Back from Rope Lake SP

[AZsix]

Returned from our trip to Roper Lake SP in Safford, AZ. I will write a cg review and post it in the "West" section.

We left Wed. afternoon and arrived around 5:45 Everyone helped with set up and it went without problem. Our spot was about 60 yards or so from the lake and about 150 yards from the swimming section of the lake. Weather had been in the 80's during the day and cooling into the low 50's at night. After dinner we went to the hot tub which is fed by a natural hot spring with a constant temperature of 97 degrees. It was pitch dark with millions of stars and all I wanted to do was relax and soak it all in. My four young kids don't know how to relax and wanted to treat it as a pool. We decided to have a contest to see who could stay quiet the longest with the loser having to get out. It was the most relaxing three minutes of pure bliss I have experienced in quite a while!

We spent the next two days fishing in the morning (didn't catch anything) and letting the kids swim in the afternoon. The first morning while fishing I had on my Celtics championship shirt from last year. A guy walked over to me and asked. "So is that where you are from?". I answered that it was and he said, "Well I don't suppose you've ever heard of Norwood have you?" He was shocked when I told him that it is where I grew up. We both graduated from the same high school though he was 11 years ahead of me. We had quite a talk about our old town. He and his wife live in Sedona, AZ now.

From the website we knew that the park had a great horned owl and talking to a host let us know where the nest was. It turns out that they have a pair (m/f) and we were lucky enough to spot the male. What a beautiful bird! It was one of the highlights of the trip for me.

The last night, my 9 yr old boy was sitting at the fire with me and we heard a raccoon in the bushes not far from us. After he went to bed I heard more raccoon sounds behind me. I looked and about 10 yards away I saw a raccoon come down out of a tree and walk toward the bushes. I continued to hear sounds from the same place and soon three more raccoons came down from the same tree and made their way to the bushes. The coyotes got a little vocal during the nights on occasions. The host told us that there is also a bobcat that wanders the park but has never bothered anyone.

Saturday we packed up to go to Apple Annie's in Willcox, AZ for our annual apple picking trip. Imagine our disappointment when upon arrival we saw a sign saying that due to an April frost they had lost 80% of the crop and there was nothing to pick. They did have apples and pears that you could buy. They had a u-pick vegetable and pumpkin farm 6 miles away and we drove there, picked some vegetables and picked our own pumpkin off the vine which was a first for the kids so it wasn't a total loss.

A highlight for me was the two nights that my 9 yr old son stayed up later than the others and sat out with me. He asked me some very serious questions (which took me by surprise) and we had some great talks. Those two nights were worth the entire trip in my mind.

All in all it was a great trip, great weather, great scenery and great company. I have yet to have a bad one. Now that the weather is getting cooler we can start making trips closer to home. I still have two trips to make where it's just me and one of the kids and I am looking forward to those.

Oh ya, there was one snafu. I had picked up a package of jiffy pop. We have had it before over the inside stove and it was fine. Well this time I figured I'd cook it over the campfire.  :yikes: I don't know if it was the package, the inconsistent flames because of the wind or what but after what seemed like an eternity it finally started popping but then stopped. I didn't even pop half way before I could smell it start to burn. We ate what we could. My kids had a good time ribbing me about it the rest of the trip.

For pictures from this trip go here: http://picasaweb.google.com/sixinaz/RoperLakeTrip#

[markwi]

Returned from our trip to Roper Lake SP in Safford, AZ. I will write a cg review and post it in the "West" section.

We left Wed. afternoon and arrived around 5:45 Everyone helped with set up and it went without problem. Our spot was about 60 yards or so from the lake and about 150 yards from the swimming section of the lake. Weather had been in the 80's during the day and cooling into the low 50's at night. After dinner we went to the hot tub which is fed by a natural hot spring with a constant temperature of 97 degrees. It was pitch dark with millions of stars and all I wanted to do was relax and soak it all in. My four young kids don't know how to relax and wanted to treat it as a pool. We decided to have a contest to see who could stay quiet the longest with the loser having to get out. It was the most relaxing three minutes of pure bliss I have experienced in quite a while!

We spent the next two days fishing in the morning (didn't catch anything) and letting the kids swim in the afternoon. The first morning while fishing I had on my Celtics championship shirt from last year. A guy walked over to me and asked. "So is that where you are from?". I answered that it was and he said, "Well I don't suppose you've ever heard of Norwood have you?" He was shocked when I told him that it is where I grew up. We both graduated from the same high school though he was 11 years ahead of me. We had quite a talk about our old town. He and his wife live in Sedona, AZ now.

From the website we knew that the park had a great horned owl and talking to a host let us know where the nest was. It turns out that they have a pair (m/f) and we were lucky enough to spot the male. What a beautiful bird! It was one of the highlights of the trip for me.

The last night, my 9 yr old boy was sitting at the fire with me and we heard a raccoon in the bushes not far from us. After he went to bed I heard more raccoon sounds behind me. I looked and about 10 yards away I saw a raccoon come down out of a tree and walk toward the bushes. I continued to hear sounds from the same place and soon three more raccoons came down from the same tree and made their way to the bushes. The coyotes got a little vocal during the nights on occasions. The host told us that there is also a bobcat that wanders the park but has never bothered anyone.

Saturday we packed up to go to Apple Annie's in Willcox, AZ for our annual apple picking trip. Imagine our disappointment when upon arrival we saw a sign saying that due to an April frost they had lost 80% of the crop and there was nothing to pick. They did have apples and pears that you could buy. They had a u-pick vegetable and pumpkin farm 6 miles away and we drove there, picked some vegetables and picked our own pumpkin off the vine which was a first for the kids so it wasn't a total loss.

A highlight for me was the two nights that my 9 yr old son stayed up later than the others and sat out with me. He asked me some very serious questions (which took me by surprise) and we had some great talks. Those two nights were worth the entire trip in my mind.

All in all it was a great trip, great weather, great scenery and great company. I have yet to have a bad one. Now that the weather is getting cooler we can start making trips closer to home. I still have two trips to make where it's just me and one of the kids and I am looking forward to those.

Oh ya, there was one snafu. I had picked up a package of jiffy pop. We have had it before over the inside stove and it was fine. Well this time I figured I'd cook it over the campfire.  :yikes: I don't know if it was the package, the inconsistent flames because of the wind or what but after what seemed like an eternity it finally started popping but then stopped. I didn't even pop half way before I could smell it start to burn. We ate what we could. My kids had a good time ribbing me about it the rest of the trip.

For pictures from this trip go here: http://picasaweb.google.com/sixinaz/RoperLakeTrip#

Glad you had a good time, It sounds as if you all did. Mark

[Hargus]

Weather had been in the 80's during the day and cooling into the low 50's at night.  

It was pitch dark with millions of stars and all I wanted to do was relax and soak it all in. We decided to have a contest to see who could stay quiet the longest with the loser having to get out. It was the most relaxing three minutes of pure bliss I have experienced in quite a while!

A highlight for me was the two nights that my 9 yr old son stayed up later than the others and sat out with me. He asked me some very serious questions (which took me by surprise) and we had some great talks. Those two nights were worth the entire trip in my mind.

It's was about 35 degrees here back East last night. Sounds like a great trip with those stars and your son.