Roper Lake State Park

We needed to go to Safford Arizona to get our van, Moby, serviced as they are the nearest Nissan dealer. It's only two hours but we decided to make the trip fun. We'd go the Sunday before and camp at Roper Lake State Park, which is a few minutes south of Safford.

As it turned out, the road to Roper Lake is right where the Nissan dealer is. That was a nice bonus, but things would've been great anyway.

We got there around two in the afternoon, having stopped in Safford to check out Home Depot. (Dagny found a great deal on a set of drill bits.) We use the nonelectric campground and got #46, right on the lake.

If you look close at the picture, there is a heron on the beach!

The cheap campsites are $20, which is expensive compared to what we usually pay, but a deal compared with staying at a motel. The campground is excellent, with nice hosts, and although there is some road noise, very nice.

We had a nice dinner, cooked in the van, and breakfast in the morning, and leisurely wandered to the dealer Monday morning, got the van serviced (nice people) and then drove home.

Van improvements

In the last post I talked about some improvements Dagny has made in the interior of the van, some functional and some aesthetic. She redid most of the cabinetry and now it looks like this.

To the immediate right is the stove/oven that comes out easily. When we camp for longer periods we have a pop up tent that serves as additional living space and a shelving set that goes together to make a kitchen. Even when it's hot we can cook in the tent and even make homemade dog treats for Carl Roberts (the world's greatest Giant Lap Schnauzer).

The top shelf of the green boxes holds a battery operated LED lantern in place.

Here is a wider view so you can see there is standing space. Further back are the high-tech fridge (just add ice) and a porta potty. On the close end of the bunks, just off camera to the left, is a cool medicine chest that is just inside the sliding door. It holds toothbrushes, first aid stuff, comb and brush, and important dog things. (Goes without saying)

Next week we'll get to see how efficient this all is.