Great Breakfast!

Posted on January 31, 2013 by Jim Melvin

On the way to the Super Bowl!

Yesterday for the second year in a row we saw the Metlife Blimp on it’s way to the Super Bowl. It is headed to New Orleans, LA and it was moving fairly fast. I just had time to run inside and grab my camera and snap this pic before it disappeared out of site.

Another super campfire and sunset.

We also had a fun “Happy Hour” as usual and a chatted around the campfire.

Plus we were treated to another magnificent sunset. What more could you ask for.

Arose early for a breakfast get-together.

Linda suggested that we all get together for a 9:00am breakfast get-together. Everyone brought a dish and we all were treated to a very filling and very good breakfast to start off the morning.

Up early to catch the sunrise.

I am not one to get out of bed early in the morning, but since I volunteered to furnish the potatoes for the breakfast, I set my alarm to make sure I didn’t sleep in. It was nice to awaken to a beautiful sunrise.

The big tent is nearly empty…

After breakfast we walked down to the big tent which was nearly empty. There were still a few vendors in the center of the tent, but they were getting the rest of the tent ready for the car show. We strolled through it and then walked across the street, but many of the vendors there were either gone or were starting to pack up.

Some of the tool vendors were there and probably will be here for some time. I liked this sign at KB Tools.

A lot of the campers have also gone. We still have 10 rigs here in our group but most of us will be gone by Sunday. I will probably leave Sunday as well and head to my next destination in Mesa about 135 miles from here east of Phoenix.

Here is a view down “Old Yuma Road” on our way back from the tent.

Rain and more rain

Posted on January 27, 2013 by Jim Melvin

Lots of clouds

The rain clouds have moved in and we had 50% prediction that it would rain. Here are a few pics before the rain started on Friday.

The rain started on Friday night right after our “Happy Hour”. Everyone was driven inside for the night. It rained all Friday night and even into Saturday. We were going to have a Hot Dog dinner but that was put off until Sunday.

Cleaning the desert…

The rain is Nature’s way of cleaning the desert. The air is really fresh and it really keeps the dust down. This is how it looked out the window of my rig most of the day.

Then the rain stopped and although the clouds were still there everyone slowly migrated towards the campfire Mike had started.

Mountains covered in clouds…

Then we were all treated to a beautiful sunset. There were still lots of clouds, but the rain was moving east. The clouds left us with a beautiful sunset. We didn’t have “Happy Hour” and postponed the hot dogs until Sunday, but everyone hung out by the fire swapping stories.

I got out my telephoto lens for this shot of the clouds over the mountains.

A beautiful sunset…

Then we were treated to a beautiful sunset.

RV Show ends tomorrow…

The RV Show ends tomorrow. I am sure there may be some great bargains but I have bought everything I need at this point. The sun is out and it is a beautiful day in the desert.

Thar’s gold in them thar hills!!

Posted on January 25, 2013 by Jim Melvin

Hiking in the desert…

Jeanne of On the Road with Riley fame, Chris and I planned last night to go on a hike in the morning. I mentioned there was a old gold mine close by so that was our destination. It was a nice hike thru some washs and Riley was able to go off leash and wander among all the great scents.

When we got to the top of the hill we were met by a couple who had driven up in their 4X4 truck. It was a great view of the entire valley. Here are a couple of pics of our encampment at Roger’s 1/2 Acre.

Here is a shot of the valley floor with all the white RV’s everywhere.

An old gold mine…

The gold mine was in very poor shape and rotting away. I am sure it was some time ago when it was last used. It would have been exciting to see in it’s better days when miners where using it to extract gold.

Here is a pic of Jeanne, Chris and Riley at the top of the mine.

More views of the mine.

It was a great hike and good for the old legs.

Drove to the Walmart at Parker…

I needed to pick up a trailer hitch and some groceries at Walmart. Jeanne went along to pick up some groceries as well. It was the first time I had the Suzuki on the open road for any length of time and it drove quite well.

Rain clouds moving in all day…

We had lots of clouds all day long and it was raining further west. We all got together for “Happy Hour” and soon after the rain started to come down. We all headed into our rigs and then it started to rain a lot. It was rather soothing listening to the raindrops on the roof of my rig. It is supposed to rain tomorrow again, so probably not too much outdoor activity will be going on. It will be a good day to just stay inside and read or catch up on the Internet.

