Camping on the Rim - Part 2

Don't miss Part 1!

This is the face of a dog who wants her real house back, thank you very much.

None of us slept super well the first night at Houston Mesa Campground near Payson; while the new mattress from Nectar was insanely comfortable, every now and then, we'd hear the dogs tip tapping around their section of the camper (the living room, essentially), and we'd get up to check on them.  Thankfully, no accidents happened the first night, and eventually, we all got up and moving around to greet the day.

A Yeti-like Chris, making breakfast on the Camp Chef

Bagel toasting time!

With breakfast settled (sausage, cheese, harissa mayo, and arugula breakfast sammies on the bagels you see above), we strolled the kiddos around the campground, checking out the sites and encouraging them to attend to their needs.

At the campground entrance

Our trip to Payson was only two weeks before our Ragnar Arizona Trail event, so we figured this would be a good time to get in some high-elevation trail running.  Houston Mesa was a short jog away from a small trail system, and we made good use of it.  I took the first running shift while Chris stayed with the girls, and after a small detour (I attempted to get on a marked OTV trail that didn't really seem to be there), I found the Houston Trail, which started at Houston Mesa's Horse Camp sites, across the road from our part of the campground.

It was a great day for a trail run -

the high was about 62 degrees with the lightest of breezes and mostly full sun.

The trail was pretty good, too - only a few small rises, like this one

Right at the end of my run (around 6 miles or so), I followed what I thought was the proper trail and ended up back on an actual, paved road.  This wasn't right, but since I had my phone on me (and reception was great throughout this area), I just pulled up Google Maps and routed myself back.  

Chris told me later he checked on me at this point and was like, "why is she there?"

He figured my little dot was moving, and I hadn't sent up an SOS, 

so everything was okay.

When I returned, Chris and I traded activities, and he headed out the door for his run while I took a shower, noshed on some lunch (a charcuterie spread) and hung out with the girls.  He was back in an hour or so, and we moved outside to relax and watch the clouds drift by; while there was rain in the forecast for later that night, it was still mostly sunny and the warmth felt great.

The sun puppy lounges while her Dad recovers from his run

Trail shoes and stinky clothes, airing out before being stashed in Zelda

All cleaned up and enjoying lunch!

We spent the rest of the afternoon lounging in our chairs, listening to music, snacking, and drinking beer, while the girls slept on their beds/cots.  Our site had the large open area seen above with the picnic table plus a smaller section around the corner, which was a bit more sheltered from the elements.  Since the sun was starting to go down and the wind was picking up, we relocated over there for the remainder of the evening.  

Eventually, it was dinner time (leftovers from the tacos the night before), and we once again made S'mores over the firepit.  

Bedtime wandered around, and after another stroll to ensure everyone had handled their nighttime business, we all sacked out.  We slept much better Saturday night, other than being awoken a few times due to the hard rain occurring outside.  Thankfully, the rain had mostly passed by the time we got up and moving on Sunday, so we walked the girls and made breakfast without getting soaked.  We packed everything up (we'd done this with most of the outside items the night before, knowing we wouldn't use them the next morning) and headed out by around 10am, starting our drive home.

It didn't rain on us on the way home, but we did see some neat clouds.

Making it home around noon, we unpacked, ate some lunch, then started the laundry before washing the girls and then cleaning up ourselves.  Just one more task left!

We got Arizona!

(Yes, I know we live in AZ, but we don't get a sticker until

we've camped there in the rig).

Our first real camping trip was in the books, and it was a success! We're still working on the girls, but they were WAY better this time, and we count that as a win!  Next up on the camping agenda - Southern Arizona Wine Country/Sonoita in mid-November!

Later!

Amy