Frost and Snow and Saguaros

As we were getting ready to leave Gallup, NM, this morning, we discovered frost on the picnic table and truck windshield. If that wasn't enough, as we drove southwest through the Arizona mountains, it snowed!



Yesterday they had several inches at the Snow Bowl, a ski area outside of Flagstaff. This wasn't like this, but there were snowflakes coming down for several miles. We hope that is the last snow we see for another year or so.

In one area, we drove through an elk crossing test area. We wondered what that was until we came to this sign. Apparently, the elk are funneled to this spot, where a light flashes when they are near the road, warning drivers to watch from them. We have never seen anything like it before and wonder if it will be effective.



The scenery coming down Arizona highways 377 and 277 and US 260 and the Beeline Highway is really great. Today the clouds were beautiful.



as well as the mountains.





The pinnacle in the center of this view is Weaver's Needle, something we have hiked to several times.



And we saw our first saguaro cactus! That is always the best sign we have arrived in southern Arizona and the Valley of the Sun, where we will spend the next three months.