This was our first joint rally with another unit, the

Arizona Unit. Originally the rally was to be held at

Roper Lake State Park and we were asked to be

the 4CU co-hosts for the rally with co-hosts from the AZ Unit because we have

been to Roper many times and were familiar with the park and the area. However, because of the pending closures of AZ state parks, of which Roper Lake was one, the rally was changed to Roosevelt Lake in the Tonto National Forest northwest of Phoenix. We had never been there, so when the venue for the rally was changed from Roper, we decided to decline on being co-hosts for the rally. And apparently no one in the Arizona Unit wanted to be host either, so it was officially a “no host” rally … another new one on us ... we wondered why it was even being called a “rally” if there was not much interest. Why not just go camping with some friends? But we said we’d go, and “represent” the 4CU, so we stuck to the plan. By the time the rally actually took place, the closure of Roper Lake State Park had been pushed back and we could have had the rally there. We would have been happy to host it there. That added to our general disappointment over the venue for the rally.

                            Setting that disappointment aside, we chose to roll with the

                                punches and still attend the rally. There was room for 24

                                 units in the Grapevine Group Area where the rally was to

                                  be held. We ended up having 21 units all together …

                                 10 from the AZ Unit and 11 from the 4CU.

                                 We left for the rally on Thursday, 15 April (tax day,

                                   yeehaw!), and drove up Route 79 through Florence to Highway 60, then east to Miami and Globe where we turned north on Route188 to Roosevelt Lake. We should mention that you can get to Roosevelt Lake from Apache Junction at the east end of Metro Phoenix by driving northeast on Apache Tail ... It meets route 188 at the Theodore Roosevelt Dam, which forms Roosevelt alke, of course. However, it turns into a dirt/gravel road and would be not only a bumpy ride but a white knuckle trip, so it is not recommended for trailers and RVs ... so be forewarned! The lake is a huge body of water and not too very far from the Phoenix area, making it a favorite destination for “boat people” as we call them. (We mean the drunken, rowdy variety of boaters …)  Because it’s a boating destination, it’s never really appealed to us as a camping destination. But we’d had felt the same about Lake Pleasant before we had tried it, and we ended up loving that lake, so we decided we really should give Roosevelt a chance … and this rally would give us the opportunity to find out what the area is like. Who knew? Perhaps we would end up adding it to our “repertoire” of camping destinations. Without being on a boat, the summers are too hot at Roosevelt for just camping because it’s all dry camping, so we basically saw this as a winter destination.

We arrived at the group site about 2:30 PM to be greeted by those who had already arrived earlier in the day … We were happy to see our 4CU friends and everyone came out to greet us. We drove around the loop a couple of times to find a spot we liked, and ended up in a double site with a northern exposure toward the lake so we’d have a bit of a view of the lake and shade on the curbside of the trailer in the afternoon … And we were not too far from the group ramada … Several of the 4CUnit bunch were already there, so we felt appropriately welcomed right away, and shortly we met the president of the Arizona Unit, whom we had been in email contact with.

We got set up, walked the Girls and said “hey” to all we knew and met a few of the AZ group… Before long it was 4:40 PM and time to head to the first happy hour … so off we went with beverages and snacks in tow…

As is usually the case at these happy hours, we

munched enough as to not need to cook dinner … so

after visiting at the ramada for a while, we returned

to the Bambi, fed the Girls and then headed back to

the group campfire… By that first night we had 18 rigs

with a few more expected on Friday. We enjoyed

seeing our 4CUnit friends and meeting and greeting

new folks from the Arizona Unit.

That first afternoon had been warm … the high 70s and overcast…  First night’s low was in high 40s… so we slept well, but without the down comforter…good thing… we sure didn’t need it!

