SORRY FOR THE DELAY


 

"Snowbird Airways announce the departure......."


" Welcome aboard our non-stop flight from Dolores to Buckeye......we apologize for the delay due to
circumstances beyond our control,......please fasten your seat belts, observe the cabin signs and enjoy
your trip"





"Captain to crew........."

 0600 and the crew are up and ready, coffee served, dogs all early and checked in with boarding
passes in paw. Baggage crews loading goodies and the Safari is warmed up and by 0830 push back
is completed and we are hitched up to the trailer. Minor problem cranking the gene so we may have a
poor quality house battery. The manifest shows 4 extra tons of snow, 3 on the coach and another on
the roof of the trailer which is about 30 inches tall!

 0930, one hour later than planned, and 2 days later than scheduled, the Starship slips from her
harbor and completes the first turn but it is clear the 60' rig will not pass the town snow bank so yet
more shoveling and finally the trailer and rig are ready to roll. At last we are moving and Safari is
nursed down main street Dolores and is now heading South for the Arizona border. The road
conditions improve and by the time we are through Cortez they are nearly all clear. The roads
themselves leave a lot to be desired with huge potholes, a rapidly deteriorating surface and the
underlying core seems to have shifted creating a very ripply finish like a roller coaster.

 Driving the Destroyer its like hunting submarines as periodically 3' high lumps of snow fall off the back
and shatter across the carriageway like a depth charge...... those traveling too close soon find this is
not a great place to be. Crossing the reservation, all is well, the snow keeps falling off, a major melt
has set in above with the heaters on and I have a continuous waterfall of melt water coming down my
sidescreen from the roof.





Church Rock 

 Four Corners comes and goes and on past Church Rock and into Kayenta where they have had a bit
more snow, and we drop them some more from the roof ! Weather cloudy but so far dry apart from the
constant run off down my sidescreen. Past the Elephant feet and through Tuba City and join the
Flagstaff road at last. Up ahead its looking pretty black and as we approach the next hazard I settle
back and count the 69 Crosses along the roadside on the 55 mile stretch to Flag. Always amazes me
just how many people managed to meet their maker on such a short straight piece of road.



 

The Elephant Feet


 Flagstaff has taken quite a beating from the winter storms and there is more snow on the ground than
I can remember and as we make our way up the hill to Munds Park is starts to snow again. Not settling
but coming down in buckets, not that that affects an Arizona driving lemon who pushes on at 75
regardless and continues to tailgate and lane swap in true Nascar fashion. We drop a few more
charges from the roof and as we come down the big long hill the snow gives way to rain and the
classic rainbow. More showers from some nasty black cells but we press on and make our turn off at
the Carefree Highway.



 

Back to rain!


 Next stop Safeway for the week's shopping and meet up with my old mechanic who owes me some
money to pay for same. Debt settled, two carts of goodies later and with a PF Chang's take out from
Pei-Wei we are ready to roll again with the time coming up on 8 at night. Refueling complete, no
propane to be had as its illegal to serve after 6 pm !!!!!! ...... we are back on the 101 loop and heading
for Buckeye and the last 80 miles. Buckeye comes into view and we make our final approach for
landing.





On final approach to land

 We find the exit this year by the prison and stumble into our parking slot ready for the rest of the week.
2 days late but at least we are here and we still have a foot of snow left on the roof!


TONY DOWN