Wednesday, June 22, 2005
Yesterday's Game Called on Account of Brushfire on I-17
I kept my ear to the phone all morning, following all the promises of opening and then their abortions until, at 0730, it was finally announced that I-17 would be closed most of the day while crews beat back the fire between Bloody Basin and Black Canyon City. I had no problem moving all our plans to Thursday, tomorrow. Most of yesterday I recuperated from the very short sleep (maybe 4 hours, and that's optimistic) the night before. If I know I have to run on empty I can do it with panache, but once I realize I don't need to I collapse. We both had a very lazy day.
We could have taken the Wickenburg road but I was sure everyone and their dog (in separate vehicles) would be on that road. It involves a 20 mile stretch of hairpins that is posted at 25-35 mph and can't be negotiated much faster than this, especially considering that there are always big rigs traipsing up and down that route and, yesterday, all of them would be heading that way. When I called the auto rental company at 0800 to push our reservation to Thursday and mentioned this, the rep said she'd heard that the Wickenburg road was "a mess". No guarantee that we would have made Mesa in time for our appointment.
As of last night the fire was 50% contained well away from the freeway and it was open, once again, with signs posted to slow and watch for fire crews. I'm sure by tomorrow it will be clear and running at its usual pace.
Bless my mother and her adventurous spirit: When I informed her of our change in plans she accepted the situation with equanimity, then added, "Wouldn't it be fun, though, to drive through the area and watch the fire and the crews at work?!?"
What a woman!
We could have taken the Wickenburg road but I was sure everyone and their dog (in separate vehicles) would be on that road. It involves a 20 mile stretch of hairpins that is posted at 25-35 mph and can't be negotiated much faster than this, especially considering that there are always big rigs traipsing up and down that route and, yesterday, all of them would be heading that way. When I called the auto rental company at 0800 to push our reservation to Thursday and mentioned this, the rep said she'd heard that the Wickenburg road was "a mess". No guarantee that we would have made Mesa in time for our appointment.
As of last night the fire was 50% contained well away from the freeway and it was open, once again, with signs posted to slow and watch for fire crews. I'm sure by tomorrow it will be clear and running at its usual pace.
Bless my mother and her adventurous spirit: When I informed her of our change in plans she accepted the situation with equanimity, then added, "Wouldn't it be fun, though, to drive through the area and watch the fire and the crews at work?!?"
What a woman!
