Blogs - The Nonsense of W&J

June 28, 2024 |

Never Again! 46 Days of Camping in a Truck

This year (2024) we decided to change up how we RV and try truck camping for the summer months. We have already written one article on our truck camping experience at https://thenonsenseofwj.com/truck-camping-for-a-summer/. As we only had one Thousand Trail Campground in the state of Colorado and none in Utah, we believed, incorrectly as it turned out, that this was the best way to experience these states. Even Passport America and RPI in these states are few and far between. So, instead of paying for campgrounds throughout the summer, we chose to camp in our truck.

Boondocking

Now, we know many people boondock and leave their campers while they go exploring. However, we are not yet comfortable with this. Also, we do not want to feel obligated to put external cameras and security alarms on our camper. We have many friends who boondock all the time and some who boondocked when they began RVing. Although, a few did have a few items left outside stolen, they still recommend boondocking. As everyone tells us, simply stay where you feel comfortable and introduce yourself to your neighbors. However, let us face it, we are glampers. We like campgrounds and full-hookups. Yes, sewer please!

We have boondocked in some spots this year that we would be comfortable leaving the camper during the day to go adventuring. Tom’s Best Spring Road near Bryce Canyon is one such spot. These are designated dispersed camping in the Dixie National Forest. There were many other campers around and we felt very comfortable here. The couple in the Class A beside us even introduced themselves and were very friendly.

However, many times when we are boondocking in Colorado or Utah at a site we found with Campendium or IOverlander, we are by ourselves in the middle of nowhere. We are definitely not comfortable leaving our travel trailer fby itself in these areas while we go off exploring.

Truck Camping

So, we camped in the back our truck for 46 days. We explored mainly Utah, a little of Arizona and Wyoming, and some of Colorado. When we first started, we had a futon in the back of the truck. We could lay the futon down for sleeping. And we could sit up on the futon during the day. However, the futon was much too large for the space. At our age, sleeping on a futon was very uncomfortable and our backs let us know it was not working. So, we broke down the futon with a sledge hammer and strapped it to the top of the truck. Luckily, we found a dumpster at a rest stop with plenty of room to throw in the futon.

We replaced the futon with a mattress topper three inches thick and another smaller topper with bumps. The mattress topper was pretty comfortable for sleeping. During the day, when we loaded the truck back up, we just rolled the toppers to the back of the truck bed. Sitting in the truck bed on the mattress toppers was not as comfortable as the futon. But we made it work.

During our 46 days, we also purchased a larger 55 quart cooler and a 5 gallon drinking cooler. The smaller cooler that we carried was too small and the ice melted too quickly. So, we bought some new ones in Utah. Boy, did they come in handy. While boondocking in Utah, the state had a sudden heat wave. The new coolers made the heat wave almost bearable. We had cold drinking water and our new 55 quart cooler kept ice much longer. Luckily, most gas stations and grocery stores in Utah sell block ice. We bought block ice for the food cooler and cubed ice to add to our drinks. We bought a lot of ice crazy amout of ice in Utah! However, the block ice and the new coolers lasted several days in the heat wave.

The Truck Camping Diet

Our food while camping in the truck mainly consisted of tuna fish, packaged noodles and rice, instant potatoes, and oatmeal. We both lost a lot of weight. If you are wanting to shed some pounds, try our new and improved truck camping diet for a couple of months! Of course, we were also very active in Utah. We did a lot of hiking! Sometimes we would even find hikes while traveling before we ate breakfast. When we hiked the Grand Wash Trail in Capital Reef National Park, we had planned on eating breakfast at the Visitor’s Center. However, we found the hiking trail first. So, we ate granola bars to sustain us while we hiked.

Unsurprisingly, we lost a lot of weight. We usually eat red meat pretty frequently. However, keeping hamburger in a cooler in a heat wave was not our idea of fun. So, we ate a lot of canned meat. Hence, the tuna fish. Sometimes we would throw in some canned chicken and fajita strips. FYI, canned meat is very expensive compared to buying raw hamburger and chicken. Especially as we usually buy our groceries at Aldi – our favorite grocery store. Since we are back in our RV and have our awesome refrigerator, we can eat our normal again. We will probably gain our weight back.

