We decided to escape the unseasonal heat in the valley and go in search of fall leaves. Since I am from "back East", I don't think that it is fall until I can make s'mores and crunch through leaves.
We drove up Friday after work to our cabin at Christoper Creek Lodge (www.christophercreeklodge.com). The cabin was really nice with a Franklin style stove near the bed - we weren't there very long before I had the hubby build a fire. (Hey! vacation in the woods...need a cozy fire, right?) We actually had the conversation that we could live there forever...if the bathroom was a little bigger. The lodge was dog friendly, so even Ginger - our Brittany Spaniel - got to go on our mini vacation.
We got an early start Saturday morning and headed to Tonto Natural Bridge. (http://www.pr.state.az.us/parks/TONA/index.html) Ginger was only allowed on the paved paths, so we saw the bridge from the top side. We did take a short hike without her, and walked down the 80 or so steps to see the waterfall. John raced me to the top and won even after spotting me 50 stairs. (Sometimes I love bad knees.)
We went into Payson for groceries and some lunch. The tourism information center (chamber of commence) gave us several dog friendly hikes we could take and told us about some attractions in Pine and Strawberry. We decided to hike around Woods Canyon Lake. It took about 2.5 hours and is about 6 miles around according to my phone. We didn't get to see the famed Eagles that live there, but we did see their nest. Ginger almost caught a chipmunk; I don't know who was more surprised about that...the dog or the chipmunk.
Once we made it back to the lodge, the husband prayed to the fire gods and grilled us some steak and asparagus. I don't know if it was just "that" delicious or if we were just "that" hungry - but it tasted amazing. He needed to know the score of the ASU/Oregon game so we walked down to this little bar/restaurant next to the lodge. The Landmark at the Creek is a little gourmet gem in the middle of nowhere...I had butternut squash lasagna.
Sunday, we tried to squeeze in a little more vacation before heading down the mountain and back to real life. We headed up to the little town of Pine, AZ. This is where we encountered our only icky spot in the entire trip. We were told to eat at the Randall House for breakfast...the food was not that good made worse by the world's slowest service. When we asked about our order (after waiting 45 minutes for pancakes and eggs), we were treated to rudeness. (I got to hear the waitress rant about our rudeness while I waited in line for the restroom.) We won't be back there. We headed up to Strawberry and the Goat Creamery. Directions to this place include the phrase "turn off the paved road", but the fudge and strawberry/jalapeno jelly is worth the dust on the car.
It was a great weekend...my only problem is now I need a vacation to recover from my vacation.
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