And we’re off!

We hit the road last weekend, and are now boondocking at the Slabs, in nearly the same spot we were in last year.

The frantic pace of L.A. is behind us and the roaring din of freeways is gone. In fact, the loudest noises we hear at any given time are packs of dogs barking, music playing, and occasionally the “thwap! thwap! thwap! thwap!” of mid-afternoon V-22 Osprey training drills on the adjacent Navy bombing range.

As we drove to the desert, I couldn’t help but be horrified at the cost of diesel, as high as $3.89 a gallon. Just as I started to panic when thinking about the triple-digit fuel-ups we’re in for, I got an email from Flying J, to let me know about their new Frequent Fueler Advantage Program.

As Flying J / Pilot Travel Center’s newest loyalty program, the Frequent Fueler Advantage Program gives members:

• Instant fuel discounts at the pump on diesel, gas, and propane
  • $0.03 off diesel (currently available at RV and auto diesel lanes only (coming soon to truck diesel lanes)
  • $0.02 off gas
  • $0.10 off propane
• $5 off dumping fees
• Members-only offers for anyone who takes time to register their card:
  • Unlimited fuel discounts (no max gallons)
  • Pump Start*
  • Other benefits like the Coffee Club, buy 5 hot beverages and the 6th is on us!

What got me interested in signing up with the program is the “Pump Start” benefit. This perk enables RVers to start the fuel pump instantly, just by swiping the registered loyalty card.

For passengers like me, this means that I don’t have to interrupt my knitting, just to go inside and pay whenever we stop for fuel.

If you already have a Flying J or Pilot loyalty card, like the Driver Payback Card or Frequent Fueler Card, you don’t need a new card, you can keep using them. But just be sure to go online to register your existing card so you can get all of the benefits of the new Frequent Fueler Advantage Program(you can also have the station clerk do it).

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!

When I posted on Facebook that we were going to Houston, my Texan friend Karen said “Be sure to stop at Buc-ees!”

Thinking it was another great Texas BBQ joint, I said, “Sure! What is it?” Then she explained:

Buc-ees is a fast-growing chain of super clean, shiny gas stations in southeast Texas that people are fanatical about.

A gas station?

I gathered from the Buc-ee’s (pronounced “Bucky’s”) website that along with fuel, they sold touristy knick knacks and some Texas souvenirs. So I added this curiosity to our agenda. When we left the NuRVers Rally in Gonzales last week, we drove some 16 miles out of our way to see their flagship store in Luling.

“Bu-cees: Everything You Ever Needed, You Just Didn’t Know It”

Buc-ees is a new phenomena that’s exploding because of their crazy Texas highway billboard campaign and sparkling restrooms that rival any in the finest casinos in Vegas (and even my own RV’s bathroom!).

As we walked through the shiny doors in Luling,  I swore I heard angels singing. One look inside, and it was obvious: Buc-ees is more than a gas station.

It’s the closest thing to a religious experience I’ve ever had!

That cute little Beaver sells aisles of tasty road food, over 18 different kinds of the best fudge we’ve ever eaten, rows of homemade Texas eats like chow-chow and pickled okra, local music CDs, lawn furniture, toys, sporting goods and endless choices of Buc-ee’s propaganda.

Nothing is cheap looking or second-rate, it’s all first class and big, loud and proud, just like Texas!

And don’t think for a minute that the hook was in the gas prices, because they were cheaper than the competition.

After traveling over 35,000 in the last three years, I was practically on my knees, stricken with surprise and happiness at seeing a gas station that was so happy to see me!

My only gripe; they’re not big-rig friendly on purpose, so if you’ve got anything longer than a 40′ RV, you’ll need to park on the street. But trust me, it’s worth the effort.

Some people are afraid of Buc-ee’s cult-like following. And now that I think about it, they might be right. Maybe that sneaky little Beaver is dosing the fudge with something illicit. Because somehow before we walked out, I willingly surrendered nearly $40 on fudge, chow-chow, “Beaver Nuggets” (think: deep fried Corn Puffs) and a Beaver hat for Jim. Me, the biggest penny pincher there is, was happy to give it all up for Buc-ee’s.

Strange. Very. Very. Strange.

When you RV, you always learn something new. Whether it’s about how to avoid dropping weird stuff down the toilet,  or learning new boondocking tips, you’re always growing.

When we met Kelly and Al last winter in New Mexico, I couldn’t believe we had been on the road almost two years and didn’t know about the Escapees Day’s End Directory. We were on our way to Texas to join Escapees because we knew about all of their perks, but we didn’t know about this one until Al and Kelly (aka The Bayfield Bunch) told us about it.

The Day’s End Directory is a comprehensive collection of practically every low cost and free boondocking spot in North America, compiled by the folks who know best, Escapees members. For just $5, you can join this private Escapees group, the Day’s End Yahoo Group, and gain access to the directory. It has literally thousands of locations of free and cheap campsites, and members update the information regularly.

The only downside to the Day’s End Directory is that it’s created in oldschool format. The book is available as a CD or .rtf file only, and you need to rifle through about 500 pages to find locations by state and city. It’s laborious and time consuming, and cost-prohibitive to print. To get around that, I created a PDF of the Western states we are visiting this year, and sent the file to Kinkos for printing. It cost me $12 to print CA, AZ, NM and TX.

I hope some day the Escapees powers that be will pay a young geek to  take over the project and convert the listings to some kind of searchable database like our friend’s Jenn and Johnny’s FreeCampsites.net.

But until then, this behemoth book is still the best money you’ll spend if you like to get out into the wild, or just need an approved, safe place to crash for the night.

Our rig has been parked on the streets of L.A. for the last few weeks, while we catch up on the chisme with family and friends. Life here is as hectic and noisy as it gets, and every day Jim and I are reminded of why we chose to leave urban living behind.

We started 2009 with one goal; find Jerry’s Acres. Seven months into it, we did. Our Colorado retreat now sits underneath several feet of snow, waiting for our return.

With that behind us, we’re getting the other big part of our life in order, namely, making a real income again.

Our defnition of “real income” is different from most people’s. While we would love to be able to spend money on the finer things in life (like picking up a $20 bottle of wine instead of our old standard, Two Buck Chuck), we also aren’t willing to surrender our freedom in order to do so. My very short gig at Satan’s Castle was a good reminder about that.

People wonder, what do we do. How do we make any money? Well, we don’t do any one particular thing anymore. We don’t want to have one business again. And we don’t want to rely on one job to bring in money. We believe that putting all of your eggs in one basket is risky business, much moreso than varying your skills and finding multiple ways to generate income.

For us now, tiny bits of money trickle in from various web-based outlets that utilize our technical, design and writing skills. In 2010, we’ll work on building up our income revenue streams in these areas.

The money is iffy, the hours are long and uncertainty always looms over our heads, but we are much happier than we ever were in our previous lives. While we are still officially in the red and dipping into savings, I know that 2010 will be the year we are back in black, finally. It would be great if we could actually contribute to our retirement accounts once more. When that happens, I’ll know that we’ve truly been successful these last two and a half years.

On that note, I’ll say “Adios!” to 2009, and give 2010 a great big welcome. May this year bring the prosperity, joy and peace that we all need more of in our lives.

And many thanks to all of you for being a part of our world. Life would be pretty boring without you!