Spinning yarn and meeting good friends!

Posted on January 24, 2013 by Jim Melvin

Learning how to spin yarn..not tales

I spotted Melinda spinning yarn on her spinning wheel. Melinda is from Alaska and spins her own yarn and weaving is her passion. You can read more about her at her blog Woven Journey

Before long I was sitting at the wheel learning to spin yarn. It is not easy. She taught me how to work the foot pedals first. You have a tendency to move the wheel back and forth which is not what you want to do. You must have it going in the same direction all the time. Not easy to do, but with a lot of Melinda’s patience the wheel was going in the correct direction which is clockwise. I still had difficulty feeding the material.
I can really appreciate how difficult it can be.

It just comes second nature to Melinda and is very relaxing to her.

Meeting up with my wonderful Canadian friends…

Yesterday I saw a large van pull into our camping area with a big sign on the side that read “Island Tours”. I don’t know of any islands in the Quartzsite area and the closest body of water is probably the Colorado River. But out pops my good friends Peter and Bea. I first met them back in 2011 at Belle Starr’s Ranch in Douglas, AZ. We worked on a shed of Belle’s and Peter was the driving force behind the work as he is an experienced carpenter. You can see the blog here.

They had dropped in to see me. We chatted a bit and told me where they were camped so I drove to their campsite in the afternoon.

Peter and Bea are from Campobello Island in New Brunswick, Canada. By the way if you ever travel to Campobello Island give them a call and they will give you a great tour.

They both love the southwest and drive down here every winter to get out of the cold weather back home. Bea is a great cook and also has a great cooking blog Dinner For Two She made chocolate chip cookies and brownies and had coffee and we tried to catch up on all our travels both past and future. You can read their blog at American Traveler

This is a pic of Mollie who loves to travel with them.

It is always fun meeting up with Peter and Bea. We have run into each other at many places and without even planning it. It is amazing how there are so many people at Quartzsite, but you still manage to find those people who are friends and not even be trying.

While having coffee and cookies with Peter and Bea a friend (Sandie) stopped who happens to be a regular commenter on my blog. They stopped to ask Peter and Bea if they needed anything at the store. I re-introduced myself to them. Sandie writes about their travels at Where Are The Dixons Today?

A beautiful end to a wonderful day…

There are a lot of clouds in the sky and I managed to get this pic. It came out better then I thought it would.

Dinner at the Main Street Eatery

A bunch of us decided to have someone cook our dinner for a change. Ten of us went to the Main Street Eatery which is located in the front of the laundromat. It doesn’t sound too glamorous but the food is excellent. I had chicken friend steak with garlic mashed potatoes. YUM YUM!!!!

Come one come all!

Posted on January 20, 2013 by Jim Melvin

Come on down…

I get a lot of people who are either headed this way or already here and wondering where our group is located. I copied these directions

Quartzsite 2013 Directions

The Camping area we will be using is called La Posa West Long Term (LTVA). The entrance is just South of the I10 overpass on Highway 95. BTW, Highway 95 runs North and South. There is another Highway 95 that runs East and West in town and actually crosses the “main” 95 but I am told that this is the business extension/loop of the N&S Highway 95. This can be confusing.

The off ramp from I10 for Quartzsite is just West of the “center” of town at the Pilot and Loves Truckstops. (Exit #17) Get off and go North over I10 to Business 95 that runs parallel to I10 on the North side of I10. Go East about a mile on Business 95 to the “main” 95 and turn South (right) over the overpass. You should be able to see the “Big Tent” (might not be up until the middle of January) off to your right. Just past the Big Tent on the right, is the entrance Kiosk for La Posa West is about 1/2/mile. For those of you that have GPS, here are the co-ordinates: N 33* 38.734’ W 114* 13.198’. Be sure you use the same format. There are at least 3 different formats on my Garmin. Once these are recorded, at least mine will guide you right to the campsite as the BLM roads are on the Garmin maps. It is Road 532 on the left as you go South and we are about 200 yards “back in”. If you come in from the South from the Yuma area, a GPS might try to take you in the “back way”. Just pass this up and come to the entrance kiosk for La Posa West. There was a “back way” in last year but I went looking for it this year and it is blocked off.

