Author: Lee and Tracy

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First Time at an Olive Oil Company

I love seeing how things are made, and one of my favorite things as we have traveled in this lifestyle is when we have an opportunity to go to the source and see where things come from. I became really interested in olive oil in particular after talking to our friend Deb, who owned an olive oil store before she went on the road.  I really didn’t know much about it until talking to her, but her stories fired my imagination and when I learned that they grew and pressed olives in Texas, I wanted to go.

Cori and I have made plans to go for the last three years but other stuff kept getting in the way, so when she suggested we stop after picking Kelly up at the Austin airport I was all in.  I was a little concerned we were going on Black Friday , as I tend to stay in on that crazy day, but we went the back roads and stayed away from the malls and it was a pleasant drive.  After picking Kelly up we headed back towards Dripping Springs, which is an interesting town full of wineries, distilleries, and tucked back off a country road The Texas Hill Country Olive Oil Company.

Beautiful building. The land started as a winery, but the owner decided to be a pioneer and converted to olive oil in 2008.

 

The front doors were huge and really beautiful

 

When you walk in there is a bar straight ahead with a gift shop to the left and a small restaurant to the right.

Despite it being Black Friday there was a bit of a crowd and a tour was just finishing.  We learned that tours were free this weekend because of the holiday, so even though it was a 30 minute wait we decided to stay.  While we waited, Cori ordered a chicken and cheese pizza, which we split, and we checked out the really nice gift shop.  Lots of their products were on sale, and of course they had several tasting areas set up.  They also had a nice selection of imported balsamics which were infused on site with a variety of flavors.  In general I am not a huge fan of balsamic vinegar, but these were really nice, and I loved the raspberry infused in particular.

One of several tasting areas. We learned the olive oils are lined up mildest (on the left) to robust (on the right).

 

Kelly loved the flavors!

 

The gift shop also had other items and in particular I loved this mommy and me activity scarf that had things for your kids to play with on it. Really ingenious and I had never seen anything quite like it

 

Nice kitchen

 

And the pizza was yummy! The balsamic drizzle in particular was really good.

Before we knew it the tour started, and we went into a large tasting room and learned about the history of the company, which I found fascinating.  This company was the first organic olive grower in Texas and when they brought in trees from California they did very well because of the limestone soil in this part of Texas.  When the owner initially started he really had no idea what he was getting into, but through hard work and some luck he did very well.  They sell over 40,000 bottles a year and were so successful that they bought a second farm down near the Rio Grande with many more trees.  The original farm was still working and we left the tasting room and walked out into the orchard.

Donna gave the tour and she was excellent

 

The rows of olive trees were really pretty.  They do use irrigation, but only in the hottest months of summer.

 

In the larger orchard they use nets under the trees and a mechanical arm that shakes them to harvest, but in this smaller farm all of the picking is done by hand.

 

They allow people to walk freely through the trees. I’d love to see it when the olives were in.

 

The season is March through October so unfortunately all that were left were some olives on the ground

 

This section of the tour was really informative and we learned that although the trees themselves are very hardy, weather does have an impact on the crop.  I also learned that green, purple, and black olives are not different varieties (I wasn’t the only one who didn’t know that), but rather the color changed as they ripened.  The best colors for oil are when they have a little bit of all three colors in them, and the pickers run their hands through the leaves and the fruits that are ready gently fall into their basket.  By the way, the olives that are used for extra virgin oil must go from being picked to mill within 72 hours, and can never touch the ground.  One of the many interesting facts we learned about how oil is categorized.

After being in the orchard we moved back inside into the mill and went through the milling process.  It’s multiple steps and again I found it very interesting.  Turns out that the United States uses 10% of the world’s olive oil but only creates .5%.  When olive oil sales boomed international growers were not able to meet the demand and got “creative” in what they called olive oil.  Unfortunately rules about labeling are actually set by each individual country, and there is nothing we can do in the US to prevent that.  Consequently bargain olive oils are routinely cut with sunflower oil and can contain as little as 10% true olive oil.  Add to that the different standards for extra virgin and our guide recommended that we always buy domestic to make sure we are getting the real deal.  She even cited a recent 60 Minutes investigation where over 70% of the olive oils tested weren’t pure olive oil.  That is an incredibly high percentage.

First the olives go into the washer which de-stems and cleans the olives then into the hammermill which creates a thick paste

 

Next they are slow churned in the big vats in the back and COOL water is used. Hot water leeches the nutrients so the cool water is important

 

Next is the centrifuge which spins out the vegetative water (used in spa products), pulp (used to feed animals), and an olive oil “butter”.

One of the coolest things we learned was that the pulp helps goats with their digestive tract, reducing inflammation by up to 50%.  I thought this was interesting because countries which traditionally grow olives also have goats, so there was a symbiotic relationship between the goats and the trees until we broke it.  It takes roughly 7 pounds of olives (varies based on type of olive and the strength of the harvest) to make 250 ml of oil, which is why it has been hard to keep up with the demand.

Once the oil is ready, it is placed in a bottle or barrel and nitrogen is used to keep the oxygen away. Oxygen and sunlight are the enemies of olive oil and once the bottle is opened, the nutrients start disappearing. Our guide recommended all oils are consumed within one year of opening.

So how can you tell if you have the real deal at home? If the product is domestic the label should tell you, but if it is imported you need to do a taste test. Basically, you take a shot of the oil and it should go down like water, producing a tingle or even a cough when you drink it.  Finally, there should be no residue on your tongue.  That all seemed somewhat subjective to me, so I think I would rather do my research and just find a brand that I like that is uncut.

I really liked the tour very much, and since they were having a 20% off Black Friday sale, decided to treat myself to some hand picked extra virgin olive oil and the raspberry balsamic.  I think they will taste great in a spinach salad and I am really looking forward to trying them out.  I was also really glad that we had a chance to get out and do something fun.  Between looking for jobs, training Jack, and Lee working on repairs we haven’t done much the last few weeks.  I really enjoyed this and am grateful that Cori went to some trouble to make sure we got to experience it.

 

 

Camper Chronicles is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, a program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com. We very much appreciate any purchase you make via our website links.  There is no additional cost to you and helps support our blog.  Search Amazon.com here

Or you can check out our recipe book filled with 80 real recipes we have cooked in our RV and taste tested by Lee himself. The cookbook specializes in recipes that have a limited number of ingredients, without sacrificing flavor and is organized into categories that matter to full time RVers such as Happy Hours, Travel Days, and Pot Lucks   You can preview the kindle version on  Amazon or the Apple version on Itunes.    It is available in paperback on Amazon if you prefer.

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Original Expectations Versus Reality

As we start Year Five of our journey I thought this might be a good time to look back and talk about how the lifestyle is different than I thought it would be.  Despite (or perhaps because of) the amount of research most of us do before we get started, we all have preconceptions prior to becoming full timers, and I was certainly no different.  The oft repeated “There is no one right way to full time,” certainly holds true, but that doesn’t mean that we don’t all individually have expectations, and like most things in life those expectations aren’t always met.  Sometimes that is a good thing, and sometimes not, but in my mind it’s always a good idea to periodically take stock of the reality versus the expectation.  So here are some of the biggest surprises for me. (As always, your mileage may vary, batteries not included, some restrictions may apply, not valid in all areas. – Lee) 

Some friends and family will never accept the lifestyle – That more than anything else has really surprised me.  I knew it would be a tough sell for some people, heck it was a tough sell for me!  But even after all this time, there are a few people in our lives who either think it is a “phase” we are going through, or they flat out just don’t honor our choice.  In our case, those people don’t come to us and tell us that, but there is a “cooling” of relationships, and ultimately in some cases we have drifted apart.  In a select few cases, people have been overtly judgmental, and those people really aren’t part of our lives anymore. Thankfully, we haven’t had much of this, but it has happened and the reason it caught me off guard is because most people I know are doing whatever the hell they want with their lives and it surprises me that they think they would get a vote in how we lived ours, or that we don’t have the same right to live the way we want to.  Those folks are definitely a small subset though.  A few people are really into it, and some are even inspired to change their lives as well, but most fall in the interested spectator category, which is just fine because I think I would have been the same if the situation was reversed. (My advice is do what makes you less unhappy. There will always be naysayers and people who tell you to get back in line. They are free to bugger off. Life is short. – Lee) 

The “success rate” is much higher than I thought it would be – I would have bet money that 50% of the people we went on the road with would have been off the road by now, and that is nowhere close to being the case.  We meet very few people who take on this lifestyle on a whim, and consequently most are pretty happy with their choice.  Even the people who do go off the road eventually are happy that they took the time to travel, and so far at least I haven’t met one person who says they made a mistake trying it.  It’s more than possible some full timers think that, but if they do they aren’t sharing it with me.

