Everything's Coming Up Roses! Part 1

When I meet new people and mention we've made a home in Phoenix for the last two decades (excluding that three-year sabbatical to Southern California), the first thing they often ask is how we can live in a place so hot.  Those of us who reside in the Grand Canyon State know that it's not just a giant desert - Arizona stretches up to 12,600 feet high at the top of Mt Humphreys, it has the largest ponderosa pine forest in the world, and it snows enough every winter that there's a ski resort just north of Flagstaff.  However, the first impression folks get isn't wrong, either.  It does get hot here, really hot, for months and months at a time, and sometimes, you just need to escape.

Making our way up Mt Lemmon

Some Arizonans head north, to Prescott and Flagstaff (for reals, the southbound Sunday afternoon traffic on the 17 coming back into Phoenix is a sight to behold); some prefer to head west or south, toward the beaches of San Diego or Mexico.  On one particular weekend in June, Chris and I packed up Arlene and scurried a few hours east on the 10, climbing up to the Rose Canyon Lake Campground high on Mt Lemmon, located just northeast of Tucson.

Chris often takes a solo run out to Mesa

to pick up Arlene, but on this trip,

he took Zoe as his co-pilot.

A good time was had by all.

August and I stayed home and enjoyed

Tom and Lorenzo's virtual book tour Zoom session.

I was slightly more engaged than she was.

I'd read about Rose Canyon Lake sometime in the late winter, and it sounded like a great break from the oppressive heat that would be upon us before too long.  I hopped on the recreation.gov site and booked up a space for a few nights in June, figuring by the time June rolled around, we'd be more than happy to chill out at 7,000 feet for a long weekend.  

When the time finally came for our trip, we did our normal, "pack most things up the night before" deal, even though we knew we wouldn't be leaving on Friday until after lunch (it would only take us about 3 hours to get there, and check-in didn't start until 3pm).  On Friday, we dropped the kiddos at their boarding spot, finished our packing, ate lunch at home, and then finally got on the road around 11:30-ish.  We enjoyed cruising along the 10, sightseeing through south Phoenix, Casa Grande, Picacho, etc, and reminiscing about the time we lived in the area ("Remember when we almost died at the Ostrich Farm?"  "Yeah, that was awesome!  Text Jim!").

After a quick stop at the Pilot station in Eloy (near the intersection of the 10 and the 8 freeways) for a water fill and bathroom break, we were back on the road.

Thumbs up for water!

We made it to and through northern Tucson without any trouble, and we started the hike up the mountain.  Mt Lemmon tops out at 9,100 feet, and Tucson is around 2,300, so we had some climbing to do.  The road twists and turns, and you get all sorts of great views of the metro Tucson area and surrounding scenery as you head up or down.

Some of the hoodoo outcroppings in the area

Some seriously neat scenery - 

you can see from that car how big these dudes are.

Before too long, we arrived at Rose Canyon Lake and its associated campground.  When I selected our site, number 45, I mainly picked it for its layout; the site had a parking pad on one level with a series of steps leading down to the fire ring, picnic table, and grill (and bear box!  We were getting used to those).  It's sometimes nice to have a designated "hanging out" area that's not right next to the RV, since you can be a bit further into nature and away from the camper at times.  

That's us!

Although this was our 9th camping trip in Arlene (in just a year!), we're still learning new things, and what we gained on this trip was an appreciation for the need to scope out not just the campsite itself, but also the road leading to it, particularly if said road is a very tight loop with steep-ish drop-offs on either side (we now use Google Earth, particularly Street View, to help with this).  I waited patiently while Chris endeavored to back Arlene and the truck into our spot, attempting to negotiate the curvy road without dropping either the truck or trailer into the ditch directly across from our campsite.  Eventually, he and the truck needed a break (the "power steering is overheating" warning light came on), and while everyone was resting, our next-door neighbors for the weekend came back from their day at the lake.  They kindly offered to help, so Chris hopped back in the truck, and with the help of his additional spotters (both of whom also happened to be professional truck drivers), he put the camper exactly where it needed to be.

OMG I'M DONE

We figured it was high time for him to enjoy an adult beverage, so after handling some setup, we relaxed in the shade for a bit.

Perfectly situated!

Time for drinks and snacks!

Before the sun went down (and before we started in on further adult beverages and thus, weren't going anywhere anymore), we drove the truck to the lake itself to check it out; although the lake wasn't far from our campsite (a mile-ish), the road there was winding with lots of blind corners, so walking it in the afternoons wasn't the best idea.

Rose Canyon Lake - 

it's routinely stocked with trout,

and you can fish from the shore.

Although I don't agree with hurting nature like this,

I also can't deny that this is pretty neat looking.

We spent the rest of the afternoon and evening hanging out at camp, enjoying hot dogs and corn on the BBQ grill for dinner, and watching for wildlife.

BEAR BOX.

We didn't see bears here, either,

which was perfectly fine with me.

We also tried out the hammock we keep in Arlene - 

since we bought it, we haven't camped in a place

with big trees that could be used for something like this.

As you can tell, this was exciting.

Noms!  Time for dinner.

After dinner, we made S'mores on the BBQ grill (dang fire restrictions - no campfires for us on this trip) - or at least we gave it a good effort - and we watched the stars come out above us.

A very small fraction of the stars we saw

Nighttime Arlene

We crashed out before too long, listening to the bugs chirp and enjoying the cool weather - or at least, cooler than at home (it was about 110 at home during this trip, so the 70 degree nights and 90 degree days were most appreciated).  On future blogs, we venture down the hill into Tucson to see our good friends Bryan and Jen, and we do some hiking.

Later!

Amy