Wednesday, June 14 through Friday, June 30, 2023: Visit to Arizona Towns of Pinetop and Show Low, Meeting with Realtor Jackie, Evaluating Life

While Tom and I were at Palm Creek in Casa Grande earlier in the year, we found out that a number of residents have summer places in the Arizona's White Mountains. The White Mountains in eastern Arizona are similar in elevation to Williams and Flagstaff. So, the summers are nice. For the celebration of our six-year anniversary of being a couple, I rented a VRBO at White Mountain Vacation Village in Show Low.

We arrived in Show Low at about 2:30 p.m. Perfect timing to enter the Park Model on Elizabeth Avenue.

We decided to dine in the first night. So, we went to a market and bought a nice steak and twice baked potatoes. Tom is always handy with barbecues. This one was electric, but he certainly has the knack!

The next morning, we had an appointment to meet realtor Jackie Malott. Jackie has been a realtor in the White Mountains for over thirteen years. She was previously a realtor in Tucson. Jackie was recommended to me by Prescott realtor, John LaMarr. Richard and I met John over ten years ago when we were looking at the possibility of buying a home in the town of Prescott.

Williams has been my home for almost ten years. While I love my home and the beauty of the area, there are reasons why Williams might not be my forever home. Many of the friends who I played pickleball with have moved away from Williams. 

 

Over the past two years, Tom and I have taken three-day mini vacations to other parts of Arizona. In the back of my mind, I was thinking that there may be a different place to live. Realtor Jackie had various properties for Tom and I to see in Show Low and Pinetop-Lakeside.

After the first day of seeing properties, Tom and I were not impressed. But, we were committed to a second day with Jackie. That evening, we had dinner at the Cattleman's Steakhouse in Show Low. It was the #1 rated restaurant on TripAdvisor and Jackie concurred that it was very good. Apparently, it was under new ownership since last October. We had pre-dinner drinks in the cocktail lounge. Happy Anniversary to us!!!

The next day, Jackie showed us more properties. This was a much more lucrative day. I think Jackie was getting a better idea of what we liked and didn't like. One Pinetop home was darling and had a view of a small mountain, but it was located in a more remote area.

That evening, we stopped at the local Panda Express Restaurant and brought the meal home. It was a nice casual evening. The next morning, we departed the VRBO at about 8:00 a.m. I wanted to drive out to see a local Indian Casino. I also wanted to go back to the area where the darling ---  but more remote house --- was located. 

 

We headed home with a fifteen minute detour through the town of Heber-Overguaard. My long-time San Marino friend, Laurie Sams, was interested in a community being developed there. She has a beautiful condominium on Orange Grove Boulevard in Pasadena. But, her son and one of her sisters live in Phoenix. Perhaps she could buy a tiny home in the White Mountains for R&R.

Donna and David and their dog Doug continued up the west coast in their airstream trailer. One visit was to Redwood National & State Parks. So far, that is Donna's favorite!

On Monday, Kelsey had an acupuncture appointment in Flagstaff at Canyon Pet Hospital. Dr. Sullivan and her staff always do an excellent job!

My Peonies are blooming so beautifully this year! I guess the snowy winter was good for them.

On Tuesday, I went to Physical Therapy at the North Country Health Center in Williams. Brandon was my trainer. The water feature in my backyard is full of green and blossoms.

On Wednesday, I went to Flagstaff for a sports massage with Mike Hippard. He is excellent! I am so glad that my chiropractor, Dr. Moseng, introduced us.`

Unfortunately, it looks like I won't be seeing Bill and Pat Wheeler this year. But, it is always nice when I see a photo of them posted on Facebook. The other couple is Bill's brother and his wife.

On Friday, our internet was not working. I called CenturyLink and spoke to a representative for an hour. The modem continued to have a red light by the internet icon. The soonest a CenturyLink technician could come to our house was Tuesday. One doesn't realize the value of internet until you don't have it!

I made arrangements with realtor Jackie Malott to see some more home properties in Pinetop-Lakeside and Show Low. Tom was not feeling well, so I boarded the dogs at Grand Canyon Railway Kennel for one night. It is an easy three hour drive from Williams. We looked at the Pinetop Lakes Country Club area. The nice thing about this area is that the golf club has pickleball courts too.

