Echoes of the Southwest

Just recently, my husband and I went back to Laughlin to celebrate his birthday. On the trip up we pass through Wikieup AZ. We will usually have to stop for gas, to pee and stretch. One of the places I like to stop at was the trading post. It was huge and had lots of items to shop for. It also had a grill, unusual stuff on the walls and sitting in chairs. When Sharon and I went there in 2015, we had a blast just walking around the place. She wanted to get the Jackalope. We also had lunch there as well. I did a post on it after our visit:  Wikieup Trading Post and Restaurant (echoesofthesouthwest.com) Sadly, on this last visit, we were shocked to see that the entire trading post had burned down taking all the fabulous stuff with it. We were told that it happened in May of 2021 and we were shown pictures of the blaze. I was heartbroken. I loved that place and hope they do rebuild it.

  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.

I have to admit that I was skeptical when Sharon came up with this idea for a cocktail. I thought that a margarita with jalapeno/cucumber tequila  mixed with limeade sounded like it would taste awful. Boy was I wrong. I was the best margarita I have ever had. You have to try this.

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.