Live Work Dream Fulltime RV Travel Tips and Lifestyle Advice | Live Work Dream

Living and Eating in a West Coast Bubble

September 4, 2023August 1, 2007 by Rene

Yesterday in Grand Forks, ND, I found another health food store. They’re becoming less than a few hundred miles apart now, a good sign that we are getting closer to larger populations where healthy food & environmental consciousness matter. The stores we’ve encountered are reminiscent of what health food stores were like on the West Coast many years ago; small and hippie-ish, with a focus on supplements and little, if any groceries and produce. This one in Grand Forks did have some local produce, but no lettuce or greens.

I noticed a sign-in sheet for a local CSA Farm on the counter. The farm was about 50 miles from Grand Forks, and it turns out, is the nearest local vegetable farm for the area, but they only produce for CSA members. For anyone else who wants organic produce, they can take a gamble and go to the nearest supermarket, but chances are that the produce came from hundreds of miles away. Huh? No local produce in stores during summer? Barbara Kingsolver would be appalled.

Fargo: It’s Not What You’d Expect

July 31, 2007July 30, 2007 by Rene

You’ve seen The Movie, and like us, if you’ve never been there, you’ve probably always assumed that Fargo was this tiny, backwater place with a few strange people, dive bars, a barren landscape, and bad weather. Don’t believe it. The movie “Fargo” wasn’t even filmed here; it was filmed in Minnesota!

Road crew tip takes us to Hoven

March 7, 2008July 29, 2007 by Jim

I think one of the hardest things about this trip will be trying to remember everything about all of the interesting places and colorful characters we are meeting along the way. There’s simply not enough time nor photos to tell this whole story.

For instance, we had planned to stay at Cow Creek campground one evening along the banks of the Mighty MO on our way to Fargo, ND. When stopped by road construction, the flagger walked up to ask about our truck and we ended up chatting for a bit. That’s whatchya do in these parts donthchyaknow.

By the time he waved us on, good ol’ Henry Huft had told us that he will never where a hat – though it was 106 degrees out – because he was born without a hat, and he’ll stay that way. He also told us that we just had to go on to Hoven for a steak at Boone’s Bar and Grill, and that for vegetarians they had big shrimp and a salad bar.

Good RV Eats

July 25, 2007July 24, 2007 by Rene

One of the biggest fears I had about taking this trip, was that I wouldn’t find any good produce in small towns between coasts. Well, the good produce IS there, only it’s in people’s backyards. Otherwise, I was told by a local in South Dakota today, don’t count on organic produce or farmer’s markets unless we hit big cities. On the prairie, everyone grows their ow, you won’t find organic or super fresh produce in grocery stores. So, my solution; either get to know the locals, or make do when we aren’t around any.

Today we received this lovely farm fresh produce from a wonderful couple in Hoven, South Dakota. This is the best produce we’ve seen. Otherwise, we’ve been making do with so-so eats. The food we’ve been eating is good, and 95% of the time, we are cooking our own meals. I’ve always been a tightwad about going out to eat, and just as expert RV’ers predicted, our eating out habits are mostly the same as they were when we had a stick house. By seldom dining out, it helps our budget and makes our nights out truly special.

One of the best things about eating on the road, is that the view from the dinner table is always different. We also get to eat outside. And when it’s too hot, we have the AC vent right above our dining room table.

Some big lessons we’ve learned about meals on the road include:

You never realize how much you depend on a toaster until you don’t have one.
Loose tea is a hassle when you don’t have a garbage disposal
Cast iron is the answer.
Life on the road requires extreme flexibility—sometimes, boxed meals are the best solution.
Use what you’ve got until it’s all gone, or else your produce will turn to mush and spoil in hot weather (as coastal people, we weren’t used to food spoiling due to heat).
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Outrageous RV Name Survey

September 2, 2009July 22, 2007 by Jim

Mike’s comment on my recent post regarding campground etiquette for big rig RVers prompted me to finally compile the list of outrageous RV names that we’ve been jotting down since we embarked on this journey. Below is our top ten list of ironic RV names that we’ve come across. Please vote and let us know which names are the best. Or shall we say worst?

[ edit: survey widget no longer worky worky ]

If you said other, be sure to post a comment and let us know what you’ve seen. other names that didn’t quite make it onto our top ten list include:

Prowler
Hitchhiker
Wild Cat
Challenger
Conquest
Ultimate Advantage
Avenger
Bounty Hunter

Note: I say these names are ironic because I think its funny how recreational vehicles are supposed to enable people to get out and enjoy the peace and quite of nature and commune closer with our mother earth, yet the names imply otherwise.

Where did all the ads go?

July 22, 2007 by Jim

Granted, many readers may be saying to themselves, “Thank God all those ads are gone!” But by the time others read this post, they may be thinking, “What on earth is this guy talking about?” If you’re the slightest bit interested in making little extra spending money by placing Google ads on your own website, or you wonder why we’ve stopped running ours, please read on. If not, rest assured the ads will be back. Hopefully soon.

