Monday, May 12th

Yesterday was Sunday and we took the day off and it being Baptist Sunday we went to the First Baptist Church of Show Low. The pastor preached exactly 15 minutes too long because it was 12:15 by the time we got out of church. We went to Licano's Restaurant to celebrate Mothers Day. Then we went to Home Depot where we bought a small, portable gas grill. If the wind stops blowing we should have some delicious grilled meat. How does hot dogs sound?

Today we started at mile marker 340. We walked through Show Low and beyond. Is everyone sick of hearing about Show Low? OK, that's the last time I will mention it. Upon leaving (that town) the landscape changed. We are now in the cedar woods. Well, not exactly woods, but there are no pine trees here, just cedars. On we walked and did it ever get windy. We are headed for Springerville, which is at 7000 ft elevation and we should get there by Thursday or Friday. We did have one first today. We saw our first bobcat road kill. It was duly recorded and certified by John Goodman. Today was a good day for road junk, I mean treasures. I found an ADOT (Arizona Dept. of Transportation) orange sweatshirt. Just my color!, a Tennessee license plate, a table knife and spoon, a wrench, a chisel and .39 cents. Stay tuned .....

Saturday, May 10th

Carol drove us out to our starting point today and was it ever cold. Temperature must have been in the 40's, our coldest day. Our goal today is to reach Show Low, 16 miles away.

The first event of the day was a good one. We saw an elk. Big buck with a big rack. He saw us and off he went. On we went, mostly uphill, but not quite as steep as the 2 previous days. We came to a crew picking up litter along the highway. John explained what we were going and they wished us luck. Later they passed us and honked and waved. We came to Corduroy Creek which was very pretty. Overall the scenery was not as spectacular as the past two days, but beautiful in its own way. We are passing through tall pines today.

We finally came to the edge of Show Low and waited for Ruth and Carol. Monday we will walk through Show Low and beyond. Today I found 2 sockets and a screwdriver. Stay tuned ....

Friday, May 9th

Today we started at mile marker 310, still on Highway 60 going to Show Low. Carol delivered us today as Ruth wasn't feeling very well. This is Apace Indian land. On both sides of the Highway is the Fort Apache Indian Reservation and is inhabited by the White Mountain Apaches. The Apache will allow you to enter their reservation with the proper permit and if you don't have a permit, better stay of their land. Our first event of the day was a jackrabbit jumped up off to the side of us and we got a good look it. It was downhill for about 3 miles until we came to the Carrizo Creek. Very pretty creek and valley, but all within the reservation. Up we climbed pass the community of Carrizo. We were on an uphill climb just past Carrizo community when John spotted two deer off to his left. I came up to join John, but only got a slight view of the deer. Now we need to see some elk. On we went and we came to the only convience store we had seen since leaving Globe. We wanted some ice cream and the only thing that wasn't working in the store was the ice cream case. No ice cream today! On we walked and came along side of a very pretty stream and valley that soon became a canyon as we were climbing higher and higher. Carol was waiting at mile marker 324, 14 miles today. I found a pruning shear and a saw blade. No coins today. Stay tuned ....

Thursday, May 8th

Yesterday we did not walk as we had to move our RVs from Globe to Show Low. We drove down into the Salt River Canyon, which we had walked, and up the other side, which we had not walked. We are now camped in Fools Hollow Recreational Park just outside Show Low. How did Show Low get it's name? I'm glad you asked.
Two men owned a very large ranch here and one needed to by the other out, but they couldn't agree on who should leave, so they started playing cards with the winner getting the ranch. After hours of playing with no clear winner, they decided to cut the cards, low card wins. The name stuck, Show Low.
Today we did walk, 15 miles. From mile marker 295 to 310. We walked uphill most of the way. out of the Salt River Canyon. About 5 or 6 miles into our walk, who should show up, none other than Joe Chott and his son, David. They were going fishing on the Black River, which flows into the Salt, and knew they had a good chance of seeing us on the side of the road. And, we were expecting them as Pam had emailed the night before that they were coming our way. Joe returned my swim trunks that I had forgotten at his house. On we went through some very beautiful country. We are now completely out of the desert and into the pinewoods. We should be in Show Low by Saturday. Today I found a womens swim suit top and .02 cents. Stay tuned ....

Tuesday, May 6th

We started today at mile marker 279 on Highway 60, between Globe and Show Low. We saw a sign that said there were elk in the area, but the elk weren't cooperating.
On we walked, all downhill for a change. We came to another sign that informed us that we were entering the San Carlos Apache Reservation.Then we entered the Salt River Canyon and did the scenery change. Awesome! The canyon looks like a miniature Grand Canyon. Down and down we went as the highway meandered lower and lower to the Salt River. A word about walking downhill. The highway here is very steep and we are walking down. My hips hurt and John's calves are hurting. This didn't happen going uphill. And as unbelievable as it sounds, we both would rather walk uphill. We finally got to the bottom where we met some nice folks that said that they had seen us walking for the past 3 days. They took our photo and wished us good luck. We crossed the old bridge, pasted the white water raft rentals and continued our uphill walk on the other side of the canyon. The attached photos are mostly of our descent. Today I found a screwdriver, a spade drill, a Rapala fishing lure, a paint scrapper and .02 cents. Stay tuned .....

