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Arches National Park: We hit this place the morning before we arrived in Show Low. We purchased a year-long National Parks Pass and enjoyed the few hours we had to spare in the park.
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View from our condo in Show Low: Great location and fully loaded with all the comforts 2 travelers could want. Julia works 3 days a week at a clinic up north in Holbrook, about an hour away, and 2 days at the clinic here in town, 16 minutes away. Being 6,500ft above sea-level, the weather in early spring was in the 40s - 60s. Now in early June, the temps get into the high 80s.
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Disc Golf: This is how I have been spending most of my time, along with the occasional round of ball golf. I also try to have dinner ready by the time Julia gets home and keep things clean.
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Tucson, AZ: Weekend trip to see Joe, whom we had met in Panama during our travels last year. We strolled the Tucson Spring Street Fair and had a drink that night at La Cocina.
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Saguaro National Park: The Tucson weekend also included a quick trip down to Green Valley to visit some family. We had a great visit over lunch and enjoyed the warm weather. On the way back up north to Show Low, we stopped at the park to hug some large Saguaro cacti.
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Albuquerque Isotopes Ballpark: I was flying out of New Mexico, back to Portland to spend some time with my Dad while he recovered from heart surgery. We decided to enjoy the city a little bit before my flight; we ate some great local cuisine which included red and green chiles, walked around the Old Town, and then attended an minor league baseball game.
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Sedona, AZ: With Julia's Parents visiting, we spent a weekend in this beautiful red rock filled land, just south of Flagstaff. The women did some shopping and the men played golf.
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| Family in Sedona: On our last day there, we drove up the hill and got a great view of the city below. On the way back home, we made a brief stop in Flagstaff to tour the Riordan Mansion, an historical house with some interesting things to look at. We also stopped in Winslow to stand on the corner (like the Eagles song) and walk around the artsy La Posada Hotel. |
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| Show Low Lake: Julia's Dad brought down a pole so that she can start catching us dinner. |
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Santa Monica Beach: My birthday gift from Julia was a quick trip to Los Angeles to see the musician Andrew Bird in concert. It was a great show in a cool old theatre. We took a bus out to Santa Monica to explore the pier and to people-watch on the beach. On the way back to our Airbnb, we caught the filming of a TV show "Good Girls Revolt" on the downtown streets.
 Lockett Meadow Campground, spot # 7: Our home for the Memorial Day Weekend, just north of Flagstaff. One of the prettiest car campsites I have been to, with the closest neighbor almost 100 yards away. Surrounded by white aspen trees and green grass, we had a very peaceful 3 night stay.  The Proposal: While hiking the Inner Basin trail in the San Francisco Peaks, we came to this clearing up around 10,000ft elevation, and I thought that this would be a good time to ask Julia to marry me.  Grand Canyon National Park: Our main objective for the Memorial Day weekend (other than the proposal) was to see this massive crack in the earth. We spent all day Sunday walking around and using the shuttle buses to hop between viewpoints on the rim.  Grandview Viewpoint: One of the best spots we found along the canyon rim. This is also a point where people could hike down a few thousand feet into the canyon, but we were smarter than that. 
Wiener Dog Race: This past weekend was the annual Show Low Days. A small festival in the city park with tents, carnival food, kiddie rides, and historical reenactments. One skit was supposed to recreate the famous poker game between 2 ranchers that spawned the city's name. After days of playing, one player said that whoever can show the lowest card would win, and thus the city of Show Low was founded. The photo above shows one of the wiener dog races in which it took them a few minutes to convince the dogs to run to the finish, this was not an historical reenactment.
The only other thing I would like to note that doesn't have a corresponding picture, is that Julia has extended her contract and we will now be here until July 31st. Sister Angie is coming in September for 2 months to give birth to her 2nd child. The extra work down here means that we can be in Portland and free for those 2 months. All of these recent developments not only gives us the chance to plan the rest of our summer, but also the rest of our lives. It will be an exciting couple months and we will try and keep you all better updated than we have so far this year.
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