Left our reservation to make reservations on two reservations

Joan at Besh Ba Gowah

     Time flies in the desert. Here we are already one month into our winter getaway. Like most of our time down here we have been extremely busy with our normal activities and a few abnormal ones this week.

    We spent three days off our reservation this week and on the reservations of two different Native American tribes. Joan is always welcome and the tribes frequently offer her free hotel stays to encourage her to visit their most cultural and sacred sites also known as casinos.

    We never spend a lot in the casino, but appreciate a nice night in a hotel where we don’t have to walk around the block to get a shower.

Salt River Canyon

   This week we spent a night at Desert Diamond in Tucson, which is a casino of the Tohono O’odham tribe and then Saturday and Sunday we drove to Globe, Arizona where we stayed at Apache Gold Resort and Casino.

   In addition to the time at the casino we spent Sunday playing tourist around the Globe area, which is an ancient and beautiful place. We love playing tourist so we spent Sunday traveling in and around the Apache reservation.

   Besh Ba Gowah, an ancient living site of the Salado people from 800 AD to 1200 AD, has been extensively restored and the museum was full of pottery, arrowheads and other artifacts found during archeological digs at the site.

Our dinner view at Apache Prime Steakhouse

   We spent about an hour touring the ruins, watching a film and visiting the museum. So many times in our travels we find some of the most interesting things off the beaten path. It is amazing to walk around a place knowing that more than 1,000-years-ago a vibrant and intelligent society was going about its business in exactly the same place you are standing.

    It is the same feeling I get standing on top of a mountain looking down and knowing that long before I ever came into the world and for a really long time after I leave it the place I am standing will remain largely unchanged. It is both a feeling that makes one feel small and awe struck at the same time.

Besh Ba Gowah sign

   After the visit to the Besh Ba Gowah ruins we took a drive up through the Salt River Canyon north of Globe, Arizona. The canyon was beautiful and was a small reminder of a much larger and “grander” canyon just a few hours away. One of the main differences between Salt River Canyon and the Grand Canyon is that due to the marvel of road engineering, you can drive to the bottom of the Salt River Canyon.

    We returned to our hotel in San Carlos, Arizona after the drive and had dinner for the second night at the Apache Prime Steakhouse. Part of the incentive for going back was the $10 off coupon the manager gave us the night before if we came back.

Phone Line hike

   The restaurant is attached to a large rodeo arena. With no show going on we had a great view of empty seats and darkened rodeo ring. But the food was good.

   On Monday, January 21, I went on the easy hike which was the last one for the long time hike coordinator Brad. We are going to carry on the hikes informally without a leader for the balance of the season. I felt badly for Brad because he has been forced to come to the realization that he can no longer keep up with a group of “youngsters” and needed to retire from the position he has held for about 10 years.

    Tuesday, January 22, brought me to Sabino Canyon with the more extreme hiking group and we did a nearly 9-mile hike up the Telephone Line trail and then back down the Sabino Canyon tram road. In past years we have purchased tram tickets to ride the tram back to the trail head, but since July the tram has been out of business.

My hiking buddy Frank

   The previous tram purveyor was not operating in a manner that made the National Park Service happy and when their permit expired it was not renewed. A new business operator was not able to get up and running in time to smoothly take over so for more than six months, no tram in the canyon.

    It made it a very long hike.

    Wednesday, January 23, was Market Daze and then the evening concert, which was a tribute show to Johnny Cash. We bought a couple raffle tickets at Market Daze and enjoyed the show very much.

   I also got my haircut at the local truck stop. The woman did a really good job and I'll see her again in February. 

    My men’s Bible study was Thursday morning and one that I led on Proverbs. Specifically on the issue of drinking. It is a topic that is very near and dear to me and we had a good and lively discussion on the topic.

   Then on Thursday night, I taught my Bible study that is centered on the Gospel of Mark and again we had a very good discussion. I really enjoy this group of people.

On top of Wasson Peak

    My friend Frank, a 91-year-old Nevada rancher, and a good friend in the park can no longer hike on the more aggressive hikes on Tuesday. But he continues to want to hike so members of our group take turns going with him on more level hikes.

    So on Friday, I picked up Frank at his manufactured home here in the resort and drove us to the Gabe Zimmerman Trail about 10 miles south of here. Despite his age, Frank moves along at a good clip and can do long distances.

    Unfortunately on Friday he caught the toe of his boot on a rock and went face down on the trail. He opened a nasty cut on his knee, but I always carry a first aid kit and was able to patch him up and get him back to the trailhead with a minimum of pain.

    He and I are already scheduled to hit another trail this coming Friday so Frank is no worse for wear.

    Friday night we had tickets to the dinner show in the ballroom where we had turkey ala king and then watched a performance by Missouri Opry who did a wonderful show on the music of the 1960s. We have heard them during previous visits here and they are very good.

My lunch time view from Wasson Peak

    Saturday, Sunday and part of Monday, as I previously mentioned, was spent in Apache territory.

   When Monday night rolled around we picked up Bob and Joan, some friends of ours in the park and took them with us to Meet Me at Maynard’s.

   Bob and Joan are from Minnesota and both are widowed. They have a really nice love story. When they were both married to their first spouses they lived on a lake and the families were friends. So his kids knew her kids and they knew each other very well.

    After both were widowed they found it natural to start dating and keeping company with each other. Now they travel together and we have known them since they first came to Voyager about three years ago. We met them at one of the resort dances.

Our hiking group on Wasson Peak

     They are both about 10 years older than Joan and I but we have such a good time with them. They didn’t walk far at Meet Me at Maynard’s but we left them at Maynard’s listening to music while we walked and then went out to dinner with them after.

   When I was trying to find out where they lived in the resort a week or so ago, I went to the street where I knew they lived and began asking neighbors if they knew “Bob and Joan.”  One man asked me to describe them and I said, “they are an elderly couple, with white hair.”

   “Yeah,” the man said. “That describes virtually everyone in the park.”

   On Tuesday, it was back to some extreme hiking with the Tuesday group and we headed up to Wasson Peak.  The hike is 7.2-miles and rises 1,800-feet from the trailhead to the top of Wasson Peak, which is the highest point in the Tucson Mountains.

Strange object outside barber shop

    Starting next Tuesday, and through February, it will be me leading the hikes. My first time doing that as a hiking coordinator at the resort.

   Back at the resort, I got cleaned up and we headed to dinner with our friends Mike and Susan. They were not here last season because they were on an around the world Viking cruise. This was our first time this season to hear about the wonderful trip they took.

     We had dinner at El Corral restaurant and had some really, really good prime rib.

     Was that busy enough for one week?