Author: Rae

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RV Park Gouging

One of the most unpleasant realities of living in RV parks is the way in which owners gouge clients by creating ‘extras’ that are not built into the flat fee.

The park in Fort Langley that I was looking forward to going to does this. The rates were attractive, but I saw a note that there is a 2$ charge per pet per day. I was going to ignore that since my cats don’t go outside, but then I realised that since they like to sit by a window, management would know I have pets. So, I emailed back to confirm that the pet fee wouldn’t apply to pets that don’t go outside. Nope. They wanted to charge me an extra 20$ per month for them!!!

I replied that this was ridiculous and that I won’t be staying at their campground.

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Frugal Shunpiker Guides

Have you ever heard of ‘shunpiking’? I hadn’t until I read Marianne Edwards three books about frugal boondocking and shunpiking through the southern US, appropriately called RV Travel Guides: The Frugal Shunpikers Guides To America. They will show you how to winter cheaply in the U.S. in your RV.

four-pack

I was very impressed by all four of these books, one each for New Mexico, Arizona,  Texas, and Utah. They detail suggested routes for touring these states, complete with boondocking spots along the way.

Of particular interest to Canadians is that fact that Marianne is a Canadian! I’ve heard great things about how cheap it is to boondock in New Mexico, but her book on the state is the only resource I’ve found that explains in detail how a Canadian can benefit from the New Mexico parks policy.

Complete with a comprehensive table of contents and index, maps, and pictures, these e-books are very professionally designed. My favourite part is the ‘tips’ sidebars.

The books will also appeal to campers (ie. tenters) as Marianne offers plenty of information for them, too.

In addition to boondocking information, she also offers suggestions for what to see and how to get there. In short, all four books about frugal shunpiking through the southern US are comprehensive tomes on how to get to the state and tour the state frugally while making sure that you see what needs to be seen.

Even though Marianne writes from years of experience on the subject, she still doesn’t purport herself to be an expert on the subject, but rather makes it clear that the books are based on her family’s experience. They therefore make good travelogues also, even if they are not written in that style.

As a bonus, if you buy all four books at once you get a fifth bonus book, Basic Boondocking: A Frugal Shunpiker’s Guide!

rv-travel-basic-boondocking

Marianne and her husband travel in a small class B camper van, so different from my spacious class C. I still found a lot of the information to be relevant to me. Ontario boondockers and snowbirds will benefit from reading the section about OHIP coverage. Two pictures in this book will sell you on the concept of boondocking and alone are worth getting this book. One shows the view when boondocking in the southern US, while the other shows the view when staying in a campground.

The holiday season will soon be upon us and I believe that RV Travel Guides: The Frugal Shunpikers Guides To America would make a fantastic gift for the RVer in your life or even the armchair traveler.

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Endings and Beginnings

I was laid off from the nursery job today. I can’t believe that I made it all the way to the end of this contract!!! It was a brutally hard time there, sometimes demeaning, always exhausting, but there was laughter and camaraderie, too. It reminded me that I’m not as soft or undisciplined as I think I am. I couldn’t make a career of that particular job, but I think I could do manual labour for the long term, provided it’s a position that’s a better fit for me. I gained 10lbs of solid muscle and lost 5 inches on my waistline doing this job. It sure beat riding a desk for eight hours and then squeezing in an hour at the gym!

It seems that I won’t be working the rest of December (EEP), but I’ll keep looking for work until the 20th.

My options for January are:

1) Remain in Oliver if I find a good job and stay on at the resort as a guest;

2) Remain in the Okanagan… if I find a good job. I am waiting to hear from a ski resort near Vernon that advertised an appealing position;

3) Move the Vancouver area. I’ve found a park in Fort Langley (about 40 minutes from downtown Vancouver) with reasonable rates for January and February. I told them that I will confirm a reservation next week. So, I’m giving myself that long to find a job here. So… I think I’m going to Fort Langley next. 🙂

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A World Made to Scale

This afternoon, a group from the resort including myself toured a couple of ski hills, three or four fairs, a zoo, a m*a*s*h, an army base, and several towns. We witnessed at least a half dozen accidents and someone getting arrested, explored a sunken ship, marveled at a mermaid, laughed at skinny dippers, and experienced two nights.

All this, and so much more, can be experienced at the Osoyoos Desert Model Railroad, Canada’s largest Marklin-layout. The museum is a 3,500 square foot (and growing!) miniature Europe, featuring fantastic scenes and whimsical humour with, of course, model trains traveling through the various landscapes. It is well worth a detour to Osoyoos!