Sometimes you meet the nicest lurkers in the most interesting places. Take Slab City, for example.

Saturday afternoon we packed up from our quiet little spot in Borrego Springs and headed east to our favorite free wacky camping destination, Slab City USA.

Slab City Goes Upscale

OK maybe it’s just me, but it seems that the Slabs have gone upscale. There seems to be a real sense of ownership and pride around here that we’ve never seen before.

Trash piles are getting cleaned up, “No dumping” signs have sprung up, people are putting more artwork around the community, and a new Slab City Calendar of Events sign welcomes visitors. You no longer have to be in the know to find out what’s happening every day.

This Lurker Walks Into a Camp . . .

Yesterday I walked outside our rig and a stranger on an ATV pulls up, turns off his motor and says “You must be Rene.”

Huh?

“You don’t know me but I’ve been following your blog for a long time, since you first started.”

Whoooah.

I asked him his name, but didn’t know it. And there’s no reason I should have: in the five years since Jim and I started writing about our travels, he’s never once commented or contacted us. But he’s been a loyal reader and he could recall nearly everything we’ve been through on the road.

“You’re a lurker!” I said to him. But he didn’t like that term, he said it sounded too creepy. I’m not sure what to call him, other than a really jolly, adventurous, respected Canadian politico who’s now living his own road trip dream.

Although his wife isn’t thrilled about this place, I reassured him that despite the cleaned up appearance, the Slabs is still a great, safe dry camping spot, especially when you’re surrounded by dozens of other Canadian snowbirds here off Canal Road, in what we call “Canada Camp.”

A Lilliputlian Universe

What a thrill to know our blog actually has a reader! We never know if anyone’s paying attention to what we’re writing (even our family members usually don’t know what we’re up to because most of them don’t follow us!).

To meet a total stranger who’s been loyally reading our blog for years, really made our day.

Mr. “I”m-Not-a-Lurker” doesn’t have his own blog, otherwise I’d reveal his identity. I guess we’ll have to convince him to start his own RV Blog.

The Interwebs have shrunk our world so much. Now, only three degrees separates each and every one of us. And in the full-time traveler’s universe, it’s turned our world into that of Lilliputlian proportions.

Summer is in full bloom here at 8,500 feet and we are loving it! But the other day, we had the talk.

“What do you want to do this winter?”

“Are we caretaking? Are we Slabbing? Renting a space with full hookups?”

Notice how workamping or getting a seasonal job didn’t come into the conversation.

We might consider caretaking if the right gig in Texas came along, but long ago we concluded after my last failed attempt to work for The Man that seasonal work was more emotional trauma than it was worth, and even the best  workamping job would take us away from that which we do best. So forget those ideas.

Winter 2011/2012: Now What?

The only thing we know for sure is that we don’t want to stay here as late as we did last year, when the snow was so deep we couldn’t find the trailer.

Originally we had grand plans of making another East Coast loop, but it looks like that idea’s getting shelved until our income is up and we can justify the expense.

East Coast RVing will drive low-budget snowbirds into the poorhouse.

For us, the West is the Best, and that is where we shall fly. Onward to the free boondocking lands of New Mexico, Arizona, California and then, finally, to our long-awaited return to all points east, west, south and north Texas (which isn’t all that cheap, but it sure is fun!).

So now our question is, What are YOU doing this winter?

Weather is crazy everywhere right now but apparently in Northern Colorado, springtime weather extremes are a way of life.

We arrived  here naively thinking we had beat Mother Nature at her own game. The sun was out, the snow was melting and it was almost warm.

But Gaia had other plans. Instead of warmer days ahead, we’ve been pelted with snow, hail, thunder and rain since we arrived.

Tips for Flying South

The first question a lot of people ask us when we tell them we shut down the homestead and fly south is “Aren’t you afraid of what you’ll come home to?”

My answer is….not really. I do my best not to invite negativity into my life by thinking the worst. I hope for the best and do what I can to prevent mishaps in my life.

What Not to Leave Inside

Our place is in bear country and right about the time we come home, the bears are waking up. Leaving any edibles inside would be stupid. And, as this picture shows, messy.

We left a stash of wine here and are really lucky it didn’t uncork! This is the worst situation we’ve encountered after returning to Jerry’s Acres (find me some wood, quick!).

