Payson Camping trip

My niece and I also took a little camping trip. It's tricky to get our schedules to match so we had to go when we could. It was pretty warm during the afternoon's, especially the first day. After we left our stuff at camp, we went on a drive to explore and cool off. We came across this guy in the road. He is an Arizona Black Rattlesnake. I don't think I have ever seen one before. He was big and didn't like us stopping the car to check him out.

My dog Winston, checking out the tent accommodations.

A view of the Mogollon rim.

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There were some Indian ruins in the area that I didn't know about. These were called the Shoofly ruins. They had been quite an extensive place at one time. It was an interesting walk. We also discovered that the East Fork of the Verde River started in the area. There was a lot of really nice refreshing water. We spent a couple of hours there our second day. That is also where my phone fell out of my pocket into the river. I rescued it quickly, but my camera stopped working. I was very lucky that it started working again, a couple of days later.

My niece and her dogs.

My new Coleman "instant tent". It was pretty cool. It really went up fast. The poles are already attached. all you have to do, is spread them out and extend them in place. I was pretty happy with it. My last tent was too short. I couldn't stand up in it. I also got a cot. It greatly enhanced my camping experience. My niece was ragging on me for using a cot. After one night of sleeping on the ground, she went to Walmart and got her own cot. I see more camping trips in our future. We also got to see a couple of Elk!