While sitting in the Dodge dealer today in Jackson, WY, as they did over $2k in repair work on our truck brakes, I realized that I’ve finally discovered a couple of real downsides to living the fulltime RVer lifestyle.

Fulltimer Downside #1: when you pull into a town with out-of-state plates, and tell the local auto shop that you’re having vehicle trouble, who do you trust? You gotta wonder; Is that service guy really drooling? Are those actual dollar signs in his eyes?

From Florida to Wyoming, three different shops have looked at our truck, to find out the cause of a loud, chirping sound coming from the wheels. One wanted to charge us $700 for what they claim was the real problem (we said “no way.”). We paid another shop $75 to determine we had dirty brakes.

But the sound keeps getting louder, and we have some steep mountain passes to tackle on the way to the Pacific Coast. So today, we took it to a third shop.

The problem, Shop #3 said, is that our entire brake system is blown to hell. We are left wondering: why didn’t the other shops see this? The service guy said that’s because they didn’t tear the break system apart to investigate. We have to go on faith that he’s not a scheister. Jim saw our parts lying on the floor, next to good ones from another truck, and verified that ours looked blown. The caliper seals were all indeed shot. And the rotors had a deep blue tinge to them – discoloration indicating they had been cooked pretty hard.

So what would you do, dear reader? Take your vehicle to another no-name shop in town, and pay another $60 estimate fee? Or run away, hoping the dealer was lying while praying for the best on those seven percent downhill grades?

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We were recently asked to review the new Library of America book, American Earth: Environmental Writing Since Thoreau. Edited by Bill McKibben, this anthology covers environmental writing from Walden Pond to global warming.

It sounds like a great read, and we’re honored to review it. But that might not be very soon since we’re on the road again. We’ll have the book forwarded as soon as we have a steady address for a while, or we’ll pick it up at Thanksgiving.

Until then, check out this overview from the publisher and see what major publications have to say about American Earth …

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I told you nobody got hurt haying in my summary of workamping the hay season at Vickers ranch this summer

This is a good thing.

But this may come as little surprise – or a really big one – considering these safe haying practices I learned working with Paul:

• Disregard the hanging bale spikes on the stacker no matter how many times you hit your head on them.
• Ignore the same spikes when pushing any bales up to the top row that may have fallen loose. You can always just move your head really fast if they swing down, to avoid multiple stitches.
• If just a few bales – or a dozen – are left in the field, climb up the loaded stacker and have your coworker throw them up to you.
• To dump the extras before stacking that load, put the tractor in gear and let it travel on its own while dropping bales to your coworker. Note: the tractor will tend to go downhill.
• Jump off the stacker without considering how high you really are.
• If a chain breaks while trying to steer a stuck tractor out of the mud when your coworker is pulling with a bulldozer, duck. Quickly.
• Hold the extra baling twine needed to tie bales together in your teeth. Just try no to step on it when you need to run around the stacker.
• Go ahead, jump on the back of the loaded stacker for a free ride back to the barn. It’s not moving that fast. And just hold on tight.
• Forget to wear sunscreen in the high altitude meadows.
• Trust your co-worker not to flip the second table of the stacker up with you on top of the bales.
• Sit on the stacker right behind the tractor on its way back to the barn. Diesel fumes are good for you.
• Stand behind the stacker as you direct your coworker backing it into the barn. Don’t worry that he can’t hear you.

Even better than promised in my discussion of workamping as a ranch hand for hay season, we are proud to present The Vickers Hay Chronicles … an independent short film trilogy:

A LiveWorkDream production. Playlist Run Time: approximately 15 minutes. Average Video Length: 4 1/2 minutes. Filmed on location in the upper meadows at Lake City, CO by René. Produced and directed by Jim. Executive Producer and Key Grip: Jerry G. Dawg. Made possible with a grant of the Vickers family generosity.

Meet the Vickers, five generations of hay farmers working the family guest ranch. Find out why 94 year old Perk calls workamper Jim by the name Boll Weevil. Hear Larry Describe what’s in the hayfield. See Paul and Jim find out the truth. And watch the youngest Vickers play in the hay.

What does a gay horse eat? Haaaay-aaaay!!!

