When They Say Monsoon .....

They mean MONSOON RAINS!!!  Amazing amounts of rain have fallen in Arizona, with Tucson receiving over four inches in just one small storm.  These storms are going down in the history books.  This is Pantano Wash, the huge creek that wanders down from the mountains, past my place and on through Tucson.

This isn't the first time it's flowed like a river.  In the 1880's the town of Pantano was built just down the road a piece.  Torrential rains flooded the creek, washing out half the town, which was then built on the OTHER side of the creek.

It's not easy getting pictures since there is no place to pull over.  I headed for the tiny parking lot at the trailhead near the bridge, but was met with a lake at the bottom.  It's a good thing I looked first.  I doubt I could have backed up that steep muddy road.  

All I could do is a drive by.  This is where the rushing river sound came from yesterday morning.  The entire width of the wash looks like it was covered with water.  There are tree stumps big and small, some having been washed down from above.  

What's amazing is that here it is one whole day later and the water is still flowing like a river.  It rained all day yesterday, but my kind of rain.  No wind, just rain that never stopped to take a break.

Most of the water is flowing along the cliff side at the bottom of the picture.  I drove around for twenty minutes trying to get a better view, but this was the best I could get.

Further down where the channel narrows considerably, the News Channel took this picture.  It's a weird weather system that came heading northwest from New Mexico.  It then swung west (still raining here),  hit a wall and began to circle back around to us coming up from the southwest, raining here the entire time.  

Last night I expected to just wash on down the hill.  The rain on the roof was so loud Cooper started barking.  ALWAYS trust your dog.  We got up and had ice cream on the couch, just in case it was our last meal.  Just kidding about the last meal, but not the ice cream.

It looks like rain again all day, putting a damper on my morning escape to the quilt store.  There are many flooded areas between them and me, meaning road closures.  

The good news is my tarps are doing their job and have not been washed down the hill.  No further damage that I can tell.  Mr. Chance can make repairs when he returns, but I hope his timing is perfect.

He's been on a motorcycle trip up north.  In the old days if it started raining on us, we parked under an overpass until it let up.  For the girls that didn't come prepared, we handed out black trash bags to wear as rain gear.  

You've never been really wet until you've ridden on the back of a motorcycle while passing a Mack truck pulling two trailer loads of tomatoes during a huge rain storm.  We had a flat tire, so being the good wife, I got on back of another guys bike and rode home to get the truck.  When I finally peeled off those leather pants, my legs were completely black from the dye.  

I retrieved my husband and the bike before he got thrown in jail for loitering at the grocery store.  Such was the life of us motorcycle mamas!!