Tag Archives: work camping

Camping Life

Association Island KOA: The Calm Before the Storm

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We have been at Association Island KOA in upstate New York on Lake Ontario since the beginning of May.  While I had the best intentions of keeping you updated on our time here, it simply did not work out.

But, I do plan on the next few weeks trying to get you caught up.  I wanted to spend the time on this post to show you what a unique place Association Island is and why we have really enjoyed our season here.

The Calm

Association Island is basically owned by mother nature.  The animals, the western winds and the high waves off of Lake Ontario simply tolerate us and our quest to camp on the island.   We live here surrounded by water and beauty.

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Camping Life

Association Island KOA in New York!

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While working our first job in Bar Harbor, we were told often about an amazing campground on an island in Lake Ontario called Association Island.  We were intrigued. Last summer, I contacted the manager there and lined up positions for this summer.   After several years in the arid west, we are going to work on a beautiful island surrounded by lots of water!

The island is reached by a narrow causeway that is approximately one mile long.  This was our first view of Association Island.  Beautiful blue waters and crisp cold air.  It was May 1, and as you can see, still winter to early spring on the island.

We were a little nervous as we are with any new adventure.  Association Island has been owned by the same family for the last 20+ years.  They had hired a new island manager about two years ago who has worked hard on enforcing rules and improving the island amenities.  There was a lot of push back from campers who had previously done whatever they wanted to do on the island, resulting in mixed reviews on the web.

But life is about the adventure, right?

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Camping Life

Working at Vogel State Park

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This past winter, we became hosts at Vogel State Park in North Georgia.  The RV is not a fan of cold weather, so it is necessary for us to find a job in a warmer climate each winter.  Unfortunately, it is the same story for all full timers, which make winter jobs difficult to find.

Vogel State park in north Georgia
Vogel State Park

Paying winter jobs, that is.  It seems that most parks in Florida, Texas, Arizona and other warmer weather locations have decided that the influx of Full Timers every winter means free labor.  And they are not wrong about that.  There are many full timers that are happy to have a warm RV spot for so many hours of work each week.

We are not in the position to not have any money coming in yet.  My websites pay the bills, but without some sort of extra income, we start to dig into the savings.

I like to line our jobs up about 6 months in advance and during our summer job in Montana, I was doing a ton of research looking for that illusive paying winter job.  Sending out resume after resume and filling out multiple applications, only to be ignored.

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Camping Life

Our RV Adventures in 2018!

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The year 2018 was all in all, a good one for us.  Every year, I like to take stock of the year before, looking at both the good and the bad.  As full time travelers, we get lots of questions about our life on the road.  This post might answer a few of those questions as we look back on the happenings of 2018.

We get asked a lot if we will ever settle down again in a regular home.  At this point in time, we have no plans for that.  We have absolutely no regrets.  We love our new roaming lifestyle and the fact that as we work-camp across the country, we get to actually experience each area as the locals do.

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Camping Life

The Sugar Beet Harvest

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When we first began living full time in our RV, I did a ton of research on how to bring in extra money while on the road.  One thing that turned up was the Sugar Beet Harvest.

You see, sugar is not only made from sugar cane, but also from sugar beets.  During the month of October in the states of Montana, North Dakota and Minnesota, the harvest of sugar beets for the season begins.  And they need lots of seasonal help!

Why do the Sugar Beet Harvest?

The money promised is really good.  You are generally looking at 2 to 3 weeks of work, 12 hour days with no days off once the harvest begins.  Any time over 8 hours is paid time and a half, Saturdays are time and a half, and Sundays are double time.  Basically, in a 2-3 week period, you have the potential of earning what you might make in a whole season of working at a campground.

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Places to Go

Polson Montana and Glacier National Park!

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It has been six months since I updated this site, and I don’t even know where to start!  First of all, we are still on the road.  We love this lifestyle and have been enjoying a ton of adventures.  With three websites and a growing pattern business, I have had to put this travel website on the back burner.  But over the next few weeks, I am going to make an honest attempt to get it caught up.

We are currently in Polson, Montana, where we have been working at the KOA.  First, let me just say that this particular campground is by far one of the most beautiful that we have worked at.

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Camping Life

Beautiful Arizona- our winter destination

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We finally made it back to Arizona!  I have to say that since we have been on the road, Arizona is one of our favorite places.  And it never fails to impress.

Since becoming full time rv’ers, we have found that many full timers establish a winter destination and return there every year.  About half the RV parks in the US close down for the winter, leaving only those in the western and southern states available.  We got into this whole thing to travel and really don’t want to be tied down to one place and so far have spent our winters in Florida and Arizona.

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Places to Go

Iowa 80- The Worlds Largest Truck Stop and more!

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We spent the past few weeks on an unscheduled trip to Forest City, Iowa and the manufacturing facility of Winnebego.  While Iowa was cool and all, we were excited to be back on the road in a fully working coach again.

After contacting our new employer at the KOA in Boston/Cape Cod, and given the go-ahead, we were on the road again heading to our end of summer job in New England.

But we had to make one final stop before we left the state of Iowa.  You see, on the eastern edge of Iowa, not far from the Mississippi River, is the World’s Largest Truckstop!  We had seen it featured on several travel shows and we certainly couldn’t drive right by it without checking it out!

The Iowa 80 Truckstop, established in 1964, features eight restaurants, a convenience store, gift store, Super Truck Showroom, barber shop, chiropractor, dentist, movie theater, workout room, laundry facilities, gas islands, diesel fuel center, truck service center, Truckomat truck wash, Dogomat pet wash, CAT Scale, 24- private showers, trucking museum and more!

