We had not gone on a camping trip at all during June, so we were really getting “desperate” to get out in July, come hell or high water. But where to go? With temps in the triple digits in southern Arizona, and without having to drive several hundred miles, about our only option was to head for the White Mountains. We stay away from our favorite park in the White Mountains, Fool Hollow State Park, in the summer because of the crowds and the fact that we can’t make reservations there...and it’s not sure bet we’ll get in.

Our Airstream friends Louis and Sergio from Phoenix had stayed at the Arizona High Country Campground near Clay Springs, AZ a

few times and they seemed to like it. In fact, they had invited us to

meet them there the last time they made the trip in May, but we

were unable to work it into our plans...we’d already made plans for

a trip to NM.  So we thought we’d check Arizona High Country

out, since we could make reservations. We invited Louis and Sergio to join us this time, but this time they had plans already in place.

So on Thursday, 10 July we packed up, hitched up the Bambi and headed out...got out the driveway about 10:30 AM.  We were all excited to escape the heat of the desert and get to the cool mountains. The Girls were raring to go, too.  Seems they were as anxious as we were to get on the road again. Such happy little campers.

We took our regular route north from Tucson through Mammoth where we gassed up at the local Circle K with the usually-less-than-Tucson-priced gas... and headed on north to Winkleman, on to Globe (skipped the gas there this

                     time) and north up through the Salt River Canyon to the

                         Mogollon Rim and Show Low. Being the monsoon season, 

                          we were struck with how green the trip was...lots of grasses

                         and green bushes and wild flowers along the road...the yuccas

                          were bursting with blooms, putting their spears high into

                          the air...it was a pleasant drive....as we gained elevation, the temps began to drop, and we anticipated the low 80s and high 70s of the days

and even cooler nights...

It took us exactly 4 hours to get to the turn-off from Highway 260 15 miles west of Show Low toward Heber/Overgaard and Payson, onto Old Highway 160 north toward Clay Springs. At the turnoff to 160 there is a small grocery store (with gas “to come” according to a sign) and a hamburger joint called “The 260 Burger.”  About a mile north is the entrance to the Arizona High Country Campground...

We parked in front of the office and were greeted by Elly, one of the owners... she introduced herself, greeted the Girls, who were jumping around the back seat in anticipation, and pointed out the couple of spots near the office that she said we had our choice of.  We got out to check them out and settled on space #B3... It was a small site, so we parked the truck in the neighboring site at Elly’s invitation. Elly went back into the office and told us to come on in when we got situated so we could officially register. We got into the site, took the Girls for a much-needed walk and then Terry made his way to the office while Greg began getting the interior of the Bambi ready.

In the office area,  they have a small “store” area...ice cream, some frozen meals and snacks, some basic canned goods, eggs (from their own chickens), a few RV items...nothing elaborate, but certainly enough so that if you forgot something you wouldn’t starve.  Free hot coffee, too.  The manager, Bob, was there as well...he lives in an adjacent park trailer.  The owners, Elly and Nancy live in a house on the campground property. Nancy swung by to say hello, too.

We signed up for a week to take advantage of the better rate, and left it open-ended in case we decided to stay longer.  We had thought that we may try to move to Fool Hollow for a few days at the end of the first week.  We also got a 10% discount for being members of Rainbow RV Club. (They also offer a discount for members of Airforums.com, which we are members of, as well... Nancy has an Airstream...actually two Airstreams...an older Trade Winds (think that’s right) and an Argosy.  (She it looking to sell the Airstream, by the way, so if any of you Airstream folks want more information about it, just call Nancy at the number listed on the campground website.)

Before long Terry learned that we had no Alltel cell service there (Cellular One & partners work), nor did we have any TV reception. We were glad that they offered “Free to Air” satellite for $1/day.  Unfortunately, there

was a problem with the satellite receiver, so it was Saturday

evening before Bob got it figured out (bless his heart) and

we actually had satellite reception...so we survived. We

mostly missed getting news. The campground also has free

WiFi, so the non-cell thing was less of an issue. However,

the first day there, Terry had to go to a different part of

the campground in order to get the WiFi signal. Then Bob moved the WiFi antenna from a garage roof to ground level so the signal could reach our site better (under the trees rather than through the trees).  That was better, but we could only get the signal outside the Bambi...again, we survived. It was a minor inconvenience...Terry just wanted to be able to be in contact with his clients while we were there if necessary.

It was a very laid back time for us...the campground was very quiet and peaceful...there wasn’t a lot to do at the campground itself outside of walking the grounds, going to the small fish pond and walking the Girls (which we did a lot of), but it was very relaxing.  We had rain showers almost every day...

                   we could see the storms building in the south and southwest and

                        eventually make their way to us...we’d put down the awning to

                         shelter us from the rain and enjoy the pitter patter on the

                        awning and on the roof of the Bambi.  The storms were never

                        violent or had a lot of wind with them...we did leave one end of

                          the awning a notch lower than the other end so the rain would

                          run off rather than collect on the awning (not a good thing...the weight of the water can bend the awning arms).  Every once in a while another guest would walk or drive by and wave...and Elly and Nancy stopped by several times to chat...we enjoyed their company and are glad we had a chance to meet them...

