May  2008

May 1st:  Working May 1st through Tuesday May 6th on the famed "Major Festival!" Everyone wears pink and green - hello, welcome to my life, I wear pink all the time! So Thursday was a major push for most people coming into Northern Virginia ahead of the crowds. I think I worked late that day, can't really tell you because I can't remember. What can I say, I'm two weeks behind on the blog.

I have been consumed by this one computer game - reminds me why you need so much grass and feed for sheep and cows - they are constantly eating. The game is called Farm Frenzy. (Note: as of today May 15th I am over it, got all the gold stars and all of the awards...but it consumed me for 2 weeks!)

Sometimes you have something like that - a book or a game or maybe even a TV show, that you can not get enough of and have to finish to the very end. That is me with games and books. I totally focus on it to the nth degree. That is why I sometimes do not read a book for a while, because I will do nothing else. While people (especially Sasha) might be talking to me, I am thinking of reading the book or playing the game, not focusing on the person. Not a good way to go. Sasha says that I should just break the book up into chunks and read it that way, but I have never done that. I read a book through cover to cover usually in 24 hours or less. The last Harry Potter book, I read in a weekend. I did nothing else but read.

May 2nd: Friday of Major weekend. Unbelievable, but true: Friday is not so bad as Thursday. Thursday night it seems, everyone came in to the campground. We had people in overflow areas such as the Pavilion where there is just electricity, having filled them up with water. Luckily we have a sewer dump so that they can drain the nasty away. We will be running the trolley on Saturday for people to go down to the festival without having to drive down. Supposedly, people have parked over a mile away from the festival and walked in. At that rate, they could just pay the $1 for the ticket, and get dropped off at the festival. We shall see what Saturday brings.

May 3rd: Saturday and Sasha is off, I'm working in the morning and it is a little boring. Only because everyone is at the festival. People come into the store about 10 minutes before the hour to get the tickets to the festival, and then it is dead for a while. We decided to get a water filter at the store, because, after seeing the color of the water at Tall Pines in April, we were afraid that it would also be in our water now. And we were finally out of the Spring Water that we had brought from Prince William Forest Park (we brought over 20 gallons for drinking water - we were using the regular water for washing.) So Sasha got the filter and put it onto the system. The water is fine to drink, and does not have that red residue like we had in Prince William Forest Park. Maybe they do not have as much clay here, or maybe their topsoil is just a little bit more that over there.

It does look very green around here, although the weather has not been exactly warm. We still use our little space heater to keep us warm, rather than turning on the propane. But we try not to use the electricity all the time and this little heater can keep us very toasty. It can figure out when it is warm enough, it can turn off.

May 4th: Sunday and really slow at work. I'm working the evening shift and either people have already left or are going to be leaving Monday or Tuesday. But Sasha and I had a nice leisurely morning together. He is going to go for a ride on his motorcycle and check out the area. We took some pictures of the site and Sasha grilling as well as a picture of the back here. Plus we have a video, that I wanted to put up so that you could get a better idea of our sort of lifestyle.

Later on I found out he went to Green Ridge State Park, in Maryland. The ride was great, he took to the dirt and gravel roads with no problems. The one thing though, that he was a little sad about, was that there truly are no places around here to use the ATV or dirt bike. He was investigating a "Jeep Trail" that showed up on the Frederick County map but the trail head was bulldozed and there were houses the front. He said that on the West Virginia side, there was probably a trail head so you could ride over there, but the logistics would be a little tough. And Green Ridge, although nice, is definitely tough to get to, tough to get in, and tough to park. We are seriously thinking that maybe we should sell the ATV and dirt bike as they are not getting used, and buy them again when we are free of the constraints of Sasha's job. Maybe by then, they will have an electric ATV that goes at least 100 miles. I have heard that there is an electric motor bike that goes 40 miles....Not far enough.