We haven’t gone broke – Another thing I would have placed a 50/50 bet on was the fact that we would have gone broke.  The math didn’t add up to me, and I thought there was a good chance we wouldn’t be able to control our spending.  It turns out a combination of living more frugally and making more money than I thought we could has made this financially viable.  Sure there is a possibility that at some point a catastrophe could force us from the road, but nothing short of that could, and I have met enough people who have been doing this for long enough to completely know it is possible to finance yourself.  Being mostly debt free is a really big component of that though, and Lee tells everyone who asks about how to start, to work on being debt free first. (We would have a lot more money if we weren’t constantly squandering on foolish things like food, fuel and insurance. – Lee)

Friendships can be maintained on the road – I didn’t expect to make many friends on the road, mainly because I didn’t have many friends in my old life.  Even when I made friends, I was dubious about how well those relationships would last when we were all traveling all over the country.  That turned out to be a very pleasant surprise, because having a common interest (and common problems) is a wonderful bonding experience that exists no matter where we travel.  For the first time in my life I feel like I am part of a community, and since I envisioned our travel as being mostly Lee and I wandering alone from place to place, that has been a wonderful surprise.  Logistically it turns out that with a little bit of effort, you can cross paths with each other pretty frequently. The country is big, but our homes are on wheels, and it’s relatively easy to make that happen, even with people working.

The view is amazing – I knew from other people’s pictures that the view was often amazing, but even the best pictures can rarely capture the experience of those moments.  In retrospect, my former life had so little of this that I couldn’t come close to even imagining what it would feel like.  Lee has a better imagination than I do, so it’s fair to say for him there are less quantity of those moments than he originally thought, but for me the quality of them far exceeds any expectation. (I always hated looking out my house windows and seeing other houses. This is way better. – Lee)

We can travel without a plan – In the beginning, I didn’t think I would ever be able to wander without a plan, but it turns out after several years practice we can. Our lives still have structure because we work, but every driving day and every campground stay doesn’t need to be planned far in advance.  I knew it was possible for some people, but never thought my personality would allow it, but as my comfort level has grown it has become possible. (This has been a big surprise to me as well. I really thought neither of us would ever be comfortable with not having reservations for every stop. – Lee) 

The jobs sometimes suck – I’ve spent lots of time talking about this, but it’s important to know that going back to the very beginning, I really thought I could do “whatever job” and since it was short term it wouldn’t bother me.  To some extent that is true, but when you string lots of those jobs together, it’s pretty unpleasant, and now we know we need to be more selective about what we decide to do for money.  The good news is there are more seasonal jobs available than I ever imagined, and lots of opportunities to try new things.

It’s more Real Life than Explore Life –  It’s not surprising that when you are researching and seeing other people’s “highlight reels” that you get the impression that the life is all beautiful sunsets and grand vistas and cocktails at sunset on the beach. In reality there are more truck stops, laundry days, and TV nights than either one of us expected.  That’s been just fine though, because regular life stuff has its own purpose and at times can feel really comforting.  Sometimes you just want to hunker down and stay inside , and there is absolutely nothing wrong with that.  We both just get a little restless when we find that is all we are doing, and surprisingly at times have to force each other to get out in the world and explore.  Just because we are full time RVers, we don’t wake up each morning full of energy with a song in our heart and rush out to enjoy nature. (Speak for yourself, I am a dazzling ray of sunshine, optimism and joie de vivre. – Lee) To some extent my mental picture of all this was a bit like a Tide commercial, but that it simply not the reality.

We don’t miss our stuff – As painful as it was to clean everything out, I really thought I would have lots more moments where I missed my stuff.  It turns out, like many people, I rarely think of it and when we finally got around to cleaning our our storage area this year, we didn’t even remember most of the things in it.  We kept a few things (which now reside in Lee’s parents’ basement) but I don’t actively miss any of them.  The only thing I did want, a small ceramic Christmas Tree that was left in storage, is now riding with us, and almost anything we had is pretty easily replaced.  Making everything digital before we left really helped with this.  The intangibles, like pictures, came with us, and even though I am keeping the printed copies for the kids, I have them with me. (I don’t miss the “stuff” as much as I thought I would, but I do miss reliable high speed internet and the full size freezer in the garage. – Lee)

I’ve settled in – On one hand,  it took me much longer than I thought it would to settle into the lifestyle, but on the other hand part of me thought I never would.  This life has become the new normal, and thoughts of a traditional life now leave me with feelings of vague unease.  I believe I could transition back if I needed to, but I also have trouble picturing what that would look like for me now.  I’ve changed.  More than I thought possible.  And only time will tell how those changes impact me long term. (If anyone were to try to get me to go back to my old life, they would need to bring friends. A lot of them. And maybe pack a lunch. – Lee)

I think it’s fair to say that everyone I know has changed.   We are still at our core the same people we were when we came on the road, but our perspective has shifted, and our priorities are often different. The lesson I think is I don’t think many people can pop into the lifestyle and then pop out again the same person.  The life makes a mark on you, and in my mind in a good way. And maybe that is the main reason realities are so different from expectations. When I imagined my life, it was the old me in this lifestyle.  I didn’t account for the fact that I would evolve.  I thought I would be happier of course and less stressed out, but I didn’t expect personal growth, which I have gotten in spades. For me that’s been a really good thing.

And since there are no pictures of cool things in this post, here’s one of Jack.

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First Friendsgiving

Thanksgiving was a big holiday in my family, so when we went on the road it was important to me that we at least tried to do something special on the day.  The first year we were lucky enough to spend the holidays with my sister, but since then we have always been working and have been away from family.  Over the years we have had a steak dinner in the middle of the redwoods, ate with Cori’s family, and ate out at a restaurant with fellow employees at Amazon.  This year we are having what I consider our first Friendsgiving.

I first heard the term several years ago when my youngest daughter, who is in the Air Force, banded together with some friends and cooked a meal.  I thought it was really cool that people far from family still honored the tradition and since everyone cooked their family favorites the food was always good.  This year there were only five of us together, but we still decided to do the big meal with all the trimmings.  Bill and Greg smoked a turkey that was brined in Cajun spices (really delicious) and we all chipped in our favorite sides.  Ultimately it was a ton of food, but also generated lots of leftovers, which was just fine with all of us!

They split the turkey before putting it on the smoker. We all thought it might be dry but it was crazy moist and delicious

 

I had to make deviled eggs for Lee of course as they are his favorite

 

And Bill made homemade cranberry sauce. Yum!

While Cori and Greg were at brunch with her family, Bill and Lee worked on rig stuff outside and I cooked up a storm.  I miss the big family meals on the road, and ended up making two deserts, broccoli cheese casserole, stuffing, the eggs, and Lee made gravy, which admittedly was a ridiculous amount of food, but still fun.

This cookies were two slices of sugar cookie with a thin mint in between. Looked ugly but tasted OK. I’m not much of a baker!

 

My mom always made broccoli cheese casserole and I was glad to honor the family tradition

 

We got a little carried away on the gravy, which made me laugh super hard. Gravy on everything!

 

Lee has been working on a project under our rig for a couple of days now. He is going to do a separate post on it when he’s done.

 

It wasn’t all cooking, because I was able to get a strong NBC signal and watched the Macy’s Day parade and then my absolute favorite, the Dog Show!  It was Jack’s first experience with seeing dogs on TV, but apart from the occasional growl (he didn’t like the German Shepherd) or intent interest (he thought the Shih Tzu was really cute) he mostly just chilled. He and Hobie were in and out of the rig all day and were playing a game of sorts with a piece of rawhide.  Jack would take it and not let Hobie near it, and as soon as Jack lost interest Hobie would grab it and take off with it.  It was pretty fun to watch and that piece of rawhide was back and forth between our rigs throughout the day until finally it got chewed up! There was also lots of play time and a surprisingly good Cowboys/Redskins football game.

