Wallowa Lake SP - Joseph, OR - Aug 2006

We decided to stay at Wallowa Lake State Park totally on the spur-of-the-moment. We thought we were heading towards the Columbia River Gorge, but after reading about record high temperatures forecast for the Gorge, the cool mountain setting of Wallowa Lake called our name. Our guide book had given the campground high marks, so off in yet another direction we went. Ahhh, the freedom of fulltiming -- priceless!

The park was gorgeous -- huge mountain peaks towering on three sides, a picture perfect lake nestled in a narrow valley, a beautiful river meandering through expansive grassy picnic areas and huge pines shading the entire area. The campground had over 200 sites but, being an older park, they were closely spaced and allowed little privacy. They did have full hookups though, so that was a bonus. Because of all the pines, we were challenged to find a site that had a clear window to the sky so we could get a signal on our satellite internet system. After two tries, we finally got a spot with a very narrow window -- but it worked. We were greeted at our new site by the campground mascot -- a very large buck who was definitely used to getting handouts. He was so tame that he took food right out of your hand and would let you pet him. The rangers discourage folks from feeding the wildlife, but there were at least three deer that went around the campground every day and I'm sure they got plenty of goodies from the campers.

When we arrived at the park, we were pleasantly surprised to see another Lazy Daze RV parked in the campground. Lazy Daze owners are unique in the RV world in that they are very loyal to the Lazy Daze brand -- so much so that they have been described as "cultish" in their devotion. One significant form of communication between LDers is a very active online forum. We "know" so many Lazy Daze owners "virtually (from chatting online) that whenever we spot another Lazy Daze RV, we make a point to go over and meet the owners to see if it's someone we know from online. This time we met Carolyn and her dog Lucy, and while we did not know her from the forum, we did have several Lazy Daze friends in common. We enjoyed a delightful wine and cheese party at her place one night and caught up on all the Lazy Daze news.