Friday we drove into Show Low to gas up (at $4.09/gal..the most we’ve ever paid for gas so far)...and run a few errands...had to go to the Ace Hardware for more aluminum cabinet edging, of course, and Wal-Mart for those sheets that Greg likes to use for lining his Bambi curtains.

Saturday we hung out at the campground...got up late, enjoyed a morning rain  shower...then had a late breakfast of French toast and sausage cooked on the griddle over the gas grill...Mmmm. Greg brought a few sewing projects with him and the sewing machine, so that kept him busy and I fiddled with the Bambi and surfed the internet some... It’s nice to be lazy every once in a while. And what better place to do it than on a trip in the Bambi!

Sunday was much of the same...just quiet and nice...and rain here and there...we had a couple of nights of storms as well...nothing quite like sleeping to the pitter patter of rain on aluminum.

Monday we went to Show Low again for lunch at Mexican restaurant that we’d discovered on a previous trip...they have these wonderful Indian fry bread tacos. Back to the campground for more rest and quiet... We emailed Sandy and Paul, our friends who live in Heber, and arranged a time to stop by and see them on Tuesday.

So Tuesday afternoon we took off to Heber. Sandy and Paul are still working on the home they built...they really did a beautiful job...the house itself is done at this point, and now Paul is working on the cabinets and

finishing some things inside.  They also built a deck and porch on

the back of the house where they can sit and watch for deer and

elk in the national forest on the other side of their back fence...

and they’ve worked on some landscaping, etc., in the front.  It

looks great, and it’s always fun to see what they’ve done since

the last time we were there.  On the way back to the camp-

ground, we stopped at “The  260 Burger” to sample the local

fare. The burgers were pretty good (the fries were, too)...and

they told us they were having a flea market there on Friday and Saturday so to be sure and come by.

Wednesday, we got a new neighbor...Bill, from Yuma in a class A motor home... teaches Northern Arizona University extension courses there he said. He’d just come from Fool Hollow and left because it was so crowded and he was in one of the double sites with people he didn’t know...too close for comfort...so that gave us pause about going there for a few days. Terry had called Fool Hollow from Show Low the day before and the ranger said they were pretty much filled by Thursday these days...and that was the earliest we could get there.  Not a good sign. Then with Bill’s info on Fool Hollow, we pretty much decided not to go there.

We had a pleasant surprise on Wednesday afternoon.  Sandy had told us she had to work Wednesday volunteering at the local thrift store...but they had a flood so they ended up being closed for repairs...so she and Paul stopped by  the campground to say “hey” on their way to Show Low to do some shopping...it was an unexpected and pleasant surprise to look up and see someone you know getting out of their truck at your camp site!  Sandy had seen the Bambi on a previous trip to Show Low, but Paul hadn’t seen it yet...

he seemed impressed with the cute little thing!  Sandy said the thrift store

was going to have “flood sale” on Thursday, so that was something we

couldn’t miss!

So Thursday, we extended our stay at the campground through Friday night, leaving on Saturday, and hit the road for Heber and the thrift store sale. It was fun..Sandy was working, of course, and she introduced to all the ladies who were working there...Terry got a new Hawaiian print shirt...we found a great straw hat for a lady friend back in Tucson, and a few other little odds and ends...  Before we left Heber we drove around to see what was what...stopped at the IGA  (grocery) store to pick up some more dog food for the Girls, and then stopped at a fish n’ chips place for a late lunch...it was pretty good.  The guy running the place was stout sort of a biker type with tattoos a-plenta and a great sense of humor.  You just never know who you’re going to run into in these small towns...they can be great places!

Friday was our last full day there...we drove back to Show Low to gas up again for the trip home and stopped at the flea market at “The 260 Burger”...or as the sign along the highway advertising the event said...a “flee market.”  It was an interesting collection of stuff...but nothing we wanted to haul home.  Once back at the campground, Terry check the tire pressure and torque on the Bambi and straightened things in the back of the truck and did some preliminary packing...and we chatted more with Nancy and Elly.

Nancy showed us the evaporative cooler she had installed on her fiberglass “Burro” trailer...it was interesting and would be great for dry

camping in the desert in our low humidity...we are giving it

some thought...it’s tempting! It’s called a TurboKool...

if you’re interested, contact Nancy...she’s a distributor!

Saturday we got up, finished making ready for the trek down the mountain home...said our goodbyes to Elly and Nancy, Bob and Bill...hitched up and headed south.  It was a very pleasant week plus a few days. We were surprised that it went so fast. This is actually the longest we’ve ever stayed in one place on a trip...nine nights, but it didn’t seem that long.  With the full hookups we didn’t have to be worried about water consumption or holding tanks getting full, so we just enjoyed.  The atmosphere was so laid back and relaxing that even though we did very little, we had a most enjoyable time. 

We enjoyed meeting Elly and Nancy a lot.  We intend to see more of them and we may even go on a joint camping trip with them sometime if it works out...that could be fun!  And we now have a place we know we can go to relax in relative coolness during our hot time of the year!

You’ll have to forgive us (Terry, actually) because he managed to lose many of the pictures we took on this trip...don’t ask!  So all we have to offer are some of our campsite and the main entrance to the campground. But hopefully they will be enough to give you a feel for the campground. If you’d like more pictures of the general area...click on “Other Trips” below and visit some of our trips to Fool Hollow. Ease on down the road!