One Year On The Road

Posted on July 11, 2011 by Jim Melvin

It has been one year on July 12 that I started my fulltime RV’ing lifestyle. I can’t believe it has been a whole year. I took the time to go back through this year and show you some of the highlights of my adventure.

Be sure to click and then click again to enlarge all photos.

July, 2010 – Inyokern, CA – My very first campsite at the beginning of my adventure. I was really a rookie back then.

July, 2010 – Sequoia National Park – Boondocking in Fish Creek Campsite in the Sequoias.

August, 2010 – Sisters, OR – Camping on the Metolius River outside of Sisters, OR. What a fantastic spot.

August, 2010 – Crater Lake National Park. Words cannot describe this beautiful place.

September, 2010 – Eugene, OR – Getting my solar panels installed. My boondocking will be much quieter and more efficient from now on.

October, 2010 – Albuquerque, NM – Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta – 10 fabulous days with other fun Lazy Daze owners.

October, 2010 – Palomas, Mexico – Central park. Visited there after attending Escapees Chapter 21 Rally.

October, 2010 – Deming, NM – Rockhound State Park – This a rock hounds dream park. Lots of different rocks.

November, 2010 – Socorro, NM – Bosque Del Apache National Wildlife Refuge – Visited there during the Festival of the Cranes event.

December, 2010 – January, 2011 – Death Valley, CA – A beautiful view of Death Valley during an annual Lazy Daze Rally.

January, 2011 – Quartzsite, AZ – Got together with a bunch of Lazy Daze owners during the Quartzsite RV Show. It was a blast boondocking in the desert. Lots of food, a campfire every night and the BIG TENT RV Show.

February, 2011 – Anza-Borrego, CA – Boondocking in the Anza-Borrego Desert.

February, 2011 – Niland, CA – Boondocking with the LOW’s (Loners On Wheels) at Slab City. Everyone should go there at least once.

February/March, 2011 – Benson, AZ – The winter SW Lazy Daze Rally at Pato Blanco RV Resort. Lots of great food and people.

March, 2011 – Picacho Peak, AZ – A civil war re-enactment at Picacho Peak State Park. Event lasted all week-end with gun battles and actual tents and other equipment during that era..

March, 2011 – Douglas, AZ – Visiting with friends at Bell Starr’s Silverado Ranch. Belle is wearing the pink hat. We all helped Belle work on her ranch projects. A MUST see. She is quite a lady.

April, 2011 – Alamogordo, NM – White Sands National Monument. Very surreal.

May, 2011 – Carlsbad, NM – Carlsbad Caverns. A MUST see.

May, 2011 – Melvin, TX – I just had to visit there.

May, 2011 – San Antonio, TX – The Alamo in downtown San Antonio, TX. Another MUST see.

May, 2010 – San Antonio, TX – The San Antonio River-walk. A really neat and fun place.

May, 2011 – San Antonio, TX – The Tower of Americas. The view from the top is spectacular.

May, 2011 – Luckenbach, TX. I just had to visit here because of the song made famous by Willie Nelson and Waylan Jennings.

May, 2011 – Blanco, TX – My campsite in Blanco State Park. How about that for a back yard?

June, 2011 – Fort Worth, TX. The highlight of my year. Being able to visit my family. It was sooooo much fun.

July, 2011 – Karnack, TX – Caddo Lake State Park. I spent a week here and loved every minute.

It has been a wonderful year. I have traveled 12,702 miles in 6 different states and 2 different countries. I have attended 8 RV Rallies where I have met a lot of people, learned a lot about things I never knew anything about, and spent money upgrading my rig.

This year has been much better then I even anticipated. I met a lot of great people who I continue to keep in touch with. I am looking forward this next year to travel to places I have never seen before and meet more wonderful people.

Blogs I Follow – Ed and Carol Lazy Daze Travels

Posted on July 6, 2011 by Jim Melvin

Another blog I follow righteously is Ed and Carol Lazy Daze Travels. They have been writing their blog since November, 2005 and have told many great stories and have been at many wonderful places throughout the country. Right now they are in Pennsylvania on their way up to Michigan.

I first met Ed when I was camped at Crater Lake, OR. I had been in a no hookups site for several days and when the crowd all went home I opted for one of the few electric sites in the park. I signed in and was given one for the remaining night I had planned on being there. I moved and got hooked up in my new site and finally had some electricity without having to run my generator. I was on my way to Eugene, OR at the time where I was going to have my solar panels installed.

I got set up and was gazing out my window when a newer Lazy Daze pulled up in the campsite directly across from me. I was so excited, I couldn’t believe it. By the way, whenever I see a Lazy Daze motorhome I always get excited. I didn’t want to bother them while they were getting set up in their site so I continued going about my business.

A little while later Ed came knocking on my door and introduced himself. I was really excited. Not only was I meeting another Lazy Daze motorhome owner, but the motorhome was the same color as mine. Of course his was much newer and had a different floor plan. We talked about a variety of subjects, but I do remember mentioning that I had to run my generator a couple times a day to recharge my laptop computer. Ed had told me that he had a solar panel and he only recharged his computer once a day in the morning.