The RV Show has begun…

On the way you can see a big RV balloon flying over the tent.

We started by walking around the tent before going inside and fighting the mad throngs of people.

We even spoted this fancy golf cart. They had all varieties of carts. REALLY COOL!!!

Lots of people…

There were a lot of people inside the tent making it hard to move around and get a close up of each vendor. There didn’t seem to be as many people as last year, but it was still very crowded.

I checked out a vendor with some car wax and John and I went in together for 2 bottles. Now you know what I will be doing today. I tried to see my friends Don and Kim Greene from Harvest Host’s but they were very busy talking with people so I will go back another time. I also want to drop in at the Amazon booth to say hello to my friends there as well.

Hot dog!!!

We had a hot dog, pulled pork buffet with a ton of other goodies. YUM! YUM!

The end to a fun day…

Our campfire was a great ending to a busy day.

Took the plunge TWICE!!!

Posted on January 17, 2013 by Jim Melvin

Bought a toad that wasn’t even for sale!

Some friends of John and Linda were in the market for an RV and they drove over from Scottsdale to look at one on mile marker 112. Whey they were looking at a rig a great little Samurai drove down this road and Linda was yelling at me to ask them if it was for sale.

I looked at it but didn’t ask them to pull over. I could have kicked myself. Then a few minutes later I saw them come back the other way and I just had to pull them over. They were on their way to do some shopping in Blythe. I asked them if they were interested in selling it and low and behold Charley the owner quoted me a price that he wanted. I looked it over real good and he told me a lot of good things about it. It was a 5 speed manual 4X4, with new tires and brakes and a trailer hitch as well as a wench in the front. I was sold. I took down his name and phone number, but wanted my friend John to look it over with me.

I called them back and told them we wanted to check it out again. John and Cookie went with me and everyone thought it was a great deal. I called him and told him I would have a check to him by in two days. Today I went to Parker with Roger and got a cashiers check from the bank then went over to pick it up.

I am so excited about my new toad. It is just what I have been looking for these past few months and worked hard to save the money.

Summer plans…

I also took the plunge and made plans for this summer. I have decided no to work once I heard about what John and Linda had planned. They are joining the Northwest Lazy Daze group and travel for 3 weeks into Alberta Canada. My friends Ed and Carole, who just sold their home in Florida and are moving to Colorado will be going as well. It should be a great trip. We meet in Baker, OR, then into Idaho where I have already made reservations, and then into Alberta. It should be a fantastic trip as we will also be going to Jasper. I can’t wait.

More rigs coming into our area….

Chris a new fulltimer from Santa Fe, NM just arrived today and joined up with our group. We had another great “Happy Hour” today and sat around the fire. It is always nice to meet new people. We will also be having more folks come later once the RV Show starts.

Gathering around the fire….

Another great group tonight and Roger again had a great campfire. Gil and Nancy were showing the pics of their trip several years ago to the “Burning Man” festival. Mike got out his guitar and provided some great music for our entertainment.

I spent a lot of money today but cherished every minute and the RV Show hasn’t even started yet. By the way the weather here is super. In the 70’s finally.

Warming up!

Posted on January 16, 2013 by Jim Melvin

Weather improving

It was much nicer today and not nearly so windy. It is only supposed to get down to 37 tonight and high tomorrow is going up to 69. That is more like it. From here on the daytime temps should be in the high 60s – low 70’s.

More people have arrived

The following have arrived in that last few days. Jerry, Melinda, Mike, Jerry and Ann, Gil and Nancy and Jeanne. We will probably get a few more once the show starts on Saturday.

Tonight we had a great potluck dinner with everyone bringing a dish. Lots of great food!

Shopping day tomorrow

Tomorrow I will be going into Parker with Chuck and Beverly to do some major shopping. We will make a few stops here and there but won’t be gone too long. Parker is only 35 miles north of Quartzsite on Highway 95.

Dripping sink fixed

John took apart my kitchen sink and we went up to the hardware store and got a new fixture, which he then installed. He also worked on my drivers side cab step. and it is now in place. I don’t intend to step on it for a while until the liguid nails gets a chance to completely dry. John has been a HUGE help to me and I cannot thank him enough.

