Spotted my first bear

Posted on June 9, 2014 by Jim Melvin

Getting settled into job

I am finally getting into a good routine with my camphosting job. My day is busy but I am able to schedule all my duties without killing myself. I make 2 rounds of each campground checking to make sure everyone has paid and are in their correct sites. Then there is 2 pit toilets per campground that must be attended to. Also each campsite must be cleaned and raked after each camper leaves.

But Washington is so beautiful and it makes my job so much better. Everything is really green up here and when there is no rain it is fantastic. It is so nice to be parked here for the entire summer.

Hi Yogi

I saw my first bear while driving on the road just about a 1/2 mile from one of the campgrounds I am responsible for. He/she was going up a ravine just to the side of the road. I didn’t have my camera handy so couldn’t get a pic. Bummer! I am sure that is not the only bear I will see up here over the summer.

I did come within 10 feet of a deer and he did not appear to be the least bit frightened of me. He just strolled off into the bushes.

Checked out a forest service road

There was a forest service road across from one of my campgrounds so had to see where it goes. I get a lot of hikers wondering where are some good hiking trails so I do my best at finding the trailheads just off of forest service roads. This one was just a one lane dirt road that lead way up the mountain.

I followed this road up about 3 miles where the road ended. The scenery was magnificent.

Relaxing in the sun

This is Chica’s favorite spot. She loves laying in the sun.

Weekends are busy

On the weekends the campgrounds are almost full. This past weekend was a free fishing day. Not sure what that meant but there were certainly a lot of fishing people. Then on Sunday night everyone goes home and it is usually slack through the week. However July 4th is approaching and it should be very busy.

New Jetpack

I just upgraded to the latest hotspot Millenicom offers in the hopes that my connection would improve. I had one of the very first hotspots they sent out. It was a Samsung and there was another upgrade after that which I didn’t get. Using my sleek I do have 4G occasionally but not very often and sometimes even the 3G was quite slow. Not enough to upload pics. I will find out later if there is an improvement.

Cabin City, MT

Posted on July 18, 2013 by Jim Melvin

Taking my friends suggestions

After staying a couple of days at the North Shore campground outside of Trout Creek, MT, I continued my trek south to a USFS campground just a few miles north of Saint Regis, MT. My friends Linda and Carole, who were part of the caravan through Canada, I stopped here and highly recommended it. Thanks Linda and Carole for the great suggestion!

I get a lot of recommendations from many people suggesting, “I stop at different places” or “don’t forget to see this”. Of course I can’t fit everything into my schedule, but I do try to check as many out as I can.

Although Saint Regis was a bit out of my way I thought I would check it out anyway. Just 11 miles north of Saint Regis is a very small town called Cabin City where I found a wonderful campground. They have two loops and I found a nice spot in Loop B. There was no electricity or dump station, but they did have water.

I found this campsite, which had lots of room and settled in.

They had a new camp host who was a gold miner and we had several good conversations about finding gold and camp hosting. He was really a great guy. Just in front of where I had the Sami parked was a dirt road that led into the forest. However it was closed, so couldn’t drive down it. But Chica and I took a nice long hike down it to see what was there.

We found a beautiful patch of flowers.

All around the campsite were trails that led off into the forest. It was very dense up there and since we were in bear country I decided that it would not be a good idea to have Chica as bear bait so we stayed close to our camp.

Bear in camp

The first night in our camp the host came by to warn us that a bear had come into someone’s camp in the other loop and ransacked their food. The lady was camping in a tent and was able to scare the bear off, but not after it had destroyed most of her food.

This was a case where a camper was too complacent about keeping their food in a vehicle. The host told me that she had all her food out on the table and it was easy pickins’ for the bear. DUH!! Not too smart. When up in bear country you need to take precautions and not invite the bear into your camp for a meal. Oh well, live and learn. At least no one was injured.

I did not hear anymore about the bear the next day and two days later we will make our way toward Missoula, MT and then Victor, MT for a couple of days with my friends at their ranch.

Glacier National Park

Posted on June 17, 2013 by Jim Melvin

Border Crossing

We crossed the border at a little town called Coutts, AB. It went without a hitch as John and Linda went first and paved the way for the rest of us. Just the usual “Do you have any fruits and vegetables?” question and I was back in the good ole USA. Here is a pic of me crossing the border taken by Linda of adventureswithsadie blog fame.

