The Nonsense of W&J

Our RV Memberships

We have been full-time RVing for over four years now.  Over that period, we have joined a few RV Memberships for campgrounds and workamping.  The only memberships we use for campgrounds are Thousand Trails , the Trails Collection with Thousand Trails, RPI, and Passport America .  We also joined Workamper News  for fun workamping jobs.

Thousand Trails

The first membership we purchased was a used Thousand Trails Elite membership from Campground Membership Outlet .  We purchased this membership before we had even sold our house.  Our used Elite membership cost less than $5000.  We can book four months in advance for our Thousand Trails campgrounds, and we can stay up to three weeks.  We pay approximately $1000 in membership dues every year for our Elite membership and our second membership – the Trails Collection.  The Trails Collection, or Encore campgrounds, are additional campgrounds with Thousand Trails sites.  These may cost $20 per night, but most are also free after the annual membership.  We can book these two months in advance and stay for up to two weeks.  There are two Encore sites in the Florida Keys!

When we purchased our Thousand Trails membership, we had the chance to also purchase an RPI annual membership.  This membership costs less than $200 per year.  There are many RPI campgrounds in areas that do not have Thousand Trails.  Most of the campsites in RPI cost us $10 per night.  We used these campgrounds a lot the first year when we were traveling between Thousand Trails campgrounds.

Passport America

However, even with these two memberships, sometimes we still do not have cheap campgrounds in some areas.  This is where our Passport America membership comes into play.    We used this membership for the first time at Glacier National Park.  Our campground was six miles from the West Glacier entrance.  It was amazing.  So, during Christmas a couple of years ago, when Passport America ran a sale for a lifetime membership for under $300, we purchased it.  This membership helped us out a lot in Michigan and Wisconsin, where we did not have many Thousand Trail campgrounds.  We have already used it this year also.  Right in the middle of our planned trip, we decided to change our trip and go north for cooler weather.  We landed a campground close to our area for half the price with Passport America.

The Passport America membership can be a little more confusing because the campgrounds within this program are still individually owned.  Most of the time you get half off the nightly rate.  However, depending on the campground, there may be limitations.  For example, some do not give discounts on weekends.  So, you do have read the details on the campground.  We really like to call the campground personally and talk to someone there.

Workamper News

The only other membership we have purchased after four years of traveling is Workamper News.  We like learning new hobbies and we like buying toys for our hobbies.  But we retired early and must watch our spending.  So, after two couples we met while traveling recommended Workamper News.com to us for workamping jobs, we signed up to try it.  Again, around Christmas, Workamper News offered us a discounted membership term, so we jumped on it.  We have found both of our RVing jobs on Workamper News.  One was the Beet Harvest in Minnesota that we worked a couple of weeks.  However, our favorite is houskeeping in Florida at a beautiful resort for five months over the winter.   We had a blast kayaking and snorkeling on our days off!  To us, the Workamper News membership is an opportunity to overwinter without moving, make new friends, learn new skills, and pay for our toys.  We have had a great time at both of our workamping jobs and are glad we tried them.

We love our memberships.  All of them have helped us save money on our RVing Adventuring and maintain our budget.  We plan on continuing to use these for the rest of our RVing life.

Hike Single File

We started hiking more when we began RVing several years ago.  Before we started RVing, we only hiked small, local trails.  Now, hiking is a large part of our adventuring lifestyle.  There are some basic hiking considerations that we knew before we started RVing.  For example, we knew to stay on our side of the hiking path and allow others from the opposite direction enough room on their side to hike comfortably.  However, we have noticed on some popular trails we have been on recently, that not everyone follows that basic rule.  When hiking, try to stay on your side of the path.  We never hike side by side when hiking.  Most hiking paths do not have enough room for a couple to walk side by side with other hikers.  And, believe it or not, we have even hiked against people trying to hike three wide.  We have yet to hike a trail that will allow three people wide to hike and allow enough room for a hiker from the opposite direction.  So, when you are hiking, be considerate of the people hiking from the opposite direction.  Do not hog the hiking trail; it makes it more uncomfortable for everyone.

Be Present

Many of us, when we are hiking, do not want to hear music or phone conversations.  We try to be present in the hike and the surroundings.  Even loud conversations can be distracting.  When we were hiking the Scout Overlook trail in Zion, one section of the trail had signs to lower the noise because of the Mexican Owl nesting.  If you didn’t want to do the hike, you wouldn’t be there.  So, be there, on the hike, immersed in nature.  One rule we did not know when we started hiking is that uphill hikers have the right of way.  If the path is too narrow for two people to hike, let the uphill hikers who are breathing hard and sweating go first.  It takes more momentum to start hiking uphill again after a stop than it does to take a break downhill.  Hiking is way more fun if we all use some etiquette.  Be aware of others on the trail, do not hike off the trail and trample ecosystems, and try not to disturb the peace.  Hiking can be a great way to relax your mind and push your body.  The National Park Service has more information on Hiking Etiquette at https://www.nps.gov/articles/hikingetiquette.htm and the American Hiking Society at https://americanhiking.org/resources/hiking-etiquette/

One of our most memorable hikes was hiking to Secret Beach in Harbor Oregon.  Although the beach has amazing rock formations that you can explore; what made it so memorable is the hike itself.  We took so many wrong turns and questioned ourselves so many times before we actually arrived at the beach. Our plan was to explore the Thunder Cove Trail and other coves in this area in addition to Secret Beach.  However, the hikes to the coves were not clearly defined and we did not find Thunder Cove.

