Not all days in Arizona are sunny

It seems that weekends are the time for clouds to roll in - that has been the case for the last 2 weekends here in Mesa. Sunday was a day of heavy rains all day long so after church at Phoenix CRC, we hunkered in with good books and a cozy furnace. This area got 1.4in in 24 hours and then the temperatures dipped to 62F today (Monday) under cloudy skies. When the rain comes here - which is not often but this has been an unusually wet winter because of the El Nino effect - the dry washes fill with water that is gradually absorbed into the soil. Because it is usually dry and hot, the soil, which has a high calcium content, becomes hard (caleche) and water just runs off until it is trapped in holding ponds and washes and is absorbed over time. We spent the afternoon at Bass Pro store buying hiking boots (Jack) and hiking pants with zip-off legs (Mary). Now we are ready for the next big hike when the sun returns.