Well, the S is no SUV. I made it almost to Flagstaff when a blizzard hit and the conditions worsened by the second. Snow was piling up on the road, so I took the first exit I could and turned around. Had to be super smooth on all the controls, but the S made it. I tested the slipperiness by downshifting... it was too slippery for me to go any further so I turned around and had lunch at Sedona's airport.
Ever drive your S in snow?

 

Here's a shot from the East room of the Sedona Airport Cafe'. BTW, if you haven't had lunch at the SEZ cafe', I highly suggest you do. Decent food, a great view, and on good flying days, some airplanes to watch.

 

wow that's pretty cool. Was all of Sedona covered like that or just up on the airport hill?

 

Almost all of Sedona was covered with snow. It started snowing again when I left at 1PM on Sunday. My daughter LOVED it!
I rather feel for her because I grew up in snow country and I absolutely dig the snow. I love to ski and perhaps it is in the genes.
This is really only the second time she's seen it in her almost 9 years on the planet.
If I were driving a 4WD and bigger SUV, I would have ventured on into Flagstaff and pulled into the entrance of Snowbowl so we could play in the snow. However, with ES-100s on the S... no way. ES100s are great rain/wet tires, but they don't do packed snow well at all.
Thank goodness we finally got some wetness! What a storm this turned out to be! All around the valley we see mountains covered with snow - That's a rare sight!
Now, if the valley roads could keep up!
I gotta say that these SE Valley roads have got to be the worst in the entire nation! SUCKS! When it rains, they fall apart!!... to make them even crappier!!!

CB

 

Yep, snow, rain, sleet and a lot of road debris could all be found on the Devil's Highway April 2002 trip - that's why October is when we go now...

 

You are lucky to have turned around. 3 Feet of snow at my house over the weekend.

 

The roads here are freakin' awesome. Try driving in New England sometime. Most of the "roads" are colonial horse and buggy paths with a light dusting of asphalt, I assume used only to keep the trees from growing in the road because it certainly does nothing for smoothness.

You're spoiled.

Kirk

 

Cool pics though.

 

Yeah,
I turned around when the snow started to build up on the road while I was heading North. I was one of the "idiots" who wanted to see the snow. What I didn't count on was another snow storm. Believe me, I was LUCKY to have been able to turn around. I took ... I forget the exit ... but it was one with the Chevron station on the hill just before Flagstaff. Man! The snow was at the limit! I looked right and saw that there were NO tracks going up the hill. I looked left and saw tracks and a bit of pavement, so I chose to go around and get fuel at Sedona. It was pretty exciting because I thought that if I got stuck, It'd be a total idiot. But as it turned out, I was able to keep a steady pace and creep along and turn around. But for a few moments, I was concerned... very concerned. This was NOT the place to be in an S2000 with ES100s on! I didn't anticipate the storm... I thought all that shit was over.

The lesson I learned was many-fold.
1. It isn't worth going to Flagstaff for "views" because you have to deal with I-17 on the way back. Everyone and their grandma drives in the left lane. Frustrating.

2. The residents of Sedona? Well... Let's just say that they are on another reality plane. Love thy fellow man, but wow! I find it difficult at best to attempt to comprehend the mindset of the hyper-rich, spiritually dabbling, over-privillaged people of Sedona. The scenery is spectacular, but its people are out there.

At the end of the day, it was a mistake to travel north on 17. I should have stayed home. I did make it back safely, but I won't be doing that again soon.
Saw two SUVs slide off the road.
Was held up in stop-n-go traffic as 17 approached Phoenix for... wait for it... a small pickup on the side of the road. All the "sheeple" had to stop and look. That held up traffic for over 10 miles. Dumbasses!

CB

 

Oh, my friend, I challenge you to drive anywhere from the SE valley! These roads ... SUCK! Every point in every direction has road closures, rough roads, roads falling apart from heavy machinery travel, and in every direction the roads are being torn apart to allow for infrastructure builds for new housing developments popping up where the dairy farms once were.
I-17 is a nice stretch of pavement. Unfortunately, it is the ONLY major artery connecting North and South travel in AZ and it is packed on Sundays.

You know where I've seen absolutely lovely roads for touring? - Upstate New York, and Washington State along the Puget Sound. I'd love to take the S on a drive through the Puget Sound and hop the San Juan Islands via ferry.