Jack loves his belly rubs from Aunt Cori

 

Hobie says, “My mommy loves me best!”

 

Jack ready to pounce

 

Can’t have Thanksgiving without America’s game

 

It was a very nice day and so glad we all got to spend it together.  We all missed Kelly who was home with her kids, but she is coming back on Friday, and Cori and I are going to the airport to pick her up.  Friendsgivings are very special and as much as I miss my family at the holidays, are a nice way to celebrate.

Camper Chronicles is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, a program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com. We very much appreciate any purchase you make via our website links.  There is no additional cost to you and helps support our blog.  Search Amazon.com here

Or you can check out our recipe book filled with 80 real recipes we have cooked in our RV and taste tested by Lee himself. The cookbook specializes in recipes that have a limited number of ingredients, without sacrificing flavor and is organized into categories that matter to full time RVers such as Happy Hours, Travel Days, and Pot Lucks   You can preview the kindle version on  Amazon or the Apple version on Itunes.    It is available in paperback on Amazon if you prefer.

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First Time Filing for Unemployment

I went back and forth in my head quite a bit on whether or not to write about this, but since I like to be as transparent as possible about what this life looks like, I felt it was important to talk about this experience.  Let me start off by saying I am by no means an expert in this.  As my post title says I have never in my life filed unemployment before.  Add to that the fact that the rules and procedures for every state are different, please keep in mind that my experience is simply my own and your mileage may definitely vary.  Despite those differences the main reason I wanted to share this is that for several years it never even occurred to me that this was a possibility.  It wasn’t until some good friends I met at a job hesitantly mentioned it to me one day that I even thought about it.  And then after talking to them I talked to others and realized that this was more common for working RVers than I previously thought.

I am not sure why I never thought of it, other than the fact that I get tunnel vision sometimes.  My entire goal with the lifestyle (from a financial perspective) was to find jobs that we could do that would cover our costs and allow for short breaks a couple times a year.  In the past we have either used the extra we made in season or our savings to cover our costs, and mostly been successful.  Getting from point A to point B however can be costly ($1K in gas to get from Portland to Texas for example) and there is almost always a break between when one seasonal job stops and the next one starts.  For those people who are using work-kamping jobs to supplement other income, it may be not such a big deal, but those of us who are fully funding ourselves by working, any break in income can be difficult to cover without dipping into savings.  It was in a discussion about this very thing, when I learned that some people collect unemployment between jobs and I was intrigued enough that I decided  I owed it to ourselves to at least look into it.

Just checking it out was a pretty big deal for me because I really didn’t want to collect unemployment at all.  In my head, there is a “stigma” attached to doing that, even though I am completely aware that I and my previous employers have paid many thousands of dollars into these funds over the years.  And the logical part of me understood that there was absolutely nothing wrong with applying (that is what it is there for after all), but the Midwestern “work until you die” ethic really didn’t like the idea at all.  It’s amazing how often my choices are influenced by that upbringing. I was able to push through that and at least create the claim, and this is where it gets a little complicated.

Because we worked in multiple states in the last 18 months we could actually have filed in Oregon or Kentucky.  Our work in Texas gate guarding is 1099 work, so it turns out we couldn’t file there, but when I talked to someone from the Oregon unemployment office she ran the numbers and it turns out my weekly claim would have been slightly more if I filed in Kentucky than in Oregon.  Since all of this is online now, I could have filed in either place, but since I worked the most in Oregon (five months versus two) I went ahead and set up the claim in Oregon.  Just because it’s online the initial setup wasn’t easy.  I needed last year’s W9 information and final pay stubs for this year, which I had to scramble a bit to get.   And in our case since part of our money is 1099, I had to be careful not to go down the small business owner path because that is a totally separate thing.  The worst part of the website is once you make a mistake, there was no way to go back and I must have restarted four different times before I finally figured it out.  Online is certainly better than going into an office somewhere but they still don’t make it easy.

They also asked lots and lots and lots of question along the way and I was VERY careful in how I answered those. The system isn’t really set up for those of us who work seasonally in different states, although it can’t be that uncommon because the woman I talked to was aware of the concept of mobile workers.  I filled it all out and then let it sit there, until it was time to make my first weekly report for benefits  Oregon at least will keep the claim open for 30 days and it’s available to reopen for several months after the initial setup.  Once we left Oregon, I thought about filing a weekly report, but even though I was actively looking for a job at that time I chose not to. And I am not 100% sure why.  Partly because we hadn’t landed in Texas (our new home base) yet.  Partly because I was with my Mom, although she was very clear that she thought I should file, mainly I guess because I just didn’t like the way it made me feel. Ultimately I just couldn’t pull the trigger on it, and since we had the funds to cover the month of October, I just let it be.

Fast forward a bit to now though, and I was regretting that decision.  In the past we have only had to wait a few days to get a gate, but we hit things at exactly the wrong time down here.  We have never tried to get a gate in November before and were running into hunting season (some ranch owners shut drilling down for hunting in November) or the holidays (new projects don’t start until after the holidays) and time was ticking away.  It’s not like we have been complacent though.  Lee signed us up with seven different companies and we are on their waiting lists and we have expanded our search to pipeline guarding which is a little different than gate guarding and seems to have more opportunity.   We even spent several hours with one company this week filling out paperwork and getting drug tested so we are ready when the next position opens up, and have stayed in contact with several others.  In my mind all of that definitely constitutes actively looking for employment, so with a healthy push from my Mom, I went back to look at filing unemployment.

It would be fair to say here, that if I had just done it when I was supposed to I could have been collecting all along, but to Lee’s credit he didn’t give me a hard time about that at all.  Instead, he just accepted that now I was ready and last week I went in and reopened the claim and filed the first report.  The first week is a waiting period (that hasn’t changed), but as of this writing I just went in and filed for the second week, so we will see if we actually start receiving benefits. Filing the weekly report is pretty easy, but you need the names of two employers you contacted and three other job search activities (checking listings, updating resumes etc) that you do every week.  Not a problem for us since we are actively looking, and you can use the same company week after week as well.

So it’s done, and like most “firsts” in my life that I get nervous about it was fine after I completed it.  I’m not going to beat myself up because I waited so long to file, because I know me and understand exactly where that hesitation came from.  And I want to be clear there is no judgement here on what anyone else decides to do.  It’s a personal decision, and every circumstance is completely unique.  The two reasons I am writing about this at all are that some people may not know it is an option, and second we are very transparent about our finances, and if we do start receiving checks I wanted to be open about where that money was coming from. I’ll update this post with the final resolution if we actually get a check and will talk about it in the November financials as well.

And just to lighten things up here is a picture of Jack helping Lee look for a job.  He’s very handy that way!

Camper Chronicles is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, a program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com. We very much appreciate any purchase you make via our website links.  There is no additional cost to you and helps support our blog.  Search Amazon.com here

Or you can check out our recipe book filled with 80 real recipes we have cooked in our RV and taste tested by Lee himself. The cookbook specializes in recipes that have a limited number of ingredients, without sacrificing flavor and is organized into categories that matter to full time RVers such as Happy Hours, Travel Days, and Pot Lucks   You can preview the kindle version on  Amazon or the Apple version on Itunes.    It is available in paperback on Amazon if you prefer.

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Fourth Year – The Emotional Arc

I can’t believe it’s been four years already.  Looking back on this whole journey has been a bit surreal, and if you are a person who likes a high level overview of events,  you might want to read my previous annual emotional arc posts listed below before reading this one.  If you want to skip all of the self reflection then you can scroll past all the text and look at the pictures of some of my favorite experiences of the year.

