About Gila County, AZ

I've lived in the Payson, AZ, area for several years now. Love the hiking and outdoor activities here. Being surrounded with 3.9 million acres of National Forest you had better like it.

But I missed the blackberry picking that I used to do on our "back 40" in Northwest Florida where I grew up.

Well, I finally hooked up with some ladies in our area who knew where the berries are. So last Saturday we went out, early I might add, and found the best patch of raspberries I have ever seen. Since I was a rookie at picking raspberries the gave me a rash about the big gallon bucket I brought along to pick in. Looked about the right size to me, cause I knew I was a berry picking fool! Secretly, I snickered at their tiny little buckets and boxes. Some of them were even home-made! What amateurs.

We arrived at the "patch" about 8:00 a.m. and picked for about 2 hours. During that time I managed to fall into the brier patch only once. It was the careless placement on my left foot that caused the accident. It didn't hurt as bad as I imagined it would as I did a sad dance of weaving and bobbing over my waterloo, trying all the while to catch my balance.

And I DID NOT scream as I rode the thorny bushes three feet down to the ground! I could see that getting up was not going to be easy as my head was pointing downhill and my feet were uphill. After checking for broken bones I realized I was structurally sound and that no one else had seen me fall. Only the tale-tale streams of blood dripping down my arms revealed my secret. Really, it didn't hurt bad until about 12 hours later. By that time I had picked out dozens of thorns. They are designed like a fish hook and just tear flesh as you try to pry them out. Ouch!

But I don't care. I got to make 7 pints of the best raspberry jam you ever tasted! And all my friends gave me much sympathy for my wounds. All in all, I picked the most and I think I enjoyed it the best.

One word to the wise, when you pick raspberries on the Mogollon Rim watch out for stones that can turn under your feet, and take a big bucket!

Sandra Scott

Four Seasons Realty, LLC

Payson, AZ 85541

928-978-9047

email: MyRealtorSandra@hotmail.com

http://www.paysonhomesmls.com

I was just Standing On The Corner in Winslow, AZ, last Sunday morning looking around for something exciting to happen, when BAMM! There it was.

A motorized stagecoach driving down the street. Manned by four wild looking characters. Now, pardner, I'm not saying I didn't believe my eyes, but I did blink a few times before running down the street after them yelling," Stop!" I didn't care how silly I looked. I just had to get a picture! Sure enough, they pulled over and let me have a little fun.

After giggling like a little girl, and clicking from every angle possible, they invited me home to look at what else they had in the garage.

What an adventure! I spent the next hour almost speechless. Could not believe my eyes as I saw a baby grand piano that you could play as you drove down the street. Then there was torpedo car like Jay Leno's, fire engines, a shopping cart as tall as a house, and a blue pickup with tank tracks attached. And even the Hannibal 8 that Jack Lemmon drove in the movie The Great Race (1965). And, yes, there is a cannon on the front that you can really pull down. I couldn't wait to get into the Flintstone car and snap that picture.

Meet the creator of it all, Rodney Rucker. He builds everyting from scratch and commented that the shopping cart was a real challlenge. I'm not sure which bank he robbed to be able to efford all these toys, but I did notice how smart he was to build his wife a big beautiful home on the property. Guys, take notice. Take care of the little lady first and then she will let you really play!

Rodney has the skeleton up for his car museum across the road. Should be finished soon. So if you ever get to Winslow, drop by and see it. It'll make you laugh. You can contact Rodney at ProDirtConst@msn.com if you need one of these dream machines!

Thanks, Rodney, for the great morning I spent in your world.....

Sandra Scott, REALTOR

Four Seasons Realty

Payson, AZ 85541

928-978-9047

http://www.paysonhomesmls.com

OK, SO I'm exaggerating. But it does totally amaze me how many people seem to find Payson, Arizona, and are interested in buying homes here. Payson is a very small town. When we moved here 15 yrs ago the population was 8,000+. The last I heard we are now near 16,000. When I am down in the Phoenix area, and I mention I'm from Payson, the universal answer seems to be "Oh, really? Where is that?". And yet we have/have had rental Owners from literally all over the US; Massachusetts, New York, Michigan, Kansas, Alaska, Nevada, Montana, Utah, California, as well as from AZ: Tucson, Phoenix, Tempe, Yuma. Some of these Owners are looking to retire in Payson "down the road", some used to live here, some are purely investors. Some are drawn to Payson because they have relatives in the Phoenix area, some just like the closeness to the metro area while still being cooler weather/lighter traffic, and some I have no idea how they found Payson! Our tenants come from all over, also. We routinely get calls and emails from other states, people looking at our web site at rentals because they are moving here. Now I understand that we are a nation of rolling stones, people like to try new places. But when so many people in our own state don't know where Payson is, I can't quite understand how all these other people are finding it.