As much as I enjoyed this trip throughout Alberta, I am really glad to see the prices go down for gas ($3.65 vs about $4.62 per gallon) and wine ($9.99 vs $5.90 for a bottle of Yellow Tail).

The day started out beautiful but as soon as we got across the border it started to rain. It was a huge downpour and it was difficult to even see the road for a while it was coming down so hard. It then turned to a light rain which followed us almost into West Glacier NP.

Fish Creek Campground

I had made reservations online prior to the start of the trip for 2 days at the Fish Creek Campground. We were all camped in Loop A for our final get together. Everyone in the group had made reservations for 2 nights. This is a couple of pics of Lake McDonald from the Visitor’s Center boat dock.

Fish Creek is located on Lake McDonald on the west side of Glacier NP. It was a beautiful setting among the trees. I got settled in and took Chica for a walk. We hadn’t gone 100 feet, when a large deer crossed the road in front of us. At first both the deer and Chica stopped and just stared at each other. Then as the deer started across the road Chica began getting braver and started to bark. It was very funny. Sorry but I didn’t have my camera at the time, but this is the same deer I saw later looking for food inside the campground. It is between the two tall trees just right of center.

I Brake for Bears too!

The next morning I decided to take a drive north of our campground. About 10 miles up the road I saw a bunch of cars stopped on the road. Up here that only means one thing. There must be something for a photo opportunity. I stopped also and sure enough there was a black bear (only it was colored brown) foraging the area at the side of the road for food (probably berries).

I didn’t want to get too close to this guy. I may have come within a foot of a rattlesnake but did not want to get within a foot of this guy.

Happy 75th Birthday

That night we all met for a 75th birthday party. Randy found out he was not the only one celebrating this milestone birthday. After checking with all the others in our group, he found out that there were 6 of us who have or would be celebrating their 75th birthday shortly. So he and Suzanne bought a cake and we all celebrated with them.

Here is Randy emceeing the party.

And the delicious cake!

Here are the 75’ers. Age means nothing to any of them as they were all very active. From left to right standing, Linda, Al, Randy and Suzanne. Sitting is Dian and Pete. Happy 75th guys! I hope I too will be as active at that age as you are.

Our last night together

We had fun getting together for the celebration since it was our last night together. We took a group picture of those camping at Fish Creek. However it is missing John and Linda, Coy and Cynthia, as well as Tony and Michelle who departed earlier.

Standing from left to right: Linda, Carole, yours truly, Suzanne, Al, Anna, Randy, Nikki, Steve, Pam and John. Sitting and kneeling: Dian, Pete and Zoe.

Pete from the Lazy Daze Northwest group was the wagon master for this wonderful trip. I only knew a few people prior to starting this adventure, but got to know everyone before it ended, I had a fabulous time and it is an adventure I will never forget. I had never been in Alberta before but certainly enjoyed all it’s beauty and the congeniality of it’s people.

Many thanks to Pete for organizing such a wonderful trip and to John and Linda who suggested it to me back in January at Quartzsite. Plus to all the wonderful people who went on this trip who I can now call my friends. I know we will all meet up at other times throughout our adventures.

2nd Year on the Road

Posted on July 15, 2012 by Jim Melvin

On July 12, 2012 I just completed my second year of fulltime RVing. I can’t believe I have been on the road so long. So once again, as I did last year, I will summarized this fantastic year with some of the highlights.

Remember you can click on any pic then click again to enlarge.

Working in Texas

To start I was in Texas and decided to work for a month to help defray costs of traveling to Texas to see my family. What a mistake that was. It was 106 degrees and higher the entire month I worked. Oh well I will definitely know better next time to stay away from there during the summer.

Grand Canyon of Texas

After my work duties were over I headed to Palo Dura State Park in northwestern Texas. It is know as the Grand Canyon of Texas and a very beautiful place. While there I hiked the Lighthouse Trail and took this pic of myself standing on the plateau in front of the lighthouse.

Taking advantage of my NM state pass

Then it was off to New Mexico where I wanted to take advantage of the last few months of my New Mexico State Pass. My first stop was Clayton SP.

Then on to Sugarite SP, just south of the NM/CO border. This next pic shows Lake Dorothy just north of Sugarite SP.

My next stop was Cimmaron SP and the town of Cimmaron.

Fulfilling a boy scout dream

I also visited Philmont Scout Ranch, which had always been a dream of mine ever since I was a Boy Scout.