You probably gotta hear that one to get it. Or have gay friends. But the point is, ya gotta have a good sense of humor when it comes to hayin’ because things can go wrong which may ruin your day, or entire season. And when you’re a hayin’ there are an awful lot of things that can go wrong.

We actually got all the hay in the Vickers Ranch barn a few weeks ago now. But with so much that happened to halt the hayin’ this year, its amazing we got it in at all. In fact, according to the Vickers we still finished earlier – and with more hay – than any ever before.

Collecting and stacking hay is hard work, but first it must be baled. Before that it has to be raked into windrows. But to do that it must first be mowed.

All of the above depends upon the weather. Oh, and the equipment working properly. And nobody getting hurt.

Luckily no one got hurt, which is amazing in itself. But apparently, the weather was on our side this year. Holding out just long enough for us to deal with each of the myriad mishaps… Read the rest of this entry »

I simply despise blog posts that begin, “My it’s been a while since I blogged.” But when you’re workamping on a ranch full-time, there’s little time for blogging. So we’ve got a lot of catching up to do now that we’re on the road again. At least I do.

Please stay tuned for belated dispatches from our time at Vickers Ranch. In the meantime here’s a little sampling, in a slideshow …

Our time at the ranch ended sooner than expected last Friday. We had to get our furkid Jerry to his oncologist in Denver, after he went on a hunger strike. The news is as good as can be expected considering that he’s at 22 months past his cancer diagnosis, which is 18 months longer than docs gave him to live. He continues to fight this nasty disease with all he’s got.

We’ll be here in this sprawling megalopolis for at least a week, taking care of business. But it’s not going to be all work and no fun. Camped out next to us at Cherry Creek State Park are Kevin and Angie, of NuRVers fame, and later in the week, we’ll be reunited with Sara, Matt and Bella of Live Lightly. Then, my best girlfriend’s friend Eva, who just hit the road for an epic solo journey in her groovy Vanta-C, will roll in with her dog Ralgh.

Things are buzzing around here. Crotchety old folks beware, the kids are moving in, and the fun has just started.

We can’t over emphasize how fortunate we feel to have hooked up with the Vickers family here in Lake City. The work is hard, but their generosity and kindness more than makes up for even the longest days here on the ranch.

Recently, Larry and Paulette Vickers took us all to the “The Lone Cowboy Concert,” a BBQ dinner and show with cowboy poet and singer Michael Martin Murphey. OK, you might ask “Who?”

Well, if you’re not into cowboy music, you might not know who this legend is. But if you’re old enough to remember the classic ’70s hit “Wildfire,” then your ears have been graced by his music.

If you’re not of a certain age, then do yourself a favor and get to know him. He is incredibly talented and puts on an entertaining, intimate show. Here’s just a sample of Murphey’s heartland cowboy songs …

Read on to check out the video of his amazing opening act, and see what Jim had to say Michael.

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People love to ask “so when are you going to settle down?” Sometimes I want to, sometimes I don’t. When your typical day looks like this, would you?

8:00 am: wake up, get ready to head out to the river
9:00 am: Jim goes fishing. I practice my guitar. Jerry eats sticks.
Noon: head home, take photos of roadkill, eat lunch and listen to “The Power of Now.”
1:00 pm: make homemade croutons, bake tofu, dump black tank
2:00 pm: get to work on business stuff
7:00 pm: eat dinner
8:30 pm: blog
10:00 pm: g’night

On September 16, when we hit the road again, life might get a little more stressful as we have to squeeze all this in, and drive to far away places like Yellowstone and Montana. But I think we can handle it.

If anyone was actually interested in the Amazon Kindle wireless reading device which I wrote about before, you’ll be happy to know you can now get $100 off the Amazon Kindle thanks to a special offer from Chase.

Sure, you have to sign up for their credit card, but you don’t have to use it! Well OK, you have to use it once to get the $100 off.

Upon approval, the card will be automatically added to your Amazon account. Just use your new card to buy the Kindle and they’ll instantly knock $70 off the price right there on Amazon. Then Chase will credit your first statement for another thirty bucks. And you can cut up the card when it arrives in the mail.

C’mon, you know you want one … I do.