Unplugged Weekend

Fall is a really busy time for the HaggisFam. Summer and I are at cheerleading anywhere from 12-20 hours a week and Paige starts high school swimming on Monday. We are balls-to-the-wall busy until mid-November. Given that, we decided that a little unplugged weekend reconnection with nature was in order. We packed up our tent and camping gear and headed up Mt. Lemmon to Rose Canyon Lake for a little fishing, a little peace and quiet, and a whole lotta family time. (Did I mention that it is 30 degrees cooler up there?)

We set up camp in a lovely grove of pine trees

 We did have a little bit of weather trouble. I went back down the mountain to pick the kids up from school on Friday and while we were gone, Den got hailed and stormed on, but after that we only had a little off and on drizzle.

There were these funny little fat birds everywhere!

 After getting all set up at the campground, we headed down to the lake to get in a little fishing

I still have trouble believing that this beautiful alpine lake setting is just a 30 min drive from our house in the desert.

Den's new love is fly fishing. 

After a couple of hours on the lake, we headed back to camp for dinner cooked over an open fire.

Mom, please point that camera elsewhere!

 We woke up the next morning to beautiful sunny skies and headed back down to the lake.

Paige tried her hand at the fly rod and actually caught on pretty well. (Much better than I did!)

 The fish weren't biting, so Summer decided to take some critter pictures.

 After a couple of hours on the lake, we broke camp and headed home. There were storms in the forecast for Saturday night. First, though, we had to stop for some tourist photo ops.

Sky Islands

Tucson

 Bring me Gum Gum, Dum Dum

 On the way down the mountain, we came across Bob and Sue and their foster kids who had run into a bit of car trouble. Being the nice guy that he is, Den pulled over and stopped to help. He helped get them going and then we followed them while they limped their van back into cell phone range so they could call a friend to bring them the part they needed.

We had such an amazing time. The fish weren't really biting, Den caught 2 small trout and Summer 1 big crawdad, but that didn't really matter. It was so nice to just spend time together, no distractions, no electronics, and have fun. I am so ready to do it again.