Echoes of the Southwest

We had a fantastic 40th anniversary trip to Laughlin last weekend. My hubby and I actually came home with more money than we went with. Our friends treated us to a fantastic dinner and dessert. It was weird being there for the first time with having to wear masks. They had people paid to be on mask patrol and had every other slot machine shut down. My husband likes play three card poker at the tables, while I prefer 5 card draw duces wild at the bar on a machine. Every time I took a drink, I quickly pulled my mask down, drank a swig of my rum and coke, and quickly put my mask back on. We had a great time and will return when the restrictions are lifted.

  Located in Apache County in the northeast section of Arizona, sits the small town of St. Johns. There are roughly 5,000 souls that call this place home. To get to there from Phoenix, you will drive north on AZ Highway 60 until you get to Show Low. From there, you take AZ Highway 61, which runs through the town. The name, St. Johns is Tsézhin Deezʼáhí in Navajo which refers to the surrounding rock formations. It is a family orientated settlement and is located near many important sites. It is not far from Show Low, the Petrified Forest, Painted Desert, several lakes and campgrounds. Our land is nearby, so I see us visiting there many times.

This is the drive coming from Show Low to Globe.  There are many twists and turns on that route. The tunnel is between Miami and Superior with a view of Picketpost Mountain as you enter Superior. That is where we found Apache Tears.  *Note: My hubby was not driving that fast through the mountains. We were cruising slow. LOL

I live in Arizona and there are so many places to find gemstones. We have decided that since the weather is getting cooler and we have a jeep, we are going to explore this state and finds us some gems. Our first excursion was Saddle Mountain. We had to drive down a far and very bumpy dirt road, but the payoff was worth it. We found an area full of agates, especially fire agates.  We got home with lots of stones. We plan to polish some and sell them in our Etsy shop. I am learning how to wrap stones and will sell them in the shop as well.  The exciting thing is that I get to do this with my husband, best friend and her fiancé.

This is where we stayed. Young is a standalone municipality located in the middle of the Tonto National Forest. You have a couple of core roads leading in and out of town. For most of the drive, the road is not paved and a four-wheel drive is suggested during extreme weather. Young is 60 miles southeast of Payson, 65 miles north of Globe and 150 miles from Phoenix. From Mesa, it took us 3 hours, but we stopped for lunch, gas and groceries. Young is known for the Pleasant Valley War. This took place between 1887 and 1897. I did a post about three years ago on this war. Here is the link:  http://www.echoesofthesouthwest.com/2017/01/pleasant-valley-range-war.html (When I write a post about the museum, I will show more pictures from that era.) Sharon and I enjoyed ourselves in this small town. We managed to find several things to do while staying there a couple of days. It is a great place to vacation and get far away from the large city.

  After a few months of staying home and only going to a grocery or hobby store, Sharon and I were able to take a road trip/vacation. We decided to go to Young, Arizona because it wasn’t far and they had a vineyard I was curious about. The vineyard is Bruzzi Vineyard and I saw it as a sign that we needed to go there because my Mom’s maiden name is Bruzzi. I just had to find out the family connection and go to a wine tasting. I will be doing posts on Young AZ and Bruzzi Vineyard following this one. Arizona has so many different sceneries depending on where you are at. We had to drive through Payson to get to Young and the scenery changed a few times. We started out in Mesa, where I live, and the landscape is very desert looking. There are cacti dotting the land, desert foliage everywhere and dirt. As you drive further out, you will come across large boulders, red soil, red rocks, and green vegetation. Sadly, many acres of land were dark and dead from the massive fires that consume...