I’ve adopted a Lazy Daze RV, Frida B. Lazy.
This is a place to record my adventures.
I’m buying an RV!
The teacher in me never stops, so after a shit load of research to determine what is the best RV for my intentions and an unwillingness to settle for anything less than exactly what I want, I found her. A 1990 Mid Bath Lazy Daze RV. She’s in Santa Clarita. My best friend and I are flying out to pick her up and drive her back to Wisconsin!
Lazy Daze Promo Video
These sweet babies were created in 1958 by 2 shop teachers in California… as a teacher, I trust teachers. I know they made this thing with their hearts. Working locally and taking only custom orders at their factory, every single one of these is unique and custom built.
When I decided to get an RV, I did a shit load of research and discovered that THIS is the absolute best thing for my long term needs!
The Trip Begins!
We’ve signed up for Harvest Host, got an America the Beautiful park pass, and plotted out our first trip home!
The first of many trips, there’s a lot of driving area to cover, people to meet, and sights to see!
Getting to Cali
Wow. Just. Wow.
The trip started with me closing the bar and not sleeping before heading to the airport for the first flight out. A flight that was significantly delayed. So delayed that we were missing our flight from DFW to BUR and got rerouted to SNA… I slept in the airport until we boarded.
Santa Ana is like 2 hours from our final destination. It involved a rental car from Santa Ana airport to the Burbank airport. Are there other places closer to drop cars off? Yes. Are they closed for some reason by noon on Saturdays so we couldn’t drop them off? Also yes.
We dropped the car at the Burbank airport and hailed a cab to Santa Clarita.
The couple I bought this from are THE NICEST people! Their dog didn’t want to leave, and they made us sandwiches for the road!
Because the flight was so delayed, and we had to rent a car and then get a cab, we were significantly behind schedule for our Harvest Host and when we were hoping to hit the road. Also, I’ve never driven in LA, I hate driving in the mountains, and I’ve never driven an RV before. I did all those things within the first 2 hours, after fixing the seatbelt for Laura, and in the dark. God DAMN.
One of our first gas stops was somewhere between California and Nevada, and holy shit… the gas prices were STAGGERING… thankfully they didn’t remain anywhere near that price for the rest of the trip.
Also, the LA area has the best gas stations! I failed to bring a camera into the best one, but another one had people hanging out on horses!
MAGA Mad Max and Culver’s in Arizona
We fucked up our first Harvest Hosts stay. Overshot the stop by about a block and woke up in the wrong parking lot. No one cared, and it was for the better because they had port-a-potties and we’re not using the bathroom in this until we get back and assess everything.
This area is clearly MAGA, but also, Mad Max. MAGA Mad Max. I complimented them on the spot for POWs since I work at a VFW, so we had a bonding point. Honestly, they were pretty cool. I hate to admit that, but honestly, we were fine there.
After we left, we knew we needed to find more blankets, because FUCK the desert is cold at night! And when we don’t have hook-ups, and were hesitant to use the propane for the same reason we were holding off on the bathroom… we went on a quest to find blankets. We found a Culver’s!
Our goal was to drive about 4 hours to each next destination… but man… RV time is not considered in Apple Maps. 4 hours of regular driving time is more like 6 hours of RV driving time. This baby is not meant to drive fast on the highway. It’s LAZY. Frida want’s to take it slow. So we went at her pace.
Route 66, The “Mother Road”
We were inadvertently on Route 66 SO often! Another time I’ll intentionally take this trip, it was a combination of awesome, sad, weird, and touristy. A TRIP.
Baby’s First Airlock and Meow Wolf.
Holy Shit. Frida HATES higher altitude and climbing that steep…. mountain/freeway, I guess… to Santa Fe. She air-locked just after we reached the top, and we had to wait. Thankfully Laura’s mom knew exactly what to tell us to do, and I had road side assistance, just in case. We pulled over at the nearest rest stop after we got her going again, just 18 mils from Meow Wolf. That rest stop was a weird blast from the past, something several years ago clearly went on involving catering, and then apparently nothing since.