Right now, though, our clothes are a lot looser. Windell must wear a belt for his pants. Jessica has to tie her shorts and pants even tighter. Maybe Jessica will even wear the bikini that Windell wants her to wear in her fifties, if she can keep the weight off. Probably not though.

So Much Dirt

Dirt is the main constant while camping in the truck in the desert. We purchased pump sprayers before we started this journey. Although we usually do not shower every day normally, we do like to stay clean, shave, and wash our hair. So, we purchased three pump sprayers and a gravity camping shower for us.

The cheap, gravity camping shower did not work well. Maybe we are a little spoiled. However, it did not have enough pressure to even remove shampoo. We put it up as high as we could on the truck to no avail. So, we mainly used our pump sprayers for showering. The naked person would stand in the poop tent while the other person hosed them down. It took two people to shower. By yourself, you could not get the little head at the right angle to rinse your hair.

The pump sprayers did get us cleaner, for a little bit. However, showering outside in the desert means you are showering in the dirt. Everything is dirty. We bought a cheap little rubber mat to stand on while we showered in the toilet tent. But we were so dirty. Dirt just ran off us onto the mat and then the ground. Even though the mat was easy to spray off where you stood, the underneath was all muddy. At the end of the truck camping, we were so tired of trying to get the dirt off that we just counted the number of days to the campground and our travel trailer.

While returning from Wyoming to Colorado, we treated ourselves and stayed at a nice hotel. We felt so sorry for the hotel staff. After we finished showering, the washcloths were so dirty and we could not rinse all the dirt out. However, we felt awesome! Our hair was clean and not greasy. We put on clean clothes that were not covered in red dirt. And, we even had a huge, free breakfast with cookies!

After several more days of traveling and adding dirt to ourselves and the truck, we finally returned to our travel trailer. We were both so filthy. When we each had a long shower, we were several shades lighter on our skin. What we thought was tan was dirt! Also, being able to really scrub our toes in a shower without standing on more dirt was the best feeling.

Truck camping in non-desert states may be completely different for keeping clean. However, in Utah, the wind blows dirt everywhere. The pump sprayers are not going to get you clean. And, forget about the gravity shower! While hiking, riding the shuttles, or even bumping along in the Jeep tour, we knew we were those people whom everyone shimmies away from. We did try to stay clean, use deodorant and shave. However, trying to keep clean while camping is a lot harder without a pressurized shower and clean floor.

Disorganization can be Fun – Not

It does not matter how organized you try to be while truck camping. Things become very chaotic quickly. We thought we were so smart. All our clothes were labeled and we put all the items we thought we would use daily in the side compartment of the camper shell. We tried to be organized! However, because almost everything had to be pulled out of the back of the truck to sleep every day, things became disorganized instantly. Bathroom and shower items got mixed in with kitchen items. Forks were placed in our hiking backpacks instead of the silverware container.

Camping in the Truck was a whole different ballgame than living in our RV. Everything was out of place. Although it was hard to pull things out from underneath the futon, we did have more storage area. When we removed the futon, many items had to put on the hitch or crammed in the back of the truck bed. So, things were easily misplaced. Windell could not wait to return to his trailer just so he could put his stuff in its place and it would stay there.

When we were considering purchasing a pop-up truck camper for future trips, we watched You-Tubers who lived in their truck campers full-time. They added solar, indoor toilets, sinks, etc. However, we have decided we are not those people. We are the type of people who do not want to try to fit all our living into the back of our truck. We want indoor showers, a refrigerator, a flush toilet, and toys for our hobbies. The truck camper is not large enough for us to live in full-time. It is okay for a few days for some amazing adventuring, but then we want to return to our travel trailer with all of its comforts.

So, we will not be buying a new pop-up camper shell or slide in truck camper. We are going to enjoy coffee programmed in the morning and everything organized and always in its place. Our amazing little travel trailer will travel across the U.S. with us.