That evening, I was in the mood for oysters. Fortunately, nearby Charlie Clark's Steakhouse had raw oysters and oysters Rockefeller on their menu. For the one night stay, I had a nice room at the Pinetop Green Tree Inn & Suites. So, at about 4:15 p.m., I drove the five minutes to get some oysters. I had a glass of white wine while I waited for the take-out oyster order.

The take-out bag was heavy in weight ---- with the dozen oysters in shells.

On my way out, I noticed that Charlie Clark's Steakhouse has an orchard in back. During the summer, there are outdoor concerts every Friday and Saturday night. What fun!

The music had not started yet, but I found a photo of a typical band at that site on Google.

I got back to my hotel room at about 5:15 p.m. and began my feast 😊😊😊

The next morning, I had a very nice hot breakfast in the hotel lobby area. I was very impressed with this Green Tree property. The front desk person said that Green Tree Inn & Suites are world wide --- each independently owned.

Donna and David were still in Oregon. Their favorite RV park so far is Bay Point Landing. What a gorgeous view!

Oh, I forgot to mention a stay that they had a week or two ago at Klamath Falls RV Resort. A neighbor in a motorhome took photos of their brown visitor!

On Monday, it was going to be hot enough that I checked out the two air conditioners. The bedroom air conditioner started up immediately. I had some difficulty with the main air conditioner. It took about 30 minutes to "kick in." But, it did turn on. Thank goodness!!!

On Tuesday, I had physical therapy at 9 a.m. The CenturyLink technician arrived at about 10:00 a.m.

He tried different things to get the internet to work. Finally, Tom suggested that the problem might be in the modem. So, the fellow went out to his truck and installed a new modem. That fixed the issue!

The modem is an ugly "one-eyed" monster, but at least we now have internet again. Yeah!!!

Later in the afternoon, I went back to Parks, Arizona, to do some more geocaching. I visited some caches that were hidden along the old Route 66 that was abandoned in 1966.

One cache was located near an old pumping station.

This cache was named "Old route 66 water house."

I walked another .2 miles to a second cache named "Midway on old Rt 66."

I really like the new bottle caps that I bought on Etsy. They are smaller in size than my smiling coin purses and they only cost about 30 cents each. That is a reasonable price for leaving in a cache.

Before leaving the old Route 66, I found a cache titled "HistoricAZ66: Parks Auto Tour."

Today would have been Richard's 85th birthday. David posted a sweet remembrance of Donna's dad on Instagram.

It is hard to believe that this photo was taken 20 years ago!

 

Wednesday evening, a long-time geocacher from Virginia hosted an event at Cruisers Cafe 66. His name was Jim Wilson and he was on his way to California. Four of us from Williams joined his "meet and greet." I was able to introduce myself to unicorns4cher and a couple crusty1&MK. Cherie has over 70 caches hidden in and around Northern Arizona.

 

On Thursday, I had physical therapy with Chris. I suggested to him that perhaps this could be my last session. Chris suggested that we make this a "soft discharge." I made a follow-up appointment with Ethan in several weeks. I can always cancel if the physical therapy is no longer needed. I had an appointment at 11:30 a.m. with my chiropractor, Dr. Moseng. On my way home from Flagstaff, I stopped in Parks for another cache. This one was by the railroad tracks.

My Red Hot Pokers are blooming in my backyard. They have not bloomed in several years. It was nice seeing them again!

On Friday, Suzanne Ford, Robbie Miller, and I went to Flagstaff to play pickleball at Bushmaster Park. It was nice play, but crowded. It took us over a half-hour to play our first game. 

Later in the afternoon, I went geocaching up Perkinsville Road. I found once cache "Excaliber" near the Santa Fe Dam.

I drove further up the road and I searched for a second cache at Benham Trail. For the life of me, I could not find it. Perhaps I will return to this area tomorrow.

Tuesday, May 30 through Tuesday, June 13, 2023: Mending my Body, Geocaching, Visit from Catherine and David, Blood Drive, and More Geocaching

I have continued going to massage therapist Mike Hippard. I appreciate the fact that he specializes in helping patients repair injuries that cause pain. I see him once a week. I also have continued with my physical therapy sessions. Twice a week, I see Ethan, Chris, or Brandon.

My spa still has a slow leak. I've done all I can do. Maybe when my truck is paid off, I will buy a new one at Summit Spa in Flagstaff.