More of beautiful new mexico

After that it was Eagle Nest SP, Coyote Creek SP (where I saw a bear), Storie Lake SP and then on to Villanueva SP where I got my semi-annual haircut. Finally it was off to Hyde Memorial SP.

Then in October I met up with all my good friends at the Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta where I stayed and partied for 10 days. Even had a balloon land on top of my rig. HA!

After the Balloon Fiesta I drove south to Poncho Villa SP to enjoy a Escapees Chapter 21 Rally. Of course that also included a trip to Palomas, Mexico where I had to have some dental work done and make sure the margaritas still tasted as good as always.

A visit to the Whitehouse

Next stop on my route was Canyon de Chelly (pronunced d’Shay). Located on an Indian Reservation it is a beautiful place and a must see for anyone in that area of Arizona. Of course I had to hike the Whitehouse Trail, which is so beautiful.

Monument Valley

From there it was to Monument Valley, UT. Talk about a fabulous area, don’t miss out on seeing this.

On my way to Amazon

Then I drove north to Interstate 50. It is known as the loneliest highway in America. And believe me it really is. You could drive for miles and miles and never see a car or truck in either direction. You would not want to break down on this road.

My destination was Fernley, NV, where I worked for Amazon for 8 weeks. By the way it was probably the hardest job I have ever had. Thankfully the 8 weeks went by fairly fast, although it took a couple of months to get healed from the aches and pains I suffered at that job. OUCH!!! On top of that it was very cold as well. Four degrees when I left there.

I then drove to Reno, NV and parked my rig and flew to SO CA to spend a week with my family over the holidays. It was really great seeing everyone and getting caught up. I even played some golf. Actually I tried to play some golf. HA! What a joke!

Time to warm up

Then I hit the road to get out of that cold weather up north and drove down to Quartzsite, AZ. There I met up with a whole bunch of Lazy Dazers (about 20 rigs at different times) and relaxed in the wonderful Arizona sunshine. Of course I also saw the crazy RV show and even saw a concert by Paul Winer (the Naked Book Seller) although he was fully clothed. Great show by the way with SRO.

With the help of all my friends I was able to upgrade my rig with new LED lighting, another 12v receptacle and an outdoor motion sensor light.

Next stop – Imperial Dam

In February I left Quartzsite and headed to Imperial Dam just outside of Yuma, AZ I really enjoyed my stay there with more friends. Got to do a lot of hiking in the desert. Plus don’t forget the wild donkeys. HA!

Heading south of the border senor!

Then it was south of the border to Mexico with the Harvest Host Wine and Whale Watching Tour. What a fabulous trip that turned out to be. Visited 5 wineries, with great wine tasting at each. The wineries were located in the Valley of Gaudelope with very beautiful scenery around. Also stopped in Ensenada for a day, where we had a great lunch down at the fish market and an opportunity to stock up on lots of great seafood. Of course we also had to have some cervasa’s (brewskies) at Hussong’s Cantina.

Later visited La Bufadora (the blow hole). Another very scenic spot.

The wineries were great plus the wine was even greater! Even got to see a colt that was born that very day. How exciting!

I am NOT an illegal alien!

After crossing back into the US I drove to Tamarisk LTVA where I stayed for a week and met some really wonderful people. We hiked ever day in the desert and one day we were surrounded by Border Patrol cars who thought we were illegal aliens. No comprende Senor! What a trip that was!

One of my very favorite spots

After spending so much time with so many wonderful people, I needed a break and decided to head for one of my most favorite spots in the Clark Dry Lake bed of the Anza Borrego desert in southern California. It is 7 miles outside of Borrego Springs. This place is so peaceful and always gives me a chance to reflect on my future plans. It was here where I made my resume on workamper.com and emailed it to various people. Within 10 minutes I had a call for the job I would be working at this summer. More on that later.

Back to the coast

Then it was off to the west coast to Oceanside, where I parked my rig at the Elks Club and took the train up to Orange County to see family. It was back and forth visiting different members of my family and it was great seeing my Mom. Love you Mom!

Heading up north

Then it was time to hit the road and head up north. My first stop was the Trona Pinnacles outside of Ridgecrest, CA. It is like a trip to another planet.

From there it was off to the Alabama Hills just outside of Lone Pine, CA. This has been one place I always dreamed of venturing to even before I had an RV. An absolute MUST SEE.

