Classics of the Century

We’re On our way to Rim Country – Payson, Arizona 

The mountain scenery on this one and one-half hour drive is incredible.  It’s been at least ten years since we traveled State Road 87 north to Payson. During the 1930's, Payson was very isolated. The trip from Phoenix to Payson would take eight to twelve hours. Throughout the 1950's, work on a paved road progressed and paving was completed in 1958. State Route 87 has since been expanded to a four-lane, divided highway and is known as the "Beeline Highway". It has spectacular views and mountain grades.

Saguaro (sa-waar-o) cactus dots much of the landscape in areas where the climate and elevation support its survival. Hugh rock formations with high cliffs are prevalent on the left side as the road twists and turns down steep grades with only guardrails on the right separating the sharp dropoffs to green valleys below. I do not recall seeing any scenic overlooks or pull-offs, but the scenery from the road is fantastic.

Then the road cuts through the mountains, and the rocky areas line both sides of the road for a ways, giving way to mountain grades that open up again to the valley below and the mountains far into the distant. The mountain scenery with landscape among the rocks, high cliffs, and sharp drop offs to the valley below was even more spectacular than I remember. One of the mountain grades was posted at 11 percent, and several others were six percent on this very scenic four-lane.

A Little About Payson

It was known as Green Valley when founded in 1882. The town's name was changed to Payson after Illinois Representative Lewis Edwin Payson helped establish a post office March 3, 1884. The town is surrounded by Tonto National Forest, and has many year-round outdoor activities. It claims to have the world's oldest continuous rodeo. Its first one was held in 1884 and has been held every year since. Read more about the history of Payson at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Payson,_Arizona.

Garth Brooks was here

Sunday after church, we gathered at Macky’s Grill with friends of RV friends that we have known for thirty years.  As we were about to leave, I saw a couple pictures of and autographed by Garth Brooks, who had eaten there.

Hand and Foot, 313 and ...

While in Payson, we had a wonderful visit with friends and had fun playing games in the evening. We have not played Hand and Foot in ages, plus we learned a new card game called 313. One evening we all went to Mike’s Fish & Chips.  It was very good, quite similar to a place called Arthur Treacher’s where I used to go for noon lunch with the girls when I was working.

Our friends, with whom we spent time sightseeing in Kingman, were south of Payson at Jake’s Corners, an RV park about twenty miles down the mountain from Payson, and made famous by a movie of that same name.  April 30th, the day of the Rim Country Classic Auto Club’s (RCCAC) Beeline Cruise-In, they picked us up. We headed over to Jack-in-the-Box for a fast bite to eat and then over to Green Valley Park where up to 300 pre-1990 cars were on display.

Rim Country Classic Auto Club’s 23rd “Beeline Cruise-In”

Green Valley Park has an oval paved walkway that is wide enough to drive on. Cars were parked in the grass nearly all the way around on both the inside and the outside of the circle. Other cars were parked along the street in nearby areas where the street had been blocked off to regular traffic.

Just before we arrived, a light shower rained on the classics, and some of the people were wiping raindrops from their treasures. However, fortunate for us, the rain let up and it turned out to be a great day for walking around and enjoying all of the beautiful cars. As to how many were on display, it was hard to count. By 2:30, possibly due to the weather, empty spaces were created by some who were leaving.

Other than my being partial to red, it was hard to pick a favorite. Here are a few of the cars that are also in the video that follows.

1932 Ford

My grandpa had a 1937 Ford. This is a 1940 Ford Deluxe.

Model A Ford

1946 Ford

I'm not really partial to Fords, but I do love red.  In fact, the first new car I bought was a 1968 red Rebel two-door hard top that I had for approximately 6 years.

Check out this YouTube video to see all of the cars I photographed at the Beeline Cruise-in Car Show. There is a variety of makes and models, including Chevrolet, Cadillac, Ford and more. How many can you recognize?



Green Valley Park Memorial Wall

Green Valley Park has a beautiful memorial to veterans of all wars. In memory of my dad who was in WWII, here is a close-up of the plaque for WWII veterans. The other plaques are similar.

John has a photo of the entire memorial to veterans of all wars on his blog.  We took off in two different directions, so our photos are not all the same.  If you would like to read and see more photos of the car show, check out his blog at http://incargonito.blogspot.com/2016/05/the-beeline-cruise-in-car-show-payson-az.html

Learn more about the Rim Country Classic Auto Club at their website: http://club-hemmings.com/RCCAC

Our visit to Tonto National Forest will be ready soon. We had another beautiful day with our friends exploring off-road for crystals and geodes and sharing more of our experiences. If you would like to be notified when it is posted, click on the link at the top of my web page to add your email. Make sure you go to your email and confirm that you want to subscribe.  We respect your privacy and do nothing with your email.

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