard to climb to the summit about 3,000 feet higher than Cottonwood. All the cooling fans were running. We sailed over the top, got some great mountain views for about 20 miles and then the rain started. Arizona roads are not really made to address drainage issues so we soon started passing over pavement with water ponding on the surface and we were getting passed by semis doing about 80 while concealed within a giant cloud of spray that blinded those of us behind. Oddly, we only passed by one wreck but he apparently spun, flipped, yawed and generally lost it. The driver was elsewhere but the car he left behind is toast.
The miserable weather persisted right up until we pulled into our temporary digs at Paradise RV Resort in Sun City, a suburb of Phoenix. The park is a big Jose with maybe 1,000 spaces, most of which are occupied by park model RVs filled with geriatric tenants who live here permanently. “Permanent” doesn’t mean they cannot voluntarily leave, it means once they move in they never move out, except in a hearse. The park has great utilities, big spaces, no wi-fi, good TV reception on the antenna, no cable TV and no remote restrooms so your trailer better be self-contained or you are out of luck. Security led us to our spot and helped us back in by interfering with the possibly cumbersome but familiar technique Peggy and I have created. After only a few too many changes of direction, we got the Invader squared away. We hooked up, retreated into the air conditioned space and called it a day.