It says a lot about a place when the inside of an unheated house can get so cold that soda cans explode.

I can’t imagine living here during winter, even with the heater running.

Other things we do to protect the house from weather include winterizing the plumbing and setting out bear un-welcome mats.

That’s about it. There’s not a lot to think about when we fly south for the winter, except trying to find warm weather and figuring out how we’re going to pay for our adventure.

Had we chosen a place in a more populated area, I’m not sure we could live this lifestyle. I wouldn’t want to leave a vacant house with more people around.

But up here in the sticks, things sit untouched all winter while the snow falls.

Would you want to visit?

Summer Beckons

Home Cheapo isn’t getting our business the summer. The only business we’ll be taking care of is work that will help generate more income.

We have more RV adventures to share with you, but you won’t be reading about my high altitude gardening attempts either.

That’s because we’re  hitting the road again in August for another Hay Chronicles at Vickers Ranch over in Lake City, one of our favorite places in the world. Jim’s getting even more fit for some heavy hay lifting and I suppose I should try to recall how to clean cabins again.

Until then, can someone please tell me, where the heck is spring?

It’s freezing here!

We used to despise everything about casinos; the stinky smoke, slot machine granny zombies, throwing money at games of chance, and because the house always wins.

I always wondered why fellow frugal road trippers Sean and Louise stay and dine at casinos around the country.

Other than the large parking lots that can accommodate their magic bus, why would they actually go inside, when, like us, they’re rarely willing to pay for campsites? What could possibly lure them in?

Last year when we saw Willie Nelson at Morongo Casino Resort and Spa in Southern California, we understood why. Casinos not only welcome RVers, but many reward us for sticking around.

Why Try Casino Camping?

• Lots of casinos have dedicated RV parking
• Multi-night stays are often fine
• Unhitching is tolerated at many places
• Parking lots are usually well-lit and patrolled by security
• Most have restaurant discounts if you join their “Player’s Club”

We never thought we would surrender our IDs to a casino to join their stupid gambling discount club (did I tell you I hate gambling?).

But when we stopped at Morongo recently, we were hungry and didn’t feel like cooking. Eating out is a rare treat for us, but Morongo has several eateries including a good lookin’ buffet restaurant.

The normal price to eat-till-you-puke at Morongo’s buffet is $15. Join their Winner’s Club and  you can get one $10 voucher per person toward dining or gambling (guess what we chose), plus another $4 off your meal total each time you dine there. We ended up paying $6 for an all-you-can-eat orgy! Six bucks!

All casinos have some kind of discount club to keep the gambling junkies coming back for more. Although you’ll need to hand over your ID and allow them to cram your mailbox full of stupid promotions, you’re bound to get some free meals and overnight spots in return. It’s a win-win for everyone!

Casino Camping Tips

Always follow casino parking etiquette, which is similar to behaving at Wally World:

• Ask security. Find the guy on patrol and ask if it’s OK to park there, where you should park and for how long.
• No setting up camp. That means your generator stays off, your jacks remain up, your awning’s rolled in and your crap stays inside.
• Keep it neater than you found it. Don’t dump your trash there, save it for the gas station that’s ripping you off at $4.50 a gallon.
• Give them some of your cash. Gambling’s stupid in my book but it’s your choice. There are other ways to thank the casino, like dining inside or even just having a beer at the bar. Remember, join their Player’s Club to save tons!
• And if you win big because you tried casino camping as a result of this post, send some our way!

I’ll never bash casinos again, we’re hooked on casino camping! From now on, if we have a choice between a WalMart or a casino with a restaurant, guess where you’ll find us?

When you choose to live differently, there may be times when you question your choices to pick the road less traveled.

Maybe there’s a day when you look around and wonder why your friends are living in stylish homes, making more money in a month than you made in the last six, and you aren’t.

Or perhaps after a long day of travel mishaps, you’re feeling cranky and wishing that the only driving you do is a commute to work.

Why pick such an odd lifestyle, when a path to a “sure thing” is around the corner, waiting for you?

Because as Dale says, “life presents itself a series of opportunities. . .”

The human organism always moves itself
to a more satisfactory state of affairs
as defined by that particular organism in that moment
with very little reference to the past or the future
primarily to the Moment
the There and the Then.