May 5th: Monday, slight let down: You know how after you have eaten the entire bag of M&Ms or Jelly Beans - there is not a single one left, you feel slightly uneasy, because the excitement was in the opening of the candy and in the beginning of the bag. That is how a Major Festival felt, we were so looking forward to it, and then it came and went, and now there is the sort of let down afterwards. Although the area is beautiful, it seems as though the town is still cleaning up from the fun of the weekend.

I went into town to go to the library, it seems we have a block on our file, so I can not renew Sasha's book (see the right side for the books we read this month.) It seems they need a physical address for us. [information deleted] I paid $15 to belong to the library. It is a nice library, but not like the Prince William County libraries, and definitely not like the Stafford County library that we went to last summer. Oh Well.

May 6th: Tuesday - my Friday (also: Happy Anniversary to my Mom & Dad!)- meaning two days off after this. Tuesday's are great days normally, as I go to the Farmer's Market to check out what fruits and veggies are on the block. I am so anxious for spring to finally arrive, because that means strawberries and then blueberries and raspberries. Can you tell, I like those berries. But for now, we have to wait, having dried berries or frozen. No fresh berries yet.

There is another vendor at the farmer's market, who sells plants like tomato plants and fresh herb gardens. It would be so cool to have that, but I am not sure. I get his info, so that I could go out and see his store later in the week. There is a fruit stand that I also go to, to get fresh (or day or two old) bread, raisin bread - so good with peanut butter and jam. Plus they have "shipped from Florida" peppers and apples. I get a few apples and a pepper and cucumber, plus the bread. Yum! Then hurry back to work.

Most of the vendors for a Major Festival stay at the private campground, and the last of them were leaving on Tuesday. So by the end of Tuesday, it was as though this Major Festival did not happen at at all, not as many spaces used, but people now calling for Memorial Day weekend. May is turning out to be a busy month for the private campground that I work at.

May 7&8th: Wednesday&Thursday, days off for Laura to explore the area. I check out Stephen City, as well as the farmer that grows the plants, to the north of Winchester, to see where his store is. It is small, but as it is just him and his son, looks good to me. It would be great if I could do something like gardening, but with such a small area, and what if it gets cold - the plants would freeze. Someone had told me that they do not put plants in before May 15th as there have been freezing nights. 

May 9th: I work again at the store, I am trying to find a place for Mom's Day where I can get BOTH my parents and Sasha's parents together. They have not seen each other for a long time, and it would be nice. So I finally figured out a place to go (actually yesterday, found a place that serves brunch - it truly is hard to find restaurants that are open on Sunday, it is like the place is shut down or something.)

May 10th & 11th: Saturday and Sunday, My Parents are in town, and we are going out for Dinner and Brunch. Sasha and I found out that his mom had something going on with her hip this past week and we were not sure if they were going to make it on Sunday. But Saturday, his Dad called for directions to the place on Sunday. I had chosen the place with them in mind, as it was a French restaurant. I worked in the morning and got off at 2 pm and was showered and changed and waiting for my folks by 5:30 or so. They came into the campground, saw where we lived, and then we went off to eat dinner.

We showed them Winchester - at least part of it - the downtownish (I know that is not a word) area; they have a walking street mall. Some of the stores are closed but the facade of the buildings are interesting. Of the five restaurants, TWO are Thai. Well, my parents are not into Thai, so that's out. We go to Brewbakers Restaurant and Bar. They have good food, and good beers, but why oh why do restaurants have the doors open when it is 50 degrees out? We were freezing our you know what's by the time dinner was over.  We walked back to the car and drove back to the campground (where the parents had left their car.) My parents stayed at a hotel. It was so funny, my mom and dad like Marriott hotels, and here was one, right across the street. Could not have planned it any better.

Mom's Day: Good Food, Ok Weather, Excellent Company: Here is a picture of the parents and us at the restaurant. My Parents are across from us, and Sasha's Parents are in the front.

