Listening to an indistinct patter on the van’s roof last night, I said to Joe, “It’s raining.”

Not looking up from his computer, Joe said, “No it’s not. I checked the weather very carefully. It’s not raining.”

“I can hear it,” I said.

Joe replied, “I don’t know what you’re hearing but it’s not raining. That would be very bad…we could be stuck here for days.”

Yikes! Not good news, so as a double check I turned on the van’s porch light and peeked out the window. A light rain was falling on the pine needle carpeted forest floor. The van was tucked in a grove of stately pine trees off Schnebly Hill Road — a four wheel drive road in Coconino National Forest. The trees were painted in the moonlight and it felt like we had the world to ourselves.

Joe pulled out his phone, started checking reviews of the road and then said, “Huh, this road is closed in the winter, but someone drove it yesterday. It’s rated easy. We’ll be just fine.”

And we were. Last night’s rain lasted just a few minutes, not long enough to turn the road into a river. As we bumped along the rocky track, we were treated to spectacular views of Red Rock Secret Mountains. As I looked out the window, Joe asked, “Do you remember your job on a shelf road?”

“To keep my eyes on the road and look for oncoming traffic,” I said while listening to the pans rattling in the cupboard.

We stopped part way down so I could hop out and read a sign.

Joe asked, “What did it say?”

“It was a ‘you are here’ trail map.”

“Are you sure it didn’t say ‘why are you here’?” We both laughed.

Farther down the road, as the van slipped over a large rock and the cans in the pantry sounded like they were trying to dance out of the cupboard, Joe tried to encourage me with, “The last mile is paved.”

I kept reminding myself to unclench my toes and not grab onto the passenger door with a depth grip. It was a beautiful drive, well worth the five mile per hour pace, but I was happy to see the pavement.