de Ropp's family included the two children from his first marriage, and the children he had with his wife Betty. To support his family and finance their transition into the direct economy of living from the land and ocean, de Ropp worked until 1973 as a research scientist at the University of San Francisco. The family put down roots in their rural Sonoma-County locale, working at living simply. They grew fruits, vines, vegetables and wheat, as well as many ornamental plants. de Ropp fished in the ocean and Betty raised chickens. It was also during this time that de Ropp had an encounter with his neighbor, Hunter S. Thompson, that was immortalized in Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. In the book, Thompson writes that "acid guru" de Ropp's name was "redacted at insistence of publisher's lawyer," but interestingly, in the original Rolling Stone article, both Robert S. de Ropp and his residence on Sonoma Mountain Road are unredacted.