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.

There is one project on my list of workamping duties here at the ranch that I am particularly proud of.

Producing street signs for Vickers Ranch was the perfect opportunity to apply my expertise as a signmaker, brush up on my woodworking skills, and learn to operate a backhoe – all while getting a crash course in condominium plat regulations.

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One of the benefits to workamping at a resort, are the daily freebies you’ll pick up. When we workamped at Riverbend, people were so loopy from the hot water soaking and lord knows what else they were doing, that they often left cool t-shirts, booze, and other sundries behind. Here at Vickers, the guests leave tons of food in the cabins when they check out.

Some days, I’ll bring in a haul like this one. Notice there’s no beer in this photo. Well, there’s only been one or two times that people left behind any sort of tasty alcoholic beverage. Seems like they’ll drink all their booze before finishing their food.

Now, before you go thinking “eeew, sick, you don’t know where that stuff’s been!“, I’ll tell you that I have a few freegan rules about what I bring back: it can’t be home made, must not be in an unmarked package, and be relatively healthy.

Being the tightwad that I am, last month I started doing rough estimates of the dollar value of my daily hauls. In one month alone, I brought in $288 worth of food and other miscellaneous items.

And speaking of saving money, here’s our Road Trip Expense Report for July 2008. We’re saving tons of money here, and have only put in $99 worth of diesel into our tank since June 1st. Town is only 2.5 miles away, so I run most of our errands by bike. Also, notice our food bill. Part of the reason it was so high is because we went to Gunnison and stocked up. Our goal is to not have to go there again. So far so good, I think we have enough provisions till we leave. With a local garden nursery merchant now selling organic produce in town, we’re set.

Since Jim got the world’s tiniest violin out and told you about his hard days here at the ranch, I’ll take this opportunity to tell you what I’ve been up to.

This summer, for me, it’s all about cleaning. I’m on the housekeeping and laundry squad. Rah! Rah! Rah!

Some days it’s just me, another workamper, and co-owner, Paulette Vickers. Mid-week, my job can be easy, and there might not be a single cabin to clean. On these slow days, I’ll go work in Paulette’s garden, which is a great change of pace, since I love playing in the dirt, and her yard is awesome.

But on the weekends, when we have to turn over nine cabins before 3pm check-in, that’s when things get really dirty, and the “all hands on deck!” call will go out for everyone to pitch in.

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For as long as I can remember, recycling has been a way of life for me. Growing up on the left coast, I can’t remember a time when I threw cans or bottles in the trash. So imagine my surprise when we left our little Northern California cocoon, and got a reality check by seeing how the rest of the country approaches the recycling issue — or rather, avoids it altogether.

During our early days on the road, I kept getting annoyed at the number of RV parks that lacked recycling facilities. About the only places that did offer any kind of recycling were national parks, which only take aluminum cans. It killed me to toss recyclables, but in our little 5th wheel, I felt we didn’t have a choice.

For a while I considered being as green as my RVing friend Sara, and carrying around our recyclables and compost matter until we found a collection point. But honestly, I’m not that gutsy, and unwilling to put up with storing this stuff in our shower where she does. Also, with our big ol’ dog Jerry along, I don’t want our RV smelling any funkier than I think it does. I had to pick my battles, and into the trash went our recyclables.

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