Not that I'm complaining. Payson has almost doubled in population since we moved here, but it is still a small town. People are friendly, we run into people to talk to all over town, and we can still get from one end of the town to the other in 5 to 10 minutes. And with the increase in population has come more businesses and improvements. We now have a Home Depot, A Chili's, a Starbucks (in Safeway), several non-chain restaurants which are very good, Walmart has gone "Supercenter", we have a multi-screen theatre, a larger public library, an off-leash dog park, a pretty good electric light parade, two shops showcasing local fine art, a coffee house with occasional live music. None of that was here when we moved here.

So I'm glad that people are finding Payson. How ever they're finding us, a small town seems to be very attractive to many buyers. We've seen many people over the years move here from larger cities, they seem to just slow down/calm down and adjust to the atmosphere. Payson is surrounded by National Forest, so we can't grow out on the edges the way the Phoenix area has been doing, so we can't get too big. May we stay a friendly, small town!

Hi from Payson, AZ. By no means everyone in Arizona knows where Payson is (I know this by the blank looks I get when I mention it to someone in Phoenix). We're about an hour and a half drive north of the Phoenix area, and about 5,000 ft. UP. Long-time residents have their own vocabulary.

These are a few of my favorite Payson-isms:

Seasonal creeks- The first time I went to see a house that listed a seasonal creek on the property I couldn't figure out what they meant, until someone pointed out a dry ditch meandering across the backyard. Then I nearly died laughing. But I HAVE learned a little respect for these. I've seen them fill up fast when it rains hard in the Monsoon. They come in variable sizes, from ditch to dry wash.

Pigs- This is what a lot of locals call javelinas. Which really confuses the issue, considering that they aren't pigs at all, they are actually large rodents. They look rather like the Arkansas Razorback pictures (my Dad graduated from there- go Hogs!), they come out more at twilight and night so they blend in. Often you can SMELL them before you see them, as they have scent glands in their feet and stink something awful. Newcomers are warned to watch for them- they don't see well and tend to fight rather than flee when startled. They also LOVE to eat your newly-planted flowers.

Mazatzal Mountains- The odd thing about them is the pronunciation. Instead of the way it is spelled, locals pronounce it Ma-ta-sell, or as a commercial for the local Indian Casino (Mazatzal Casino) put it a few years ago: Mad as Hell, (now you got it). These are a very nice view to the south of Payson. A rain or snow storm across the Mazatzals, with the sun shining across them, is a sight to see.

The Rim- this is the Mogollan Rim, actually the edge of the Colorado Plateau. It's an impressive sight, especially in Monsoon, with thunderheads building up over it. All of the surrounding areas are called "Rim Country". Mogollan is a Spanish name, so the ll is pronounced like a y. It is also sometimes calle the Tonto Rim, for the Tonto Apaches, I understand,

Mesa del- This is short for Mesa del Caballo (Horse Mesa). Its a subdivision a couple of miles from Payson out Houston Mesa Road, and is one of the few places where one could have their own caballo in their backyard (one per lot).

the River- this means the East Verde river, which winds around north of Payson. locals talk about the "first crossing", "second crossing". this refers to places where the control road ( a dirt road connecting Hwy 87 with Hwy 260) crosses the E. Verde.

More another time.

Payson has a great fireworks show. They shoot them out over Green Valley Lake, the park around fills with people. We usually love it. But this year it drizzled rain and we didn't feel like sitting in it for hours to get a spot.
We took our Jeep Wrangler on a dirt road toward the edge of a hill overlooking the town (off Airport Rd. if you know Payson) and sat in comfort as we waited for the fireworks. Below is a photo of the town that evening.
Much of the hillside along Airport Rd. is going to houses soon, but parts are still "wild". We expected to see some wildlife, but a truck full of kids came and the noise chased any animals away.