Our Parents checked out our campsite. It had stopped raining, and was just a little bit windy.

May 12th and 13th were a little bit of a blur for me. So I am not going to write about them until I remember.  The reason for the blur is because of eating very richly on Sunday, I think I had too much to eat. It did not sit well in my stomach. BUT

May 14th: The long awaited article on Truck Camper Magazine has arrived. Gordon had sent us an email the day before to let us know about it. Obviously, we are not going to be on the home page forever, but the article was posted on May 13th, so you can check out that day and read the article. I do not know how long he plans to keep our article up, but it was quite exciting to see it there. And it looks as though a bunch of people are reading it as we got major hits on our website on that day. Over 900 hits for one day is pretty good for person's blog, if I do say so myself.

May 15th: Some people had questions about us and the article and they wrote them in the guest book. I will try to answer them shortly, but I think I need to go out and enjoy the sunshine that we have today (they said it was going to rain, yet the sun is shining and beckoning me to go out.

Just got back from Strawberry Picking (OMG - the flavor of the strawberries is so good. I forgot how they really tasted.) and checking out Jim Barnett Park in Winchester, VA. I went and picked Strawberries for ~ 30 minutes, got 4 lbs, and then went over to the Park and did about an hour or so of hiking. It was not really hiking but quick walking. Very nice park - actually quite big for a small city and everything was so green and lush. Checked out Berryville, VA as well on the trip. Very small town, not too much in there but a health food store which was very nice.

May 16th: Some of the questions or comments, in reverse order: (will be working today, will post tomorrow about how that went.)
Vladimir: Great to see you checked out the article! I can not go into our Guest Book and change the countries, it is not of my making, but of another companies. Otherwise, I would definitely put French Polynesia in there!

Carl T. Miller: Sorry your post came up twice, but you had a few different things in it, so we kept it up. If you want us to take one of them out, please let us know.

Regarding following the Sun: I do not know about other full-timers but what we would like to do is such: In the late spring, summer and fall, I would get a job at a northern or cooler state such as Colorado, Oregon, Montana, the Dakotas, Washington State or maybe Northern California as a Park Ranger/Guide for the National Park Service. Sasha would work as a workcamper close to one of these national or federal parks. We would live where he works (thereby not having to pay for a site) and I would work a Seasonal Full-Time job. Because we are in the cooler areas of the country, we would not have to use the AC. We would work our buns off (you know the saying - Making Hay while the Sun Shines - that would be us.) But those areas are beautiful and we would check them out on our days off. 

In the Late Fall and Winter, we would move south: to Texas, Utah or Arizona deserts, maybe Baja Mexico, possibly Florida (maybe once.) That would be our vacation time, where we may not have to work, where we can go where it is warm and do not have to use the propane heat as much. Although that time is still a little iffy, there would probably be less travel, staying at one place for at least a month at a time, to really get to know the area and then move on. The big thing is that we would have saved the money during the summer season to play in the winter.

Regarding getting a Bigger Rig: Just like Jim and Sue of RV.net Truck Camper fame, it is hard to full-time in a Truck Camper. We are doing it because we are not it the thing all the time, or both of us are not here at the same time all of the time. We are also doing it because it is what we had when we decided to sell the house. There was no reason to get another rig (at the time). You know, the green three R's: reuse, recycle, and reduce. So, that being said...

We are right now trying to figure out our possible "bigger rig" situation. I have told Sasha that we can not get a bigger rig until we are doing the "following the sun" scenario because why have it until we really need it? Why get a cheap trailer for living in when we have an extremely usable Truck Camper? So we are not getting a cheap trailer. At least, as of this writing we are not. Now Sasha is on the fence about getting a bigger truck to pull a bigger rig. BECAUSE of course, raising gas/diesel prices, does it seem silly to get a diesel guzzling truck when our own truck works just as well. We could always retro-fit it with something else as it is a diesel - you know bio-diesel if necessary or maybe something else, who knows? So again, as of right now the truck will stay.