The year started out with us working at Amazon, completing the last of the “Big Five” work kamping jobs.  From the very beginning I wanted to try all of the “Big 5” types of jobs and see what was a good fit for us, and Amazon was the very last of those.  Ironically, Amazon turned out to be Lee’s least favorite, by miles. Just ask him, he’ll tell you why. He’s been pretty mellow about the different work we have done, but the extreme micro management at Amazon drove him absolutely crazy.  Couple that with lots of time to think, and some personal family issues he was dealing with, and it was a rough couple of months for him.  I was in pretty good shape though, once I got a decent pair of shoes and got past the physical demands of the job. We were both glad to be heading to Columbus to spend Christmas with some family members when it was all over.

As soon as Christmas was over we ran south to get away from the cold and started gate guarding again, and as soon as we were back in the west Lee’s mood improved. Our first assignment was just over the border from Jal, NM and the cold and wind was not the greatest, but we were glad we got a gate pretty quickly.   Thankfully we were done with that gig in a few short weeks and then we moved to an awesome gate in south Texas where we hung out until March.  While we were gate guarding I had lots of time to write and finished the first draft of a book about becoming full timers and wrote several reflective posts. One was called  Phases of Fulltiming and does a nice job of summarizing the first three years and talking about my hopes for Year Four. Back in January I wrote “I would like year four to be about living a life that makes me personally happy and fulfilled, and I really want to focus on that.  In the past,  I have spent an awful lot of time and energy worrying about other people’s well being instead of focusing on myself. It’s a difficult balance, because I do believe that a good person puts others in front of themselves, but I also realize that ultimately I only have one life to live and I should definitely make the most of it.  Hopefully I can maintain a balance this year by letting go of unproductive emotions and focusing on the positive ones.”  Looking back on Year Four I think I made substantial progress in this area.

I also wrote a post called Do We Think About Stopping that talked about whether the challenges of the lifestyle made us want to quit.  It was a fair question, because a few people we know have gotten off the road this past year, although most of our friends are still going strong.  One of the main things I came to grip with this year is to some extent the lifestyle “ruins” you for a traditional life.  Don’t get me wrong, people do successfully transition back to a sticks and bricks life (our friends Kat/Bert and Jo/Ben both successfully transitioned back to stick and bricks this year) but many of us have trouble visualizing ourselves staying in one place or getting traditional jobs again.  The relative freedom of full-timing is pretty heady stuff and the vagabond lifestyle (for us at least) is addicting.  I did do a follow-up to that post called Solo Strategy, where I took a hard look at what this lifestyle would mean for me if I had to do it alone and came to the conclusion that if something happened to Lee I would probably get off the road.  This lifestyle works for me very well as part of a couple, but I am pretty sure I wouldn’t want to do it alone.  After much thought and discussion I realized I am OK with that too, it just makes me more convinced that we should enjoy every minute of this while we can.

So January through March were soul searching months and we were both really happy when we were done.  We were heading to the RV-Dreams reunion rally in Pahrump, Nevada and would be seeing a lot of friends we hadn’t seen in a long time.  This rally had been on our schedule for over a year and we were thrilled that so many of the “Class of 2014” was going to be there.  As a bonus our travel plans coincided with Jo and Ben, and just the four of us were able to boondock for a few days before the rally.  Jo and Ben have been a part of our lives since our first RV-Dreams rally, before we even started, and after several years traveling and working on the road as nurses they had decided that they were going to come off the road and settle back in Colorado.  Although I know they will be our friends forever, I was glad we got to reconnect in person with them prior to them settling down in one place.

After the reunion rally we were spending a month in Utah, and for the first time we were traveling for an extended period with no strict travel plans.  We had a rough idea of things we wanted to see, but ultimately let weather and personal preference drive our travel.  That went so much better than I think either one of us thought it would and we ended up boondocking for almost the entire month as well.  Utah in April was an absolute dream and I loved every minute of it.  The landscapes were better than even Alaska from my perspective and I left wanting to return as soon as we possibly could.  I also for the first time got to experience what it might be like to be a travel writer and spent day after day putting out these adventure filled posts.  Every day was so full of experiences that ultimately we needed to slow down so I could take a little break, which is really a wonderful situation to be in.

At the end of April we headed up to Mount Hood, Oregon, for the first time returning to the same company for the summer.  I had been offered a lead position and was excited to see if I could find a way to meld my professional and my travel life together.  Up until this point one of my major dissatisfactions with the life was my inability to find work that stretched me mentally and I wanted to see what it would look like to be personally and professionally fulfilled. The only downside was because I was in a lead position I couldn’t blog much about my life and I found that I really missed it. Turns out that the additional professional responsibility also meant more hours and less creative energy.  I found myself working incredibly hard and taking my work “home” with me.  There was very little time this summer for any kind of fun and even when we had those experiences it was almost impossible to put work aside.  I kept plugging away at it, in the hopes I would find a balance, but ultimately never did.

The difficult thing was I really enjoyed the work itself and felt good about what I was contributing.  The politics, personnel issues, and red tape wore me down though, and reminded me of exactly why I had left my former job.  I think the major thing I walked away with this summer was that for me at least I couldn’t have one without the other.  The same drive that made me good at what I did, also brought the cost of more stress and difficulty unplugging.  Before I started this life I just accepted that cost as a necessary evil and thought someday when I retired it would be different. I knew there were jobs with less stress, but I also knew I found them unfulfilling.  My experiment in trying to get both in one job that fulfilled both things was a bust and I really didn’t know what to do about that. I started seriously looking for a regular job, updating resumes, talking to head hunters, but despite the low unemployment rate the jobs I was interested in weren’t interested in me and the ones where I thought I had a shot were not a direction I wanted to go.  I was left feeling angry and frustrated and really I was emotionally a hot mess.

It didn’t help that while I was looking for a job we had an expensive trip to Vegas to see family and a variety of other things coming at me.   I had a biopsy that was clear but came with a $4K bill (ultimately I negotiated the costs down) and a series of real life issues during our travels that were stressing me out.   Towards the end of October, we limped into San Antonio to see our friends Cori and Greg, and all I wanted was a break.  I wanted to unplug, forget about everything, and give myself time to deal with my emotions.  Turns out Cori and Greg are pretty good people to do that with.  As I am writing this post it is the four year anniversary of the day we closed on our house, left home, and immediately drove to see Cori and Greg.  They were there with us on day one of our journey, and are with us again today.  Being with people who understand that this lifestyle is a process is invaluable.  This year we have been with some very good friends (Kelly and Bill, Steve and Deb, Howard and Linda, Jo and Ben, Rick Raab and Georgia and Jim to name a few) at critical times and always through word and deed they give us permission to figure it out.  What I mean by that is we don’t have to have all of the answers.  None of them do either, and they are pretty honest about that, they just make the best choices they can and live their lives the best they can, being aware that the one constant is things change.  For someone like me, who leans towards wanting a life blueprint, that understanding is a huge gift.

And surrounded by people who support me, my husband being the largest piece of that, working through my feelings really didn’t take that long.  As often happens to me, there was one encounter that more than anything else really put things in perspective.  Back in 2016 we went to a Reunion Rally and met a couple named Mikki and Jay.  It turned out they were on a break from gate guarding less than an hour from us, so we met halfway for lunch one day.  Over the last two years, Mikki and I had stayed in virtual contact and since we had started before them, she had reached out a few times to ask me some questions.  I was really excited about seeing her in person and finding out how the life was suiting her when we had our lunch.  The conversation was great and they were obviously kindred spirits and as is so often the case we learned some things hearing about their last two years.  One story she told really got my attention. She told us about a summer job she had gotten working at McDonald’s.  Before going on the road, Mikki had a high profile management job, but she really loved her time as a cashier at McDonald’s.  She found it relaxing and really fun and I could tell from looking at her when she told the story she meant every word of it.

That moment really stuck with me and I kept coming back to it over the next few days.  She had started in a similar place as I had, but she seemed to have skipped most of the internal conflict and more importantly seemed better for it.  The best way to describe it was she was totally zen about the work thing in a way I really wished I could be. And for the first time, I really thought, if she can be zen why can’t I???  It was clear to me for the first time that it was a choice and she was making it and it was working for her.  Don’t get me wrong, I have met tons of people who are perfectly content doing these type of jobs, but I have never before felt that could be me.  I have no doubt part of that was my being in the right head space to accept it, but it was also partly her.  You just can’t fake being that comfortable in your own skin.  So Mikki thanks for that.  I don’t know if I will ever get there, but I appreciate you being you!

