Category Archives: Prineville

Interesting stories

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Close friends since the 1st grade

I met two ladies who arrived in the campground with a special friendship.  They have been friends since the 1st grade.

Judy on the left lives in Bridge, OR and Kate lives in Remote, OR.  These are small towns that are right next to each other not far from the Oregon coast.  Their families have a long history of growing up in these towns.  Judy’s grandmother Davis named the town of Remote back in the 1800’s.  Kate’s family now owns the town of remote.  They were using Ochoco Divide campground as a base to search for thunder eggs and geodes in the area.  What an interesting story!

Loves to compete in rallies

Will was another cyclist who stopped in for a much needed fill-up of water.  He is from Laramie, WY and he loves cycling in Central Oregon.  He mentioned he has also competed in the Cascade Lakes Rally.

Good friends experiencing the road

Also met more cyclists coming through the campground.  Peter and Cole stayed at the campground overnight on their way to Yellowstone NP.  They were both from Sebastopol, CA and had just spent some time in the Bend, OR area.

Friends that just met a few miles from here

Jonathan on the left in the next pic is from Philadelphia, PA.  He started his cross country adventure from Pleasant, NJ and is heading to Florence, OR.  Jonathan has a blog at jandhisbike.blogspot.com telling all about his travels.  He mentioned that he had broken his camera on the way out here so I promised to send him the photos.

Weston on the right was from Lawrence, KS.  He started his trip in Kansas and was heading to Portland, Seattle and then Vancouver.  They both were very thirsty when they hit here as the weather was very hot.

Jonathan and Weston met each other in Mitchell, OR just 17 miles east of here and were only going to travel together until Prineville, OR where they would each head separate ways.

Everyone coming into the campground has an interesting story.  Plus they are all usually glad to share it with you if you take the time to listen.

Meeting new friends

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John and Jean

The wonderful part of camphosting that I love the most is getting to meet lots of really nice friends.  I met John and Jean who waved to me to join them at their picnic table one evening after I made my rounds.  They were from Bend, OR and been coming to this campgrounds for 35 years.  They always stayed in site #15 since it has a small creek running through the back of the site.  They would bring their kids who would play in the stream.  Now of course the kids are grown, but they always make a point of coming back here every year.

We got to talking about all the cyclists that stop at this campground and they related the story about how for many years they used to follow cyclists with food, tents and other gear.  Of course these were cyclists that had a great deal of money and could afford to have all their gear transported for them.  John and Jean would go ahead, set up camp and prepare all their meals.  Then feed them breakfast tear down the tents, purchase more food, set up the tents and prepare the evening meal.  This would go on day after day.  What an experience!

Bob and Stacey

Also camped not far from John and Jean on the same weekend were Bob and Stacey.  I met them as they were walking around the campground.  Bob is a long distance truck driver and has a many stories to tell about his trucking adventures (especially hauling the pigs).  He is a very funny guy.  Both Bob and Stacey are really nice down to earth people.  While I was talking with them John and Jean came by and also joined in the conversation.  What a blast!

This past weekend Bob and Stacey came down again and stayed for 3 nights.  We got together each day and laughed and laughed!  It was really a fun weekend.  One of the days they drove to an Orchard and brought me some fresh peaches, nectarines and cherries.  YUM!  YUM!  They were so juicy!!  Here is a pic of Bob and Stacey before they left for home.  Thanks everyone!  I really enjoyed you letting me be part of your weekends.

John and Kim

In between weeks I met John and Kim while making my rounds.  They had their musical instruments out and were playing some really sweet music.  John plays at the Prineville Eagles Club on Friday nights so if you are in the area at that time be sure and stop in and don’t forget to tell him Jimbo from Ochoco Divide says “Howdy”.  I took a movie of them playing one of the songs he had written but the internet takes way too long to upload it.  They were really fun people and John offered to show me around Prineville when I get down there again.

These are just a few of the many wonderful people that I have met during my stay at Ochoco Divide Campground.  I have met people from all over the world in this little paradise in the Ochoco Mountains.  That is really one of the best benefits of this job.

100,000 Miles

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Back to 00000

On July 31, 2012 the odometer of “The Breeze” read 00000 as you can see in the next pic.  100,000 miles!  How did that happen so fast?

I was traveling on US Highway 26 on my way from Ochoco Divide Campground to Prineville to do some shopping.  Since I don’t see too much traffic I decided to come to a complete stop and take a picture of that fantastic moment in time.  This is where I was.  I guess you can’t ask for a better spot when turning 100,000 miles.

