Friday we left for a two-hour drive to celebrate our anniversary in the cool mountain town of Flagstaff, Ariz. We were looking forward to getting out of the heat, exploring a new area, hiking, dining, and staying at our favorite hotel brand, Little America.
Halfway to Flagstaff, we were entranced with big dark clouds that had long threads of rain hanging from them. Then there was a thunderclap and it started to rain. The rain turned into hail within minutes. It sounded like our car was being hit by golf balls. I was scared out of my mind.
My husband asked me to turn on the hazard flashers. My hands shook so badly I couldn’t do it. I began praying the Hail Mary!
We saw cars pull over on the right shoulder of the two-lane highway. But there was a cliff on that side and the visibility was getting awful. We were in the left lane where there wasn’t room to pull over, just a ditch.
Visibility went to zero. My husband drove at one mile per hour, completely blind to what lie ahead. He said he didn’t want to stop in case someone barreled into us.
The hail turned back into rain and when we made it to Flagstaff it was sunny and close to 100 degrees. What a July.
At the hotel, shaken and exhausted, we inspected the car. It’s dented all over the hood, roof and trunk.
What type of freak weather have you experienced? I thought our snow when we first moved to Scottsdale was odd.
I was trying to figure out something cute to say here, but all I kept coming up with is YIKES!
My heart started racing as wrote this.
Sounds scary. I hate driving in storms
I hate driving all the time. This was the worst.
I listened to this and then imagined the dents you found! Wow! The only thing I can identify with was driving down Bear Mountain in a rain storm with my mom’s friend relocating to the Catskills and getting lost. Terrifying! Glad you are okay! I hope you enjoyed your anniversary weekend!
I can’t stand driving in rainstorms or snow with poor visibility. Yes, after the drive we had a great weekend.
I remember, years ago, flying to Texas and renting a car. There were tons of rentals in the yard with huge dents all over like you described (fortunately, our rental was OK). Anyway, I was amazed that hail could get that big and cause that much damage. What we get here (rarely) is no more than pea-sized. I’m glad you were ok. Happy anniversary!
I have never seen hail like that before. Thanks for the anniversary wish and yes, I’m glad we’re okay. The car can get fixed.
Welcome to sunny Arizona! I have been met with a thick sheet of dust, followed by a thick sheet of rain when driving the Motorhome, such fun. I try real hard to stay out of southwest area, as that is the dust storm area, although people have had their roofs blow of in North. It is a good thing it is more rare than often. Glad you got out of it unscathed, except the fun of dealing with insurance.
I can’t wait for the monsoons! We’d have sand storms in Palm Springs that would pit the paint but I knew where to avoid driving in wind storms.
Hot and humid. Monster and I mean monster rain….
Sounds awful.
😆this year has been particularly bad