So we have to fit the idea of staying with a Ford F350 one ton truck with a possible 5th wheel toy hauler. But right now, we are planning on selling our ATV and dirt bike as they are not getting used and they are just sitting in the trailer. What is the point of having these things if they are not getting used? They will just depreciate all the more. Although we have had great fun with the toys, there is absolutely no place close by to use them, and so selling them is in the cards. And we want to do it relatively quickly, before the season really starts around here. The ATV could go to someone working on a farm, its got the power for that and the Dirt Bike can be used all over.

So to answer your question, what will we get? It will probably be a small 5th wheel toy hauler BUT the big questions are: will it have as much storage as our trailer, truck and camper have now, will the F350 truck be able to handle the size of a 5th wheel (the all consuming weight issue is very important to us), will Sasha get away from a dirt bike and go with an ATV like me and would we be able to put two ATVs and a motorcycle into a toy hauler? Then of course are the issues of diesel prices yet again.

As you can see, we have not yet formulated a plan. We are just saving as quickly as we can to help us decide what to do.

Regarding Insurance in your aspect: Carl, the insurance sounds a little high, but of course, first, you are older than us so health insurance is high. I really can not relate to that high pricing right now, except to say that Sasha's health insurance is paid by his company, and mine is only $134 a month. I'm not yet 40 years old. I would imagine that when I am 70, my insurance will be through the roof. Or maybe not, who knows? Our Car/Motorcycle/Truck insurance is low because we have the truck as being hardly used at all and the car insurance in Virginia is low (well, lower than most.) Obviously, we do not have house insurance. 

John and Christine: Come over to this side of the fence, it seems to be much greener over here!

Wally:  Thank you for your suggestion and comment about our rig!

Charlie & Yvette: Lifetimes are meant to be lived. Although my parents moved to be closer to their grandkids too. Now hopefully my sister will never move.

Bob and Jan: It was so good to see you at the truck camper rally! Thanks for posting!

John & Marianne: Thank you for posting and it was great meeting you both!

Powell & Celeste: I told the manager about you posting to our site and he says hi back. He remember you, without a doubt!

May 20th: Tuesday: I had my book club meeting this evening. It is so nice being with ladies know and understand you. To just talk and not have to worry about what you say. I am picking the book for June, I will have it up on the side (as I am reading it now) by hopefully Friday.

May 22, Thursday: Before work, have to go to the bank, the library (such a wonderful institution, so many books to read!), go to a farm to pick some strawberries (almost out, the berries are just luscious, we picked so many and practically ate them all!), and see if there is a trash/recycling company nearby. I did not realize how much it costs a company to recycle. When we were at Prince William Forest Park, they had these long trailers for all different types of recycling. We saw the same type of trailers at the Prince William county libraries too, but not in Stafford or Loudoun counties. But it is amazing how, if a person wants to recycle, and recycle a bunch, there are not too many avenues in which to do so. It just makes green living a little harder to do.

Yesterday, my sister sent me a link to a website to push for more renewable energy. Sasha and I signed up. The website is: WE can solve it. Although some people might think RVing is a waste of energy, I would have to disagree. We are in a better position than most, because of the smaller "house" to heat and cool, the not driving all over the place, staying in one place for longer periods of time, and because we are doing things to conserve, such as the motorcycle that Sasha uses. He gets about 45 to 48 miles to the gallon. My Saturn gets 30 to 34 miles to the gallon, and we hardly use the diesel truck. It is usually used only once or twice a month.

The book that we are reading for my pick for June is Roberta's Woods (you can see the link on the right side). It seems pretty appropriate for this day and age, what with the prices of oil and gas at extremely high levels. It is a futuristic look in the not so distant future (2013) where there is talk of moving into the cities, gas rationing, the electricity going out, no more plastic garbage bags allowed (but no burning of trash either!) and things like that. It is an interesting read, I have not yet finished it, but it is our book for the month of June. 