We did it!

Wow, we actually camped in our truck for 46 days and didn’t get divorced. Some of the YouTubers we watch truck camp a week or two. They live in houses and travel and adventure part-time. We do know that there are people who live in their vehicles full-time. We say Kudos to you! It is not for us. A truck camper does not provide all the comforts and benefits of the travel trailer. Oh, sure, we will still vehicle camp every once in a great while……for a couple of days…..before we return to our refrigerator and shower.

June 28, 2024 |

Having a Blast With Our YouTube Channel

Windell with a GoPro Stick — Windell Recording with his GoPro in Utah

Our first year of RVing and adventuring full-time, we did not have a GoPro for most of the year. We simply had our Olympus camera to capture the Outer Banks in North Carolina; Savannah, Georgia; and kayaking the Three Sisters Spring in Florida. Because we were very private, we never thought of creating a YouTube Channel to record our adventures.

While sitting in Fort Myers, Florida, we decided we wanted a GoPro to capture our fun. This is also when we decided to create our YouTube Channel to post videos of our adventures. We created the YouTube Channel so we could look back later in life and relive our fun. One of our first videos was us boogie boarding at Ormand Beach. We were laughing and having a great time. We still watch that video and laugh at ourselves.

Since that first year, we have always had a GoPro with us on our adventures. It did take us some time to accustom ourselves to carrying the GoPro and we have had some mishaps. We thought we were getting some great footage at the Badlands. Jessica, who is scared of heights, climbed up the tall cable ladder on The Notch Trail in the Badlands. When she reached the top, she started doing a happy dance and yelling “Yippee.” It was hilarious. People all around us were laughing with us. However, the newbies that we were, we later discovered the GoPro was not filming. Ooops! That was a hilarious moment, that although we remember a little, we would have loved a video of it.

So, we have a blast recording our memories and posting them on YouTube for us. But we also hope others enjoy our videos. We get excited when people watch our videos and want to visit the place or do the adventure we are recording. We believe we are not adrenaline junkies, as we have been called. Our adventures are simply of two middle-aged persons in good health, with one person afraid of heights.

Surprise Benefits of Our Channel

Our idea of recording our adventures for our memories has paid off well. Not financially, of course, with only a hundred subscribers. Yet with our laughter and our fun. We watch our own videos and recall that memory together. Many times, we had forgotten something we had seen or done. So, we watch the video to remember and have a good laugh at our own misadventures.

However, making videos and posting them on YouTube has brought some surprise benefits. Windell loves making the videos. He is always discovering new features on the software and playing around with the special effects. He has a lot of fun combining the videos and pictures and adding music. His joy is one of the surprise benefits we discovered with the GoPros.

Another surprise benefit is that sometimes we capture things on the camera that we missed while we were there. We never would have seen the lobster at Phil Foster if Windell had not been filming inside some of the rocks. We enjoy seeing in the video later something we may have missed at the time. Sometimes, animals zip past us in a flash or we cannot remember all the details. We can slow the video down or pause it to get a better view. We enjoy recapturing the moment on video if we want to further research what exactly was that fish or did the Grizzly have a baby with it.

One of the best surprise benefits of making videos, however, is capturing us being in the moment. We film ourselves a lot on our adventures. Well, Windell films us a lot on our adventures! He is always prodding Jessica to turn around to face his GoPro. Looking back at the smiles on our faces and the joy of being in epic surroundings allows us to appreciate all the fun we have. When we rewatch our videos and see our astonishment or exclamations of joy, we relive that adventure together. That is an awesome feeling.

Some might say that you are not in the moment if you are filming your activity. Yet, we are in the moment when we are recording. In fact, many times we will be watching something amazing, and the GoPro will be facing the other way. That occurred a lot with the Gray Whales in Oregon. There were so many spouts of water. When we rewatched our videos and looked at the pictures, we realized we weren’t even shooting the best encounters. We were too busy watching the whales. However, we are always reliving the moment over and over again as we watch our videos. You would not believe how many times we watch our video and say to each other, “Wow, that was awesome!”.

