live. work. dream.

Workamping is great; work a few hours a week in exchange for no rent and other perks like free laundry. Sometimes you even get a small salary too. But if you’re a fulltimer who’s thinking about applying for workamping jobs in order to save money, there are some important things to consider before sending out your resume.

What kind of work environment are you most comfortable in?

Are you someone who craves structure? Do you work best when you act as one integral cog in a large corporate machine? Are you more comfortable when working within a well-defined job description? If the answer to all of these is “Yes”, then perhaps you should focus your search on large organizations, like State and National Parks.

Because workamping job descriptions can sound identical from place to place, but how those jobs are managed from the top down can make all the difference in the world when it comes to your happiness, and that of your co-workers’.

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We have much to be thankful for this year. Having traveled the U.S. for 18 months now, we are happy, healthy, and free from the constraints of your typical day job and mortgage lifestyle.

We lost Jerry this year, but are happy to have shared so many wonderful experiences with him since we began our journey together. We have seen so much on the road, and made many new friends online.

Last year, we had no turkey, after workamping at Safe Harbor animal rescue. Two years ago, we made nachos after picking Jerry up from his amputation surgery. And now we are reuniting with family and friends to enjoy a bounty of food and catch up with each other here in the woods below Mount Shasta.

The air is cold and crisp, but the company is warm and loving. Why not take a moment to reflect upon and share what you are thankful for with us?

Maine definitely has the lobster thing going for it. But when it comes to New England chowder, look to the left coast for the best around.

Mo’s clam chowder is what made the small family owned chain of seafood restaurants along the Oregon border famous. In 1946 Mohava Marie Niemi opened her first chowder house in Newport, OR.

Mo is gone now, but her grand daughter still runs the business with help from the great grandchildren. With six locations, we found a Mo’s in Florence after hearing an ad on the radio about their famous chowder. I remember reading that Bruce Springsteen once ate at Mo’s, so we just had to go!

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Where can you get a good stiff shot for only a dollar? Why, at the Red Room in Portland of course. You just don’t know what that shot may be!

What a great gimmick though. When Cija told us about the “Mystery Shots” at a bar down the street, we just had to find out for ourselves. What’s the harm? We could always stumble back to our home parked in her driveway a few blocks away.

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Truck only 4-22-07: 7180
On April 22, 2007 our Dodge Ram 2500 4×4 weighed 7,180 pounds.

Truck with box 5-26-07: 7780
Soon thereafter we added a fifth wheel hitch, and box which we filled up with tools.

That brought our total weight to 7,780 pounds.

Full Load* 08-23-07: S 4520 / D 5020 / T 7280 / G 16820
After we hit the road with or 24′ Arctic Fox trailer, we hit the scales with a gross weight 16,820 pounds.

Full Load* 10-06-08: S 4520 / D 5080 / T 7300 / G 16880
Over a year and a half later we were worried about being overweight. Had we overloaded the truck brakes? No. Were we still safely within our GVWR? Yes.

* Certified CAT Scale Weights: Steer Axle / Drive Axle / Trailer Axle(s) / Gross

All these miles and we’ve gained only 60 pounds. (In cargo weight, that is.) Probably even lost weight considering our water tank was empty when we first weighed in. Either way, I consider that pretty good load weight management after a year on the road.

Especially considering all those free clothes we picked up after the big charity yard sale in Silverton!

If you have not already done so, please take a moment to complete our blog reader survey. You may just win a new Fodor’s travel guide of essential road trips. But even if you don’t want the book, we’d love to hear what you think about LiveWorkDream.com!

Here’s why I ask: Interesting thing really … eleven of the first dozen survey responses we received have all come from total strangers. How many other stalkers do we have out there? What do our regular readers think? This is why we did a survey. Thank you in advance for your feedback.

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The fine folks at Fodor’s have sent us a few copies of their new Essential USA road trip travel guide. And you might just get one of them!

Simply complete our blog survey below to help us make LiveWorkDream better for you. Random winners will be chosen from all who reply to receive a free copy of this great guide to the most spectacular cities, natural wonders, and road trips in the USA.

We’ve been meaning to do this survey since our first state of the blog address. But so many questions … what a pain, for us and you! This new Essential USA travel guide from Fodor’s is the perfect incentive. We have a few copies we need to get rid of – and not that many readers – so your chances of winning are pretty good!

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Rene used my better shot of America’s national bird for her Obama shout out. But this one of it taking flight over the Hoh River will suffice. It means I can check one more item off my “things to do before I die” list.

Call me silly, but I’ve always wanted to see a bald eagle close enough to take a photograph. And yes, it did take this long. But I never said it had to be a good picture.

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When you live somewhere long enough you develop a circle of friends and a sense of community.

The same can be said for fulltime RVing, at least among the cool online RVers.

Recently we’ve hooked up with various road trip bloggers who we’ve grown to know via the internet.

After getting to know these folks through their travel blogs, twitter tweets, and forums, it’s been great to put some faces to the names.

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After nearly thirty thousand miles and a year and a half on the road it feels like we’ve completed the circle of our journey. Or at least the first one.

From Portland where we picked up our trailer so many moons ago, down the damp Oregon coast, on to Eureka – just a couple hours away now – it’s feeling more and more like we have come home every day. But then again, home is wherever we park for the night. And I kinda like it that way.

Mountains, caverns, monuments, characters, Maine, Floriduh, Texas … “Momma, Momma, many worlds I’ve come since I first left home …” Here’s to many more.