After the lunch with Mikki and Jay, Lee and I had a series of conversations, we had decided to accept a different position with the same company for next summer and as nice as it was to be “locked in”, a huge part of me was struggling with giving up on going back to my profession.  This was not a new internal argument, but this time it seemed more final somehow and I decided to turn the argument around and focus on what advantages there could be to having a regular route and set jobs in place.  The one thing that kept coming back to me was the fact that if we had somewhat regular jobs and route based travel it would make it easier to have a dog.  I missed having a pet and had toyed with the idea a couple of times while we were on the road, but this time I was pretty serious.  Lee to his credit, despite serious misgivings, took a step back and let me play it out and I spent a ton of time researching and looking for a dog.  I wrote a post about the challenges I had during the search recently, but I only lightly touched on the emotional turmoil I was in.  It was a statement of sorts and a commitment to exploiting the positives of the simplified life we live.   I had a good enough handle on myself to make sure that I didn’t make a bad decision, and was completely aware that it was a living being we were talking about,  but adding a dog to our travels was definitely about more than just getting a dog.

And it turned out that getting Jack has brought me a ton of joy.  I didn’t realize how much I had missed a dog’s presence in my life, until he came into it.  I know it’s early days yet, but we have been super lucky and Lee has been really happy with Jack so far too. Aside from the fantastic puppy kisses and snuggles,  he has reminded me that life is about more than work.  Fulfillment comes in many forms and I was doing myself a disservice by so narrowly defining how I could provide value in this world. As I am writing this, I realize that this whole thing may sound sort of nuts and melodramatic.  I’ll just say that on some level I have been struggling with who I am without my old career for the last three years. I won’t say that I am totally “cured”, but I will say that getting a dog and actually having time to spend with it, reminded me of a younger, simpler self and I think that is a good thing.

And finally, here are some pictures of my favorite experiences of the year.  As always, I judge my life to some extent by the pictures I take and experiences I had and it’s always fun to look back and see what we did.  As you can see, despite my personal challenges, we had an amazingly full year with loads of experiences.  As I look at these at the end of Year Four, more than anything else I feel very blessed and look forward to seeing what Year Five brings.

Had a blast taking a tour of the Jim Beam Distillery with Kelly and Bill

 

Celebrating Christmas with my brother and my niece and nephew

 

Having dinner with Kat and Bert while we were gate guarding. I was super bummed they got off the road but excited for them to start the next chapter of their lives

 

Watching the Pats versus Eagles Superbowl with Cori.  She’s a hug Eagles fan as you can tell by the special seat she made for me in the bathroom! The fact that we were in the same place while our two favorite teams played each other was truly serendipity.  I was even happy her team won.  The Eagles were due.

 

We finally got to go stay at Padre Island and had a wonderful boondocking spot. Loved being back at the ocean and really enjoyed all the birds and the sunsets.

 

It was great to get to hang out with Jo and Ben before the reunion rally.  Telegraph Cove was an awesome boondocking spot that Ben found and I was happy to spend time with them just the four of us.

 

Some of our friends at the Reunion Rally From Left: Red/Pam, Curt/Glenda, Jo/Ben, Pat/Bridgett, Tracy/Lee, Steve/Deb, Steve/Linda, Kelly/Bill.

 

Visiting Zion National Park…bucket list checked!

 

Hiking my first slot canyon in Grand-Staircase Escalante

 

Boondocking at Lone Rock Primitive Beach Campground with Steve and Linda close by.

 

Hanging over the edge of a cliff to get the iconic Horseshoe Bend picture.

 

standing at Four Corners.  Yes it’s hokey and it was cold, but had to do it!

 

Taking a jeep photography tour at monument valley. Lee was totally in his element.

 

Seeing an antelope closeup while boondocking in Moab.

 

Having waterfall kisses in this natural cave behind in Silver Springs State Park.

 

Hiking to Little Crater Lake with Howard.

 

Helping coordinate an airlift of an injured horse which included closing the highway to traffic and landing a helicopter on this bridge.  Unfortunately the outcome for the horse was not good, but the teamwork shown by our fellow employees was amazing.

 

Watching fire planes get water from the lake to put out a nearby fire. Yes it was stressful, but watching it happen was also an amazing air show. These guys really knew what they were doing.

 

We saw a piano concert in the woods at Timothy Lake. Not only did Lee have a good time helping get the piano down to the water, but wandering around and listening to the music was really special.

 

Celebrating Lee’s 50th birthday with Deb and Steve. We all had a blast doing an escape room together.

 

Seeing a black bear on a trail while at Mt. Ranier.

 

Lee’s friend Brian came to visit all the way from Ohio and we played a virtual reality game.

 

Going to Seattle and seeing Pikes Place (not a fan) but mainly to see our daughter Kay (also known as Poooooooooh Beeeeaaaaar!!!) who had been stationed in Korea for over a year. (The picture looks weird, but what I’m doing is exploiting a hug as an opportunity to pull out her ponytail, which I have done to all my daughters since they were little, just to annoy them. – Lee)

 

We got to visit with Georgia and Jim who now live in Eugene a couple of times.

 

Rick and Maxine came to visit

 

I did the 23 and me test and found out I do NOT have the gene for Alzheimer’s which made me very happy since I have it on both sides of my family.

 

Celebrating my sisters 40th birthday in Las Vegas. From Left: Lee, me and Eddie in the front and Mom and Wendy in the back

 

At a real Texas Rodeo with Cori and Greg

 

Lunch with Mikki and Jay

 

Celebrating Cori’s birthday with Greg Kelly, Bill, Mairead, and Dave.

And of course, bringing home Jack!

And finally celebrating our road-a-versary with Kelly/Bill and Cori/Greg in Texas!

 

 

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Fourth Year – By the Numbers

November 14th is our “road-a-versary” and since the format I used the past three years is working, I’m going to stick with it.  I do a second post that describes the emotional arc for the year, and a third at the end of December with our financials, but this one is all about the numbers and gives a broad overview of our travels.  I would like to mention here that our friends Kelly and Bill do an amazing job on their “by the numbers” post and go into more detail on campgrounds, memberships etc.  If you are researching the lifestyle I highly recommend their Year Four post.

As always, I’ll start with a map of our travels and this time I thought it would be interesting to show all four years together. These maps aren’t totally perfect, but basically show the routes we have taken and the places we have been.  This is what it looks like when your family is on the east coast but you want to explore out west.  Lots of criss-crossing the country!

 

Year One (2014-2015) started in Keene, NH, and ended in Susanville, CA

 

Year Two – (2015-2016) started in Susanville, CA and ended in New Braunfels, TX

 

Year Three – (2016-2017) started in New Braunfels, TX and ended in Campbellsville, KY

 

Year Four – (2017-2018) started in Campbellsville, KY and ended in New Braunfels, TX


2018 Route Information

We started this year in Campbellsville, Kentucky where we (and some of our best buddies) spent two months working for Amazon.  After that we spent Christmas in Columbus, Ohio and then hightailed it down to Texas as soon as we could.  We traveled around Texas seeing friends and doing a couple of gate guarding gigs and then went to Pahrump, Nevada for the RV-Dreams reunion rally.  From Pahrump we spent a glorious month in Utah spending time in Zion, Page, Monument Valley, and Moab.  From there we went to Timothy Lake in the Mount Hood Forest in Oregon and work kamped there until the beginning of October.  From Oregon we went down to Las Vegas to visit my Mom, brother, and sister and then back down to Texas to take a little break before gate guarding the winter away.

By State

Kentucky – November and part of December

Ohio – part of December

Texas – January, February, and March

Utah/Nevada – April

Oregon – May, June, July, and August

Nevada/Texas – October and November

Travel Miles

The trailer traveled 8,045 miles in Year Four with a lifetime total of 41,947 miles. The truck traveled 20,531 with a lifetime total of 99,397 miles.  Here is a comparison of the four years we have been on the road.   The truck mileage is low in 2015 because I still had my company car which I put an additional 9,800 miles on. The spike in mileage in 2016 is due to a trip to the trip to Alaska. 

