It Really Does Rain In Arizona

Senor Ping and I awoke this morning to the pitter patter of raindrops on the roof of the 5th wheel and for a minute I thought I was camping back home. Many moons ago when our family spent the summer traveling across Alberta and Saskatchewan with trailer in tow we could always be guaranteed at least a thunder shower every day or at least every couple days. We learned to entertain the kids with rowdy games of Yatzee or Talk About and never left home without a couple umbrellas, rubber boots, tarps, rain gear and credit cards (for those camping trips when it rained every day we would eventually trek to the nearest mall and spend the afternoon drying out). The farmers even considered paying us to camp at home during the dry years, as it seemed everywhere we went it rained.

However, we are in the desert and rain is not a common occurrence. As a matter of fact this is the first rain we have encountered in our three trips south. The rain has been in the weather forecast since last week but the people we have discussed the weather with assured us that it wouldn't amount to much. Along with the rain came strong winds and everyone was outside at 6:00 AM rolling up their awnings and anchoring things that might start blowing around. Then it quit and I decided to carry on with my plans for our last day in Yuma. I had laundry going, got the outdoor carpets rolled up and the lawn chairs put away, enjoyed a visit with Susan from back home and then the rain started again. It continued to rain for a couple hours. There are puddles everywhere, water running through the "wash" and the golf carts have come to a halt. We found the rain quite refreshing and another "first " to record on our blog!!