Roper Lake


Well, John is working on some research things so it may be a little while before I get him back to the blog. We are going to add an exhaust brake to the truck, so far I think it is the Banks system he is going to go with. We’d like to get it done when we are in the Phoenix area. Pulling this trailer he’d just like to be safer on the mountain passes.
Gamble or California Quail
We are really enjoying Roper Lake. Not many people here but the ones that are here are very friendly. A couple from the Albuquerque and another from Colorado. It looks like there should be more people coming in today as most of the reserve sites have tags on them. We look right out on the lake and the rushes. This park was one of the ones set to close due to budget cuts here in Arizona but the local communities saved it. The cattails have really grown up here and you can’t see as much of the lake as previously but there isn’t money in the budget to control their growth (or so we were told). However, the birds love it.
There are some birds here we hadn’t encountered before, not that they are all that rare, they just don’t populate the area around where we have camped before. The first night the Gamble or California Quail was hanging around our site. The feather on the front of their head is cool. The lake is filled with American Coots. The rushes are filled with a bird it took awhile for us to identify but looks to be the Yellow Headed Blackbird (Judy, maybe you could confirm that for me). There are huge flocks of them hanging out in the cattails and they are very loud. It is hard to get very close for a photo but with the long lens and the cropping tool I finally was able to get a close enough look for identification. There was an owl hooting last night when I went to bed that I think is a Great Horned Owl. Laurie, one of the neighbor told us you can see it in the trees over in the day use area. I’ll have to check that out and see if I can get a photos.
American Coot
We have been relatively lazy lately, which has been nice. We did get the bikes down and rode through the park and today we are going to hike a couple trails. They aren’t very long so it shouldn’t be too stressful. We hope you all enjoy your day.
Yellow Headed Blackbirds?
Happy trails...........

From Day use area. Our Excel is the one on the left.

Comments

  1. Travels with EmmaOctober 29, 2010 at 3:12 PM

    Yep, those are definitley yellow-headed blackbirds! I love watching a covy of Gambel's quails, also. Nice shot of your rig with the mountains in back! :)

    ReplyDelete
  2. Lee and LoralieOctober 29, 2010 at 7:32 PM

    Hi John and Janie..
    We also have an Excel (30RSO) with a Ram 3500 Dually. We recently installed an exhaust brake system...the Pac system. Lee really likes it so far.
    thanks for the review on the Carlsbad Campground - we plan on being in the area the first of Dec and will check it out.
    Loralie (www.wearereadytoroll.blogspot.com)

    ReplyDelete
  3. RV Khronicles of KevelynOctober 31, 2010 at 12:57 PM

    I'm so glad my blog about Zion was helpful to you. From what I could find out, Zion seems to be warmer than most of the rest of Utah in the winter because it's elevation is lower. What campground are you staying at in Virgin. We drove through there on our way to Zion and there were some very nice RV parks along the way.

    The pictures I saw of Bryce in winter were beautiful. If there's not too much snow, maybe you can get up there as well. I look forward to hearing about your December adventures in Utah. What a great state!

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Time for me to learn to drive this rig.

Image
Trail at Squaw Creek park Yesterday we moved back to Morgan Creek park (about a 15 mile drive) and I drove the rig! We have always said that I needed to start doing this but I never seem to do it. The first year I think John just felt he needed to get proficient at all the driving & parking things before he had me do it and then we just got lazy. It was just easier for him to do it. Recently friends of our that we met in Tucson, John and Terri had a very harrowing experience that reminded us why we both need to be able to drive this rig. John they think had a seizure while driving, luckily not towing but still it is amazing that they survived it. What this meant is that now Terri had to do the driving back to their former home town Sacramento and like me she had not done much driving. She did great and they are now coming off the road and starting a new phase of life. All of John's test look good so far and we wish him the best and hope that it was just a one time isolated...
Read more

Three plus years of full timing....what have we learned

Image
Zion National Park,  Utah, December 2010 Harris Hawk at Sonoran Desert Museum, Tuscon Feb. 2011 When we left Cedar Rapids it began our 4th year of living and traveling in our RV. The last three years have flown by and we are still not ready to go back to a sticks and bricks life. We have traveled a lot of the western US but even with time out there all three years there are so many places we have yet to discover. This year will be our first going south and east, all new places for me and many new ones for John. I think one of the things that I learn every time we find somewhere new is how beautiful this country is. If you slow down and take the time you will find amazing things everywhere. I think the thing I appreciate the most about this lifestyle is that freedom to take it slow. BLM land near Quartzite, AZ in January 2011 Putah Creek, Winters CA in Jan.2013 Crater Lake, Oregon, fall 2012 Diamond Lake, Oregon, fall 2012 When we first took off we w...
Read more

The Urban Life

Image
The view from our balcony I have been thinking about this post for awhile. When we are not traveling I find it hard to sit down and write but I have wanted to tell you about our new digs and what living downtown has been like for us. Another balcony view We moved into a one bedroom apartment on the west side of the river in the downtown Cedar Rapids area. This is a brand new building that actually they are still working on. The first floor is businesses, floors 2 and 3 are apartments and floors 4, 5, & 6 are condos. We love the building. Every apartment and condo has a balcony that looks out over the river and the McGrath Amphitheatre. Our little apartment in this building is 767 sq. which, after living in our 5th Wheel for 7 years, seems huge. We feel these apartments were well thought out. The kitchen is wonderful. It has a large island (all  solid countertops - quartz I think) with a large sink and plenty of seating room . We started by buying 3 barstools but f...
Read more