Dancing in Show Low, AZ - 2013

     The past few weeks have been very busy, but fun and exciting too.   This was the first time we had traveled in July for several years, spending most of them in Evanston.  Our first stop was the Elks Lodge in Richfield, UT.  We had daily rain storms while traveling,  but most hit in the afternoons after we were parked.
     Since the road south of Page, AZ on hiway 89 is still closed with a lengthy detour, we decided to go south by way of  Jacob Lake.  This area is also quite a bit higher in elevation, resulting in cooler temperatures.   After leaving Richfield, we drove to Fredonia, AZ, where we unhitched the car and took it west to Pipe Spring National Monument.  This was the only major monument in AZ that we had not visited.

     Pipe Spring was a Mormon Tithing Ranch located on the Arizona strip. There a natural spring was forced to the surface of the land and made available for irrigation and drinking.  This made the land around it very desirable.  After conflicts led to several killings of both missionaries, settlers, and Indians, a small stone fortress was built in 1868 as a stronghold against further Navajo raids in the region.

     To connect Pipe Spring to other Mormon settlements and Salt Lake City, the church established a station on the Deseret Telegraph Line.  It was the first telegraph station in Arizona territory.

It was interesting to hear that 16 year old girls were sent here to operate the telegraph station.  It would have been quite an experience, I imagine. One or two families lived at the fort, as well as some in the surrounding areas.  Although the fort was built for protection, they never had to use it for that reason. 
     Because of the remote location, it was also used as a hideout for polygamous wives.  Despite federal laws passed outlawing polygamy, plural wives continued to be hidden there.  Faced with confiscation of church property under the anti-polygamy laws, the Mormon church sold Pipe Spring ranch in 1895.  Its doors remained open to cowboys, traders, salesmen, and neighbors.  A hired girl of the time recalled baking pies, cakes, and breads for the many people in the area.  It's potential as a stopping place for weary park visitors to the Grand Canyon, caused it to be added to the National Park System in 1923.
     Following our tour, we drove back to Fredonia and drove both vehicles to Jacob Lake Campground.   This is a National Forest Campground, located by the main road leading to the North Rim of the Grand Canyon.  It's elevation is about 8500+ feet.  We stayed there two nights and enjoyed the area.  We had a heavy rainstorm after getting settled in the campground and discovered a leak about the head of the bed.  Gary re-parked so that area was uphill slightly and the water wouldn't pool there.  The next day he re-calked the leaking area.  In the meantime, we dried out everything that had become wet.  In exploring the area, we found Jacob Lake, the area is named after.  Most lakes in this area are actually sinkholes formed when the limestone dissolves and the earth collapses into the hole.  As the ranger explained though, any area that retains water year round is special.   We also found the original Jacob Lake Ranger station built in 1910.

On Friday, I drove into the North Rim, while Gary watched the British Open Golf Tournament.  He'd been to the North Rim previously.  I can never get enough of the Canyon and enjoy seeing it every time I get the chance.  It brought back memories of our hikes there as I looked over the top of it.

Kay and I hiked the N. Kaibab trail, running along the bottom of this canyon.

     As we descended into the Vermillion Cliffs area, we crossed the Navajo Bridge.  Originally built in 1927, it was the only crossing of the Colorado River in 600 miles.  The first bridge was 834 feet long & 467 feet high.  The new bridge was built in 1995.  This is a fun panoramic shot of the two bridges.

Saturday, we headed for Meteor Crater, where we worked in 2005.  We had a great, although short, visit with old friends and coworkers.  The crater remains the same, although they are doing some major remodeling of the the facilities there.

At long last, we were heading for Show Low on Sunday.  We stayed at Scotty's Reservoir again.  This is a place we found through the Escapee's Day's End listings and allows free camping for up to five days.  It gets really busy on the weekends, but is nice during the week. 

Since Suzannah and Frank first showed us this trailer last October, it seems like it's taken a long time to get here.  We were excited and eager to finish the deal.  We met with the seller Monday morning at the bank and went together to the Arizona Dept. of Transportation.  Their computers were all down, so we were able to get the sellers portion done, but had to return a few days later to finish our portion.  Benny, the seller, left Tue morning and we were there at 9am to start moving in.  Although we kept telling ourselves we didn't have to do it all at once, we were eager to get settled.  By that afternoon, Gary had the trailer wired for the satellite and both TV's working in the living room and bedroom.  Here are some pictures of our new (to us) summer base.  We still plan on traveling, but this will be a nice base, and is only 185 miles from Casa Grande.  The elevation here is about 6,500 feet, the same as Evanston.  This means that while it is 100+ degrees in the Valleys of Arizona, it is only  in the high 70's or 80's in the mountains of Show Low. 

Kitchen and back of TV in living room.

Kitchen with "real" fridge.  (What will I do with all the room in it?)

Living room with 2 recliners and large hide-a-bed sofa.

Bedroom with walk-around bed.

Large dresser in bedroom.

Our Patio

Our Front Parking Area

     Now that we've been here a week, Gary has played in a couple pool tournaments, played one of the 6 or 7 golf courses in the area, I've been to a few water aerobic classes, including aqua zumba, registered for a quilt class at one of the two quilt stores, and Bandits been to the dog park and loves it. We're starting to get to know our neighbors and of course enjoy the ones (Frank and Suzannah), we already know.  This last weekend we went to a car show and art fair in Snowflake, about 20 miles north of here.  We also visited with AZ friends, Bob and Lorrie, who have settled there.
     That's it for now.  Our official mailing address remains the Rapid City one, but since we expect to be here until October, if you are mailing something before then, you can mail it to us in Show Low.  Our address here is:  1051 N. Central St. #272
     Show Low, AZ 85901
      If you're in our area, we'd love to have you stop by.
Until fall, we'll be dancing in Show Low, AZ...........................
Hugs, Katy Gary, and Bandit too.