We needed a place to spend New Year’s in and our choices were limited, so Roper Lake here we come!
Even though it is a small park, located just a few miles from the town of Safford, the park has some very nice features.
The lake has a swim beach, but it is more mud that sand right now.
For those without RV’s the park has cabins that can be rented.
Best of all, there is a large fenced dog run. The kids got to stretch their legs at least once a day!
The campsites have “Ramada’s” (which we discovered means a sheltered area) and great views of the nearby mountains.
It rained almost everyday we were here. Unusual weather according to locals, but at least we don’t have snow, tornadoes or floods!
We still managed to get out for a few hikes despite the weather. The trails from the campground are short, but have spectacular views.
A short (3m) drive took us to Dankworth Pond State Park. This day-use only park had a small man made pond and a trail leading to some Mogollon ruins. The Mogollon people inhabited Arizona and New Mexico around 200-1500 ce.
Dankwork Pond State Park also had an impressive collection of Teddybear Cholla (a cactus).
Our Suburban decided to let us know that it wanted a vacation, apparently it decided that pulling Rosita for xxx miles warranted some time off. Turning the key in the ignition resulted in… silence. Checking the battery, we discovered a voltage of 5.5v, somewhat less that the optimum 12.5v.
This happened on New Year’s Eve (Saturday), so little chance of getting it fixed today, and Monday was a holiday here in the US. Fortunately for us we met a couple from Iowa who were staying in the park and they gave us a boost. Roger and Opal are ex-hog farmers who now grow corn and soybeans (Roger is 72 and decided that hogs were getting to be too much work).
Roger also lent us a battery charger (farmers really are self-sufficient!) so that we could try recharging the battery overnight on Saturday, as we discovered that the local Walmart had an auto service station that was open on Sunday (Walmart to the rescue once again).
Got a new battery installed on Sunday and tested the battery back at the campsite, 12.53v – yeah!
Checked the battery the next morning, 11.99v (crap). Alternator and battery are good, so that means a drain somewhere in the electrical system (serious pita to determine where the leak is). The local Chevrolet dealership/service centre is busy until the following week and we won’t be here, so bought a jumper cable just in case we get stuck somewhere. More on our unhappy Suburban in the next post).
Trip Summary:
Depart from: Kartchner Caverns State Park, AZ
Depart time: 12:45 pm (Dec 27)
Odometer: 130001 miles
Arrive time: 2:30 pm Roper Lake State Park, AZ
Odometer: 130117 miles
Gas Summary (fill-ups):
Jan 1/2023 Stafford
18.5g @ $3.59/g ($66.46)