9/28 Sunday, Surprise to Payson, AZ

Went and picked up the motor home, nice chilly refrigerator!! Talked with mom’s neighbor Linda for a bit, then went home to pack all the cold stuff and realize I forgot stuff for all the get-togethers and pot lucks!!! ARG! Another trip to the store. I discovered that none of my locks would fit the storage locker, so I needed to get a different lock, too.

I decided to do something different for my chow offerings, I baked lemon cupcakes and will frost them the day they are served for our mid day pot luck. I have different kinds of chips and dips/pesto/hummus this trip, not my standard pot-luck grub of crackers and cheese for our happy hours. For our breakfast pot luck I have fresh fruit/grapes and citrus. NO MELON!

So, it was 3 or 4 o’clock before I took off. Blue is running beautifully!!! By the time I got to Scottsdale, my brand new stereo crackled and quit. No power what-so-ever. I took a brief stop, and discovered I spilled my iced tea in the refrigerator, so mopped that up. BUT!! The refrigerator is still running!!!! I had trouble when we went to Missouri with the refer staying lit while driving. Yep, I’m one of the bad ones that run with the propane on. I do have an ice-chest on board for back up though.

Traffic in the opposite direction (south bound on 87) contained LOTS of classic cars and hot rods. I saw a ‘55 Chevy just like John’s; in desert tan and it appeared completely stock. There were also a lot of horse hauling rigs of all descriptions. Lots of motor homes and semi’s, too.

Got to Payson just at dark, and Rico, Smudge and I shared a Sonic Bacon Cheeseburger and tater tots, with a little bit of ice cream for dessert. We are staying at the Ponderosa camp ground (US Forest Service, Tonto National Forest) tonight, right off of Hwy 260. A little noisy, but a fairly level dry camp at $15 per night. Quite a few folks here, considering it’s Sunday night. It smells wonderful, very piney, lots of crickets making noise, WONDERFUL stars. I took the dogs out and ended up going down to the self pay twice, as I forgot to look at my site #; A-15.

Just relaxing here, going through my notes for things to see, places to go as I drive east. I’m going to turn in early tonight!