Continuing Our Channel

We are not professional YouTubers. We do not know if we will ever be. YouTube has so many videos on how to improve your videos, add additional features, and increase your subscribers. We are not going to lie; we love seeing our subscription number increase. We hope our subscribers enjoy our adventures and want to see new ones. Windell encourages friends and family to subscribe, but Jessica would rather have people who actually enjoy the videos subscribe. We also love for others to share their adventures. We always need new adventures to add to our Google Map!

If we ever reach enough subscribers to earn money, we will probably add advertising to the beginning of our videos. After all, it never hurts to have a little extra gas money. We would never want advertising all through our videos, though. We do not like watching other YouTube videos with a lot of advertising and we sure do not want to watch our own. However, we can handle some advertising at the front of videos. Especially if you can skip it!

When we first started our current lifestyle, we watched many YouTube videos for information and activities. We had no idea that some of these YouTubers have a patreon page. It never ocurred to us to pay a subscription fee to YouTubers to watch special videos or receive notices. In fact, this is a subscription service we would never buy. There is enough information on the web to find adventures and cool locations without becoming patrons.

So, with only a hundred subscribers, it is obviously premature of us to consider adding a patreon page. But we would never have one anyway. We like making and posting videos. It is not a source of income for us, but instead, a source of joy. If we influence someone to visit a place or try an adventure, amazing! Share your experience with us, please. But, from two people who know what it means to budget, we would never add a subscription page. Ever.

We Never Want on Our YouTube

There are a few other things you will never see in our videos. We will never eat in front of the camera. Well, now, that is a lie. We will never eat in front of the camera on purpose. Windell sometimes captures Jessica on film right after she has shoved a granola bar in her mouth. Like, when we were boating over to Manitou Island. We do not like watching people eat on camera, so our videos will never include us eating. Except when Windell decides to film Jessica, accidently he says.

We will rarely film driving the highway to an adventure. We do not want to watch a highway, unless it is epic. So, we did film driving through the tunnel exiting Zion National Park. The scenery was gorgeous. We were going to try to park the truck and hike for an overlook. However, the road was a little busy and we are a little wide in the back. So, we missed the trailhead. We put the Zion Canyon Overlook Hike back on our list to do when we return.

Also, when we visit a spot, we do not research all the information on a place. Some people love the history and features that make a place unique. Unfortunately, we are those people who simply love being in the place at that moment. So, we will never Wikipedia any information and read it in the video. We would bore ourselves. We assume that if someone watches a video and wants to know more about the place, they would rather research it themselves. After all, we might get it wrong. When we do research something, like an awesome fish we have never seen before, we try to post it in the descriptions or titles of our videos.

Sometimes, we do remember to capture the signs with information at some amazing places, such as the Painted Wall at the Black Canyons National Park. We record these for our own memory and in case someone does want to know a little more information on the history. But we miss a lot of these signs simply because we are oohing and awing at our view.

If you have watched any of our videos, you know that we are not professional YouTubers. We create videos for the simple reason that we like watching our videos. We love seeing our adventures and remembering our fun, sweat, breathlessness, and that epic lunch spot. Reliving our adventures has added more joy to our lives that we could possibly imagine in the beginning. If others find new adventures and places from our videos, even better. It is an amazing feeling to be able to do something you love simply because you want to.

June 20, 2024 |

Finding Dispersed Camping While On The Road

Bell Rapids Access Area Dispersed Camping in Hagerman, Idaho

Using Campendium in Idaho

While traveling through the lower part of Idaho, we stopped for the night at the Bell Rapids Sportsman’s Access Dispersed Camping. We posted a video of Bell Rapids at https://youtu.be/FZ6AESew9pY . It is a paved boat ramp with access to Snake River. The coordinates are 42.79093, -114.93602. This location was awesome for visiting the Thousand Springs State Park https://parksandrecreation.idaho.gov/parks/thousand-springs/ . We found this dispersed camping two years ago on our Campendium app on our phone. Unfortunately, Campendium no longer shows the Bell Rapids Dispersed Camping https://www.campendium.com/ and the Idaho Power Webpage now states day use only https://idahopower.com/community-recreation/recreation/parks-and-campgrounds/bell-rapids-sportsman-access/ .

