Sometimes you just gotta get away, and that we did. It's been over a year since a real vacation, and though we're living on a budget and had time constraints, we made it happen. Well, my husband made it happen, and I am so thankful!
Now onto the details....
We decided on a driving vacation, so traveled north to the mountain town of Payson, Arizona. The higher elevation brought some cooler temperatures and the population of just over 16,000 meant there were enough creature comforts to sustain us without having to pack a lot.
We spent some time at the parks the first day, eating lunch at Green Valley Park, a rather luscious grassy area with a small lake.
We stayed at Majestic Mountain Inn, not lavish, but sufficient for our needs.
The next day, we hiked Water Wheel Trail. We got a little turned around at first, but managed to find the Ellison Falls by dropping in from the top. At 1.8 miles roundtrip, this is not a far hike, but there is a lot of rock hopping. This is also where an entire family lost their lives due to a flash flood, so use care if hiking during monsoon season.
After some lunch, we played bocce ball at Green Valley again.
The third day, we hiked part of Oak Spring Trail, part of the Arizona National Trail system. The trail is dubbed as moderate and promises scenic views. Spoiler alerts: We never saw the spring. The prettiest view we saw after hiking three miles out and three miles back was an open pasture.
Following the slight hiking disappointment, we backtracked to Tonto National Bridge State Park. It costs $7 per adult to get in, but it was totally worth it! We hiked the Gowan Trail to get down into/under the bridge. The trail was a bit steep, and the cave was wet and slippery, but I definitely recommend the trek.
We found more things that we could/would do, but opted to go visit family outside Payson, thereby ending our stay, at least for this time. After the fun we had this time, we are pretty sure we will go back!
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