Surprise in store tomorrow

I might have a surprise for you tomorrow. I just don’t want to give it away yet. But if things work out it will really make a change in my RV lifestyle. I will let you know tomorrow. Not a lot really happening now but things will get exciting once the show starts on Saturday. I promise to take lots of pictures.

From 2 channels to 200

Posted on January 14, 2013 by Jim Melvin

Cool weather! Brrrr!

The temps have been rather cool here in the desert at Quartzsite. It has gotten into the low 20’s at night and only up into the 40’s during the day. On a few days it has even been windy making it seem even colder. But fear not, it is slowly getting warmer and should be in the mid 50’s tomorrow and 69 by the time the RV show starts on the 19th.

Going from air to satellite TV…

I took the big plunge and entered the world of satellite TV. Previously I only had a batwing TV antenna and relied on those channels I could get through the air. But when I could only get 2 channels I decided to check out the cost of adding satellite. Then Jim came over and told me about a setup that a local satellite dealer was offering using the Dish Network. He drove me back there and I wound up buying it.

Now for the fun part. Installing all the equipment and hooking up to the appropriate satellites. The installation was fairly easy. The dish would sit on the top of my ladder still giving me access to the roof when I needed it.

Now for the fun part. Getting it to acquire the satellite signals. I called Dish and set up my account with them, then after making several calls and speaking with their tech support I still could not pick up one of the satellites which I needed. They put me through to Tailgater tech support (who makes the dish) since they could not find anything wrong with my setup. Tailgater said their dish was working properly as it had completed all the tests successfully.

Now it is back to the dealer with the receiver to see if it was faulty. He put it on his bench and found that one of the settings was incorrect and once he corrected it I got a picture. Now it was back to the rig and now the system is working properly. I set it up to see the Los Angeles stations as I am more familiar with them.

I got lots of help during this whole process from all my friends who would come over. This is Cookie, John, and Linda. THANKS EVERYONE for all the help and support throughout this entire process.

Going to be working at the Angels Spring Training

I got word that my background check passed and I will be working for Aramark for the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim Spring Training games. I am really excited. I made reservations with a campground only 6 miles from the stadium in Mesa to stay there for 2 months. I am not sure what I will be doing but my friends Phil and Sindy will also be working there as well. I worked with them at Amazon and they told me about this job. The job only entails working for 5-6 hours during the 18 games that are played in Mesa. I will not make a lot of money but just the experience of working around and seeing the Angels is a great opportunity for me as I have been a fan of them way back when they moved to Anaheim.

Gathering around the fire….

Everyday we gather around the fire and chat about our day while enjoying appetizers and beverage. It is a great time that we all enjoy. It also gives us an opportunity to meet the new people that come in during the day.

Sunset alert…

I received a “Sunset Alert” from Roger on my cell phone. I was inside my rig with the shades down so didn’t even notice. I grabbed my camera and took this beautiful shot of the sunset.

What a great finish to a wonderful day!

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.

Fantastic clouds over Mono Lake

Posted on May 5, 2012 by Jim Melvin

Not only Super Moon but Super Clouds as well…

Gotta watch the SUPER MOON tonight. It should be really neat. But I have been here at my campsite overlooking Mono Lake for almost 7 days. What I find peculiar about this area is the unusual clouds. I have never seen clouds like that anywhere. So I have been taking pictures of them and thought I would share them with you.

My first night here was really freaky!

The first night I was here I saw this cloud and it totally freaked me out. Nothing happened not even a drop of rain and when I awoke the next day it was a bright blue sky with hardly any clouds at all.

Then it got to be old stuff…

During the day time the sky is very blue but towards the evening all the clouds seem to build up and just sit overhead. This is the cloud I saw on the second day. Again the next day was a bright blue sky.

I really enjoyed the different cloud patterns. Like I said I have never seen clouds like this anywhere.

Now lets all check out the super moon…

Well enough for the clouds. Tonight is the SUPER MOON night. I am setting up my telescope so I can really view it up close and friendly. Hopefully it won’t be too windy later on when the moon appears. I am hoping I can get a few neat shots of the moon in all her glory.