Therefore, that means that
life becomes a series of opportunities
to manipulate the environment
for a more satisfactory state of affairs
as defined by that particular organism.

So live.

So live, so that when thy summons comes to join that innumerable caravan which stomps through time
go not like the quarry slave scourge to his dungeon in the dark of night,
but as the gentle person who sits on his couch, wraps his cloak about him
and takes his most deserved repose.

So live. Live.

It’s not always easy for us, but there are a couple of authors whose books keep us grounded when we need it most. If you’re at all interested in living an off-the-beaten-path lifestyle, these might help you make that dream a reality.

Dr. Wayne W. Dyer: The Power of Intention

“Intention is a force in the universe, and everything and everyone is connected to this invisible force.”

Depak Chopra:
The Spontaneous Fulfillment of Desire: Harnessing the Infinite Power of Coincidence

“Not only are everyday coincidences meaningful, they actually provide us with glimpses of the field of infinite possibilities that lies at the heart of all things.”

Patrick McDonnell & Eckhart Tolle: Guardians of Being

everything natural – every flower, tree,
and animal – has important
lessons to teach us if we would only
stop, look and listen

Snowbirds like us head to Arizona for its warm winters, but for some reason, Mother Nature thinks that this entire continent should experience a real winter this week.

I know we should be thankful we’re not in the Midwest tonight. But that’s why we do what we do, to get away from awful winter weather!

Since we’re boondocking with solar and our Honda genny isn’t really ideal for running the heater, we’re really, really cold, and testing the limits of our heartiness.

Our Wyatt Ray doesn’t seem to mind.

NuRVers Gather

We arrived here after a week at the Slabs, just in time to catch the last week of the NuRVers meet-up.

Since the end of December, various members of NuRVers have taken over a small patch of dirt here at La Posa South.

The cool kids told us we missed out on a lot of the fun, like the fireside sword swallowing show, but the crew wasn’t too spent to save some for us.

Along with nightly potlucks and good eats, there were copious amounts of cocktails consumed while sharing crazy stories about life on the road.

And in-between the raucous evenings in front of the campfire, we worked hard at our creative endeavors to fund this ideal lifestyle.

From accountants to graphic designers, we all embrace the technologies that allow us to live without boundaries. With Internet access on the road, anything’s possible.

Are you Nu?

NuRVers is a group specifically for RVers who break the mold.

Forget the stereotype of a crotchety, decrepit old couple cruising across America in their golden years.

We are singles, couples and families who choose to break from convention and live our lives on the road, enjoying all that this great big world has to offer.

You don’t have to own a certain type of RV to belong, and nobody will judge you based what you drive or how you look, whether your straight or gay, twentysomething or beyond.

Nobody will tell you how you “should” tow your toad or dump your load, and there’s no know-it-alls who are allowed to run the show.

The only criteria for joining is having a free spirit attitude that welcomes diversity, fun and spontaneity.

Some folks, like Trippin’ with Stanley, have just embarked on their road trip lifestyle. While others are veteran road tripping warriors who’ve been doing it for years. There’s no end to the different ways we all reached the conclusion that life on the road is just more fun!

As Jim and I head into our fourth year of this slightly unconventional lifestyle, it feels great to be connected with such a great group of people who we have so much in common with.

The Nu party is over now, and everyone’s gone their separate ways. But we’ll stay in touch in the Forums, and probably meet up again this spring, somewhere in the Texas Hill Country.

Tonight, as the mercury drops to the lowest temperatures this state has ever seen, I’ll dream of the day when the weather becomes more civilized, and the umbrella drinks will start flowing once more under big starry skies with the NuRvers crew.

Ah, California. Land of sunshine, beaches, beautiful people and . . .

The most outrageous fuel prices in the country!

When we arrived, diesel was just up over $3.00 a gallon. Now, it’s almost at $4. The longer we hang out, the higher prices climb. It’s like a flashback to 2008. Scary stuff.

After several weeks of hanging out, the L.A. basin is starting to remind us of crabs in a pot.

Soon, we’ll beat a path out of here, and head somewhere far away.

Here, actually.

A small ranch in Southern Arizona, where our friends Kelly and Al have been caretaking every winter. We camped there with them for a night once, and loved the peace and quiet. Last Fall, Kelly and Al hooked us up with the property owners, and now we have a short caretaking gig at their place in February/March.