We use the Campendium app a lot in our travels to find campgrounds and dump stations. However, while visiting with a friend, they also recommended the iOverlander app for our phones. The iOverlander app shows dispersed camping, water, showers, laundry, etc. depending on how you set up your filters. We have found all of our dispersed camping sites on our apps. They are very easy to use and show your current location. We always read the comments to make sure we can fit when pulling our travel trailer and that we can find a quiet spot, whether we are in just the truck or the travel trailer.

The iOverlander App

When we first started traveling, we were worried about finding water. However, while traveling through Utah, Colorado, and Wyoming, we had no issues finding water. We use both our iOverlander app and we also ask the locals. Locals usually know where a clean water spigot is located. We have found a few water spigots at gas stations. However, all of the National Parks and State Parks that we visited in Utah have water spigots. A few were smaller for filling water bottles, but most have larger spigots where we filled our pump sprayers and water coolers. I am sure we raised a few eyebrows while people watched us both carry water coolers to fill at the spigot.

If you are traveling and need to find dispersed camping, we recommend using Campendium. Campendium seems to be maintained and updated. However, the iOverlander app that we have started using has been an awesome resource. We have found a lot of dispersed camping, water spigots, and showers with this new app. This app is updated by users while traveling https://ioverlander.com/ and you can also read the comments on this app.

Finding dispersed camping has been easier than we expected while traveling. The hardest part for us has been not having a campground location to return to and flying by the seat of our pants to find camping for the night. We usually arrive pretty early and like to set up camp late in the afternoon, not in the evening. That way, if a place does not look safe or if it looks too noisy, we can leave and find another spot before dark. We will be posting a lot of the dispersed camping we found this year (2024) on our YouTube channel. So, you can watch a video of the campsites we found in Utah and Colorado!

June 19, 2024 |

That Was Rough! Truck Camping for a Summer

Tuck camping and Boondocking — Boondocking while Truck Camping

Truck Camping 2024

So, we are always exploring new ways to adventure, even if we don’t try them all. In 2024 we decided to change how we travel and try Truck Camping. We usually book campgrounds in our desired area for our travel trailer. Then, we go exploring and return to our travel trailer for relaxation. We are accustomed to certain comforts. Jessica likes her coffee programmed each morning and Windell likes to eat while watching TV. We both love our bidet. However, this year we decided to switch it up. Because we only have one Thousand Trails campground in Colorado and none in Utah, we decided we could rough it and camp in the back of our truck for five months. After all, we already have solar, a jackery, a generator, and some fire maples to make coffee. All we had to do was buy a bucket toilet for our truck camping. What could possibly go wrong?

We were so excited at first. Just driving the truck by itself and not pulling the travel trailer is so much easier! Wind, parking, and backing up is no problem. We don’t have to scope anything out first to see if we can pull in the travel trailer and turn around to get back out. And, believe you me, sometimes it gets pretty tight in some parking lots with a travel trailer. We don’t recommend pulling a travel trailer into the Manitou Cliff Dwellings in Colorado, although we did do it. Traveling with just a truck is easy, and we proved it this year. We have been to over eight national parks! When southern Utah had a heat wave, we changed our plans and headed to The Grand Teton and Yellowstone National Parks in Wyoming. We have seen so many arches, waterfalls, hoodoos, epic views, moose, bison, and one grizzly. It has been an amazing year so far with all of our adventures.

Should we buy a Pop-Up Truck Camper?

The ease of driving and just going anywhere made us at first consider purchasing a pop-up bed camper for our truck. We hate having to take everything out of the back of the truck in order to sleep. It takes us over an hour to make coffee and pack everything back into the bed. In Yellowstone, we actually slept in the front of our single cab to wake up early. Wow, Yellowstone is busy! We know we carry more stuff than required for Truck Camping. As we said, we like our comfort. We have three coolers for cold food, water for drinking, and a small cooler just to keep ice for our drinks! Ice has been a big budget item for us this year. Our supplies include water, portable solar, and canned food. When we wanted to sit for a couple of days and talk with a traveler from Switzerland, we had plenty of water for ourselves and our guest. It was awesome just to sit and talk and not worry about leaving to find ice and water.

