The Arizona desert valley heat is really in full force these days, that it is hard to stay outside without risking heat exhaustion/stroke. As our visit to the US this year started kinda late already – 2nd half of May – we were not able to enjoy the cold weather for long.
When I tell you how I’m just totally fine at the new house in the fast-developing Queen Creek; just working remotely or chilling, daily home exercise, with occasional visit to my favorite coffee shop: Peixoto. Add early morning walks once a week for the variety, LOL. Basically, just thankful for another free environment change. That’s enough to inspire for a simple guy.
We did visit Sedona again. It’s always a wonderful time in that place, but we had not traveled somewhere new.
Then finally, cuzzo had enough of the heat and lack of inspo (for the biz), that the pack decided to have a quick getaway. Destination: Greer, Arizona. Off we went without much planning!
Greer is northeast from Phoenix. It’s not very north of the state, just mideast. But it sits within the White Mountains and elevated pretty high to enjoy mild summer, with cold mornings and nights. Coming from Queen Creek, the projected travel time to Greer is 3.5 hours.
We haven’t passed Highway 60 going to/coming from the east in our previous road trips, so the towns and sites along the way were new to us. One quick stop we made just because of the interesting name and town sign was Miami, Arizona. It’s a copper mining town that we checked out by doing some antique shop crawl.
At the first shop we entered, the owner told us about a nearby (30 min drive) Theodore Roosevelt Lake. We decided to check it out before heading to our destination. At Globe city, we turned left to 188 to go to the lake. Before turning at the intersection, we spotted Judy’s Cookhouse and thought of getting lunch there after swinging by the lake.
Theodore Roosevelt Lake is sizable for Arizona, and you can tell it’s a popular destination for those living in nearby cities and towns. Trucks towing boats are a common site on the roads leading to it.
After a few snaps at the lake, we left and headed to Judy’s Cookhouse, just at the intersection of 60 and 188, for our late lunch. Covering lunch was enough as we brought food to cook for dinner, expecting the early close of restaurants in rural areas.
After Globe, the scenic views abound as we passed by parts of Tonto National Forest and the territories of San Carlos and Fort Apache Reservations. Especially breathtaking was driving by Salt River Canyon. The windiest roads are those that pass by the canyon. We noticed a lot of cars on the road, well, because most slowed down, that I thought, we should try to contact our target accommodation. Through the choppy signal, we finally received the confirmation that… there were no lodges left to rent. Uh oh. We could only hope to find a place on the spot.
Seemingly out of nowhere, was the vibrant tourist city of Show Low. Oh great, there are many hotels in the area. So just in case we have no luck in Greer, we can drive back. After we turned to 260, we passed by Pinetop-Lakeside, another place with more chances to stay, great! And then we arrived at Greer. We stopped as soon as we saw lodges. Oops, office was closed on the first one. We drove a little and stopped to another one and nope, the office was closed! And then we saw another group of cabins where the office seemed open – the lights were on!
My cousin entered the cabin and surprise, surprise, it’s not the office! She apologized to the travelers renting it and asked them for recommendations. Well, it seemed like walk-ins were not possible that night, so we looked for Airbnb accommodation before driving back. Good thing there was signal in the area. We were still gunning for a cabin. Prior to Greer, lake houses in Pinetop-Lakeside already caught our eye!
And bam! We found one at Lakeside through Airbnb. Thank goodness the owner still accepted, we’re excited to still be staying at a cabin. And great, we would only drive back for less than an hour.
Much to our delight, we arrived with a beautiful view of Rainbow Lake at sunset. It’s cooler in Greer, but Lakeside is good too. Anywhere significantly cooler than the Arizona desert valley would do!
Being a lake house, the cabin had kayaks that we could use. It also had tennis and pickleball rackets for the mixed use tennis court / pickleball courts in the community. As for me, I was looking forward to write in that beautiful lakeside spot.
At dark, I went to the porch and looked up, and saw the clear sky with many, many stars. So, I grabbed a towel, lay down the bench and appreciated the starry sky till I felt sleepy, then went to bed.
The next day, I stuck to my exercise routine early in the morning. I thought of kayaking, but after a strenuous routine, I thought the kayak’s too heavy to drag all the way down the dock. I’d just do it next morning, I thought. I did enjoy sipping coffee at the dock though. For the rest of the day I focused on reading and writing. The focus was short-lived, because after lunch, I pretty much lazed and rested.
Early morning the next day, I rose about to kayak at sunrise. I really aimed for an early morning kayak for the most serene time. The water was calm, weather cold, the place was quiet, and there was no one else in the lake. I didn’t bring my phone to take pictures, as a precaution in case I flip for whatever reason. I mean, I rarely kayak. But trust me, kayaking early morning at Rainbow lake is great.
After that, I did a quick exercise and freshened up. I took a bath immediately as my butt was quite wet after the kayak. I was right to leave my phone after all. I chose the wrong kayak.
But later that morning, I jumped back the lake, but made sure to use the more floaty kayak for a few pictures wearing @wearzitee. 😛
Then, my cousin and I went to the tennis court for a bit of hitting. Oh well, it’s cold anyway, I barely sweat and didn’t have to take a bath again.
Before leaving, we had brunch at The Bistro at Annie’s – quite a popular spot. There we noticed that Pinetop-Lakeside is a retirement area. Is it? Let me know in the comments.
The Journeying Engineer 
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