November 2005—Slow Show Low

Life here is boring. I’m sorry; there are just no other words for it. Marc goes to work, he eats and sleeps and gets up and does it all over again. Sound familiar to anyone else? Me? Well, unfortunately, unless I want to work at KFC frying chicken or sling a few Wendy’s burgers there really are no adequate job opportunities in this very small town. We endure…we save money, and that’s about it. We will be glad when it is time to move on.

We’re in one of the better RV parks (Juniper Ridge) that the area offers but it is inconveniently far from town. This resort offers a 9 hole golf course (we don’t golf) around which are scattered many park model homes, now deserted for the most part. In season, the park also offers many amenities like a clubhouse with luncheon restaurant, a hair salon, library, very large laundry, two exercise rooms and a huge pool hall. There is a heated pool and spa which unfortunately closed by mid-September. Apparently, this is the only RV park open year round in this area but we don’t see many travelers dropping by. It is very quiet here because we are 15 miles out in the country, surrounded by small juniper trees and rolling hills. There is a small lake in the area with scattered homes. The last picture shows the benefit of our spot; we’re at the end of the park so have no one behind us. For $550 dollars a month plus electric, our spot offers no frills beyond the cinder gravel, a small picnic table, and weeds which grow like…well, weeds.

Before we got here, from Arizona natives, we heard superlatives about this area’s scenery.  We took a fall drive one day farther into the mountains and there are some nice spots, but nothing with the majesty that we’re used to with other mountainous areas. The White Mountains are just not dramatic—they are very rounded and offer gentle inclines. Sorry Arizona, you make a better desert state than a mountainous one.

I haven’t taken any photos of the town because there really isn’t a town. It’s only two strips of highway with scattered businesses, none of which seem to do a person any good when looking for shopping. If you don’t care to shop at WalMart, go home. There are lots of elderly here; lots of Native Americans since we sit between two of the largest Indian reservations in the nation; lots of down and outs (particularly those that try and apply on Marc’s job and show up drunk at 7 a.m.) and there are a few of the fortunate “Valley People”. You know the ones: they drive Cadillac's or Hummers and live in one of the most prestigious golf resorts in the state, Torreon (http://torreon.com/). Homes there sell for $500,000 and up. Yes, why do you ask, of course it is gated! When they aren’t vacationing here in their nearly million dollar home they live in Scottsdale in their four million dollar homes. To us, the joke is on them. Why would anyone invest big bucks in this dive when there are so many other really, really nice places to live or vacation?

Arizona does offer up spectacular sunrises and sunsets however, and Show Low is no exception. I sit with my morning coffee and catch the rosy glow of sunrise lighting up my peacock door window setting it ablaze with color. Another day, another dollar.