Blogs from Show Low, Arizona, United States, North America

We're traveling southward slowly. We had never stayed in Provo, Utah so it seemed like a good place to test high elevation, at 4600'. Tom did okay, although a walk around the park was the most exercise we got. We had an LDS (Mormon) couple as a neighbor. They are both self-employed. Her business was sorta' like Match.com with a personal touch. Her masters is in family psychology. She said divorce is very high in the LDS community because girls want to marry young and start on their spiritual gifts (?? don't know, not my expertise.) Her business involves counseling single people on finding a life-long spouse. Anyway new insight for us. Our other neighbor was a lady school teacher, Christian; never married as she hasn't found the right Christian man in Utah. She adopted 3 ... read more

Since 2012 was a big travel year for us we decided to kick back and relax in Arizona for awhile. The summer started out with a little bump in the road when Tom found out he had skin cancer. In June he had Mohs surgery in The Valley (as they call the Phoenix area) where the surgeon removed one layer of skin at a time, checked for cancer, and kept going until it was all gone. She bandaged his face up and sent him home. The next day I drove him to an eye surgeon who used part of his eye lid to reconstruct his face. Now all the ladies think he is winking at them! Once he was given the okay from the doc we left the 115 degree weather, driving a few hundred miles ... read more

A travel day – Sunny and 82 degrees when we leave and not feeling as dry. Headed north at last. So many drought signs: San Carlos River, dry; Gila River, a significant river, totally dry; hundreds of burned out acreage by the side of the road. Passed through Geronimo, home of the Apache. Also passed through their reservation, with it’s Apache Gold Casino. Gaining altitude at last and temperature dropping a bit. A big topography change, from cactus and desert brush to cedar trees, clouds, and cooler temps. Still 88 degrees, but feels much better. Miles and miles of twisty mountain roads, up and down from 3000 feet to over 6000 feet many times. (The Ram worked very hard!) Arrived Show Low, Arizona and Fool Hollow Lake Recreation Center and Campground. (Site is at 6300 ... read more

We sit on our balcony and drink some wine while waiting for the taxi. They said it would be 45 minutes. The taxi arrives; our driver is ‘Robin’. I ask her if they are busy and she said they are. She said the worse part is their dispatcher does not know what she is doing. She is the daughter of the regular dispatcher who is not available to work because she is in jail. The daughter has no experience and is making Robin’s life hell. We go to the ‘Branding Iron Restaurant’. We sit in the outside area. It’s kind of cozy but rustic. They have a shaded area with Christmas lights, a fire ring (it’s on because it is chilly), and a singer. He singing songs written by himself. He is OK; he’s kind of ... read more