Out of everything we have in storage, one of the biggest things I miss is our home gym. We had a lot of workout equipment, which actually got used for workouts and not as clothes hangers. We used to work out at least four mornings a week, running and lifting weights. So when we hit the road and all that went away, it was hard for me to observe any hard-earned muscle tone I had turn soft and pudgy. Now, even though we alternate between running and bicycling, without the gym equipment, gravity takes its toll, fast.
Another Geek Mission Accomplished!
One of the great things about workamping somewhere that does not require a full-time commitment is that you actually get some time to do your own thing. For us, that is trying to make a living online.
One of my goals for Jerry’s dog blog during our stay here on the farm was to develop his new Tripawd Discussion Forums.
I can now officially check that off my list. Thanks to the Simple Forum WordPress plugin from Yellow Swordfish.
Don’t Panic, It’s Only Mud
What not to do if your RV tow vehicle gets stuck in mud and sand.
To Pump, or Not to Pump?
An interesting debate came up while troubleshooting and fixing our RV slide out leak.
El Jefe suggested that whenever dry-camping, we should turn off our water pump at night and when we leave the rig unattended for a long time. I didn’t like the idea of doing this because the water heater needs to remain pressurized or the element could burn out.
Investigate all potential leaks. Soon.
Jim describes how they investigated and fixed a leak that caused the carpet to get wet inside their Arctic Fox fifth wheel.
Dive Bars and Road Food Restaurants in Old Florida
There’s a lot of talk here about how “Old Florida” is disappearing. Kitschy roadside attractions are being paved over for gated homes along golf courses, and old timey family diners are being squeezed out by Chick Fil A and Olive Garden. It’s like this in a lot of the country, as Americans allow national chains to destroy the very things that make our hometowns unique.
We get a kick out of finding new, divey places to check out. In the last couple of weeks, we’ve found two great places that are sadly, a dying breed: Archie’s Seabreeze on Hutchinson Island, and Mrs. B’s in Vero Beach, off I-95.
We didn’t find them on our own; our online friend Chelsea told us about Archies, and the locals we met at Earl’s told us about Mrs. Bs.
Attend a Workamper Expo and Support Your Fulltimer Lifestyle
By attending the Workamper Expo in Lakeland Florida we learned so much about the workamper lifestyle, finding a job, and making a living while on the road. Includes video interviews of workamper employers.
The hard way to make tropical drinks…
Video of Jim shows the hard way to husk a coconut with Harry Nilsson singing Put the Lime in the Coconut
My Turn to Milk Fanny the Goat
Jim milks Fanny the goat as one of his workamping duties at White Rabbit Acres organic farm. Includes video.
Snowbirds: Prepare for a Florida Freeze!
When we lived just blocks away from the boardwalk in Old Town Eureka, we would enjoy the summer concert series when we could stroll along the waterfront listening to live music in the cool evening breeze. If it wasn’t raining.
Here in Florida, these type of concerts go on year-round. We attended one the week before Christmas at the Vero Beach Library. I wore shorts.
A couple weeks later, on New Year’s Eve, we had the air conditioner blasting during dinner. We were getting pretty heated. Literally! Just a few nights later, we had to run the heater and get out the wool blanket.
Good Sam Club offers more than just great savings!
Get Great RV Tips & Save on Camping when you Join the Good Sam Club and make money from your website with the good Sam Affiliate program.
A Vegetarian Sees Life and Death on the Farm
A vegetarian fulltime RVer gets used to life and death while work camping on an organic farm in Vero Beach, Florida.
Live Work Dream 2007 Expense Summary
Whew, what a relief. I just crunched our trip expenses from June to December, and found that we actually came in under budget by almost $12,000! How did we do it? By over budgeting, being ultra careful about things we chose to see and do, and Workamping. Now, this nice little savings is going to allow us to continue our journey even longer than we originally planned, by at least 6 months or so.
Now, let’s talk money. Pay attention; here are some important lessons we learned:
Calculate Satellite Settings with Dishpointer
Here is a nifty little widget that would have come in quite handy when our Datastorm F2 GPS unit went bad. Though using it would have required for us to be online already!
Regardless, the Dishpointer satellite alignment calculator is still pretty cool.
We’ve included the Dishpointer Lite widget here for your use. Just select your satellite from the drop down menu and enter your location – city or zip code – in the box. The map and details will automatically update with the required elevation, azimuth and LNB skew for your satellite dish. Drag the map or marker to pinpoint your location.
Pretty cool, eh? If you think so, wait until you check out the full version.
How to Replace the Datastorm F2 UCB
Translation: Here’s a little video we made showing how I replaced the Upper Control Board on our Datastorm F2 mobile satellite internet dish after receiving a GPS failure from our D3 controller.
If a picture is worth a 1,000 words this video must be worth at least 1,024. But here’s a few more about the experience anyway. Just to make a short story long …