Another Side of Arizona (with a little NM thrown in for chills)

That's cold. -27C is another way to say it.

We drove up north in the middle of a cold snap and snow storm, and I grabbed some pictures along the way. It was -17F in Gallup, NM, and there was lots of snow, so I was out playing with the kids in the yard, mostly sliding on the snow which was very powdery in the cold temperatures. I'm not used to that low a temperature. It's freaky cold. Since my mind couldn't really grasp it, I couldn't really perceive it, you know? 

Another problem with cars: I had concerns mine would even start in the morning when it was so cold. Fears of being stranded in a cold place. I've experienced -43F at the Ice Lantern Festival in Harbin, China, but that was a long time ago, and I have spent the intervening years in Phoenix, where such temperatures just sound like pure fiction. 

A great rest stop sign, you must admit

Cholla Power Plant, a massive coal-burning enterprise, belching steam into the cold cold air.

After a snowstorm, just south of Flagstaff. That's Mt. Humphreys and the San Francisco Peaks.

I appreciate being able to drive a couple of hours to experience a very different climate. This time of year, though, I am glad to be back in the Valley of the Sun, hiking and biking in a t-shirt in January. We all had fun in the snow, but -17F! Although when you're running, sliding, and smashing each other with chunks of snow, you don't notice it much. Get up. Go ride.