Cabin with orange-tan walls, redwood-colored trim, and a porch with 2 white chairs, trees behind and 2 garden beds in front

Dispatch from Up North, Part 1: Salt River Canyon and Rainbow Lake

September 23, 2022 /

Long-Suffering Husband and I spent a lovely long weekend in a cabin in Pinetop-Lakeside, Arizona, walking in the woods, exploring the area, and being away from work, chores, and other adult annoyances. We also took tons of pictures, which I’ll share over at least the next couple of weeks. This week’s post will be brief, because I have all-day work commitments on the days I usually blog, and I’ll be too exhausted afterwards to string words together.

OK, enough whining. Welcome to the Weekend Coffee Share, hosted by Natalie the Explorer! Grab a treat, take a seat, and let’s get to it.

Salt River Canyon, Arizona

These pictures were taken from a viewpoint just north of the Salt River Canyon on our drive up from Tucson to Pinetop-Lakeside. The drive is steep and twisty, and several of the mountainsides are littered with the remains of wrecked cars to remind you to slow down.

hills spotted with vegetation and exposed, striated rock in shades of tan and orange, highway descending toward canyon on right
hills spotted with vegetation and exposed, striated rock in shades of tan and orange
Hillside above highway with desert vegetation topped by layer of reddish rock

Learn more about the Salt River Canyon here.

Rainbow Lake, Arizona

Our cabin (pictured at the top of this post) was about a mile from Rainbow Lake. As I mentioned in last week’s post, we desert dwellers get excited about water, so of course the lake was my first stop the morning after we arrived. It was… underwhelming. Wet, but underwhelming. Most of the shoreline is private land, aggressively posted with No Trespassing signs. There’s only about half an acre of public access, and little of that is actual shoreline. But still, it’s water, and the surrounding countryside is lovely.

Brown sign with white letters reading "Welcome to Rainbow Lake, Arizona Game and Fish Department. This 0.6-acre parcel was purchased in 1967 to serve the public's needs for boating and fishing access. This is the only dedicated public access point to Rainbow Lake. This lake is managed as a sportfishery in cooperation with the Show Low Irrigation Company, who owns and controls the water. These access facilities were upgraded in 1993 under the Department's Arizona Boater Access Program, in cooperation with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Your purchase of fishing equipment and motor boat fuels supports Sport Fish Restoration and boating access facilities. Please obey all fishing and boating regulations. To report a violation, call Operation Game Thief at 1-800-352-0700."
Grey-brown lake water, grassy shoreline with forest behind, small white boathouse and ramp
Lake and grassy shoreline with forest across the water and small white wood building in the distance
Slough with brown water surrounded by forest and water plants, house on left shoreline with small fountain in front

On my way to the lake, I saw this weirdly adorable bit of folk art in front of someone’s property. I’m pretty sure the animals were carved with a chainsaw.

Wood-carved figures of animals on a wagon made from logs and decorated with old license plates, one playing a banjo

Learn more about Rainbow Lake here.

I’ll have pictures of a much prettier lake next week. In the meantime, let’s have a few laughs!

Memes

The usual theme this week–random crap I found when I should have been writing. Here we go:

Follow me for more outdoor exercise tips.

Here’s another survival tip:

Yep, totally me. I can make breathing awkward.

True story: I once tried to convince a doctor to put posters of hot guys on her exam room ceiling so I’d have something to look at while in my annual compromising position. I’m sure it will surprise you to learn that my campaign was unsuccessful. Maybe I should have asked for cookies and cheese.

As long as we’re talking about medicine:

True story: I once worked on a project to relocate a medical museum collection that included saddlebags from doctors who made rounds on horseback in rural Oregon in the 1800s. One of them included a small vial of cocaine. IIRC we ended up having the campus police dispose of it.

I should have been admitted to medical school based solely on my handwriting.

Had 3 greyhounds. Can confirm. For awhile Fritz would take pills smothered in Easy Cheese (For my non-American friends: don’t ask. You don’t want to know.) Then he got all Gordon Ramsey and insisted on having his pills wrapped in lunch meat. Note that this is the same dog who once killed and ate… a skunk.

