Starting Our Slow Drive Home: Northeast to Payson, Arizona

Eric and I are taking a leisurely drive across the United States to Upstate New York.   Today's drive takes us northeast to Payson, Arizona.

Starting our drive on
Interstate 8 East...

Looking across a valley

with farm fields

A is for Aztec, Arizona.

We stop at a Rest Area

to switch drivers.

Eric takes a pic of me

driving.

We will leave Interstate 8 for

Arizona State Route 85.

Eric & I reminisce about our

visit to Organ Pipe Cactus

National Monument.

I follow signs to Interstate

10 East.

Traffic through Phoenix is light.

Electric signs urge

Social Distancing.

I take the left exit, in the
HOV Lane, to Arizona 
State Route 202 East.

Construction continues during

the Pandemic.

I pull onto the road shoulder and Eric takes over the driving.

Exit 13 takes us to Arizona
State Route 87.

We enter the Salt River Pima
 Maricopa Indian Community.

This mountain, & others, 

"go green" in the Spring.

We will watch out for horses.

Payson is 65 miles away.

Tonto National Forest

It's fun to take photos of

the changing landscape.

Saguaros are abundant in this
region of Arizona.

Eric reads the sign & downshifts.

He's got this.  On our drive north through British Columbia, Eric negotiated a 13% Grade with a corkscrew turn.

The Runaway Truck Ramp is
blocked by orange construction
cones.

This is the first time we've
seen this on this type of ramp.

The road ahead hugs the side

of the mountains.

Fire Danger is moderate.

Roadside maintenance work

We stop for diesel at the
Speedway in Payson.

Eric cleans some bug splatter

off the windshield.

We are using grocery bags to

pump fuel too.

Settled in at the Payson Walmart...

We used OvernightRVParking.com
to find this free overnight spot.






For now, we soak up the sun...  It's going down into the 30s tonight.  BRRRR!!!!!