Camping with Dale in the Tonto Forest, Fall 2018

My Minnie has been sitting in my side yard since I got home from my spring trip. Although I had intended to spend some of my summer in the New Mexico state parks with Dale, the heat wave across the southwest took all the appeal out of that, and I stayed in town where I had air conditioning and the comforts of home. My granddaughter had scoliosis surgery at the end of August, and I committed to be in town until mid October to help out during her recovery. After that, I was itching to travel once more.

By then, Dale had made his way back to Arizona, and he and I planned a camp out in the White Mountains. He drove up past Payson and Star Valley on Thursday, October 18 and secured a nice forest spot near Little Green Valley. I joined him on Saturday.

For 12 days, we enjoyed the cool weather, pine trees, walking up and down the forest road, campfires with S'mores, chasing cows out of our campsite, and lots of running around and sight seeing in my Fit. (Have I mentioned how much I love my toad?)

Dale captured just a couple hours of sunshine on his solar panels each day.

They were indignant we were invading their grazing area.

On Sunday, we made a sobering trip to Water Wheel Falls, the location of a flash flood tragedy in July 2017. A family of ten were swept away and killed while enjoying an outing in the well known swimming hole a few miles north of Payson. It's a beautiful area and you can tell why it's inviting to so many, but the photos and flowers in the makeshift memorial put quite a damper on the place now. Dale, Hanna and I carefully picked our way up the rocky trail to get a glimpse of the waterfall, but didn't linger long.

On Thursday, we drove up to Tonto Natural Bridge State Park, taking a picnic lunch along. It's been about 20 years since I've been there, but not much has changed. It's as beautiful as ever. It was a gorgeous day with sunshine and blue skies, and we enjoyed our sandwiches under a tree near the canyon's edge. Dogs are allowed in the park and on the trails around the picnic area and to the overlooks, but not on any of the trails down into the canyon. Dale and I were both nursing sore joints, so neither of us attempted the steep hike down to the creek.

This photo quality does not do the blue sky justice.

A couple days we drove east to check out Camp Sunrise (a free camp for children with cancer that was started when I worked at the American Cancer Society in the late 80s), and look for camping areas for future trips. Other days, we explored west toward Payson and beyond. One morning we stopped at the Rim Country Museum and Zane Grey cabin. The replica cabin was more interesting than the museum, but the docents were a bit too long winded and we left part way through the museum spiel, claiming hunger and fatigue. We went to the local Walmart several times, made a stop at BoSa Donuts, and took in a movie one day at Sawmill Theater.

We checked out progress on this future Tesla Supercharger in Payson.

The trees around our campsite blocked much of the sunshine and Dale's solar energy took a beating. He would not have stayed there had it not been for me enjoying the woodsy spot so much. After the long, hot summer, I had been longing for this cool getaway. But by Wednesday, the overnight temps were getting downright cold, and it was time to head south. We said goodbye before climbing into our respective Minnies and headed down the road, me home and Dale to sunny Bulldog Canyon, then Quartzsite.

Thanks so much Dale, for hanging out with me in the Tonto National Forest!

Our final campfire