August 3, 2007

Pinetop Arizona to Sierra Vista Arizona

The big thing happening on Wednesday, August 1st for us was 5 skinny minutes of riding in Go Carts at Pinetop. It was only five minutes and cost $6 each, but it was actually fun for everybody. We drove our carts around a nice little track at break-neck speed and the kids hair was streaming out behind them. I took the conservative approach on the outside and Emily boasted that she passed me twice! After a lunch at Denny's we drove up to Fool's Hollow Lake at Show Low and saw the sights in the area. There were some very big ranch homes around the lake...you know, white fences and horses.

On Thursday, August 2nd we set out to visit the Arizona Game & Fish Dept. No, not the "Fish and Game"... but "Game and Fish"... don't ask me why. Anyway they were very nice and gave us wildlife posters and even a videotape about "Urban Wildlife." This includes the pesky and destructive piggy "javelina," the rattlesnake, and assorted deer and bear that may browse around the Arizona homes.

Finally we took off to the Williams Creek National Fish Hatchery. This time they were open and the 8 gravel miles of road was worth the effort. This is on the Apache Reservation and they hatch four types of trout for area streams and lakes (Rainbow, Apache, Brown and one other kind of trout). They have indoor tanks for the fingerling fish up to 4 inches, then they are moved outside into long runs. We walked all over looking into the runs, and at one point I heard a horn honk, and it was a man warning me that I was very close to stepping into a raccoon trap next to the fenced fish runs. We saw raccoon tracks in the mud and could understand that any raccoon would love to have an easy catch of trout.

We got into the truck to return to Pinetop just as the sky opened up with a heavy downpour. This monsoon season sure gets old. Anyway after returning to the condo for a round of jig saw puzzles we went out to see the movie "Harry Potter - the Order of the Phoenix." Emily is quite the Harry Potter fan, and they all liked the movie. I thought it was a little scary.

Friday, August 3rd was our last day at the Pinetop Resort, so we cleaned up and checked out before 10 am. We drove back to the town of Globe where we rendezvous with a friend of Heather's who drove out from Phoenix to meet her at Globe. We met at the Globe McDonalds and said farewell to Heather until she returns to Sierra Vista in three days. We returned to home via some early mining and settler areas, Tucson and finally I-10. We got back before being drenched with another downpour.