Notes from the Road...Fountain Hills, AZ

February 21st, we left for our first show on the road, in Fountain Hills Arizona close to Phoenix.

We pull in to Fountain Hills Thursday night for early set up and knowing that it was supposed to rain all day Thursday we decided not to set up that night...  

It rained for about 4 hours of our 6 hour drive over to Fountain Hills from California.  Getting colder and colder as we traveled east.  To our surprise, we pulled into Fountain Hills around 11 pm and we were greeted with HUGE snow flakes, and flocked tents for those who had decided to set up that night.  

It was a dream!!!!  (Side note, we had spent Christmas with my family in Indiana and was counting on at least SOME snow, and I didn’t get anything.  So I was so happy I was able to be around the snow, at least for an hour or two!!!! We found out that the last time it snowed in Fountain Hills was in the 90's!!!!!!

Luckly we had learned from previous experiences and now bring ALL the layers with us when we travel.  So we piled on everything we had and settled in for a long night in a 39 degree winter wonderland in our van that’s no home yet...

We have everything planned out on what we want to do to the van but it’s been a slow process.  Currently we have a queen bed in the back, up cycled storage that was part of the ambulance when it was in use to make our makeshift kitchen and that’s about it.  It’s barely insulated and we feel ALL the cold.  

So we found a palm tree with a power outlet and started our kettle to fill our old school hot water bottle with hot water to keep us warm in the middle of the night.  

It got down to 31 that night.  

I normally HATE sleeping with socks on, but it is a must when it’s anything below 50 in the van.  Lol

So, day one, we wake up the next day and there were a handful of poor tents that had collapsed under the weight of all the rain and then the snow on top of that.  

The show gave everyone the option to  choose whether or not they wanted to set up on Friday, and while the weather forecast had called for rain ALL day, it only rained for about a couple hours.  We decided to brave the cold and rain and set up.  We pulled out all of our waterproof prints, and kept all the originals and framed pieces safe in the van that first day!   Some die hard shoppers came out that day, but I think everyone had waited until the second and third day!  

That night we ended up calling around to every Walmart, Home Depot, and Bass Pro Shop in the surrounding area to try and find a little Butane Heater that wouldn’t use electricity, was safe for indoor and outdoor use, and would keep up toasty in our van outside in the elements!  

They all looked at us like we were crazy!!!!  Since it’s been a record breaking winter, they had been sold out of them for a couple months!!!  Well, we know what we are going to get when it warms up this year!!!  Lol, and we’ll be all set for next year!