We’ll have some animals and acreage to look after, along with wide open skies, big views and a whole lot of quiet.

Then in late March, as long as fuel prices don’t get too much higher, we’ll head to Big Bend National Park once again. Where the skies are even bigger, and the Longhorns outnumber the people.

Now that’s living.

Going through seven Western states in less than two weeks is faster than we usually travel.

But we’re on a schedule and meeting up with West Coast Tripawds between Washington and San Francisco over the next two weeks, all before Thanksgiving.

Despite boondocking in parking lots and making do with just water and electric in other places, I’m doing my best not to abandon the healthy, semi-vegan eating habits I adopted back at Jerry’s Acres, after NuRVer Sara introduced me to the “How It All Vegan cookbook.

Adopting a vegan diet has always been something I wanted to do, because I’ve never felt completely at ease about eating fish and dairy products. But I’ve continued to eat these things to keep the peace between Carnivore Jim and I in the kitchen.

However, once one of us (who shall remain nameless) was told he had high cholesterol and potential pre-diabetes, I knew it was time to get serious about cutting the animal products and processed crap out of our diet.

Vegans have always been a side-show curiosity to me. My initial impression of them was that they always seemed to be the hippy dippy ones in the health food store who are sniffling and malnourished looking. I wondered how anyone could get by without eating some kind of animal fats and cheese.

But now I know my impressions were wrong. This awesome little cookbook has shown me that with some simple food item replacements (i.e., use apple sauce instead of eggs in baking), adopting a vegan eating habit is easier than it seems. It’s not all about tofu and flax oil either. And so far, neither Jim nor I have been sick since starting this diet. Jim’s also dropped some serious weight too.

Upsides to the vegan diet while living in an RV:

• I’ve got tons more room in the fridge and freezer, because it’s not filled with dairy products.
• Our food bill is less now that I’m not buying $4 blocks of cheese every week.
• Most meals are so easy to prepare, making cooking and cleanups while boondocking a snap.

Jim isn’t thrilled with everything I’ve made out of the cookbook, but he’s being a good sport as always, and eating what gets served when I’m in the kitchen. I know he won’t admit it, but even he feels better now that his arteries aren’t weighed down with the fatty foods. On the special occasions when we do have sweet stuff laden with sugar, it tastes twice as nice.

Here’s one of my favorite recipes from the How It All Vegan cookbook. See how simple eating vegan is? Try it while you’re on the road, it doesn’t get much easier or tastier than this.

Tanya’s Asian Creation

• buckwheat noodles (enough for 4 people)
• 2 cups cubed squash (butternut is my favorite)
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1 lb. medium tofu, cubed
• 1-3 tsp pepper
• 1 tsp salt
• 3 stalks green onions, chopped
• 4 tbsp flax oil
• Bragg’s Liquid Aminos (garnish)
• gomashio (garnish made with ground up sesame seeds, salt & kelp)

In a medium pot, boil the noodles in water on high heat. Meanwhile, in a medium saucepan, saute the squash in the oil on high heat for about 5 minutes, then add the tofu, pepper and salt. Continue cooking until the squash can be easily pierced with a fork. Add the onions, cover and set aside. When the noodles have finished cooking, rinse in hot water then place back into the pot and toss with the flax oil to prevent sticking. Place them into a bowl or on a plate and top with the squash mixture, then garnish with Braggs and gomashio. Makes 2-4 servings.

For the last few mornings, snow has been blanketing the mountainside but melting off by noon. This is nature’s not-so-subtle warning that one day very soon, we’ll wake up with four feet of the white stuff and have to dig our way out of here. Before that happens, we’ve been making progress getting the rig loaded, checking off lists and eating through our gigantic freezer.

Recently I got into a discussion with a friend about whether or not it was cheaper to stay home or hit the road.

I believe being on the road is cheaper.  How about you?

If you know what you’re doing, it’s possible to live more cheaply in an RV than a stick house (provided that you don’t have mortgage or rent to cover).

Being the meticulous bookeeper that I am, I track all of our expenses in Quickbooks. Here’s a general breakdown of what we spent four months at a time on the road, and here at Jerry’s Acres.