I could totally picture my son saying something like that when he was that age. And yes, we know we live like this.

Sigh.

Here’s one for the romantics in the group:

The trick is to share memes with each other. Then you’re communicating, and communication is supposed to be good for relationships. I think I read that once in between staring at memes.

Here’s another example of someone misunderstanding instructions:

You don’t want to know how much I want to bring this to a work potluck.

That last one is especially important.

True story: When I was an undergrad, my campus had a movie theater that showed second-run movies and was free to students. Every year they’d show the original Star Wars trilogy on a fall weekend. And every year at the moment in The Empire Strikes Back when Leia kisses Luke, the entire audience would scream, “Incest!”

Damn, I miss college.

Nerd alert!

And finally, I’ll just apologize for this next one up front.

Thank you, thank you, I’ll be here all week.

Speaking of weeks, have a great one! And if you know any bad puns, share ’em! I could use a laugh.

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19 Comments

  • Joanne

    September 23, 2022 at 10:53 am

    Yikes that mountain road with evidence of car wrecks would have made me a nervous wreck. And I agree that that lake is a but underwhelming.

  • Bobbiem91

    September 23, 2022 at 11:05 am

    Like you, I could have made it into medical school based solely on my handwritings. I even left a not for a doc who asked who wrote it because he couldn’t read it. As to that wonderful road. I adored it on my motorcycle. That was as much fun as Beartooth Pass and the road going up to the Oregon Caverns. I have pictures from it. I’ll remember to carry binoculars while walking. Great tip.

    Enjoy your vacation. My step-daughter called and said that she was in heaven when she finally saw the pine trees near Flagstaff. She despises Phoenix and the 120+ heat, no real trees and traffic. I like water and still am on waterfront property for about another week.

    • Janet Alcorn

      September 23, 2022 at 5:52 pm

      Thanks–the trip was fun! And yes, it’s wonderful to hit that 6000+ foot line and see the pine trees. Summer in Flag is amazing.

  • Gary A Wilson

    September 23, 2022 at 11:56 am

    FIND THE TOENAIL . . . . . ?
    This is twisted to the depth of my subconscious and flight or flight instinct.
    GAAAAACK

    On the other hand – now I’m trying to think of who I could pull this on and survive.

  • Writing Sparkle

    September 24, 2022 at 7:57 am

    I love that you call your husband your “Long-Suffering Husband.” Haha. I think I noticed it in last week’s coffee blog for the first time and was chuckling away and thinking of my own marriage (I tease my husband mercilessly, also long-suffering).

    I haven’t yet visited Arizona, but the pictures you share make me think I should at some point. Thanks for the virtual coffee, Janet.

    • Janet Alcorn

      September 24, 2022 at 9:03 am

      The poor man has put up with me for over 30 years!

      Arizona has so many beautiful places, some famous (that big hole in the ground in the northern part of the state, Grand… something) and some only locally known. Lots to explore!

    • Janet Alcorn

      September 25, 2022 at 7:14 pm

      Yep! Back in the days when doctors couldn’t actually cure much, managing symptoms would have been really important–and this concoction would do the trick.

  • trentpmcd

    September 24, 2022 at 5:34 pm

    The drive up the canyon does look gorgeous. And I see green in a lot of the photos you posted! And I really like.. uhm, wait, I need a little cough syrup. There, that’s better. Now where was I? I think Neptune, but what are these things swimming around my head? Too bad they didn’t have this cough medicine in the 60s, they could have added some acid. Why not, with all the stuff already in it? Anyway, I am still giggling over the cutie pie, so I should probably just say I hope you are having a great weekend and have a wonderful week ahead!

    • Janet Alcorn

      September 25, 2022 at 7:15 pm

      LOL. I’m surprised they didn’t add ‘shrooms or peyote, both of which would have been known back then. Can you just picture some crusty old gunslinger in Tombstone tripping?

      Hope you had a wonderful weekend too!