I purchased “The Breeze back in April, 2010 .  Since then I have:

  • Put 21,855 miles on it
  • Started Fulltiming on July 12, 2010
  • Filled with 2,378 gallons of gasoline at an average cost of $3.53 Yes it is about 9.2 miles per gallon. OUCH!!!

I have had a lot of great times seeing new places and meeting great people.  I have established a lot of new friends all across the country and even into Canada and Mexico as well.

Do it now if you can!!!

If anyone is on the fence as to whether they should fulltime or not I would suggest give it a try as soon as possible.  It was the best decision I ever made.  I just wished I had done it sooner.

All the way from the east coast

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Cold water

This past week I have been getting more cyclists passing thru here from the east coast on their way to the west coast.  They are climbing some big hills to get here and most of them are very tired and in need of water.  I had just had my 300 gallon water tank filled and it was nice cold water.  They were all very thankful for it and also the news that the 30 mile run to Prineville, OR is all DOWN HILL.  That made each of them very happy.

Friends from Northern Ireland and the Netherlands

The first pair to arrive looking for water was Steve and Aonne.  Steve was from Antrim, North Ireland.  He started his trip from Yorktown, VA and was part of an Adventure Cyclists group.  Aonne was from Delft, Netherlands and also part of the same group.  They had been on the road since May 4 and arrived here on July 29.  They stopped for water and a brief chat and then wanted to head on down the hill to Prineville to get a motel room, where they could shower and wash clothes as well as sleep on a real bed.

My butt is sore!

The next two riders arrived on the same day.  They too were really happy to get the fresh water.  Larry was from Blue River, WI and also part of the group starting out from Yorktown.  He and his friend were also glad they were almost finished with their journey.

First recumbent

Tom was Larry’s riding partner and he road in on a recumbent bike.  He was from Bowling Green, OH and also part of the group from Yorktown.  Some of the riders had complained that their butts were sore from riding on those bicycle seats.  However Tom had no complaints as he had a big cushy seat.  I asked him how his recumbent did on the hills and he said it was not difficult climbing.

The last rider to stop for water was Franklin.  I was making my rounds in my golf cart and he was sitting at the entrance to the park.  I offered him some water but he said he didn’t need any.  I was surprised he was drinking a coke at the time.  If I am really thirsty there is nothing that will quench my thirst more then water.  After talking to him for a few minutes, he asked me if the water was cold and I assured him that it was.  He then came down and filled up his containers after having a nice cold drink of water.  Franklin was by himself, but said there were others behind him.  He was from Big Woods, KY and also part of the group from Yorktown.

Stopping for an overnight rest

Then I didn’t see any others until I returned from shopping in Redmond.  I usually take every Tuesday off to go into town but decided to skip last week as I had plenty of food, but this week took off Tuesday to do some shopping.  When I returned from Redmond Jerry was parked in Site #1 right across from my campsite.  Jerry was from Decatur, IL and had started his journey from his driveway at his home.  He had decided to spend the night in the campground as it was late and he was very tired from climbing the huge hills east of the campground.

A few minutes later Ray pulled in with Ruby (his trike recumbent bicycle).  It seems that Ray and Jerry had been riding together for some time.  They met each other in Colorado just east of Sulpher Springs and had been together ever since.  They mentioned how you tend to find someone on the road who travels at a similar pace as yourself and then travel together.

Ray was from upstate New York and also started with the group from Yorktown.  You can read more about Ray’s adventure across the US at Ray and Ruby’s Big Adventure.  It goes into detail day by day.  What an adventure these guys have!

Crazy stories

Since Jerry and Ray were spending the night I really got to talk with them about their fantastic adventure.  They said that the hardest part was traveling across Kansas, where the temperature got to 110 degrees during the day. Jerry said he was traveling at night and finding a place to stay during the day.  An interesting story he told was when riding at night in Kansas he saw a headlight way out in front of him.  From the size of the light he thought it was another cyclist coming toward him.  About a HALF HOUR later that light turned out to be a semi-truck that passed him going the other way.  How crazy is that!

Another time Ray mentioned while also traveling in Kansas he found a lone tree out in the middle of no where.  He stayed under that tree for a very long time just to have some shade.  Most of the terrain was very flat and had NO trees whatsoever.

Brewski anybody?

I wasn’t sure if they would want a beer, but I offered anyway.  They couldn’t say YES fast enough.  Then we all enjoyed a brewski and chatted about all our adventures.  It was really a blast.  These guys don’t have too far to go to the coast although they do have another uphill climb before they get there.  What an exciting adventure!

