Freedom and Camping

For the 4th of July weekend we decided to beat the heat and head for the pines. We were lucky to grab one of the last campsites in the Upper Tonto Creek campground. This is a beautiful area with lots of pine trees. After we set up camp, we watched the sun set and we listened to the distant rollings of thunder. Unfortunately we were awakened that night at 2:30am by some new neighbors setting up camp. The whole family was yelling and calling to each other, chopping wood and starting a huge bon fire (it was clearly posted everywhere that it was extremely high fire danger and no fires of any kind were permitted!). You know when you have those moments when you think "are these people for real"?! The next morning we overheard other campers grumbling about the new brood next door. I was thinking we could probably round everyone up to vote them off the island, but instead it rained and the newcomers got what they deserved. We on the other hand really enjoyed the rain because it brought even cooler temperatures. On the morning of the 4th we hiked up to Horton Springs, which comes right out of the mountain, so that's cool. We drank from the head water and it was tasty, especially in comparison to Phoenix water! Later we went into Payson to enjoy some small town celebrations and fireworks. That same rain followed us into town and put a damper on the festivities, but the show went on and we watched fireworks from our car. Saturday we packed up camp and made a stop at the fish hatchery (which Josh got a kick out of) before making a the trip home. While we were in the neighborhood we figured we would drive up through Snowflake so we could see the first of the small temples. I don't know what we were expecting, but as it turns out, it's like all the other temples. The grounds were beautiful and there was a wonderful spirit about it. The drive back to Phoenix was scenic and especially GREEN compared to our home in Glendale.