There are lots of good reasons to own a home. You don’t have to worry about being kicked out of your place without warning. You don’t have to write a check to some fat cat landlord every month. And you can paint your walls whatever colors you damn well please.
But there are twice as many reasons why owning a home sucks. Property taxes. Insurance. Yard work. Wet basements. Ceilings that fall down without warning.
This week, Jim and I have been reminded about why we decided to cut the shackles of homeownership.
Well, we’ve driven all the way across the country but it doesn’t look like we’re going to see the Naked Cowboy in person. Since we don’t necessarily care to take our truck and trailer through the streets of New York City, we’re just gonna have to pass on the Naked Cowboy’s latest engagement in Times Square.
The closest we’ll come will have to be this great picture, taken by my sister and brother in law on their visit to New York City before joining us upstate in Troy for a pre-thanksgiving, three-day food fest.
Perhaps we will come across Robert John Burck on another street corner at some other time. After all, he has even sung his Naked Cowboy song and dance in Japan, New Orleans, Austin, Texas and his home town of Cincinnati, Ohio. This is just fine with me considering we can always just watch the Naked Cowboy live online in real time video anytime. Though I am a bit disappointed that we’re going to miss the Naked Cowgirl!
For the last few years, a discussion forum I visit almost daily, is Simple Living, an incredible resource for anyone contemplating ways in which they can simplify their lives.
A few months ago on SL, I read about Sara, Matt and their 3-year old daughter Bella, who were planning to travel around the country in a grease powered RV. It was great to see another young couple selling all their stuff, and hitting the road to teach others how to tread lightly on the planet!
Sara and I have been chatting back and forth as we each embarked on our respective journeys. We even crossed paths in Minnesota, but missed eachother by a day when we each went through Brainerd. Last week, we finally got to meet up in Albany over coffee. What a hoot!
I must be getting good at this. Or just lucky. But I was able to maneuver our 24′ fifth wheel into my sister’s narrow driveway, in between a big tree and her house, without ripping off our rear view mirror or doing any other property damage. And not to pat myself on the back too hard, but I did keep it on the pavement and nearly squeezed it in there on the first attempt!
While the picture does show my most excellent parking job. It does not give justice to just how incredibly narrow this small residential street actually is. It’s one of those neighborhoods where you can only park on one side of the road or nobody can get by. Not to mention a Dodge Ram 2500 pulling a fifth wheel trailer.
Eating locally is so easy in Vermont, especially this time of year. Over the weekend, we were on the hunt for local eggs and meat (for Jim), and found the Teleion Holon Retreat Center and CSA Farm, located just up the road from our campground.
Reality Check: Life as a Farmer
It was Friday, produce pickup day for their members, and we got to get our hands a little dirty by helping the managing farmer, Oliver, load up produce and set the table. He didn’t have any eggs available; we learned that because of fewer daylight hours, chickens lay fewer eggs in the fall, even stopping altogether in winter. As a result, it’s getting harder to find local eggs from smaller operations like his. No worries though; he very kindly offered up some beautiful salad greens, garlic and other goodies like homemade saurkraut instead, which we gladly went for.
Before the CSA members showed up, Oliver spent a lot of time chatting with us, giving us a reality check on running a farm, and a tour of his beautiful retreat center and property. He was so gracious; we didn’t even have an appointment, and he made himself available to share with us the things he loved most about being a farmer. He also shared what he didn’t like about the job.
This will be the first Halloween in 41 years when I didn’t spend weeks preparing for a big party complete with decorations, props, costumes, and… oh yeah, birthday cake.
Having been born on All Saint’s Day – or Dia De Los Muertos to be precise – I have always enjoyed my birthdays in full costume. As I grew older, the parties I threw for myself got bigger and more elaborate. Last year, we made sure my 40th was the mother of all blowouts. It would be the last in our stick house, so we raised the roof and scared all the spirits away with the help of DJ Headcase and his special guest, none other than Buck Calhoun.
But enough about myself. I really wonder where we will be and what we will do this year without all our boxes of costumes and props we’ve collected and built over the years. Unlike a number of full-timers we’ve met, we did not bring our lawn ornaments along with us. I think it’s great, but ya gotta wonder where they keep all this stuff.
Come September, scenes like this put a wide smile on campground owner’s faces.
We have often considered buying a campground when this trip is over. So whenever we can find an owner who has time to chat about what it’s like to run one, we love to listen and hear about what it’s really like. When we arrived at one resort in Maine, it was a quiet weekday, and the owner was happy to share some advice about the realities of running a campground.
When we left Burlington, VT knowing we would have to come back through the state after visiting Bar Harbor, we specifically chose a route that would allow me to fish the Battenkill. Having heard this was a world-class fly fishing river, and having not done nearly enough fishing on this trip, our destination was decided for us when we saw the ad for Camping on the Battenkill in our Woodall’s Campground Directory.
After spending almost $50 on a three-day license, some tippet and a few flies. I set out the next morning to give dad’s old fly rod a work out. After just a few casts of the recommended nymph down a deep riffle right by the campground, I hooked a nice Brook Trout. And that was it.
Perhaps that’s a good thing. But perhaps the reason we like Vermont so much, is that it reminds us of the last place we called home. After spending ten years in Humboldt County, CA, we were ready for a change. But finding a small town near abundant natural beauty with an open minded population of young creative individuals has been a challenge. Until we visited the Green Mountain State, that is.
There are lots of good reasons to own a home. You don’t have to worry about being kicked out of your place without warning. You don’t have to write a check to some fat cat landlord every month. And you can paint your walls whatever colors you damn well please.
Wearing my 
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