January 2010 to April 2010 (on the road)

Booze & Entertainment: $364

Food & Dining Out: $1798

Health & Beauty: $19

Campgrounds: $537

Pet Expenses: $624

Home Repair: $115

Truck Repair: $39

Utilities: $217

Fuel: $1090

TOTAL: $4,803 ($1,201 per month avg cost)

May 2010 to September 2010 (at Jerry’s Acres)

Booze & Entertainment: $400

Food & Dining Out: $2915

Health & Beauty: $138

Pet Expenses: $987

Home Repair $506

Truck Repair: $556

Utilities: $590

Fuel: $1563

TOTAL: $7,655 ($1,913 per month avg cost).

This excludes business expenses, one-time building upgrades, and static monthly costs like taxes, insurance and club dues. These costs are for two people and one dog.

But yes, living in a stick house is indeed more expensive! Even up here on a remote mountaintop, we find things to indulge in. We eat way more high end good eats when we have a full-sized refrigerator to stock, and a large kitchen to make a mess in. Also, driving the one hour each way to town isn’t cheap either, which is why we only do it twice a week to take Wyatt to his lessons and stock up.

My own tips for living cheaply on the road include:

1. Invest in a good solar setup. Doing so will save hundreds by allowing you to boondock in free places.
2. Never pay full price for a campground. Passport America and Escapees are the only two discount camping clubs worth the cost. Passport’s 50 percent discount will pay for itself the first time you use it and Escapees 10 percent savings will pay for itself after a few nights. If you’re too cheap to do that, good sites like FreeCampgrounds.com, RVParking.com and FreeCampsites.net are good sites to search.
3. Buy the $10 Escapees Day’s End Directory. This guide to free and cheap boondocking spots all over the country will save you tons of money.
4. Diesel rigs are the way to go. While diesel may not always be the cheapest fuel, the mileage you get out of a tank will be better than with a gas engine. And their power kicks butt on the highway!
5. Stay away from popular places and touristy areas. You’ll pay three times what you would normally pay for a comparable campground outside the entertainment zone. There’s so much more to see outside of these crowded areas.
6. Eat in! It’s tempting to try every new eatery in every town you go through, but save those for special occasions.

We’ll have more tips for you as we head out for our fourth winter on the road. Until then, stay warm and be sure to point your rig west…we’ll see you in the desert!

The fulltime lifestyle is always a good time until something goes wrong. From spent brakes to getting stuck in the mud, if you’re going to make it on the road you need to be comfortable being self-reliant and making decisions on your own.

RVing lifestyle challenges can bring couples closer together if they learn how to navigate these challenges . . . or they will end up killing each other and calling the road trip done.

We have faced our share of road trip calamities. We’ve always survived, but oftentimes at the cost of out of control emotions, expensive repairs and a sad sense of feeling like we were all alone in the world.

At times like that, even this tough chick will admit it’s lonely being out there without friends or family to call and bail you out.

Up here in the mountains, we have neighbors, but they’re not close enough to see from our property. We get the impression that people live up here for a reason . . . they don’t want to have neighbors. They’re hermits. I guess that might make us hermits too, but really, we aren’t. We just like the scenery.

Stranded on the  Mountain

Last week our trusty Dodge died (which Jim will eventually write about). My worst nightmare came true; we were stuck on our mountain without a vehicle (other than Jim’s motorcycle). Although Jim made a valiant effort to fix the problem the previous week, it returned last weekend, leaving us stranded again.

We had two options; either fork out serious cash for the 80 mile tow to the great diesel mechanic we found in town, or call our newly relocated friends, Lisa and Sean Purcell, who just planted roots here in Fort Collins after fulltiming with their kids for nearly two years. Suspecting that we had an electrical drain on our batteries, we knew that their Ford F350 could jump our Dodge 2500.

After a quick text to Lisa, she and Sean and their kids were on their way without hesitation. Instead of enjoying their new life in town on a beautiful sunny day, they drove the 80 miles to get us started and escorted us back to town to make sure we got there safely.

The Purcells saved us the towing fee, but their help was worth so much more than that. They gave us the emotional therapy we needed to get through a stressful situation. They made us laugh, got our truck started, then saved our day from crumbling into catastrophe. The two of them, their great kids and their dog Sophie turned a lousy morning around into a really nice afternoon with friends.

Thanks guys!

Life on the road is fantastic, and we’ll still keep snowbirding, but this proves there really is a lot to be said about a place you can call home.