Meow Wolf Santa Fe is my 3rd Meow Wolf, and the OG Meow Wolf. Holy shit. It is AWESOME! It’s like House of Leaves meets Night Vale. Cool as hell, and I’d absolutely go stay for like 3 days to just deep dive the whole experience. And then I’d want to launch off into a Meow Wolf tour in order of builds.
A lot is not pictured here…
Did I already say that Frida HATES climbing mountains? Yeah. We got re-routed due to a fire on the lower route, and had to go through northern New Mexico, up a hill, and landed in Trinidad, CO. Fuck that was rough. We were going 25 mph up hill… no, … up MOUNTAIN. Every time I thought we’d reached the top, there was more. Jeezus. We landed at a dispensary and the Colorado’s scariest truck stop. No one was at the Tesla plug ins (because fuck Elon) so I parked there.
Not pictured is the mountain I had to climb, and then the miles of nothing we drove through and got air locked again in. We were in the middle of absolutely nowhere, nearly had to sleep in a junk yard, met a sheriff with a well kept beard, and after learning everything we could about how fuel makes its way to the carburetor and cars from the 80s, we got her going… landed at a Love’s tucked in amongst the truckers, and slept so fucking great!
In the morning, I hit up my new usual breakfast of 2 nitros and an espresso shot all mixed together in a to-go glass and hit the road.
Oakley, KS
Disappointingly NOT named after Annie Oakley, that didn’t stop them from celebrating her… all though you’d think this place was really named Buffalo Bill, because if there’s anyone this town loves more than Annie, it’s Buffalo Bill. We hung out at both the saloon named for him, and the memorial park. We inadvertently crashed Alice’s retirement party at the Buffalo Bill Memorial, she was cool and super welcoming. We were there for maybe 3 hours, but we for sure became one of the locals. The only place open was the grocery store and Buffalo Bill’s Saloon, so we went to the saloon 3 times. They had a pretty questionable bathroom, but the owner (or guy who acts in charge) was willing to set up the karaoke machine for us if we wanted it! We declined. I feel pretty certain that if we accidentally ended up in that town again, we’d be welcomed like old friends!
We left Kansas and spent our last night on the road in Aurora, NE. No pictures other than Love’s. There’s nothing to see in Nebraska. Just lots of tumbleweed.
The last leg home…
Who knew that the last leg home would be the absolute MOST challenging? More than getting air locked on a free way outside of Santa Fe. More challenging than learning to drive this baby in LA traffic and mountains at night. More challenging than getting re-routed up a mountain into Colorado. More challenging than being stranded in the middle of nowhere Colorado and potentially sleeping in a junk yard.
The goddamn winds of Iowa are the WORST. I had to pull over to nap. My muscles hurt. Holding on to this beast was basically arm day. A storm was behind us and because this RV is from Southern California where it never rains… the windshield wipers were basically dust. We stopped at a Love’s so I could shower before work, and to get windshield wipers at Menards. They weren’t there… and we couldn’t get any anywhere along the way. This is a late 80's vehicle, and we needed the whole arm for it. The only option was to either stay in Iowa and wait out the storm, or outrun it.
We outran it.
I did not make it home in time for work, but we did make it home. Now the projects begin before we take her out again!
Late April and the Projects Begin!
I’ve discovered that there was certainly an electrical fire that caused the leak, as an avid fire starter, I know char when I see it. I’ve ripped out the over cab bed and plan to replace it with a super comfortable mattress after I clean this all up and rebuild it. I’ve also ordered a slew of things for the roof, because I want it all done and updated before I fix that leak and seal the roof.
It took SO long to get that first valance off the window, but now that I know her secrets, the other 3 will be much easier. They’re ugly, old, and the windows are bigger without them.
The lithium batteries, and inverter are en route, so she’ll be solar as soon as that roof is done! Rain is still in the forecast, so I’m working undercover to be safe.
All other orders are piling up, I’m trying to get everything before the tariffs become a problem and we don’t have any imports coming in.
Yesterday was trash day, and I immediately filled up my bin…