The View is Always Different

July 22, 2007July 21, 2007 by Jim

For the record, the trees all over the hills around Deadwood, SD have always been dead. One can only assume that’s how the town got it name. But one thing I enjoy about this full-time RVing thing is how the view from our kitchen table is always different. and whenever I look up through the skylight in our shower – yeah, that’s cool too – …

This Small Town Versus That Small Town

July 23, 2007July 20, 2007 by Rene

One of the reasons why I wanted to leave Humboldt County was because in the nearly 10 years that we lived there, many of the great ideas that people have about improving the area, never get off the ground. With the exception of the Redwood Technology Consortium who won the fight to connect Humboldt to the real world with fiber optic cable a few years ago, it seems that most great ideas never go anywhere.

Every improvement from the badly needed pedestrian / bike trail connecting Eureka and Arcata, to the fabulous Bay Trail, to the Marina Center Project, requires 10 consultants and 100 studies, and 10 years later, guess what? Nothing. Now, that definitely isn’t the fault of great residents like my friend Jen Rice who are so dedicated and try to get things like the Bay Trail to happen. No, not at all. It’s just that there are so many darn factions and infighting in Humboldt, that nobody can agree on anything. Every great idea that comes up will have a fight on its hands by some group claiming to know what’s best, guaranteed.

So as we head out into the rest of Small Town U.S.A., we are taking note of which towns have leaders and citizens that can work together and get things done.

Beef Country and The Mashed Potato Tower

September 28, 2007July 19, 2007 by Jim

Worked most of the day yesterday, finally developing our long-awaited road trip soundtrack page – complete with lyrics to classic travel tunes we’ve deemed appropriate for our trip, local radio stations that have stuck on our dial, and interesting internet radio streams.

But I couldn’t leave Devil’s Tower without a report of this awesome place I’ve always wanted to visit. OK, technically, I did leave since I’m writing this from our new home for the week at Whistler Gulch Campground in Deadwood South Dakota. But I digress…

Traveling across Wyoming, we saw numerous signs stressing that we were in cattle country. As if all the herds weren’t enough to indicate such. As a vegetarian, René was especially amused by the billboards boldy telling us to “Eat Beef!” Personally, I took it as a sign to seek out and grill a great big Wyoming steak. And of course, I would just have to do my best Richard Dreyfus impression by sculpting a replica of the Bear’s Lodge from my mashed potatoes.

Our First Roadkill

July 17, 2007 by Jim

Longest drive yet yesterday, from Laramie to Keyhole State Park just outside Devil’s Tower Wyoming. No wonder we made our first kill. Good thing René wasn’t looking when the little bird hit the grille, she would’ve cried for sure. And thank goodness it wasn’t anything bigger, like the open range cattle, free roaming horses, Pronghorn sheep or numerous Jackalopes we’ve seen littering the Wyoming byways. …

Campground Review: Keyhole State Park, WY

July 18, 2007July 16, 2007 by Rene

After a long day of driving, the last thing you want to hear is that the only campground in a small town is booked. But of course, that’s exactly what we were told when we called the KOA in Devils Tower, WY at 4;30 pm on a Monday. We were only about 50 miles from the KOA, and they are the only game in town. …

Hammock Tryouts: Strike One

July 16, 2007 by Jim

Stayed up late last night updating our full-time RV road trip gallery with the latest photos and videos. But no pictures can do justice to the outdoor adventures we enjoyed while dry-camping for the previous four days at Seedhouse in the Routt National Forest. While heavy thunderstorm clouds kept us incognito in the woods, the weather was not so bad that it kept us from …

Onward and Eastward Over the Continental Divide

July 15, 2007 by Rene

There’s so much catching up to do tonight after boondocking out in the Routt National Forest outside of Steamboat Springs, CO. Due to some crazy mountain storms, our satellite service was iffy at best, so we couldn’t get online. We had to find other things to do over the last few days, like fish, mountain bike, hike, knit, and play with Jerry. It was hard …

Field Report: MotoSat Trouble

October 12, 2014July 15, 2007 by Jim

Our first day boondocking at Seedhouse Campground in the Routt National Forest, we had excellent connectivity with Satellite 91 West using our DataStorm F2 dish. The next few days however, we spent too much time trying to troubleshoot connectivity issues. In a previous life, this would have been frustrating. But it’s hard to get upset when your home office is deep in the woods with so much to do…

Troubleshooting the Norcold N821 RV Refrigerator

April 29, 2008July 12, 2007 by Jim

We’ve been giving the fridge a serious workout the past few weeks as we have traveled through some record-breaking heat in Arizona and Utah. I’ve been meaning to post about how the fridge issues that began at Lake Francis RV Resort seem to be resolved. Then I noticed the ignition fault error this morning after our first night in the Rockies outside Steamboat Springs, CO.