Some people I met today.

I met a couple of people today who made an impression on me.  This morning I was fortunate enough to have a conversation with the owner of the El Jo Hotel in Springerville.  I do not remember how we got on the topic of the Wallow Fire, but we did.  She shared with me how the entire towns of Springerville and Eagar had been evacuated.  She stayed behind to keep the hotel open, so that fire fighters would have a place to stay.  She said the town was like a ghost town.  It was kind of spooky.  The only people on the streets were fire trucks and police on patrol.
  She shared a little bit about her granddaughter, who goes to school in Alpine, an even smaller town about 20 miles up the road and up the hill.  She was worried for her granddaughters school, that it would go up in flames, because she had heard the fire was very close to town.  She later learned the fire crews were using the school as their command center, which made her feel better.
  She also shared how her son flies LifeFlight helicopters.  He is normally based in Springerville, but they sent him to Show Low.  He would then fly back into Springerville for medical emergencies.  She said she had never heard of bale bombing before.  Neither had I.  They do this after the fire in an attempt to reduce erosion.  What they do is load the water dropping helicopters with hay instead, and then drop it on burned areas (after the fire is out of course!) just like they do water.  She said you'd be watching a helicopter and then there would be this big poof of something.  The poof was the dropping hay.
  She commented how she would never forget the Wallow Fire, much like never forgetting 9/11.  You could tell in her voice this was an emotional topic for her.  I was blessed to get to talk to her about it.
  I visited Alpine and took pictures of the fire damage.  In all honesty, it wasn't as bad as I was expecting.  It was as if the fire had burned in pockets, buring 100 acres but then leaving the next 100 acres untouched.  You could see where green was showing through under the burned trees.  Grass and flowers were coming back!  Now the big problem for the burned area is erosion.  I saw roadside ditches several feet thick with mud.  In one section of road near Nutrioso, a section that tended to flood before the fire, you can see how mudslide have covered the road.  Many of the forest service roads in teh area are still closed.  The area could certainly still use your prayers.
  The other individual who made an impression on me was the mechanic at Twins Motorcycle and Machining in Lakeside.  Twins was an interesting place.  They build custom bikes there.  I took the motorcycle there to try to get my luggage rack issue resolved, once and for all.  It is not a good place to go for the easily intimidated.  These guys had to be Hell's Angels, or future ones.  Tattoos everywhere.  Long hair and long beards.  I wish I could grow my beard that long!  One customer walked in with a pistol stuck in his belt, I kid you not, and this was not an old west six shooter.  But the mechanic that helped me (I am so bad about getting names of people), was as nice as could be if you could get beyond the language.  As he was trying to back out the broken bolt out of the hole he commented something to the effect, "S---, that f---er is f---in' bound up in there good."  "Glad I'm good at something," I replied.  "S---, you were able to f---in' make this so it would last two f---in' years.  I'd say thats pretty d--- good.  S---, if you f---in' bought it stock, it wouldn't last for two f---in' years.  S---, especially if it was a f---in' Harley."
  I don't think I've embelished much here.  Never felt quite so uplifted about being cussed at before!  And they only charged me $15, and it took about 20 minutes.  Keep in mind, two places in Springfield, Missouri turned me away.  I highly recommend Twins Motorcycle shop in Lakeside.  They may be a little rough on the exterior, but they'll take care of you.

Mountains south of Alpine.

Monsoon season in the White Mountains