RV and Truck Repairs

  • After one full year of not having a furnace we finally got it fixed in Columbus, Ohio!  Just in time, because we definitely needed a working furnace for all the boondocking we did in Utah.
  • We dealt with frozen pipes in the rig for the first time and Lee added some insulation and a heat source to help with the problem.
  • We replaced our toilet with a standard sized one, which by the way I still really love, and is one of the best repairs we have ever made!
  • Lee put in valves on the fresh water tank vents.  Seems like a little thing, but for him it made things a whole lot easier.
  • We also spent a few days having our slide floor replaced.  We found a great RV tech in Texas who had previously worked in Indiana at the Open Range factory and he did a terrific job.
  • Lee (with Bill and Ben’s help) replaced our steps and did lots of other small repairs while we were at the reunion rally.
  • We had one of our front jacks fail and Lee had to do an emergency repair.
  • A front truck bearing seized up and we were stranded on a mountain road.  The whole thing turned out OK, but it was pretty stressful.
  • Our entry door window glass broke in a wind storm in Utah and Lee replaced the window portion of the door in Texas.

Top 10 Things We Saw

My favorite part of the numbers post isn’t about numbers at all.  It is completely subjective exercise of looking at our life through pictures and deciding what my favorite things were. Once again we were very blessed to see some beautiful things and if we were not living this lifestyle I do not believe I would have ever had most of these experiences.

 

Pelican eating a fish at Padre Island. I’ve never seen this before so was super excited, – March 2018

 

Zion April 2018

 

Grosvenor’s Arch in Grand-Staircase Escalante April 2018

 

Gooseneck State Park.  Scary getting the pics, but had to see it April 2018

 

Monument Valley April 2018

 

Ahhh the Canyonlands April 2018

 

Arches National Park April 2018

 

Kayaking at Trillium Lake with Mt. Hood in the background with Howard and Linda was amazing – June 2018

 

Hiking an 11 mile waterfall trail made Silver Falls State Park my all time favorite. June 2018

 

We spent a night camping out at Mount Rainier and even though it was smoky, the bear sighting, hoary marmots, and amazing waterfalls more than made it worth the trip. August 2018

Was really tough just picking ten this year and really there were so many more amazing vistas.  Next up I’ll talk about our experiences in Year 4.

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  • As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.  Search Amazon Here
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First Time at the Vet, Groomer, and Alamo Drafthouse

Despite the fact that I felt really good about the breeder we bought Jack from, I knew we would need to establish a vet, and possibly a groomer.  I have had a vet of course in the past, but believe it or not have never taken a dog to a groomer in my life, so I asked Cori lots of questions about what she does for Hobie.  Since their vet is a little far away, I looked online and after checking out reviews (Cori’s suggestion) chose Animal House Veterinary Clinic.  It was close and reasonably priced and I thought it was a good place to start. Jack is still doing great in the car, so off he and I went.  When we arrived a huge German Shepard was coming out, so we waited until he was in his truck before going in.  The staff greeted me right away and after weighing Jack (11.5 pounds), they put us into a room, which I was glad for.

The Vet clinic looks smaller outside than inside

 

the waiting room was nice

 

And the exam rooms were really clean

 

Jack was super happy having no idea what he was in for.

I went in for a doctor’s check and a rabies shot but when we arrived they really wanted to do a fecal check to check for diseases common from breeders and I went ahead and let them do it.  They basically used a large Q-Tip up inside to get some material and Jack REALLY did not like that.  One of the nurses was also a little brusque, but I was probably being too sensitive.  This was our first time at the vet and I was a little nervous because you just never know until you do an independent check.  Turns out the fecal check was totally clear and the Vet came in and talked to me.  While we were talking he examined Jack and said he looked perfectly healthy and then very deftly gave him his rabies shot.  He did it so well Jack didn’t even whimper, which was really nice after the other exam.  After the shot we started talking about my options for heart worms, and fleas and ticks and this was where the conversation got very interesting.

I told the receptionist that we traveled, and the doctor totally got that.  Most vets require a checkup every six months but since we will be in Oregon, we knew that wasn’t possible.  I really grasped how he started helping me find a solution and he told me that he worked with an online company to ship medicines.  Since Jack was on file with him, he was happy to fill prescriptions for heart worm and flea/tick chewables for a full year until we would be back in the area.  I was thrilled to find a solution and later Cori and Greg were interested in it as well.  It just isn’t practical for us to see a vet twice a year, and this seems like the perfect solution.  If we have an unexpected issue of course we will find a vet in Oregon, but this way we can get everything we need online.  We needed to come back for a rabies shot anyway, because the puppy version is only good for one year.  Overall, I felt great about my choice and hoped our groomer experience went just as well.

A few days later we had the groomer and since that was a longer drive I was really happy that the Auto Dog Mug I ordered had come in.  Cori and Greg had found one of these at a trade show and I thought the concept was absolutely brilliant.  Basically instead of carrying a small bowl and water, this plastic cup has the bowl on top.  All you do is squeeze it for the water to come into the bowl and the dogs can drink.  When you release the water goes back into the bottom and can’t spill.  Best idea I have seen in a really long time and at $12.99 the price was super reasonable.  Jack liked it right away, which was another plus, and I used it on the way to the groomer.

Like the vet, I found Happy Tails by Lisa online.  She has been grooming dogs since the 1970’s and at $45 was reasonably priced.  She also had an opening (one person I called was booked until January) and I liked the small business feel.  Yes, I could have chosen one of the large doggie spas or pet stores, but I would prefer local groomers for both the personal service and price.  As I said earlier, I have never in my life been to a groomer so I wasn’t sure what to expect, but Lisa did a great job of reassuring me.  She took Jack in at 9am and told me she would call 20 minutes before he was done.  It was supposed to be between 1pm -1:30pm, which surprised me a little but I said OK and off I went. Oh and by the way I am aware how these costs are adding up, so we will be adding a new Pet category to the budget for July and we will see what our annual expenses turn out to be.

I’ll be honest I was a little nervous.  Not because of Lisa; she was very nice and competent, but I hated leaving him alone.  It was good for both of us though because when she called at 12:10, she said he was initially skittish but had done great. When I went to pick him up I couldn’t get him to stay still long enough to get a picture, but I could see how much more brown he had in his fur than I thought.  Lisa also said he is still part puppy fur and part adult fur so it will change over time, which is good because I am not 100% sure I am crazy about the look.  It’s a bit to fru fru for me! Aunt Cori loved it though and she was our first stop when we got back.  Eventually I got him to settle down enough to take some pictures and the shorter hair is growing on me, although I think I will like something a bit shaggier, which has the side benefit of keeping costs down.  Some people groom every 8 weeks, but that would cost more than I spend on my own hair, which I will have a hard time justifying unless there is a need.

And the end result

 

His head looks too big for his body now 🙂

 

Lots of brown

 

Jack’s in the bottom of the pic and Hobie is at the top. You can see how much more brown Jack has.

 

He’s a fluff ball. The whispy white stuff on the legs is baby fur.

After his haircut Jack got lots of attention and as he was running around I was glad he seemed no worse for the wear for the trip to the groomers.  I am completely aware by the way, that I am being a bit obsessive here about my dog, but I promise to calm down soon. He’s just so darn cute!

Jack loves his belly runs from Aunt Cori.

 

And you can see Lee is completely won over at this point

 

Oh and by the way, I got a hair makeover too. Kelly came to visit and was kind enough to dye my hair back to it’s original color. I like it much better dark.

After the groomers we all had plans to go and see the matinee of Bohemian Rhapsody.  I love Queen, and think Freddy Mercury was the best rock star singer of our (or maybe any) generation, so I was super excited to see it.  We chose the Alamo Drafthouse which was fun because several of us had never been here.  The movie theater is cool because they serve food and drinks and have a strict no noise policy.  You are warned once and then ejected from the theater for talking, texting etc which Lee and I both loved.  The prices were decent and they had a nice selection of choices and the waiter we had was really great.  Plus you can get ice water which I really liked.  It was a lot of fun and I really loved the movie.  They even played Queen You Tube clips and old concert footage prior to the show, which was so preferable to tons of ads.  Actually there were no ads at all which was awesome!