On Thursday, I went geocaching on my way home from appointments in Flagstaff. I found several off of Business Route 66. One cache was in a park.

Another was at the base of a tree. It was in she shape of a pine cone.

A third cache was lost to trees being cut down in order to build an industrial complex. I notified the cache owner of this matter.

On Friday, Kelsey and Jamie had appointments to have their nails clipped by Elsa Marie.

Later in the day, I noticed that one of my drip system hoses had a large leak. I patched it up as best I could.

I also reported the issue to my landscaper, Troy Mortensen. On Saturday, I did some more geocaching out by the airport. I was successful in finding three. One was called Hiking with Valen.

Another was Dog Walk Hill. This was a challenging one, as the tree where it was hidden did not survive the winter.

But, lucky for me, I did find the cache. hidden in the debris.

I was able to add a smiling green coin purse.

I did contact the cache owner about the fallen tree.

 

On Instagram, I saw that David, Donna, and Doug visited another national park --- Pinnacles! It became a national park in 2013.

On Monday, June 5, I played a few hours of pickleball. It was the first time playing for over two months.

There were twelve of us playing on the two courts. Later in the afternoon, friends Catherine Lepone and David Salko came to Williams for a visit. Before dinner, we walked over to Cataract Lake.

Catherine and David live in New York --- about twenty minutes from New York City. The next day, I took them to the South Rim of the Grand Canyon. This was their first ever visit to the canyon. I always enjoy taking "canyon virgins."

While in the Kolb Studio gift shop and museum, we saw that the Kolb home is open for tours. This was relatively new. I went on a tour of the home in the winter of 2006. The cost is now $35.00 per person. There was space available at 1:00 p.m. that afternoon. So, Catherine, David, and I grabbed three spots. Prior to the tour, we walked down to the El Tovar Hotel and had a very nice lunch.

The Kolb home is five stories high and consists of 23 rooms. There were just eight of us on the tour. What a magnificent property etched on the side of the canyon wall.

This property operated from 1904 until 1976. It was the photographic studio of brothers Ellsworth and Emery Kolb.

 

The next day, I drove Catherine and David to Flagstaff. Because of yesterday's Kolb home tour, I was not able to take them to a favorite --- Shoshone Point. So, we drove up Highway 180 from Flagstaff and stopped at Shoshone Point. The walk is about 1 1/2 miles to the point and the "chief's head."

Catherine had a REAL camera with her. So, she took some amazing photos!

Several folks were visiting Shoshone Point from Denver. A woman was kind enough to take a photo of the three of us!

On the way back to Williams, we stopped at the Grand Canyon National Park sign.

This was the last day of Catherine's and David's visit. Of course, we needed to visit Bearizona! The three of us grabbed a quick sandwich at home and then we drove over to the drive-through and walk-through wild animal park. Tom even joined us!

The bears and bighorn sheep were active in the drive through section of the park.

The grizzles and bobcats were active in the walk through part.

That evening, we had dinner at the Grand Canyon Brewery. It was a nice ending to Catherine's and David's visit. They left in the morning for Sedona.

 

On Saturday, I had an appointment to donate blood for Vitalant in Sherwood Forest. It was about a fifteen minute drive to the Sherwood Forest Fire Department where the Vitalant bus was parked.

Since I was out and about, I decided to do some more geocaching. I added five more caches to my name. Three of them were large enough to leave one of my smiling face coin purses.

There was a cache hidden in front of the Grand Canyon Deer Park. It was a magnetic cache attached to a small tractor.

The next day, I asked Tom if he wanted to join me for some more geocaching. He said "yes." It was fun. Tom found the first two caches that morning!

Earlier in the week, there had been a BNSF train derailment east of Williams. While we were searching for one of the caches, Tom and I happened upon the location of the derailment. The train had been loaded with new vans and trucks. Even though it was a weekend, the clean-up crew was busy cleaning up the site and having the damaged vehicles trucked away.

Tom and I continued geocaching --- along the old Route 66 and by Davenport Lake.

We drove into the town of Parks. There was a new restaurant that had opened up over Memorial Day Weekend. The restaurant name is Mustang River Grill. The Highland Meadows ladies group had already dined there. Tom and I decided to have lunch there. Dillon was our server, He was very good and the food was excellent.