So, when we first started truck camping, we thought a pop-up truck camper with the bed at the top would be perfect. To sleep, we simply pop-up the bed and crash. No more pulling everything out just to make the bed. We could buy a bigger jackery, put solar on top, and add a shower curtain to the side. We watched YouTube videos of people who purchased a pop-up and redesigned their truck bed. A new pop-up would cost us about $15,000 and the additional toys another $5,000. We even emailed a company with all of our wants to get a bid on a pop-up.

Discovering We are Glampers

However, after a month and a half of traveling full-time in the truck, we have learned more about ourselves. We really like our comforts! No longer does a pop-up truck camper seem like a good idea. We would still have to potty and shower outside. Although we could possibly cook inside and not have to pull everything out to sleep, we would still not have the comforts (bidet, AC, refrigerator) of our travel trailer. We have discovered that we are glampers. We like electricity, water, and sewer hookups. Showering outside is not at all fun. You watch YouTube videos with girls in bikinis showering outside, and you think, yeah that looks pretty easy. However, the reality is if you want water pressure you have to buy more toys and the water is never warm enough. Also, if you are in the desert of Utah, you will be dirty again before you can dry off. And, in her fifties, Jessica thinks showering in a bikini seems like a cruel joke to other boondockers.

So, we are finishing out this summer mainly in the back of our truck, with a few rest stops at the Colorado Thousand Trails in our travel trailer. But, we will never again plan an entire summer of traveling simply in the back of our truck. We want our comforts! This experience has even made us change some of our future travel plans. Instead of driving to some of our desired far off places in the truck alone, we are flying and renting!

June 17, 2024 |

America the Beautiful Pass

USING OUR AMERICA THE BEAUTIFUL PASS

Maybe we were naive when we first started traveling four years ago in our RV, but we didn’t know about the America the Beautiful Interagency Pass until we read up on RVing. Now, we buy a pass every year because we love visiting National Parks while we travel. However, the America Beautiful Pass has more to offer than just National Park entrance. We have used it to enter National Monuments, including the Yaquina Head Lighthouse and Natural Area in Oregon and the Castillo de San Marcos National Monument in St. Augustine, Florida. We have also used our pass to hike in National Forests without paying day fees. Because we are not yet old enough, we must purchase a new interagency pass for $80 every year. However, when Jessica turns 62, we will buy a lifetime senior pass for $80. This year alone (2024) we have visited eight National Parks to date. We spent several days each in Zion, Yellowstone, Arches, and Canyonlands. Without the America the Beautiful Pass, this would have cost us a lot of money. However, the $80 pass covered all of our entry fees for these National Parks. If we were pulling our RV, the pass would have also covered our recreational fee in the Mirror Lake Scenic Byway where we primitive camped for three days and saw lots of moose!

WHERE YOU CAN USE THE AMERICA THE BEAUTIFUL PASS

We have only used our America the Beautiful Interagency Pass at National Parks, National Forests, National Monuments, and the Yaquina Head Lighthouse Natural Area. However, there are so many places you can use this pass. Some National Forests discount camping for half price with the pass. You can also use it in Bureau of Land Management (BLM), Corp of Engineers, Fish and Wildlife, etc.. You can find links to more information with the Interagency Pass at https://store.usgs.gov/2024-annual-pass. Also, don’t be afraid to ask if you can receive a discount, for example, on camping on federal land with the pass. It never hurts to ask!