Finally contacted my friend

I have been trying to contact my friend Jack several times in the past two weeks without any luck.  All I get is his answering machine where I leave a message to let me know where he is and how he is doing.  He is on his way to the east coast as I wrote about on a previous post Bicyclists.  Finally on the 1st he sent me a text message and yesterday he called.  He is outside of Pueblo, CO and headed for the east coast.  He had climbed peaks of 11,500 feet.  I can’t even imagine going there in my RV let alone a bike.  I have a hard time going up a small hill, huffing and puffing all the way and sometimes getting off and walking.  I guess you could call me a real wuss!  Anyway he said he is glad to get out of the mountains and onto flat land.  I told him he probably wouldn’t mind a few large hills after he started going through Kansas.

I am really enjoying seeing all the cyclists passing through going to either coast.  They are really a blast to talk to and each of them have different stories.  I hope there is more to come in the future.

2nd Year on the Road

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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.

What a week!

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Weather has been very nice

It has been almost a week since my last post and I hope to post a bit more often.  The weather here in Central Oregon is getting really nice with a few drops of rain here and there.  There is some rain predicted for this weekend but nothing so far.

Visiting with my friend jack on his adventure across America

This has been a very exciting week for me.  To begin my friend Jack stopped in on his bike tour across America.  The Trans America Bike Trail goes right past me at Hwy 26.  If I am sitting outside I can here bicyclists talking as they stop for a break.  Ochoco Divide is at the summit and it is all downhill for 17 miles to Mitchell, OR.

Jack and I met back in 2010 when I toured the Columbus Historical Museum in Columbus, NM where he was workamping.  We have been best of friends ever since and always stay in touch with each other.  This year he started to fulfill his dream of bicycling across the US.

He got to my campsite around noon and we had a great time talking about old times as well as new.  After lunch and a big BS session, he headed on down the road so he could make it to Mitchell before nightfall.

Here is a pic of Jack ready to hit the road.  Good Luck Jack.  I will keep you posted on his travels when I here more.

And he is off to the wide open spaces of this great land.

Steve on his slower adventure across America

Just a few minutes before Jack left in “walks” Steve and his goat LeeRoy.  They are also traveling across the US but in a much different manner.  They are walking!  Steve decided to walk across America to raise funds to help his friend build an orphanage in Nairobi, Kenya.

 

When Jack told me he would be coming by my campground I went and bought two nice juicy rib-eyes to barbeque.  When Jack got here he mentioned that he was a vegetarian.  Since I had this extra steak I invited Steve over for dinner.  I could have invited LeeRoy as well, but he is a vegetarian also.  We had a good time talking about his adventures as well.  He started out in Seattle and is going to Times Square.  People notice him wherever he travels.  I can’t imagine why!

You can read up on Steve and his travels at needle2square.com

Checking out Prineville

Wednesday was my day off and I felt just like going into Prineville and checking it out.  I usually only stop at a few places to do shopping, gas and propane so I really haven’t gotten the feel for the town.  As I was turning onto Main Street I saw a green LD coming toward me.  I didn’t think too much of it as I have seen a guy with a green LD pulling a boat.  More about that later.

I found a good parking spot and decided to do some walking.  I was looking for a good book on the flora and fauna of Central Oregon so I headed to the bookstore.  I wasn’t able to find what I was looking for but just decided to window shop.  Then I looked up and saw the Bowman Museum across the street.  That was a MUST SEE.  It was a small but very neat museum that showed life in Prineville since way back when.  They had a lot of interesting railroad displays and also a great display on the Prineville baseball team at the turn of the century.  NEAT STUFF!

I then saw the Prineville Men’s Wear Store that was rich in boots, outdoor jackets, and lots of western wear.  I saw a pair of boots in there I just had to have, so guess what.  I done bought them.

After finishing up on my walking tour through Prineville I had a great lunch at the Tastee Treat.  I have eaten there before and every thing is great.  The service, the food and all the old codgers telling all their stories.

Meeting a blog follower

After returning from Prineville, I got settled in and made a campfire.  Then Stephany came by to introduce herself.  She was the LD I saw in Prineville as I was turning.  She owns a Lazy Daze and lives in Salem, OR.  She mentioned that she had been following my blog and right away I knew she was a very smart lady.  She just decided to come up and see how the campground up here was like.  I tried to convince her that she needs to come down to Quartzsite in the winter and meet up with our group and have a ball as we do every year.

Generations meeting for the first time

I also wanted to show you a picture of my wonderful family.  My grand-kids Eric and Rachael were visiting my son out in California.  They stayed at my sister’s home one night and went and met their Great Grandmother for the first time.

From l to r my grandson Eric, my sister Bev, my Mom, my granddaughter Rachael and finally my son Curt.  It was great they could all get together.  I just wish I could have been there as well.