No, we did not make it to Tucson today as planned. John enjoyed his first spelunking excusion in Carlsbad Caverns (which had nice paved paths with handrails). Then we left NM to enter TX again. Leaving NM, it was sprinkling. As we approached El Paso, the rain increased. Yesterday we had discussed what happens when it rains - does it soak in? does it immediately pool and flood? In one place along the highway to El Paso, there was some standing water in the desert ground near the road. It was pouring when we stopped for lunch at Denny's on the far east side of El Paso. After refueling, we hopped on the interstate - only to discover traffic at a standstill. So we exited and tried to go around.
Then we discovered the reason for traffic delays - flooding. Water pooled in roads, drains were backed up and water was flowing out of them, some rock and mud was in the road. Nothing life threatening where we were - but it was stressful and not fun to navigate through an unknown city. We decided to stay in El Paso because radio reports indicated the interstate was closed and you could not get to Las Cruces - the direction we would be headed. Traffic was being diverted off the interstate and not moving. Even though it seemed to be clearing a bit, it still would have taken a long time to get through - and then even more driving to get to Tucson. So here we are, another night on the road. I hadn't seen the news, but my mom informed there had been flooding in Tucson yesterday. Crazy. John has decided he is cursed for travel around this time of year (last year, flooding in Bombay, 2 years ago, black out in NYC. Maybe this is just the time of year for weather related problems).
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