From there it was off to Mona Lake, where I stayed for about 5 days and ventured around the area seeing the tufa’s at the edge of the lake and the weird cloud formations.

I also took a side trip to the old ghost town of Bodie, CA. Much of the town is still intact as it was a hundred years ago. Really neat and another MUST SEE.

Then I finally made it to Oregon where I stayed at Goose Lake SP, La Pine SP and finally Crooked River Ranch.

My workplace for the summer

I met up with my area managers who I would be working for the summer in Prineville, OR. I am the camp host at the Ochoco Divide, a NFS campground. It is on the summit (4,726′ elevation) of Hwy 26. This campground is nestled among giant (200′) Ponderosa Pines among other pine trees as well. I have now been here 2 months and love this job. I get to meet a lot of interesting people and have lots of areas to hike in.

Well that about wraps up another fabulous year of my fulltime RV lifestyle. There were some tough times (truck breaking down) and some great times (caravan trip to Mexico) as well as taking time out to see my family, which is very important to me. I had lots of times spent with great friends and even some time to myself to ponder how lucky I am.

I almost can’t believe it has been two years since I have set out on the road. I would also like to thank all my wonderful followers who have been with me as I experienced each and every day. Every day is a new adventure.

Yogi Pays Jimbo A Visit

Posted on September 18, 2011 by Jim Melvin

Coyote Creek State Park

It was only 31 miles to my next destination at Coyote Creek State Park. You are on a narrow road leading to the park as you can see here.

It is nestled in the mountains and is a beautiful park. I would have to say that this is probably the most scenic park I have ever camped in within the New Mexico State Park system. The park is at 7,700 feet among the Sangre de Cristo Mountains and the Coyote Creek runs all thru it. There are quite a few electric/water sites near the Visitor’s Center , however I opted for one of the developed sites further away. Here is a pic of my home for a couple of days on my way to the Balloon Fiesta in Albuquerque. I also have beautiful flowers right next to my campsite.

Yogi pays me a visit

In the morning of the second day I was busy working on my computer at my dinette. All my blinds were closed except for the kitchen blind which I always leave open. Something happened to catch my eye while typing and I looked up to see this.

There was a big Yogi Bear walking down the road directly in front of “The Breeze” (my RV). I couldn’t believe it. I quickly grabbed my camera and started snapping pictures. But by the time I could get the blinds up he was gone down the road. My heart was POUNDING. What if Yogi decided to come back and rip into my rig? I got my keys and put them in the ignition in case I had to make a fast getaway. If Yogi decided to make a move towards “The Breeze” I was going to be out of there.

I looked for Yogi but had decided he had gone down the road and went back to my computer. I decided at that point to open all my blinds just in case Yogi came back. I call it Yogi because I don’t know if it is a male or female.

About a ½ hour later I see Yogi again on the left side of my rig only 15’ away. Yogi was headed to the back of my campsite where I had been barbequing chicken the night before (big mistake). Yogi walked right thru my campsite and just stood there for a minute. I grabbed my camera and tried to snap a few pictures in between heart beats. My heart felt like it was going to burst it was pounding so much. I got the following pics.

Then Yogi was gone never to be seen by me again. That was fine with me!

With all the excitement I make new friends

About 10 minutes later two people came by with their dog. I wanted to alert them to the fact that Yogi was in the area. I jumped out of my rig and asked them if they had seen a bear while on their walk. They were coming from the same area that Yogi had wandered off to. They said they hadn’t and I proceeded to show them the pics I had taken.

Then I realized I was standing there in my long underwear ONLY. In my excitement I had forgot to put on my clothes. OH WELL!!! They probably thought at the moment I was some kind of old pervert. After they left I got dressed and much later in the day hiked to their campsite and we have become good friends.

Coyote Creek SP lawnmowers

There is a big field next to the electric/water sites where there is a big cow pasture. Late in the day the cows meander into a large grassy area within the park. What an excellent way to keep the grass trimmed. The cows are very friendly and are interested in anyone walking down that road. Here is a couple of pics.

Coyote Creek

After the bear excitement calmed down I decided to take a hike around the park. Here are a couple of pics of the creek. It was a beautiful mountain stream and I saw lots of people pulling fish from it.

I would highly recommend Coyote Creek SP to anyone who is looking for a beautiful mountain campgrounds. It is very scenic with nice hiking and fishing. It was cold at night when I was here in September but I would imagine that the summer months would really be nice. Just don’t forget the BEAR SPRAY.

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