Monday, April 5th Cinco de Mayo

We started at mile marker 260 today. Still on Highway 60 going from Globe to Show Low. We saw a highway work crew sweeping the shoulder of the highway and wondered if this was going to be the highlight of the day. Thankfully it wasn't. Shortly after that, we saw a Golden Eagle. It was under the culvert or bridge we were crossing and I guess we startled it. It flew out into the open and we got a good look at it. It was a very big bird and soon flew into some trees and we couldn't see it any longer. On we walked until a jeep pulled over to the side of the road. It was Suzanne Kay, a reporter for the Copper Country News. She took our photo and didn't ask many questions as she got most of the information from Ruth. On we walked, mostly uphill. We are walking in the Tonto National Forest and the Apache Mountains. John documented a skunk roadkill and we saw a ground squirrel scamper across the road. On we walked, and walked and walked, all uphill.

We came to mile marker 272 and then a short distance later, we came to mile marker 275, the shortest 3 miles I ever walked. The mile marker here were not right and we decided to go by the odometer in the car. On we walked, uphill and uphill. We are almost out of cactus country here. There are prickly pear cactus and that is about all. There are more cedar and pine trees as we gain altitude. We finally reached the top, 15.8 miles. I found one penny today. Stay tuned.

Saturday, May 3rd

Today we started just outside of Miami, Arizona. We walked through
Miami, Claypool and Globe today. Copper mining towns. With the price
of copper going up, they have reopened the mines and they are going
strong. Took some photos of some old mining equipment and the
processing plant. We kept going until Highway 60 turns north to Show
Low. We came to a sign that said, "State Prision - Do Not Stop for
Hitchhikers." Funny thing, no one asked if they could give us a lift.
We came to mile marker 260, 17 miles today. But the big news is that
we reached the 500 mile mark and John and I toasted with warm
Gator-aid. Today I found a spoon, 2 sockets and .10 and a half cents.
Stay tuned ....

Friday, May 2nd

We did not walk yesterday. I was sick with a sinus infection and just felt like I couldn't walk 15 miles. But today I'm much better and we walked 14.5 miles today. We started at the other end of the Superior Tunnel. We are now in the Pinal Mountains and we are walking up a very pretty gorge. The sun was shining right into our faces and taking photos was impossible. On we walked until we came to an Arizona State Police officer. He had his radar gun out and was looking for speeders. He was a nice guy and even posed for a photo.
On we walked. We took orange flags with us today as we knew that there would be some tight places on this stretch of highway and we wanted to be very visible. We came upon a community called, "Top of the World". Not a whole lot here, an RV park, a few houses and some trailers. And I don't know why they call it' The Top of the World" as it isn't even on top of the hill we are climbing. But it did have one interesting thing, or make that two. There were two old railroad cars there. They looked very old and one was protected by a shed that was build over it and the other and most interesting one, was a few hundred yards away. There was a "for sale" sign on it and it said that it was built in 1860 and that General Grant had ridden in it. I guess that was before he was president. Anybody want to buy an old train? On we walked toward Miami, Arizona. We pasted by a huge open pit copper mine. And we also came to a bridge that we were happy to get to the other side. Not much room. We walked until we were almost to Miami. Tomorrow we will walk through Miami, Claypool and Globe, Arizona and head for Show Lo. Today I found a spoon and .53 and a half cents. Stay tuned .....

Wednesday, April 30th

We started today at Florence Junction on Highway 60 at mile marker 112. They are building 2 more lanes here and we had the new lanes to ourselves until a construction supervisor advised us that we need to get off his highway. We had easy going for a while. On we walked until we came to three guys posing in front of a huge Saguaro cactus. John took their picture for them and we told them what we were doing and one guys said he had seen us on the internet. ? One we walked to Superior, Arizona. This is mining country with old abandon mines and not so old operating mines. Copper mines, large copper mines. We took a break at the rest stop in Superior and keep going. Just out of Superior, we came to a bridge that had just enough shoulder to get across. We made it fine, but those bridges sure do shake when an 18 wheeler goes over. 16.5 miles today. We are in spectacular country now and will climb out of this valley tomorrow. I found a reciprocating saw blade, some ear plugs, Becky Taylor's Wal-Mart credit card and .53 cents. Stay tuned ....

Tuesday, April 29th

No walking today. Instead, Joe and Pam Chott took us to Sedona, Arizona today. The most beautiful place in Arizona, and there are many. We woke up early and took off. Just north of Phoenix, we saw about a dozen hot air ballons flying. They looked like they were in the process of landing and we got fairly close. We actually pasted Sedona on the highway because Joe wanted to take us via Schneby Hill Road. Before we turned off the interstate, we could see to the north of us the snow covered San Francisco Peaks, the highest in Arizona. Schneby Hill Road was a dirt road, Joe has a 4 wheel drive vehicle, that took us to a drop off and we took many photos. Down we drove as the rent jeeps were coming up full of tourist. We saw red rock spires and rock window formations and even a Scott's Oriole, for all you bird lovers. We ended up on AZ 179 at Oak Creek in downtown Sedona. We went to lunch at the Sedona Airport where we saw an open cockpit biplane you can rent. Then it was off to the Palatki Indian Ruins nearby.
It was very interesting place. We saw old Sinagua Indian ruins and the pictographs and petroglyphs they had created. Now, to see if anyone really is reading my blog, I want someone, no everyone, to tell me what the difference between pictographs and petroglyphs are. Also, there will be a pop quiz later. After the ruins, we drove down to the Crescent Moon Site on the banks of Oak Creek. From there we could see the spires of Cathedral Rock. That was enough for one day, you need several weeks to see all of the area, maybe more. We got back to Joe and Pam's house in Mesa just in time to hook up the car, load the motorhome and head for Globe, Arizona, our next RV park. It was a long but great day. Thanks Joe and Pam !! Stay tuned ....