PURCHASING THE AMERICA THE BEAUTIFUL PASS

You do not need to be an American citizen to purchase and use the America the Beautiful Interagency Pass. We met a gentleman from Switzerland traveling through the U.S. and Mexico. He used his pass to enter National Parks and to save on a cabin rental in a National Park. Purchasing the America the Beautiful Pass is easy. You can buy one at any regulated entrance to a National Park. When you pull up to pay, simply ask to purchase the Interagency Pass. It is a fantastic purchase if you will be traveling the U.S. and visiting National Parks. You can learn more about the America the Beautiful and other National Park entrance passes at https://www.nps.gov/planyourvisit/passes.htm#america-the-beautiful-passes.

DON’T FORGET ANNUAL STATE PARK PASSES

Also, if you will be traveling in a state and visiting several state parks, you might want to check out an annual state park pass for nonresidents. It is a wonderful way to see cool places in states and it is a lot cheaper than paying the entrance fees every time. We purchased annual state park passes for Washington, Oregon, Michigan, and Wisconsin because we knew we would be checking out a lot of these state parks. These passes have also saved us a lot of money when traveling.

So, be safe and have fun while traveling. And, if you are going to any of our gorgeous National Parks, visiting National Monuments, or hiking fees areas in our National Forests, check out the America the Beautiful Interagency Pass.

June 13, 2024 |

Hunting Moose With Binoculars in Mirror Lake Scenic Byway

Changing It Up

After a heat wave in Utah and Arizona, we decided to change our plans and head north to Wyoming for somecooler temperatures. We tend to change our plans a lot while traveling. And, it is easier to switch it up this year (2024) while traveling in only a truck. Originally on our way to the Grand Teton and Yellowstone National Parks, we were going to disperse camp near Salt Lake, Utah. However, we couldn’t find any good camping spots. Campendium did show a couple in the Uinta-Wasatch-Cache National Forest. However, when we tried to find them, we ended up driving down a narrow, steep one lane road in our dually. Let us just say some butt puckering occured. So, we decided to spend a few days disperse camping on the Mirror Lake Scenic Byway https://www.fs.usda.gov/recarea/uwcnf/recarea/?recid=9908 on Utah 150.

Mirror Lake Recreation Fee

We find our dispersed camping through a Campendium app on Jessica’s phone and an iOverlander app on Windell’s phone. When we drove to the GPS coordinates on Campendium, we passed the Ranger Station to find camping. However, we turned around to talk to the Ranger when we saw that a recreational pass was required. We enjoy speaking to Rangers at National Forests and Parks. They are some of the best resources to learn about an area. Because we were tent camping, we did not have to pay the recreational fee. However, our interagency America the Beautiful Pass would have covered the fee if we had been pulling our travel trailer.

So Many Moose!

The dirt roads to the camping in this area are rough, very rough, but the area is gorgeous. We dispersed camped at Christmas Meadows in the US Forest right off Utah Highway 150. We had our own personal, private campsite. There was no cell service on our Verizon except with our antenna. However, the best part of staying here was all the moose we saw! The Ranger let us know that there had been several sightings of moose. She recommended driving along the highway next to the swampy areas during the morning and evening hours to see moose. So, we went “moose hunting” early evening and in the morning. We saw five moose total – three females and two males. There is a lot of dispersed camping in this area and you can stay for up to 14 days. The drive on Utah 150 is breathtaking! When we went through in early June, Mirror Lake still had ice and the Provo Waterfall was roaring. This is a fabulous place to visit and camp. If you want to see moose, this is the place to be!

June 13, 2024 |

We Loved This! ROAM Jeep Tour to Peek-a-Boo Slot Canyon

Changing it Up, Again…

When you travel, adventure, and fly by the sCeat of your pants, you sometimes have no idea what you are getting yourself into. While staying near Kanab, Utah, a heat wave set in. The temperatures were near 100 degrees. We decided to throw all our plans out the window and head north to cooler temperatures. However, we had a few sights we wanted to see before we left Kanab, including the Sand Caves, Moqui Cave, Peek-a-boo Slot Canyon, and the Belly of the Dragon. So, we hiked to the Sand Caves first thing, Afterwards we stopped by Moqui Cave before heading to the Peek-a-boo Slot Canyon parking lot.