They serve drinks at the table too

 

For $8 we got an unlimited bowl of popcorn we could share. It was really good, but I think I ate too much of it.

During the movie, Jack stayed at home in his cage and did just fine.  Ultimately I would like for him to be comfortable staying in the truck for short periods (weather permitting of course), but it’s still too soon for that.

 

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October 2018 Budget

I’ve been putting this one off, because I knew it wouldn’t look pretty…and yep, I was right about that.  This is what it looks like when you throw caution to the winds and “go on vacation.”  It’s also what it looks like when in the same month you travel from Oregon to Texas and do lots of home repairs. I know this sort of thing balances itself out over time usually, but I still don’t like to see a “spike” month. But it is what it is.  We spent $5916 this month and only received $3186 to off set those costs from our last paychecks.  Detailed information is listed below. I’ll try to keep brow beating to a minimum 🙂

 

Campground Fees – Most of this was staying at Circus Circus on the strip in Vegas (that place is not cheap) and the rest was the stays when we traveled from Vegas to Texas. Thankfully we have a free place to stay in Texas or this would look even worse.

Groceries – This included a $300+ dollar Costco run and lots of smaller grocery runs.  We are stuffed to the gills on items now, so hopefully we can eat our way through that while gate guarding and have some low months there.

Alcohol – This category includes several drinks in restaurants that we paid for, which is really unusual for us. Since Lee got most of his drinks for free while gambling wasn’t too bad at $20 over budget.

Dining Out – OK this was just insane by anyone’s standards, at $544 over budget.  We had a $140 dinner for my sister’s birthday, the Paris buffet, a couple of dinners with our friends, and tons of grabbing food while we were traveling or running around.

Entertainment – The bulk of this $384 overage was the $200+ tickets to Beatles Love, but Lee and I also went to see Piff the Magic Dragon and went to the rodeo along with other incidental purchases.

Truck Fuel – It cost over $1K in fuel to travel from Oregon to Texas.  This category is all about the annual total though, and we know when we are relocating we will take a cash flow hit.

Home Equipment – We went $538 over in these categories and the bulk of that was the $300+ dollars for the new entry door window, which also fell in October…although we didn’t receive the part until November.  Lee also bought a new outside chair since his fell apart and I took advantage of a clearance and bought a new outdoor rug.  The rest is numerous pieces parts Lee purchased to work on his rotating list of home projects. It’s been awhile since he has worked on the list, and these are things mostly had to be done.  At some point he is going to do another post on that and talk about those projects in more detail.

Tax Preparation – Our taxes were a little more complicated this year and we had to file Kentucky and Oregon state taxes.  We did get a couple of small refunds, which helped with the costs some but I went ahead and put the full amount of the tax prep here.  Still love Travel Tax, who does our taxes.  The cost is more than worth my piece of mind.

Miscellaneous –  I really love Lyft and Uber, but as cheap as the individual charges are it does add up when you are running around.  We spent about $100 on rides while we were in Vegas, but it was convenient.  Plus it’s nice when you are sharing a car or if you want to drink when you are out.  Adds up though.

Well October was our “off month” and we obviously enjoyed ourselves.  Time to get back to work and start socking away some money for our next break in April! Good thing we don’t have too many months like this or we would never be able to afford this lifestyle 🙂

Camper Chronicles is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, a program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com. We very much appreciate any purchase you make via our website links.  There is no additional cost to you and helps support our blog.  Search Amazon.com here

Or you can check out our recipe book filled with 80 real recipes we have cooked in our RV and taste tested by Lee himself. The cookbook specializes in recipes that have a limited number of ingredients, without sacrificing flavor and is organized into categories that matter to full time RVers such as Happy Hours, Travel Days, and Pot Lucks   You can preview the kindle version on  Amazon or the Apple version on Itunes.    It is available in paperback on Amazon if you prefer.

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It’s not all about Jack

It’s crazy how much my life has become all about Jack in such a short period of time, but we have been doing other things.  It’s been wonderful staying with our friends Cori and Greg, and after a long summer and some crazy travel, I finally feel relaxed, and it’s also been very productive.  So here is a bit of a hodge-podge of what we have been doing.  Some of the things were PJ (pre-Jack) and other were PO J (post-Jack)!

First off, not long after we arrived I saw my first tarantula in the wild!  Maybe not a big deal for many people, but it was really close to our RV and freaked me out for a couple of days.  I know they are not aggressive, but I was walking around barefoot, so I immediately stopped doing that! Lee came out and took a picture, and I don’t have anything for scale, but it was only slightly smaller than my hand.  Yikes!

After that event, I was thrilled to accept Cori’s invitation to spent the day out and we went and visited her Dad.  Don is a really nice man and I enjoyed talking to him, plus he treated us to a wonderful lunch at Krause’s Cafe in New Braunfels.  I am German on my mother’s side and love trying out German restaurants.  Turns out not only was it a great restaurant (the potato soup was to die for), but also an historic place and when I walked outside I saw a big plaque with information about the building.  One of the things I like about Texas hill country is that so many Germans settled here, it gives the area a European flavor along with Texas.  I mean how many restaurants offer both Po Boy’s and schnitzel on their menu?

this plaque gave detailed information about the founding members of the town

 

And the building had a cool mural all along it

 

Mmmm potato soup

 

I actually got a club sandwhich (which was perfect) and some home made chips

 

Don and Cori

I eventually put the image aside (thankfully it’s the only one I have seen), because Bill came in to see us.  He drove down to see us from Arkansas and we were going to watch his cat Callie, while he flew back to Pennsylvania to be with Kelly (who was already there) for their daughter’s ultrasound and the big gender reveal of their first grandchild.  They are going to be grandparents in March and it was nice that it all worked out so they could be there when she found out the sex of the baby.  If you want to read more about that you can check out Kelly’s blog here.

Callie was pretty chill, just required every day litter box cleaning and actually being with her helped me decide that what I really wanted was a dog and not a cat. She’s lovely, but I prefer puppy kisses to purrs.

While Bill was with us, we did have a bonfire one night and we all went to a local Mexican restaurant for some dinner.  It was reasonably priced, there was lots of food, and the setting was very casual.

From Left: Me, Dave, Greg, Cori, Mairead, Lee, and Bill

 

Mmmm enchiladas

 

When we came outside we saw a beautiful fat rainbow

 

Bill, Greg, and Lee talking about something technical. I get a little lost when they start talking about mechanical stuff.

 

Bill brought presents when he came… cookies from Bridget..look at these beauties, and they tasted as good as they looked!

After Bill left, I spent most of my time looking for a dog and other paperwork type stuff.  I signed up for the Affordable Care Act next year again (third year running) and because of my doctor’s bills looked at upgrading to a different plan.  Unfortunately those were $600 a month (versus $175 a month for my current plan) and the deductibles weren’t low enough to make it worth it.  So with the attitude of “if it ain’t broke don’t fix it”, I went ahead and signed up for the same plan.  On the plus side, I finally heard back from the Providence Medical Center and they approved 100% aid for my medical bills.  That was a huge relief, and Lee was really happy although I still had mixed feelings about it.  I like to pay my own way, and wasn’t crazy about asking for assistance in the first place, but I had zero luck negotiating the bill down to something reasonable.  Since Blue Cross paid them $1100 for the room and equipment and I paid my full piece of the doctor, ultimately I felt the amount paid was just.  After all it was 50 minutes in a regular doctor’s room, and the bill was an outrageous $3K for the room alone.  I knew with the payments they received they were covering their costs, which made the entire experience more palatable.  And thankfully this protects what’s left of our HSA account which I have been using for incidental medical expenses for the last four years. (I vigorously disagree with her on this. She and the insurance company paid more than a fair price. After lots of discussion with them, she was basically told they can charge whatever they want. Over $4700 for a biopsy is just absurd, so as far as I am concerned, all they did was sheepishly adjust their price to something realistic, and only because she didn’t back down. This wasn’t “aid” or charity, this was them correcting an unethical and immoral move. – Lee)

While I was working on admin stuff, Lee was trying to work through his list of repair items.  One of the biggest one was to finally fix our door, which as you might remember was shattered by a wind storm back in April.  Lee has spent weeks trying to find a solution and ultimately called the door manufacturer who said they could make a custom window insert for the door.  We were both excited when it arrived in a heavy packing crate, but were disappointed that one metal corner was bent and more importantly the plastic catch for the window had broken off in transit.  Lee was faced with sending it back, which we didn’t want to do, but then realized he could take the catch off the previous broken window, and put it on the new one.  That sounds easier than it was though for a variety of reasons, but now we have a working window in the door and you can’t even tell it was broken.  Awesome, and I really appreciate all the trouble he has gone through to get this done.

