see...it DOES rain in Arizona!

For those of you across the country and elsewhere, we're not sure if you've heard anything about "Monsoon 2008" in Arizona or not, so we'll shed a little light 0n what's been going on over the past 48 (or so) hours:

One night last week when Joe wasn't scheduled on dialysis, we both took Lucy to the park after it started to cool off a bit (by cool off, I mean it got down to about 100). So we went to the park and on the way, it started to sprinkle a bit. We didn't think it was a big deal. So we got to the park and noticed that almost everyone was taking their dogs and leaving. Since the rains in Phoenix usually last about 10 minutes and then stop, we thought we'd wait it out. But oh no.....this is NOT the case during Monsoon Season because about 10 minutes later we saw the heaviest rain I have ever seen since then. Heavier rain even than I ever saw while living in Boston! Lucy was having a grand time running around like crazy in the rain with her mouth open while Joe and I and a few other dog owners took refuge under a tree. The tree didn't really shelter much since the rain was coming in all directions, though. All was good and Lucy was having a blast...until we started to see lightning and decided to get the heck out of there. When we got home, plastered all over the news were bits about "Monsoon 2008". Those of you from other parts of the country might chuckle at the attention they give to rain here. Yes, it does happen very seldom...but when it pours, there's just no hiding from it...especially since the drainage in the Phoenix area is terrible.

Flash forward to this past weekend. We had a little family reunion of sorts on Saturday. My aunt Sharon was visiting from Georgia, my aunt Diane was visiting from San Diego and my Uncle Harry and his family (who live in North Phoenix) were visiting as well. It was the first time in about 7 years that we were all together. So we decided to get together again on Sunday. Joe was out picking up Princess Lucy from the groomer when everyone came over. Then the rain started to pour. First the backyard was a huge puddle. Then all of the planters filled up with water. Then one yard was overflowing to the next, the planters started overflowing into the pool and the flooding began. It was pouring for a good hour to an hour and a half. It definitely blew the night at the dog park out of the water (no pun intended) and became the craziest rain storm I've ever seen. After about 1.5 hours, the pool was full and, with that, it was full of dirt, leaves, etc. from all the planters and from the yard. Meanwhile, Alanna came home from work and told the crazy story of her trying to navigate home and she said how our whole neighborhood was flooded. So we decided to take a walk. I brought my camera and this is what we saw:

The streets and the sidewalks are not even distinguishable.
Even parts of people's yards were under water!

Mom at the end of the street.

Neese, Kaci and Mom wishing that we had some canoes!

Our cul-de-sac was a lake! You can't even see the sidewalks!

And our poor pool filled with mud, leaves and YUCK!
[this was after they started pumping the water OUT of the pool]

And, finally, comes the story of Joe and Lucy...who were stuck on the highway for about 2 hours. Joe was bringing Lucy back to the house so that they could enjoy the rest of the afternoon with the family, but got caught in this:


Apparently, one of the underpasses on the highway (about 7 or so miles from the house) was completely submerged and no one could get through. This is where they were stuck for 2 hours. Joe said that all the cars were stopped and could not get anywhere. He said that people on the far right eventually started to flip u-turns and travel the wrong way down the highway, but Joe was stuck on the far left...kinda hard to turn from where he was. There was one point, I guess, when some people even started to play football while stuck on the highway! Eventually, he said, that police men came, telling people to just turn around and drive the wrong way down the highway to the nearest exit. So finally, cars started leaving and eventually Joe was able to turn around. But yeah...poor guy. He and Lucy were definitely glad to finally get out of the car.

So for those who are nonbelievers....SEE....it DOES rain in Arizona!!