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Get Your RV Ready for Spring

April 29, 2008April 1, 2008 by Jim

Spring has sprung. And as a full-time RVer with no intention of storing my fifth wheel for any longer than a day trip in the foreseeable future, I personally don’t have a need for many of the tips in the following article.

But for anyone out there who may be getting ready to hit the road for summer, the following tips will save you from a lot of potential trouble.

The good folks at Good Sam Club RV Road Service were kind enough let us reprint this article for the benefit of our readers. What Good Sams indeed …

Watch your running lights!

March 29, 2008 by Jim

Recently we were headed down a fairly steep grade outside Santa Fe, NM with the trailer in tow and had to pull over rather suddenly.

Hopefully we can tell you more about why sometime soon. However, without signing a non-disclosure agreement, you’ll just have to wait.

Normally this wouldn’t be a problem. And it really wasn’t this time, until I smelled the distinct odor of brake pads cooking.

Channeling Chickens, Coping with Cancer, and Workamping in New Mexico

June 1, 2022March 27, 2008 by Rene

Everything happens for a reason. If we hadn’t have gone back to Los Angeles, we never would have learned that our beloved Jerry’s cancer has made another ugly appearance. You can’t tell by looking at him; he’s as playful and spry as ever. We only took him to the vet for a new heartworm medication, but left knowing we had to get him into oncology treatment, fast. So, we hightailed it back here to New Mexico, to visit a wonderful clinic in Santa Fe, the Veterinary Cancer Care clinic.

We always wanted to see Santa Fe, just not under these circumstances. The closest, most cost-effective RV lodging we found was at Cochiti Lake campground, about 30 minutes south. It’s an Army Corps of Engineers lake, and a bargain at $12 a night.

Our trip into the city was quick; just enough to see the vet, walk around the plaza, and get a good feeling about the place. This joke that a local told us, says it all:

Question: Why did the Santa Fe’an cross the road?
Answer: Because she was channeling a chicken.

From the Blogosphere to Real Life: Meeting Up with Coffeesister and Rhodester

March 20, 2008 by Rene

Who says you can’t build real friendships online? Since hitting the road, Jim and I have been lucky enough to build friendships with some of our favorite Internet superstars, some of whom we’ve actually met in person. Finnegan was the first. Then came Heidi, Matt, Sara and Bella, Sami, The Big Dog, and now Rhodester and Coffeesister.

Work on your own rig and save money!

January 11, 2015March 14, 2008 by Jim

There is one good thing about visiting Los Angeles.

Aside from seeing La Familia, that is. OK two things … Oh, and the food. I guess that makes three things.

Anyway, access to the right tools makes working on your rig easy. And that can help you save a lot of money.

And believe me, El Jefe has all the right tools … and the shop, and the brain, which I picked to learn how to to pack the wheel bearings on our fifth wheel trailer.

Goin’ Back To Cali and Dealing with The Man

March 7, 2008 by Rene

When you’re camped out in the middle of a wild desolate landscape, without a cell signal and a silence so deafening that its roar squeezes your brain like a vise, it’s tempting to believe that you’ve fallen off the radar. You look around for miles and see nothing but desert landscape, imagining that there are no rules, laws or entities that have power over you.

But the truth is, you can’t escape. Ever. Because it doesn’t matter if you hightail it to Patagonia, or just hide out in the woods; the Man will find you.

In our case, the Man was the California Department of Motor Vehicles, and the Houston Police Department.

At home in the shadow of giants

February 13, 2019March 5, 2008 by Jim

While boondocking at Three Rivers Campground at the foot of Sierra Blanca near Tularosa, NM, Jim confirms his love for the mountains. Videos include the road to and the view of camp site.

Live Work Dream Expenses February 2008

September 14, 2015March 4, 2008 by Rene

Well, our Workamping savings are a thing of the past, and February gave us a current reality check of what our expenses look like when we just play tourist and go out looking for all of the cool music, food and entertainment we want to experience.

Our biggest expense last month: fuel. We went over our budgeted amount for the first time ever. This is mostly because we went 1600 miles out of our way (round trip) for a quick trip back to California to visit my family. More on our L.A. experience later.

Feelin’ Like Somebody in Luckenbach

December 12, 2012February 28, 2008 by Jim

Let’s go to Luckenbach Texas with Waylon and Willie and the boys
This successful life we’re livin’ got us feuding
Like the Hatfield and McCoys
Between Hank Williams pain songs, Newberry’s train songs
And blue eyes cryin’ in the rain, out in Luckenbach Texas
Ain’t nobody feelin’ no pain …

[Show as slideshow]

We save a LOT with Passport America!

April 11, 2013February 25, 2008 by Jim

I’m not one to join another RV club for the sake of getting a sticker to put on my rig. But I sure wish we had joined Passport America months ago!

We had seen the Passport America club signs at campgrounds but didn’t think twice about it until recently.

A fellow fulltimer explained how much we could save, so we went for it.

Our time down on the bayou

February 22, 2008 by Jim

For our visit to New Orleans, we boondocked on the BioLiberty compound down on Bayou Liberty in Slidell, Louisiana.

This is where our old Humboldt friend Gordon Soderberg now calls home.

Living full-time in his RV, he has established quite an impressive green enterprise with the help of a local dentist who owns the property.

[Show as slideshow]

Flux and Skinny Chef: Two Artists, Living and Creating On the Road and in New Orleans

February 21, 2008 by Rene

As I previously mentioned, artists are flocking to New Orleans. My new artist friend, Skinny Chef (aka Mary Kate), likened the city to a blank slate, a place where great art is rising from the ashes of Katrina. We met Skinny Chef and her partner Flux Rostrum, down on the Bio Liberty compound in Slidell. They are moving to NOLA, to further her art, and expand Flux’s mobile broadcasting studio’s capabilities.

From Farmers to Fulltimers: Another Young Couple Hits the Road in their RV

February 13, 2008 by Rene

Younger fulltimers are workamping in parks across America while seeing the country in their RV

A Weekend from Hell in Paradise Island RV Resort

February 9, 2008 by Rene

So this is paradise, eh? Well, if your idea of paradise is parked in a crammed, dumpy RV “resort” for a whopping $40 a night, where you are so close to the next RV that you can’t roll out your awning, where you have snotty French Canadian neighbors that refuse to say hello or make eye contact, then Paradise RV Resort in Fort Lauderdale is for you!

The Conclusion: Making a Living as Organic Farmers

March 18, 2022February 6, 2008 by Rene

What we learned as Workampers while living on the oranic farm at White Rabbit Acres, Vero Beach, Florida.