Lee’s temporary solution to our broken window.  The plastic unfortunately didn’t allow for any air flow.

 

Lee putting in the new window

 

Then screwing it in

Not long after he got the window done, Kelly and Bill arrived and we finally celebrated Cori’s birthday.  This was the first time we have been with Cori on her birthday (we are usually working) and we all had a great time.  Everyone brought steaks and we chipped in sides, and there was lots of alcohol!

I love the lights, made it really festive

 

Yummy steak dinner

 

Mairead made these shots of Fireball and cream soda with whipped cream and nutmeg on top. They tasted a bit like a cinnamon roll.

 

I made a birthday cake which tasted good, but as you can see is the opposite of Bridget’s beautiful cookies 🙂

 

Looked better with candles though

 

We sang happy birthday

 

And had some cake

 

I always love it when we happen to be with someone for their birthday, and was really glad we got to celebrate Cori’s with her.  There has been lots going on and we are getting ready to put our names in for a gate soon, because as fun as this has been it’s time to get back to work!

Camper Chronicles is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, a program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com. We very much appreciate any purchase you make via our website links.  There is no additional cost to you and helps support our blog.  Search Amazon.com here

Or you can check out our recipe book filled with 80 real recipes we have cooked in our RV and taste tested by Lee himself. The cookbook specializes in recipes that have a limited number of ingredients, without sacrificing flavor and is organized into categories that matter to full time RVers such as Happy Hours, Travel Days, and Pot Lucks   You can preview the kindle version on  Amazon or the Apple version on Itunes.    It is available in paperback on Amazon if you prefer.

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First Time with a Puppy in our RV

We weren’t really 100% what we were getting into with a new dog in an RV, but based on past experiences we were prepared for lots of challenges.  I am so pleased to say that so far it has been really terrific.  I think adopting a 5 month old puppy has made a huge difference and the fact that he is socialized and friendly helps even more.  Let me walk you through it!

Right off the bat we were worried about how Jack would do in the car, but he did very very well.  Which is a good thing, because obviously we spend a ton of time in the truck.  He didn’t do nearly as well when we stopped at a tractor supply for some basics (leash, collar, etc), but that is mainly because he had never been leash walked and didn’t get it.  Since I didn’t want to work on that with all those distractions we just put him in the shopping cart and he tolerated that just fine!

Some confusion about how the leash works but he is doing better.

Even though he isn’t leash trained he isn’t a runner, and tends to walk exactly where a leashed dog would heel. Should be pretty simple to get him up to speed.  He also did really good with Hobie when they met, and thankfully Hobie did good with him.

Hobie is in the back, and Jack is in the front.

And probably most importantly he has both peed and pooped outside.  The peeing he did on his own, but the pooping came right after he saw Hobie do it, which was awesome, and Greg says he will only charge us a modest dog training fee 🙂 And really that is where getting a 5 month old (versus 9 week) puppy is a huge advantage because he can apparently hold it for a long time.  I am under no illusions we wont have the occasional accident, but he is going hours without going to the bathroom, which is a pretty good sign.

Hobie, as the senior statesman, was inspecting the pooping action. I think he approved.

 

And best of all he is doing fine in the crate. We purchased a 32″ wire crate (with two doors) and added a luxurious puppy bed to it. He has slept in it overnight two nights in a row and the first night he had a tiny accident, but the second night no accident at all.  Ultimately we want him to sleep in the bed with us, but need to make sure no accidents first, plus we think occasional crating is a good thing and since we are leaving it out with the door open, it gives him a place to go an hand out during the day if he wants to take a nap.  Really though his favorite puppy nap place is Lee’s chair.  It’s kind of funny, because Jack has taken it over, and Lee seems totally fine with it.  Weird because he doesn’t like it when I sit in “his” chair.  I guess we know who matters around here!

Leaving the crate available and open all the time turns it from a punishment into a safe space. Then when you do occasionally lock the door generally it’s a non issue.

 

I know crazy adorable right!

 

He does make room for Lee though

What else?  Well we were worried about him being super nervous or not social, but that has definitely not been an issue.  He has never met a lap he didn’t like and with those big brown eyes, he’s hard to refuse.  Even our buddy Dave couldn’t resist, although he’s trying to play it cool!

Aunt Cori loves lap time with Jack, plus he was helping her with her work emails!

Aside from the basics, I also had a small list of puppy items I wanted to pick up, so Cori and I took a trip to Walmart and Petsmart.  I’ve been Aunt Tracy to Hobie for years now and been buying him lots of squeaky toys and Cori wanted her turn.  She got a bagful of stuff, including a Kong, Kong snacks, a stuffed squeaky monkey with a replaceable water bottle inside, and assorted other squeaker toys.  She also bought a  waste bag and dispenser packet for me, which was super nice.  So far at least Jack is more of a people person and would rather be on a lap with someone petting him than play with toys.  Hobie on the other hand is dying to get to those toys.  I’m fine with him playing with the sturdier ones but we all know he can demolish a stuffed animal in about 8 seconds flat.  So I put those away but he just comes in and stares at them, which is pretty funny.  It’s a battle of wills, but I am confident I will be the victor!

Gotta say I am not a huge fan of Petsmart, I much preferred what we saw at Tractor Supply and Walmart. Petsmart seemed more about the different types of food and even had this refrigerated section which I have never seen before.

 

Hobie can play with these toys so of course he’s not interested.  You can see in this picture why we affectionately call him “thug dog” though 🙂

 

Jack doesn’t care about the toys but he wants to play with Hobie, who is largely uninterested.

 

Theses cloth toys would last less than a minute if Hobie got hold of them

 

So I put them away when Hobie comes to visit and as you can see he is fixated on them

 

So potty training is going amazingly well, crate training is going great, but we are keeping an eye on the chewing.  Since he is not interested in any of his toys, he has picked up a few small items and gnawed on those.  When I saw him with Lee’s reading glasses I knew I would have to do something and reached out to Cori for potential solutions.  She had a rawhide strip so we decided to try that and immediately Jack went to town.  He was amazing good at manipulating the rawhide to get to his back teeth and munched contentedly for awhile.  I know rawhide can cause digestive issues so I did some quick research online, but he was enjoying himself so much I decided to let it go.  The main thing is to make sure the chews are made in America and actually I am doing that with all the edible products I buy.  Not worth the risk frankly, especially for such a small dog, and the little bit extra it costs is totally worth it.

 

Jack did a great job holding it with his paws and getting his back teeth.   Have I mentioned he’s super smart?

Finally since he was completely accident free we decided to let him sleep in bed with us on the third night.  It’s been a really long time since I slept with a dog.  I always thought sleeping with a dog was a quintessential kid experience; our dogs always slept with our girls.  I was honestly more worried about how he would impact my hot flashes.  Turns out he did great, total snuggle puppy with zero whining or licking through the night.  I did wake up at one point with a face full of dog when he crawled onto my pillow but other than that it was really awesome.

I don’t want to jinx this but this dog is amazing!  I really feel like I have won the dog lottery and super happy with how this is all going.

 

Camper Chronicles is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, a program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com. We very much appreciate any purchase you make via our website links.  There is no additional cost to you and helps support our blog.  Search Amazon.com here

Or you can check out our recipe book filled with 80 real recipes we have cooked in our RV and taste tested by Lee himself. The cookbook specializes in recipes that have a limited number of ingredients, without sacrificing flavor and is organized into categories that matter to full time RVers such as Happy Hours, Travel Days, and Pot Lucks   You can preview the kindle version on  Amazon or the Apple version on Itunes.    It is available in paperback on Amazon if you prefer.