Peek-A-Boo Canyon Advice

The Moqui Cave was awesome. However, after exploring the cave, we went into the gift shop and actually talked to the owner. And, boy, are we glad we did! He asked us where we were headed next and we told him Peek-a-boo Slot Canyon. When he asked what type of vehicle we had and we told him a F350 Dually, he said, “you will never make it”. When we asked him about hiking to it, he said that it would be a rough hike in the sand. So, he informed us about the Jeep and UHV tours through ROAM https://www.roam-outdoor.com/. He had a couple seats available for a Jeep Tour in little over an hour. So, we said yes and he booked us on the next Jeep Tour. It was worth every penny!

Jeep Tour with ROAM

The Jeep was so much fun in the sand, bouncing and washboarding, and our guide was amazing. On the way to the slot canyon, we passed several single wheel trucks (one being a diesel) stuck in the sand. Our guide stopped and offered waters to all those stuck. While touring the slot canyon, we ran into a few people who had hiked in, and, again, we were glad we had picked the Jeep Tour. The hike looked rough, especially in 100 degree Celsius temperature. Peek-a-Boo Slot Canyon near Kanab, Utah, is gorgeous! If you plan to visit it, book a tour. It is more fun that trying to drive or hike to it. Our guide was awesome, and would take pictures for us at the most epic spots. The guides for ROAM grew up in Kanab and know the canyon and area really well. They will give you information on how the slot canyon has changed and ideas on other cool places to see in the area. This was our first Jeep Tour ever, and we had such a blast. We love talking to people who know an area we are visiting because we usually get some great information. We believe asking a lot of stupid questions is a great way to learn new adventures.

June 8, 2024 |

How We Choose our Adventuring

The Narrows adventuring — Hiking the Narrows, Zion National Park

We love adventuring and sometimes it takes a lot of research to find adventures when you move around a lot! We like to gain inspiration for our adventures from many different sources including YouTube, advertisements, Google Searches and simply asking the locals.

Adventuring YouTubers

We like watching and subscribing to YouTube channels of people with the same interest as us. Wandering Washington, The Buckeye Drifters, and Kevin Eassa are just a few of the YouTubers we watch regularly. As you search for YouTube videos, you will find adventurers who have the same interest as you. We enjoy subscribing to these channels so we are updated when they post new adventures. Also, we are always discovering new YouTube channels to increase our Adventuring.

When we know what area we are heading to, we do a lot of Google searches on the best hikes and activities in that area. This helps us narrow down what we really want to see. After all, we cannot do every hike or activity available. In addition, sometimes Facebook surprises us with all the ads we receive and gives us ideas on adventures to add to our Google Map. Of course, for hikes, we can always look up an area in the Alltrails app to see the pictures, trail preview, length, and altitude of hikes before we add them to our map. When you start searching for hiking, kayaking or specific adventures on the internet, you will begin getting more adventure ideas than you can complete in your lifetime.

Asking The Locals

And, of course, the best way to locate adventures is to ask the people who know. We always make sure and talk to the Park Rangers at every National Park we visit. This is a great way to get ideas and insights. For example, we might have tried to hike the Narrows in Zion when the Virgin River was flowing 124 cubic feet per second if we had not stopped and talked to a Ranger. If we stop in at a sight with a visitors center or entrance fee, we always talk to the people. When we stopped in at Moqui Cave, we learnt our truck would not make it to Peekaboo Slot Canyon. So we bought a Jeep Tour! Talking to people is a fabulous way to find and enjoy adventuring. So, research the internet, subscribe to YouTube channels with the same interests, and talk to people. Add everything that interests you to your personal Google Map and start adventuring. But, most importantly, be open to new adventures and ideas! You will never see everything, but you will have a ton of fun seeking out those activities that you enjoy!

June 7, 2024 |

Full-Time RV Memberships that Make this Lifestyle Cheaper

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.

June 6, 2024 |

We Try But Sometimes We Even Forget Hiking Etiquette

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/

Tunnel Falls Columbia River Gorge Oregon — Tunnel Falls on Eagle Creek Trail, Columbia River Gorge, Oregon