To Tucson and Catalina State Park then Roper SP

April – 7

We left Patagonia Lake State Park and went just north of Tucson to Catalina State Park. We made reservations because, as it was nearing the weekend, it was selling out fast.  When we got there, both campgrounds were full, but it didn’t feel like it as the campground was laid out very well with lots of space between each camp site.  Here is a picture from our camp site; that is the Catalina mountain range.

There were a number of prairie dogs (rodents) in the campground that were quite entertaining.  It was obvious people feed them all the time because they were not shy about coming up, begging for food, and willing to take it out of your hand.

We rode our bikes and took a few short hikes here at Catalina SP.  There were several cacti flowering and the blooms were really pretty.  The good news is it did not irritate our allergies.

Other native flowers were also blooming which added color to the desert environment.

 

Have you hugged your Fishhook barrel cactus today?  If you look real close at the long, light pinkish colored spines, you will see why they call it a ‘fishhook’ barrel cactus.  Most of the ones we saw were between about the diameter of a basketball and a beach ball and about two feet tall.  However, we did see one that was about my height.

We stayed at Catalina SP until Tuesday, April 12^th, then drove on out to Roper Lake SP where we stayed for three nights.

Our observation has not changed with regards to the number of men who travel and camp alone; we have seen that everywhere we have been.

One thing we do find interesting is the number of people who check into the campgrounds and never come out of their rv’s whether that is a travel trailer, 5^th wheel, or motor home.  That just seems odd to me.

We are now at Roper Lake SP, and this one could be the favorite of all.  It is a bit out of the way when compared to the others but that reduces the number of people as well.  The lake is small but very nice.  Here is a picture from our campsite; the blue patch in the middle of the picture is Roper Lake.

In the background, you can see Mt. Graham which stands about 10,000 feet.  The day we arrived, so did snow on the top of Mt. Graham, but the temps were great down where we were camping.

It even had a natural hot spring that was nicely maintained and rarely used by guests of the campground.

When you see something like this, you just want to say out loud "We're not in Kansas anymore Dorothy."

A couple of interesting stories:

• One time when we stopped for gas, I swiped my card at the pump.  The prompt on the screen said “Please see cashier”.  So, I went in, and told the cashier and she said, “yes, that pump will do that sometimes.  You can either tell me how much you want, or if you want to fill up, you can leave your card here and come back in when you are done pumping.”  I told her I would leave my card there because I wanted to fill up.  After filling up, I went back in; she swiped my card and told me it was declined.  I was quite surprised by this as the card has a high credit limit on it.  She asked if I had another card I would like try, so I tried another card from the same bank.  It too, was declined.  At this point, I am getting a little edgy, so she called the manager over.  He asked if we were traveling through from a good distance away and I confirmed that we were.  He told me he sees this all the time and to call the customer service number on the back of the card to let them know we are traveling.  I agreed, went back out to the rv to call, and by that time Bank of America called me to confirm it was me and not fraudulent use of my card.  With all of the straightened out, I went back in and finished my transaction.  Of course, while all of this was going on, there were a number of other customers witnessing what was going on.  So, I go back out to the rv only to have my faith restored in fellow man; a guy with very trusting eyes pulled up and said to me, “aren’t you the guy that just had trouble with your credit card?”  I confirmed I was and he said “well, if you need gas I can help you out.”  I thanked him and told him I got it straightened out.  I was blown away by his generosity!

• When we arrived at Roper Lake SP, we got everything set up and were just relaxing at the campsite.  It was time to light the charcoal to grill dinner so I proceeded by putting the charcoal in the metal fire starting chimney then crumpled up some newspaper on which to set the chimney.  I set this on the grate of the campsite fire ring and lit the newspaper which in turn lights the charcoal without the use of lighter fluid.  Well, when the newspaper first starts burning, it smokes a little before the charcoal starts burning.  I am watching this closely when I heard someone about 50 yards away hollering to someone to “put your fire out, you’re stinking up my rig.”  I didn’t think much about it, but I did look up to see to whom he was hollering.  It was ME!  He was standing there staring at me and was disgusted that the wind swirled around and was blowing smoke his direction.  I looked away totally ignoring him but decided if he came up to me I would apologize for the direction of the wind which, was out of my control, but he could contact the ranger if he wanted some intervention.  Nothing happened, but it’s like I told Bonnie, “if you don’t want to get splashed, don’t sit around a swimming pool. If you don’t want smoke permeating the air around you, stay away from a campground.”  He left the next morning. That was a first time experience for us!