March 23, 2009 marked the end of our five month stay in the quaint, mountain town of Strawberry, AZ. Both Vic and I were ready to hit the road and make the long drive back to IL. Back to our home.
We were very lucky this past winter to find a nice, cozy and fully furnished vacation rental to meet our needs – in a small town near Payson, Az, no more than a two-hour drive from the valley and furnished with enough comforts to make our stay enjoyable and homey. This ended up working out well in the end, as I was much busier with work this past winter and we did spend more time indoors.
When I was in AZ for the Bridal Fashion Debut expo last June, I stayed an extra day and made appointments to see a few rentals in the Payson area. I took the lead with finding the rental as I was the one who pushed for 13+ years about adding a puppy to our family. I needed to find a suitable rental that most importantly allowed dogs! Surprisingly it was easy to find a few dog-friendly options on Craigslist. I rolled into Pine, another small town about 3 miles south of Strawberry on the Beeline Highway, earlier than I needed to be for my first appointment. I ended up checking in at a real estate office to see if they had any rental listings. While they did not deal with rentals, they informed me of the real estate office who did AND that I should check out the Post Office bulletin board as well. I didn’t make it to the next real estate office, as right smack dab in the middle of the bulletin board at the Post Office was a new flier advertising this cute, small, 2 bedroom, 1.5 bath cottage for rent. I immediately dialed the number on my cell and tripped over myself asking if I could come see the place and that I was interested in renting it for 5-6 months during the wintertime. I think Jim and Katy Drab, the owners, tripped up just as much during the phone call. I could tell they were extremely excited for the opportunity of a long term rental!
As soon as I pulled up to the Blue Olive and saw it nestled between huge pine trees on a full acre, I knew this would be the perfect place for us. Then I noticed the fencing around the front and side yards had chicken wire added – this would be perfect for Mater and keep him within the confines of the yard! Then I saw the seasonal creek in the backyard, even thought it was dry. As soon as Jim and Katy pulled up into the driveway and stopped their truck, out jumped their dog, Shrek! PHEW! Because I had completely forgot to mention Mater on the phone! But they are dog people and were cool with us bringing Mater (for an extra pet deposit of course.)
So we spent 5 lovely months in this humble abode and enjoyed it immensely. Seriously, Katy has thought of everything in terms of comforts. The cottage can comfortably sleep 6 and there are linens and blankets galore. The kitchen came fully stocked and I was able to cook almost every meal and try my hand at some new baking recipes. They even supplied us with a crockpot! It was awesome!
I do however think Jim and Katy are disappointed that Vic and I didn’t use the ping-pong table once during our stay. They even have lawn bowling and decks of cards available. Everything you might need for a getaway!
Check out their listing on Vacation Rentals and hopefully you’ll experience the delight we did! One small note, if you are there during the winter, pack clothes that can be easily layered. The trees, even when bare, provide lots of shade and the cottage is colder inside than outside in the sun!
