Journey In God's Amazing Grace

Friday, July 10, 2026

Flags in Show Low

For patriotic holidays, Show Low has a number of places around town where there are massive flag displays...

This is at one of the major corners that we go through frequently...

... flags on both sides of the roadway.

We had thought that we might go to the Fourth of July parade, but we ended up wimping out and did not see it. Evidently it is a classic small town parade and folks who went enjoyed it greatly!

Thursday, July 9, 2026

Line Dancing at White Mountain Square Dance Hall

I have thoroughly enjoyed beginner line dance classes at White Mountain Square Dance Hall on Monday mornings during our stay this season in Show Low. This is the same dance hall where we've been taking ballroom and country/western dance lessons (on Wednesday and Friday nights respectively).

Ruth, the lady in black at the center front of the room, is the instructor. She is very methodical and precise, which I found to be just ideal for my learning style!

While there is line dance instruction at our park, and I have attended their sessions, the teaching styles were not what I prefer. They would more often show the dance (to remind the students of something they already knew) and anyone who didn't know it just needed to pick it up by watching. That is definitely not my preferred way of learning! Oh well, some of the dances that they taught here at the park were ones I already knew, so I could at least enjoy them.

Return to Show Low

On the last morning...

There were a couple of roadrunners in the parking lot of our hotel...

We didn't see any coyotes or boxes from Acme Explosives.

We stopped by the AirBnB house to see family one last time. Joan and family had a long drive (12+ hours) so had already left, and Scott and family had a 7+ hour drive to their overnight stop so we waved as they left at the same time we arrived. We helped clear out food from the pantry and refrigerator and bid goodbye to Steve and family, Kim and family, and Pamela (who had also come over to help with final clearing out).

On our way back, the GPS gave an option of different routes, so we decided to get off the interstate for much of the drive. We took I-40 almost to Grants, NM, and then headed south.

This route took us through El Malpais National Monument -- a beautiful drive! Unfortunately, we didn't think to take any pictures! The road went between mountains on one side (right side of the route in the picture), and lava fields on the other (dark patches on the left side of the route). (https://www.google.com/maps/dir/Albuquerque,+New+Mexico/Quemado,+New+Mexico+87829/Show+Low,+Arizona/@34.9023283,-108.121473,93055m/)

We tried to get a picture of the "Welcome to Arizona" sign on US60 as we were driving, but it came up too quickly and was too small -- so instead we got a picture on the GPS screen!

We got back to the rig safe and sound and enjoyed relaxing and recovering from a great trip!

Wednesday, July 8, 2026

Visit to Petroglyph National Monument

Petroglyph National Monument was not far away from the house in Albuquerque where the family was staying, so on the last day, while many of the guys went out to Top Golf and many of the ladies went shopping, Carl and I decided to visit...

We drove to the visitor center...

The signboard there told us that there was nothing to see at the visitor center, but there was a container with maps...

aka: "If you came here to see something, there is nothing to see!"

We decided that Boca Negra Canyon had trails that we might be interested in viewing and we picked up an info flyer with a map.

We drove a couple of miles to Boca Negra Canyon ...

Carl had determined that the Macaw Trail would be good to try -- it was quite short.

I guess that's a Macaw!

A paddle?

There was another slightly longer trail near the Macaw Trail so we decided to do it too.

We read in another place that it was not appropriate to ask what the meanings of the petroglyphs were... but since the information sign said that they might be "marking trade routes... or communicating to others using imagery", we decided to make up our own meanings...

"Lots of bugs here"

"A guy with a plume on his hat and another one with an interesting nose are following a star"

"Target store, this exit!"

"A place to sit" ?a restroom here? feel free to recline?

"Baker ahead" (looks like a baker's hat to me)

"M&M man!"

It was quite warm (we should have visited early in the morning, instead it was around 11am) but we appreciated that there were a couple of short paths we could explore.

Tuesday, July 7, 2026

Day 4 Albuquerque Family Reunion

Last full day of Williams Family Reunion, 2026 edition.

The "Cousin Crew" teeshirts had been handed out and the cousins posed for pictures.

Lining up in age order, or by height, were both attempted, but without success. They did end up with siblings next to each other.

Youngest grand Addi had been jealously watching her older cousins playing pool, so when they were out for a while, she took advantage of using the pool table...

... she had her own unique style of getting the balls into the pockets -- consisting of dragging the cue along the table and moving the balls around.

Considering that she couldn't really even see the top of the table, she did a credible job!

Monday, July 6, 2026

Day 3 Albuquerque Family Reunion

Day 3 had Patti visiting a friend and Carl spending time at the airBnB with family.

Carl sent me pictures of the lunch dishes some of his kids made...

Joan created a beautiful charcuterie tray to share...

Kim fixed a healthy veggie tray for herself...

Scott made a lunch of champions for himself -- brat with mustard and Cheetos!

I drove up to Santa Fe to see my friend and former co-worker, Holly -- we had a great visit!

On my way back, I stopped off to get some cat food at PetsMart -- we have to change the canned food we are giving Miss Kitty frequently, and one of the foods that is in "rotation" I have only found at PetsMart. Unfortunately, there are no PetsMarts in Show Low, and I wanted to get some in our supply.

While there, I saw the adoption area and this tuxedo boy was up on the top of all the cages! When I first saw him, he was sitting bolt-upright like a statue of an Egyptian cat and I wasn't sure if he was a real or not! By time I got my phone out, he was crouched back down...

This picture shows how high up he was! There is a cat tree over to the left (outside of picture range) that he used to get up there (I had wondered if he had jumped that high, but the adoption agency person there said that he uses the cat tree).

Carl had a good time with his kids and grandkids and I enjoyed visiting Holly and getting some needed shopping done.

Sunday, July 5, 2026

Day 2 Albuquerque Family Reunion

On Tuesday, there was more swimming and visiting...

In the afternoon, we headed out to a food court at Sawmill Market where we got snacks or late lunch.

The cousins were outside together.

One of the things Carl particularly requested is that a family picture be done. We decided to do it in the back yard of the B&B where there was a big Albuquerque sign.