Roper Lake State Park

Yesterday we finally said goodbye to Windy Hill at Roosevelt Lake

and headed 2 1/2 hours down the road to Safford, Az and

Roper Lake State Park.

Waking up yesterday (Saturday) we were greeted by the remains

of the winter storm that had been pounding the area for the last 24 hrs.

The rising sun peeked thru the holes in the clouds creating an

interesting colorscape of lights and darks on the red hills across the lake.

Meanwhile the nearby mountains above about 3,500' sported a fresh dusting of snow

that increased in depth as you went higher in altitude.

After departing we first had to drive north to the National Forest Dump Station

to empty the holding tanks.   We then turned around and headed southeast

for 2 1/2 hrs to Roper Lake.

It was mostly a cloudy windy drive and upon our arrival we went out for an early

Mexican Dinner in Safford (Casa Manana - was Excellent).  After dinner

it was back to the shack where we chilled with the fireplace on

and watched Windtalkers on DVD followed by Saturday Night Live.

This morning dawned clear and cooler and we took the doods for 

a walk and snapped a few pictures of the campground.

This is a small State Park and the lake is very small but it's

quiet and was on the way to our next port of call in New Mexico.

Behind our camper is the view of Mt Graham (10,720')

Mt. Graham supports 5 Botanical Life zones as well as several

observatories at its summit due to the clear and dark skies.

A Closer shot of its southern flank.

Meanwhile we discovered a flock of Yellow Headed Blackbirds.

Turns out that they live in marshes West of the Great Lakes and

migrate to the southwest in winter

Speaking of migrating...

We've begun the homeward migration of the Great Eastern Snowbird.

Tomorrow we drive about 3 hours East back to Rockhound State

park in Deming, NM where we will spend 3 nights and try to do some

serious rock collecting for my new rock tumbler.

After Rockhound well be making a 700 or so mile migration east across

Texas with some interesting places along the way.

But that's for another day.

See you at Rockhound.