From Mexico to Canada

Howdy y'all,
       Wendy was teasing me that I start all the blogs the same, so I'll show her.)
  We are getting settled in here and trying to remember all the new names. We had just pulled in and learned they were having a pot luck dinner and we were welcome to come. It was to celebrate one volunteer couples 60 year anniversary and also say good bye to a couple who have been here for a time. It was a mix of the volunteers and paid staff, probably about 20 people. We had a good meal and was a good chance to get introduced. Most of the volunteers are returns, that is a good sign.
  As the volunteer coordinator was going to be off for the next couple days she said we would start training on Friday. It gave us a chance to check out a couple things. Wednesday we made a trip to town to see Safford. It's about 6 miles from the park. We found it an ok looking town, big enough to have a Super Walmart and the popular fast food joints. I also spied a Home Depot so we should be good.
  Thursday looked to be a clear day so we thought we would drive up the nearby Pinaleno Mountains. The drive on Hwy. 366 has been designated a scenic parkway- Swift Trail. Some say it is like driving from Mexico to Canada in an hour and a half. Well we took much longer than that.

 The road takes you from 3000 feet of elevation to over 9000 feet. Mount Graham the fourth highest peak in AZ at 10,720 ft is in view. The road also closes from Nov 15 to April 15 so a good thing to get this in asap. The road was created by pioneers, forest service and the Civilian Conservation Corp. It starts out paved for 21 miles then 14 miles of gravel. Some of the gravel road had us bouncing pretty good and that at 10-15 mph. There are numerous camping areas along the way, although these are rough without elec. And as it is up a mountain, the longest trailer length allowed is 22 feet.

 The drive was stunning. We were happy that there was little traffic so we could drive our pace and pull over as we wanted. We saw some wildlife- whitetail deer and Aberts squirrels.

  The drive ends at Riggs Flatt Lake. A good size shallow man made lake that gets stocked with trout. We picnicked at the lake then headed back down. Although it is a long slow ride the views made it well worth the effort.