I did not have a chance to meet his wife Carol since I was going to a ranger presentation given at the campgrounds. I am a late riser in the morning and they were gone when I awoke. They were also going north but to a different campground. I guess I only spoke with Ed a short time but it was fun meeting another Lazy Dazer. I don’t remember exchanging email addresses. DUH!!!

I guess I forgot about Ed and Carol for a while since I had met so many other Lazy Daze people after that. There was the Balloon Fiesta in Albuquerque, NM in Oct 2010 and the Death Valley Rally on New Years 2011. Then my friend Rodger who had encouraged me to attend the Death Valley Rally had organized a bunch of us Lazy Daze owners to meet in Quartzsite, AZ.

Then all of a sudden Ed and Carol pull up and out pops Ed. I was in my rig at the time and just about went through the roof. I am yelling “I know that guy” referring to Ed. It took me a while to remember where I had seen him (a senior moment), but then it came to me. I was very excited and happy to meet him again. Plus this time I was able to meet Carol and Gopher their dog. We had a great time there and also shared our daily experiences around the campfire.

I also met up with them again at the SW Lazy Daze Rally in Benson, AZ in Feb/Mar. It was there that I found out that Carol’s brother John Wagner is the creator of Maxine for Hallmark. She handed out a bunch of autographed cartoons at the rally. I guess it really is a small world. I have enjoyed these cartoons for many years.

I don’t know when I will see my friends again but I am hoping it isn’t too long, but in the meantime I will keep up with their travels via their blog Ed and Carol Lazy Daze Travels.

Blogs I Follow – “Lifes Little Adventures”

Posted on June 29, 2011 by Jim Melvin

In between my journeys I am going to write about the blogs I follow myself. I plan on telling you about each blog and the particular reasons I happen to be following them. The first blog I would like to mention is “Life’s Little Adventures” . This blog is written by Jim and Gayle who have been on the road fulltiming with 2 cats since Oct. 2008.

I first met Jim and Gayle in Albuquerque, NM during the 2010 Balloon Fiesta. We were all introduced to each other since we were with a large group of Lazy Daze owners. If you have never attended a Balloon Fiesta you are really missing out on a great time. Lots of wonderful fun people, great food and of course the hundreds of balloons that go over us each day. It was one of the highlights of my fulltiming adventures and I will be attending again this year.

After the Balloon Fiesta we each went our different ways and I didn’t catch up with Jim and Gayle until January, 2011 at Quartzsite. Again it was a Lazy Daze group that was organized to meet by my good friend Roger. We spent about a week boondocking about 1/2 mile from the big tent and everyone shared their experiences of the day at the campfire. Again it was a great time.

After that there was a 4 day SW Lazy Daze Rally in Benson, AZ over Feb/March where we met up again. It is amazing how you happen to meet up with perfect strangers and become great friends in just a matter of months.

I had scheduled to have my teeth cleaned in Palomas, Mexico by my new-found dentist some time in April, 2011 so spent a few days at Pancho Villa State Park. Just before I was going to leave I got an email from Jim and Gayle. They mentioned that they were staying at Rockhound State Park about 30 miles away and wondered if I would like to meet up with them there. I agreed and met them there the following day. While there we did a lot of hiking in the park and in the nearby parks as well. It was great fun.

At the time this post was written they are camp hosting at Lake Wappapello in Missouri. I don’t think they were planning on attending the Balloon Fiesta this year since they will be going to a Lazy Daze rally instead.

They are great friends and I have enjoyed both camping with them and reading about their adventures in their “Life’s Little Adventures” blog. By the way I am horrible about remembering names but their names were really easy for me. Jim and Gayle are the names of my parents. How could I forget them? LOL!!!!!

sw lazy daze rally – benson, az

Posted on March 4, 2011 by Jim Melvin

The SW Lazy Daze group held their rally in Benson, AZ from 2/28 – 3/4. It was really fun getting together with all my Lazy Daze friends. I knew many of them but some were folks I met for the first time. We stayed at the Pato Blanco Lakes RV Park where we had full hook-ups and lots of cable TV channels.

Be sure to click and then click again to enlarge all photos.

This is a great pic of the entire group taken by Gil.

This is where we met for “Happy Hour” and all our meals.

On Wed about 20 of us went to explore the Kartchner Caverns. We took the tour of the Rotunda Room. This is a living cave where the stalactites and the stalagmites are still forming. It is owned and operated by the State of Arizona. You can read more about the Kartchner Caverns here. We were not allowed to take any pictures but pictures are available elsewhere.

After touring Kartchner Caverns I rode with Steve and Lisa and we toured parts of Benson. This is a pic of an historical house.

The following day Steve, Lisa and I drove down to Bisbee, AZ which is an old mining town. It was founded in the 1880’s when it used to be known as “Queen of the Copper Mines”. This is a pic of the downtown area with all it’s old shops.

This next pic is of the historical museum of Bisbee. I toured it and it was very informative of the area and especially the mining.

The next few pics are of the Bisbee downtown section. It was a very quaint town with lots of interesting antique shops.

Back to the rally and people chatting around the food tables.

I enjoyed being with my many Lazy Daze friends. Some I met at the Balloon Fiesta last Oct. and others at the Death Valley GTG. It was sure fun meeting up with everyone again and finding out all the neat places they had been and where they were going. It gives me a long list of places to see and things to do.