Living in a Small Town Rocks!

Moving to Snowflake was a dream come true for me. What a wonderful place!

“Guess what?” I told Moe on the phone the morning after we finished moving in. “I went to the City of Snowflake this morning to get the water and gas services put in our name, then to the electric company to do the same with the electricity, and to the post office to request mail service. Guess how long it took me.”

“A couple of hours?” he asked, not really paying attention. Moe sounded tired, and I didn't blame him. He was still working out at Williams Gateway Airport down in the Valley, commuting to Snowflake on the weekends and living at his dad's during the week. It wasn't an ideal set up, but the best we could do until Moe retired in 10 months.

“Half an hour!” I laughed happily. “Can you believe it? It would have taken me all morning down in the Valley, and I would have spent a fortune on gas, but here I bet I didn't even drive a whole mile, and there were no lines, no waiting, no cranky people to deal with. It was awesome!”

“Those are the perks of living in a small town,” Moe told me, and I agreed. This was so much fun!

I loved our little rental house. It was only about 1500 square feet, with three bedrooms, two baths, a small kitchen and living room and laundry room, but there was a full 2 car garage where we could store boxes and extra furniture, and a large front porch and even bigger back porch, so we had room to spread out. The weather was absolutely gorgeous, cool and breezy and such a change from the stifling heat of the Valley, and I loved our yard and huge old shade trees.. Best of all, I could clean the entire house in under an hour! Believe me, there was a lot to be said for downsizing!

Snowflake didn't have many amenities, just a couple of Mexican restaurants, an old fashioned grocery store, some gas stations, and a McDonald’s, but there was a more modern grocery store in Taylor, the tiny town right next to Snowflake, and they had a Sonic, Arbies, Taco Bell and Pizza Hut. For the past year there had been talk of building a Wal Mart in town, but in the meantime everyone drove seventeen miles to Show Low for any real shopping, and that was a relative term. They didn't have a mall, or many stores, but I found a discount retail outlet, and a Penny's and K-Mart to go along with Wal Mart..

For awhile, I drove to Show Low almost every other day, perhaps because I felt more at home shopping in Wal Mart, but also because I loved the drive. Snowflake was down on the plains, but Show Low is up in the White Mountains, among the pine and fir trees, and I had to pinch myself every time I made the drive, just to prove that I was awake and not dreaming. I still couldn't believe I actually lived there, in the mountains, where I'd spent my vacations when I was little. It was so cool!