Friday was a quiet day… when we got up … late, of course … almost everyone one was gone on day trips, at the lake kayaking or hanging out in their trailers. It was oddly quiet for a rally setting. But we took the opportunity of a quiet day to take a drive to check out the other loops on the lake and see what the lay of the land was since we’d never been there. There are quite a few camping areas on the south end of the lake where our group area was located. Each general camping area has several sub-loops, not all of which are open all the time. Those that were open when we were there were only partially filled. We did notice that many of the campers also had boats, which made perfect sense, Roosevelt being the huge boating destination for valley Arizonans. We found most of the loops to be quite pleasant.

We drove along the lake as far north as the dam before turning around to return to the campground … so we didn’t see the campgrounds along the northern shores. Friends in the Unit later told us those are the campgrounds they like best, so we were a little disappointed that we didn’t keep driving that day to check them out. Next time. 

On the way back to the campground we stopped at the Tonto National Monument Cliff Dwellings which are just off route 188 opposite the lake. It was quite a surprise to see the cliff dwellings from the road … again, because we’d never been there, this was all new to us. We didn’t get out of the

truck to explore closer — some others from our group had been there

also and told us that the trail to the ruins were closed temporarily

because a swarm of bees had decided to set up housekeeping near the

                        ruins … so no visitors were allowed until the bees could

                             be dealt with. (Most bees in Arizona are now “Africanized”

                                and if they become hostile you are in a boat load of trouble,

                                 so they are to be prudently avoided.) Did you ever notice

                                that cliff dwellings are very high up above the surroundings

                               and usually a fair distance from water? Maybe it was for

                                protection? We thought it would have been a long way

                                to haul water! Maybe the view was worth it? Maybe way

                                 back when they weren’t in the cliffs? Or maybe they were ... and that’s why they were eventually abandoned!!

It was a pleasant drive and good to get a better sense of what was where. If

one were to continue northwest along the shores of the lake on Route 188

you’d eventually come to the Beeline Highway (Highway 87) that goes from Phoenix to Payson, AZ. We had driven that route one other time when we had to take a detour in Globe on our way to Show Low. (A propane truck had gone off the road in the Salt River Canyon between Globe and Show Low, so the road had been closed. That was a surprise! The detour added about an hour to our trip up that time ...

Back at the campground, we had a snack and hung out at the trailer. Most of the folks who were gone earlier in the day had returned from their adventures, so there was much visiting to be done! And that afternoon three more 4CU rigs came in … first, we welcomed Jon & Deb from Cave Creek, AZ … and then Stan from Oracle, AZ arrived in the afternoon without his wife Val, who had a previous commitment. (Missed you, Val!) All the single sites in the group area were taken so we offered to share our double site with him … and he accepted. That made us 20 rigs…11 from the AZ Unit and 10 from 4CU… so we had a good balance! We didn’t even know they were coming, but Mike & Betty from Michigan also showed up! What a nice surprise!

We began to get ready for the happy hour and pot luck. We decided to contribute a Caesar salad … It was a nice change to have a cool, crisp salad … and it hit the spot. The happy hour was sorta short … People brought their pot luck dishes and their happy hour treats and beverages at the same time. Since all the food was there, those who were ready to eat dug in, so it became a sort of feeding frenzy … We dashed back to the Bambi to get our pot luck dish before it was too late! Once people started on the pot luck, well, one had to belly up to the table or get slim pickin’s as they say.

After the somewhat truncated happy hour and early dinner

(which no doubt suited some people just fine) we went

back to the trailer to take care of the Girls. Once they were

fed and taken for a walk, we took them with us and went

back to the group area for a community camp fire. It was

mostly a group of 4CU folks. Most of the AZ folks had

gone back to their trailers after dinner where they stayed.

But we didn’t let that keep us from enjoying the time with

our 4CU friends around the fire … we always do. We

eventually went home to the trailer and called it a night. We had an

overnight low of 51 … which was really pretty warm. The Fantastic Fan moved air through the trailer so we had a pleasant night’s sleep despite the warm night.

