BUFFETED BY HIGH WINDS & RAIN

SATURDAY DEC. 1/07
I think it was about an hour after I had fallen asleep that I was suddenly awakened by the rocking of the coach & a tell tale howling sound outside the window. Wind!!!! And lots of it. The driving rain was beating on the roof & the wind was blowing it sideways against the windows. My first thoughts were about the satellite dish outside & surely it must have been blown over. The wind was coming in gusts as I shone my flashlight in the direction of the dish. I fully did not expect to see it, but there it was, standing steadfast against the onslaught of the wind. Our Canadian flag wasn't so lucky because I saw it on the ground to the east of the satellite dish. I watched the tri-pod set-up for a minute & crossed my fingers that it would be alright, & it was. But, my aluminum ladder which I had placed between the dish & the motorhome to support the satellite cables suddenly blew over pulling the cables down with it. The satellite dish didn't move but the other end of the 2 cables which ran up to & through the motorhome living room window & hooked into the modem & router for the computer, did!! The cables pulled the modem & router right off the dinette table & down onto the seat. A quick inspection showed no damage so I just left the router & modem where they were. Spent the next hour or so just sitting, watching, & worrying about everything until the wind finally abated around 2 a.m. The rain never let up & I couldn't help wonder where all that water was going. It had now been raining steady for well over 24 hours. There had been flash flood warnings on the television earlier but they were more centered around the Phoenix area to the south.

Glad to see the first light of day creeping over the valley but the rain didn't let up & the sky was black with ominous clouds. Wasn't until around mid-morning that the rain began to let up & we began to see the first bits of sunshine trying to break through the clouds. The wind picked up again but I reasoned that might be a good thing & hasten the departure of the clouds. And it did. By noon we could see ever widening patches of blue sky. The wind picked up even more so I added some weight to the tri-pod by hanging a heavy water jug under it plus I staked down each of the 3 legs. The gusting wind continued all afternoon & I was really impressed with how the satellite dish remained stable. We made one slight re-alignment on the SatMex 5 satellite & it kept us on-line all day.

The high winds dried up all the water puddles around the motorhome & by the end of the day we were somewhat back to our normal desert like conditions. Big clean up job though from all the mud we, & the dogs had tracked in. Kind of put some meaning to the phrase, "mud puppies."

We still haven't made it to Sedona yet so we'll try again to-morrow if it's sunny. I think we'll roll out of here Tuesday morning & maybe head south to Phoenix. We'll wait & see which way the wind blows us................................ :))
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