Yep.  It’s a small city in one truck stop!

The truck stop itself is set on 220 acres, which is four times larger than the average truck stop.  They receive nearly 5,000 visitors daily in the main building, have parking for 900 trucks, and 150 fuel pumps.

And the store is simply Disney Land for truckers and those that love the industry!  You name it, they had it.

Need a back massage?  They have a Chiropractor for that!  Tooth hurts?  There is a Dentist on call!  Doggies dirty?  Step up to the Dog-O-Mat!

Need a cup that is bigger than your head?  They totally have your back!

Don’t miss the chance to check out the Iowa80 Truck Stop in Walcott, Iowa.  It is well worth the time.  Craziness!

In Indiana and Pennsylvania, we traveled through quite a bit of Amish Country.  This gentleman in the photo above was driving into work.  He apparently worked at the KOA that we were staying at in Mercer/Grove City Pennsylvania!

We are huge fans of Amish cooking.  It’s pretty amazing.  So, of course we stocked up.  Those packages of noodles?  Well they were made in Middlebury, Indiana.  There were several noodle factories, run by the Amish, right nearby!

Soon, our trip took us to our final destination!

This will be our spot for the next several months at the Boston/Cape Cod KOA.  We will be here until just past Columbus Day weekend, as work campers.

We love our tiny spot tucked into the woods!

And finally we can add a little cash to our suffering checkbook!

Our new jobs are in housekeeping!

Dave has always done the laundry, so I used to pride myself in saying that I haven’t done laundry in 25 years.  That is no longer something that I can say.  LOL!

Stay tuned for lots of great photos and sights to see in the Boston Cape Cod area!  We are so excited to finally make it here!

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Camping Life

12 Great ways to make a living on the road!

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We often get asked how we support ourselves on the road.  Our answer up until now has been work camping and my website income.  I wanted to show you 12 more ways to make a living on the road.

Of course, we have cut our living expenses down simply by not owning a home any more.  Traveling as we do, our expenses include lot rent, insurance, our rv payment, food and spending.

You can lower your expenses even more by not having a rv payment, staying longer in one place, cooking at home and even boondocking (camping for free without water, electric or sewer connections) when you can. You really have a surprising control over your overhead.

But there will be overhead.

We chose this life to get away from the stress of a 40+ hour a week workweek.  We wanted to get away from the traffic, the crowds, the chaos and the strict time schedules and wanted to be healthy and stress-free.

Having the freedom to decide how much you want to work and how much free time you want is one of the biggest advantages of living the RV lifestyle.  And there are so many opportunities out there to take advantage of!  I have talked a bit about work camping (working in campgrounds in exchange for a site and/or pay), but let’s talk about some of the other things out there!

Our main sources of seasonal employment opportunities are websites such as:

Work at KOA
Workamper News
Coolworks
Workers on Wheels

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There are jobs to be found everywhere.  You won’t get rich, but you should be able to support yourself and your lifestyle on the road.   Seasonal and work from home positions are readily available if you look for them.

Here are some of the positions that we are considering for future:

Make a living as Guest services and maintenance at a resort ranch

Most resort ranches offer accommodations, hiking, water activities, horse back riding, fly fishing and often a full service restaurant.   Positions available are usually seasonal, but offer a full range of interesting opportunities depending upon where your interests may lie.  Often resorts will offer you pay along with room and board.  In some instances, they have their own mini rv parks to house some of their employees.

pemaquid lighthouse maine

Make a living Working at a lighthouse

Often this is a volunteer position, but there are instances where you can get paid as a park ranger.  As a lighthouse worker, you would be responsible for overseeing the lighthouse and keeping it secure during off season.  This job usually offers a place to stay on site (sometimes even a place for your coach).

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Places to Go

Mt. Lemmon and life in Tucson

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Well, its been a couple of weeks since my last update and life in Tucson is a bit cold (especially at night) and a bit frustrating at times, but I have to say it is a beautiful area to live this time of year.

We really love the fact that we can step right outside our door and pick fresh oranges every day for orange juice.  We are definitely getting our share of vitamin C.

As for the work thing.  Well, it could be better.  I’ve written about work camping before- The Good, the bad and the ugly.   We came to this campground to work in the kitchen.  We thought it would be a nice break from working guest services; a job that we have consistently been doing for the past few years.

However, it seems that working in the kitchen, at least at this campground was not working for us.  We asked to be moved back to customer service and they moved us to the front office a little over a week ago.

So, with that said, we are making the best of our stay here and enjoying the area.  And looking forward to our move onto the next part of the country.  LOL!

Tucson has some pretty amazing sunsets.  This photo was taken from our doorway.   I have to say that it truly is a beautiful place to live.

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This past week, we decided to take advantage of our couple days off and take a drive up to the top of Mt. Lemmon.  From the campground, we can see it rising above the city of Tucson.  This time of year, you can see the snow at the summit.

We wanted to touch some snow.   So off we went.

Mt Lemmon Scenic Byway is the only paved road that leads to the top of Mt. Lemmon and the Santa Catalina Range. It is said to be one of the most scenic drives in southeast Arizona.

Because the road starts in the Lower Sonoran desert and climbs to high forests, it offers the biological equivalent of driving from the deserts of Mexico to the forests of Canada in a short stretch of 27 miles.

Here at the base of the mountain, we were surrounded by Saguaro cactus and desert scenery.  It would change pretty quickly.

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