May 28th, Wednesday: I am going to put a link to a page called KristinasPage.htm which will be made on a Mac (I hope!) Reason: my computer seems to be on its last legs and I'd like to try out the Mac system and its possible abilities.

Well, I tried to upload the page to my ftp area and it just did not work. I either do not have the knowledge on how to do an upload, or I have to belong to a Mac system to get it loaded. I am not sure at this point, but I will get the file from Kristina, and will show you this great movie that we made on her MacBook.

May 31st, Saturday: We were at the Batals for my days off, Wednesday and Thursday, and came back on late Thursday night. Worked on Friday and Saturday. Friday night, Sasha sold the dirt bike, for a little less than we hoped, because the battery could not keep its charge. That is part of the problem that we are seeing with these motor vehicles, being non-mobile, the batteries keep going dead. We had the same problem with the Truck. So in June, Sasha is going to get a solar recharger for the Truck, so that it will continue to recharge the batteries even when we are not using it.

Expenses: May: So Far So Good, Expenses Not as Bad as April. Actually, totally not bad!

Well, this month was certainly less expensive than the last, partly because last month was so expensive. We really cut down. And since food and gas/diesel prices went up, this was a perfect time to be somewhat frugal.

First off, the Food/Household expenses were higher because we went to a Pick Your Own farm to pick strawberries. The berries have been luscious, and so we had gone over 5 times to pick. Now, the berry prices are lower than the stores but we have been eating the berries like no tomorrow.  We actually paid over $38 for lots of strawberries - and that was around the middle to late May, as the berries were not good and ripe until then.

The rest of the Food/Household was from normal eating, but also from stocking up. Got coffee, oatmeal, dried berries, and honey for later. I am sure the prices will continue to rise, so might as well get stocked up, then we can eat our stores of food rather than paying the high prices later.

The Meals to Go is high this month because of Mother's Day, as we took both sets of parents out to eat on Mom's Day. We went to a fancy place and the prices reflected that. I think that is going to be the last time in a long time to go to a place like that. The FI 1 (Financial Independence = FI; 1 = Is it worth it?) we spent a lot of life energy for very little return. The only positive thing was that we got both sets of parents together, and as they haven't seen each other in a while, that was a great thing.

The Gas Prices are reflected in the prices of gas, the last fill-up was $3.86 a gallon! Moving out here is great for many reasons but the commute in is tough, at least the gas prices are cheaper out here than closer into work. I saw in Sterling, gas prices at $4.00 a gallon and more.

For Clothing, well, it was not really clothing, I got a small purse at the Salvation Army. It was discounted and then I went during a sale day. So it was really inexpensive. And it is reused.

The Camper Expenses were things like a water filter, hooks for our keys and hats (thanks Truck Camper People, we took some of your ideas and did some things to our camper!), we also put the owl up high to scare off the birds (it does not seem to be working too well, they still are around and still pooping on the tables!) and a few other things for the camper.

Communication: The Post Office box dues came in, so we paid for 6 months and I switched my hosting from a business package (don't have a business no more!) to a home package so that price is hosting for 6 months.

Health Insurance remains the same, and we were pretty healthy this month.

Recreation was just the library membership. We saw family mostly and that was our fun times.

We are very excited about this month as we reached one of our major goals financially speaking. It is the first month that we have reached it, so I am hopeful that we can sustain it for the months ahead. Even though the interest rates are at an all time low, I believe they will be going back up. When they do, we are positioned to scoop up some good rates for the CDs.

As my computer is still working, I will probably not get another laptop until it goes completely. They are expensive and as much as I like the Mac computers, there is a bunch to learn. So until I can take some classes and really figure out if it is right for us, we will hold off that purchase.

Check out Next Month: June, Kids are Out of School, which means traveling, which means more people at the campground? We shall see.