Escape Winter Visit Arizona

For the past several years our February/March travel plans have include a trip from cold and snowy Illinois to the idyllic desert of Arizona.  We are always mindful that higher elevations like Flagstaff have real winters and bring out the skiers and snow boarders in great numbers, but we have come to expect that we can look up from the relative comfort of Saddlebrook (outside of Tucson) and only think of snow when we peer at the lofty summit of Mount Lemon.

Last year brought a change in that expectation.  It got cold in the valley.  So cold at one point that the fountain in my cousin's back yard took on the aspect of ice blue popsickle.  Then a little later on we went to bed serenely and woke up to a  "what to my wondering eyes did appear" frosting of white stuff that turned the desert environment into a strikingly unusual new postcard material.  It didn't last long, but while it was there I snapped and snapped.  From the cactus in the snow to hummingbirds mystified by the new covering on their feeder, it was a new experience for us. Below are a coupleof samples. See some more at  
http://www.flickr.com/photos/83918664@N00/