Saturday morning we arose to another laid back day with warm weather and lots of sun…we stayed in the campground all day. We missed the cowboy breakfast prepared by Richard & Jan … our biological clocks just wouldn’t let us get out of bed in time for it … Terry took the Girls on their morning walk while Greg got the trailer back together and got the Girls’ breakfast ready. Terry ran into Jan & Richard at the group ramada and delivered our apologies for being too late for breakfast. They understood. No big deal. That’s the nice thing about the 4CU … nobody cares if you chose to sit out an event … as long as you are having a good time, everyone is happy.

After feeding the Girls, we headed to Jim & Min’s trailer to hang out for a while … and ended up spending a lot of time that day with them, Mike and Sheri and Jan & Richard, going back and forth to our trailer for snacks, drinks, etc… We enjoyed our time with everybody … we hadn’t seem them since New Year’s at Picacho after all! Mike & Sheri had not been able to make the New Year’s rally at the last minute, so we were happy to see them. It got pretty warm that afternoon, which made us wish we had electricity so we could run the AC a little. But we were dry camping, so that was not an option since we only have a single 2000w generator which is not enough to operate the AC. We were fine without it … It was not as if we were doing anything physical enough to make us break into a sweat anyway!

Toward the end of the afternoon we got ready for another happy hour where we got another chance to chat with everyone … and made a few new aquaintances. After the happy hour (which was a real happy hour, since there was no pot luck that evening), we ended up going back to Jim & Min’s for dinner with Mike & Sheri and Richard & Jan. The grills were going strong … we all brought something to grill … chicken, beef, grilled veggies ... with a salad and dessert … a good meal and a good time was had by all …

That evening we returned to campfire for another night of talking and laughing … this time there were a few couples from the AZ Unit and it was nice to get to know them a bit better. There’s something about sitting around a campfire that lets folks relax and meet new people. It’s great. We wished more had chosen to join us.

Later that evening, Terry called the US District Court Jury Duty line in Tucson … he had been called for federal jury duty for the following week and could not check in until after 5:00 PM on Friday to find out if he was supposed to show up on Monday or not. Happily, he didn’t have to go in on Monday after all, but had to report on Tuesday. He never had Federal Court Jury Duty, so this was going to be interesting.

              We decided to leave for home the next day, Sunday. Almost everyone

                was planning on leaving Sunday, anyway, and it was getting too warm

                 to be comfortable without AC during the afternoon. Had we been

                there a week later, we would have rally been sweating it in the shade.

                Sunday morning after doing our morning routine we started packing up for the trip home. Since most of the group was leaving we said our goodbyes as folks began to hit the road and drove by out site as they left the campground. We finished packing up and got out about 11:30 AM. There is a dump station in the park but it had been closed temporarily, and besides, it was in the opposite direction from where we were camped on the southern end of the lake … so we hauled the Bambi home with tanks to be emptied at home … not a problem, just a little inconvenient … and one more thing to do once we get home.

This had been an interesting rally. We didn’t feel like we got to know many of the AZ Unit folks very well … the dynamics just weren’t there. Perhaps it was because is was a “no host” rally, and there was nothing to bring us together outside of the campfire, the happy hours and the pot luck ... We were glad for the few couples we got to know better form the AZ Unit, though, and there was the fun of our old friends to enjoy. So despite it all we had a good time and will think of it as a successful gathering. Any time we make new Airstream/camping friends, it’s a success. And, of course, we got the chance to visit another potential destination which we’ll want to return to ... perhaps in the winter or earlier in the spring before the hordes of boaters and the hot weather hit.

We retraced out route southeast to Globe and west to the Florence Junction and on south to Tucson. (We think the truck could make that leg of the trip on it’s own since we’ve made it so many times!) We got home mid-afternoon, dumped the tanks and got the Bambi put away and unpacked ... and the truck  unloaded. We got lots of bugs of the Bambi from this trip! Tis the season ... that time of year! We’d need to give it a bath for the next trip for sure!

Enjoy the pictures below by clicking on the slideshow icon. At the end of the picture section you can click on “Other Trips” and return to the trips pages form which you can access any of our previous trips...

Stay tuned and happy trails!