There is a small parking lot just a little ways north on Interstate 101 from Natural Bridges, Oregon.  However, you could just hike it from the Natural Bridges parking lot also.  The trails for Thunder Cove and Secret Beach were not well marked and Jessica, as she usually does, just started hiking down several trails without knowing exactly where she was headed.  We saw a sign that simply said “Beach” but it looked to go more inland, so we disregarded it at first.

The sign marked “Beach”, however, was the correct trail to Secret Beach.  There are many smaller trails off the main hiking trail that people have created that adds to the confusion.  This is where we made several wrong turns.  We eventually made it to the beautiful secret beach and spent several hours just playing.  Some of the most fun is just flying by the seat of your pants and simply trying.  Usually, it works out better than you imagined!  If you see a sign to your right that says “Beach”, follow that trail.  You have to go inland and hike around to eventually access the beach.  Click the link to go to our Secret Beach YouTube video  and check out this gorgeous beach.

While traveling through Oregon in at the end of September 2022, we were still researching cool things to do.  An article on the internet stated that September was a great month to see gray whales in Depoe Bay, Oregon.  So, by the seat of our pants, we called Whale’s Tail Charters, LLC  to see if they were seeing gray whales and if we could book a couple of seats on a charter.

We could not believe our luck!  Yes, they were seeing gray whales, and yes, they had a couple of openings in a few days.  Wow!   The GoPro does not do justice to how close the whales were. On our way to Depoe Bay, we stopped at the Devil’s Punchbowl.  We knew it was going to be a great whale day when we saw so many of them spouting at this location.

The charter at Whale’s Tail was well worth the cost.  Whale’s Tail Charters has smaller boats with only 6 passengers and a captain. It was amazing to see the whales rise to the surface and blow.  And, of course, seeing the tail at the end just blew us away.  The captain was very knowledgeable and could even identify individual whales.  We saw one whale come to the surface with his mouth open!  If you are in Oregon in September, book a small charter and be astounded at these beautiful amazing creatures!  You will never want the day to end.

Hiking the Narrows

Wow!  This is Jessica’s favorite hike to date.  If you ever wanted to hike a river in a canyon with gorgeous scenery and canyon walls, this is a must do hike!  You can hike the Narrows in a day hike from the bottom up, like we did, or rent a private shuttle and hike from the top down, about 16 miles.  For our bottom up day hike, we left a little after 6 a.m. from the visitors center and rode the shuttle to the last stop at the Temple of Sinawava.  We then hiked the Riverside Walk for a mile before entering the Narrows.  The shuttle system in Zion is amazing.  There is a shuttle every 5 minutes and the first shuttle in the park is 6 a.m. – early enough to get to any trailhead and have some great hikes!

The water temperature was a chilling 40 degrees Farenheit.  We started before 7 a.m. and hiked past Floating Rock until we reached a point where it was over Windell’s chest.  We would have to swim to go any further.  Before reaching Floating Rock, we took a right at the fork and hiked a ways down the Orderville Canyon by ourselves.  This was a beautiful side hike with a lot less current and we really enjoyed it.

We hiked over ten miles and it took us about six hours to complete.  It was amazing and we would recommend this hike to anyone.  The current, rapids and crisscrossing the river, in addition to the canyon colors and features made this hike just amazing.  If this is a must do hike for you also, do it!

Virgin River Water Flow

We hiked the Narrows when the flow rate of the river was about 84 cubic feet per second.  The faster the flow rate, the more physical the hike.  When we first arrived at Zion in the second week of May, the flow rate was 124 cubic feet per second.  As we always do, we first hit the Visitor’s Center and talked to a Ranger.  She said hiking the Narrows in the 60-70 cubic feet per second was optimal. She suggested that we should wait till the end of our stay to hike it.  So, we waited until the end of May to plan our hike and rent our equipment from Zion Guru.

We are so glad we waited!  The Virgin River dropped down to approximately 84 cubic feet per second.  Even at this flow rate, the current was pretty strong in some areas. Jessica fell in three times hiking back with the current.  One time she fell and couldn’t get back up.  If Windell hadn’t grabbed her backpack, she had already decided to just ride the current down until the river was more shallow.  But, Windell grabbed her and after several trials of running in the air, she finally was able to stand back up again.

If you are interested in this hike, and would like to know the best time to plan your trip, the USGS updates the current Virgin River water flow rate at https://waterdata.usgs.gov/monitoring-location/09405500/#parameterCode=00060&period=P7D&showMedian=false.  You will want to make sure the cubic feet per second is selected under the graph for a comparison on the physical exertion to hike the current.

Renting Equipment

For the Narrows hike, we rented bibs, boots, walking sticks and one dry backpack from Zion Guru .  They are a great resource for renting the equipment and for any questions or concerns.  They also guide many adventures, including canyoneering.  We were the most dressed of the Narrows hikers.  Although we rented the bibs, most of the hikers did not wear them.  They wore rented shoes and many had sticks, but we also hiked with people wearing only sandals or boots and carrying hiking poles.  Although we might have looked a little overdressed, we were glad we rented the bibs!  The river and air temperature was chilly when we started hiking early in the morning.  If we had started the hike later in the day, when the temperature was in the high 80s and low 90s, the bibs might have been too hot.

Enjoy this hike, be comfortable, and do only what you want.  You will not regret it!  Check out the Zion Guru webpage for more information.