Start of the NP tour (31st of July to 1st of August 2013)

A very old cactus

We started our tour on Wednesday in the late morning direction Payson, AZ. It was an 8 hour drive, but time passed fast and the landscape was not boring like we tought it would be. We drove across some green spots, some mountainous spots, flat areas, desert areas with sand dunes....once crossed the Arizona border the landscape changed and we could see a lot of cactus, the typical Arizona cactus we usually see in cartoons, the 3-armed one. We stopped different times, but only for fuel, wc or food. It was too hot to stay outside, we reached a max of 46°C. 

Travertine bridge

We arrived in Payson at about 8.30 pm. Our host family had waited for us to cook dinner, so we ate fish scallops with pasta, caprese salad and home made bread, very goodThe following morning Davin made us breakfast (croissant sandwich with egg and bacon) and then he took us to the Tonto Natural Bridge State Park. We had a very nice hike and saw the worlds largest travertine bridge. In the afternoon Davin drove us to a big cactus because we wanted to take a picture in front of one.  We didn't know that you can eat cactus and that you can buy it in grocery stores (only in Arizona I guess). We stopped at the grocery and looked for cactus. We didn't find the fresh one, so we bought the pickled one. They are not bad, but we probably tasted mostly the spices and vinegar than the actual cactus taste, which is very mild. In the evening Devin cook dinner again, this time grilled salmon with olives, salad andhome made bread. 

A S'more

While chatting of our respective travel adventures we came up talking about S' mores (grilled marshmallows and a piece of chocolate squeezed into 2 graham crackers) and that I (Romina) wanted to try some. So Devin took out all the needed ingredients and we made S' mores. We grilled the marshmallows not over fire as traditionally but over the kitchen stove. Very funny American treats to prepare!! :)
Before going to bed we played pool, Lorenzo and I against Devin and his son. We won :)

Under the travertine bridge

It was a really nice stay with Devin and his family, they made the beginning of our trip memorable. The next morning we took off for the Petrified Forest NP.