Blizzard Tested

I washed the coach, said our goodbyes to our friends, left our Phoenix camp, and headed up route 87 towards Payson and a scenic drive. They were predicting rain for the after noon but we were traveling away from the storm.........So we thought!
As we began to climb the mountains, it was a pretty ride.
Then we began to see the sky getting darker in the distance. I had hoped that we would turn away from that area.
And it looked like we may get lucky as the sky began to get lighter.

As we continued, the rain began. Damn, it seems like every time I wash the coach it rains.

As we continued our climb up the mountain range the clouds became darker and there was evidence that there was still some snow in the area.

We still continued our trek because it didn't look like it was going to really do anything but rain off and on.

Then before we knew it the snow on the side of the road was getting deeper but the rain was still spotty and the roads were good. I figured we would break through the other side any time now.

At this point we were still doing fine. I continued to monitor the outside temperature and it was in the high 30's.

We came to the town of Show Low and things improved. Note the ground was dry. So on we went.

The road began to show sighs of snow again but we figured it would improve as it had, hey even this dude was enjoying the ride.Then out of nowhere things turned bad really really fast, the snow was blowing around and sticking to the road. We came upon the town of Eager and stopped at an old campground. We were going to stay but I feared getting stuck till the spring thaw so we continued on. The snow began to get lighter and the road was again clear. Looks like we were ok!!!!

Well.....you guessed it, things began to get worse and I couldn't believe that this kept happening.

Then it really got bad and I was kicking myself for not stopped back in town.

We were lucky enough to get behind a snow plow.....remember, we are in the motorhome and have been in and out of snow for about four hours.
Then we lost the plow and the road. It got so bad that it was a complete white-out with the blowing snow. Now the road is only about one and a half lanes wide and I can't stop for fear of someone running into us. I have now idea how I ever made it without getting stuck or running off the road. Joyce was taking pictures and crying at the same time. I felt so bad for her!

My only thought as this point was to fully concentrate on the task ahead of me and get us safely to an area where we could park before sunset.

We drove for another two hours and finally came to a rest area where we could stop and eat. The storm was beginning to let up and the road was wet. We had dinner and were going to stay the night but we were at 6200 feet in altitude and I was have a tough time breathing. Probably due to stress!

Anyways we packed up and moved on down the twisty mountain road at 35 MPH in the dark till we got to the town of Glenwood, NM. There we found an abandoned repair garage and we stayed for the night.
The next morning things began to thaw and I took pictures of the Jeep covered with sand.

And the coach was full of ice and sand mixed. I really can't complain because we made it through without a scratch on us or the motorhome. Someone or something was watching over us on that trip. I hope we never have to go through anything like that again in the motorhome.
After leaving our stop for the night we moved on through Silver City, NM we passed this guy. Mmmmm, spooky!

Then at a rest area along our way we ran into this.

Oh yea, we had to try a Lot-A-Burger for lunch. It was ok but What-A-Burger is better.

Here we are in the Las Cruces area and will be heading to White Sands tomorrow. Hey Joyce, we need to wash the coach after that mess we went through. "LIFE IS GOOD"