Blogging has not been in alignment with me lately, like it was when we were chillin' back at the farmstead. But we've been really busy, with a lot of business to take care of while staying in Livingston, Texas... Escapees RV park and headquarters, to be exact.We joined the Escapees club for $39. We will enjoy discounts at their various campgrounds all across the country (even into Canada), they set us up with a new, legitimate mailing address, and we also opted-in for their mail-forwarding service (for an additional fee). We also registered our vehicles (truck and 5th wheel) in the state, got new plates for those, got new driver's licenses, switched our auto insurance and signed up for new health care coverage.
*Whew*
it was a lot of work. but it went well! and we really enjoyed our 5 days stay at Rainbow's End 😊 (Isn't that a cute name? It is quite the place.) We were gonna split after 4, but the vacant lot next to us became occupied Monday afternoon, and our whole world changed! We've been meaning to be social, meet some neighbors, maybe partake in one of the campground activities and such, but it just hadn't worked out for us to really connect with ppl yet. So Life brought the party to US.
Our new arrivals came over to introduce themselves and asked if we'd be willing to sign a waiver stating it was OK for them to film their activities later in the evening. They figured our RV would probably end up in some of their shots, so they wanted to be sure we were cool with that. Turns out they're going to be featured in a film being put together called RV Nomads. It will be the first feature-length film of it's kind! All about the full-time RV lifestyle. Laura, the wifey, is also handling the social media and marketing stuff for Eric, the producer of the film.
Now, Joel and I began watching various ppl's youtube videos on RVing and boondocking many months ago. They got our juices flowing (even more than they already were) and provided great information/education on how to step fully into this world. While we were staying at the farmstead, i found myself wondering if we'd end up running into any of the folk's who's channels we were viewing and learning from. I mean, sure, EVENTUALLY we probably would. but it is a big country we're traveling through. there are many campgrounds to park at. there were only a dozen or so different ppl's channels that we were frequenting. so what are the odds? i guess pretty darn good 😁 but i didn't know it would happen so fast!
(I have several links you can follow in the stuff below)
First we have the Hebards- Laura and John. They have their own website and youtube channel.
If you're friends with me on facebox, you may have seen their pug video that i shared the other day. if you have not yet seen it, YOU SHOULD, it's hilarious- click here!
The Hebards were new to us. They have a crap-ton of videos about various things that broke down and were repaired on their rig. so if you're interested at all in that kind of stuff, they take the cake. They were about to be interviewed for the film just before we left this morning.
We also met the stars of RVLove- Julie and Mark. Julie's accent is lovely. HeHe. We discovered their videos only recently, when we were staying back at the farmstead... So it was a little trippy seeing them in person all of a sudden! They are being featured in the Nomad film too.
Lastly, we befriended some incredible solar-panel ppl, John and Brenda. Joel was stoked- John had a Packers jacket on, and we discovered the Hebards are big Packer fans as well. John and Brenda were pulling around a trailer with large panels on one side and on top. It's a sight to see, pumping out 7.2 kW. They told us they can camp off-grid, AND plug a friend's rig in and power theirs as well! talk about generosity 😄 They've also figured out how to dry-camp for up to a month and a half at a time, as they converted their black water tank to an Xtra grey water one. They use a composting toilet and minimal water for bathing and such. It is absolutely fascinating how they do it- and IT WORKS! They weren't smelly, malnourished, or seeming to feel lacked in anything. it totally works for them. and it's got Joel and I wondering how we'll change and evolve what we're doing, too. John was ALL ABOUT seeing the solar set-up that Joel and his brother Jeremy put together for us before we left. He and Brenda were quite impressed!
So, what we thought was going to be only our rig in this movie-pfilming, turned out to be Joel and I as well. All 6 of them, plus Eric the film guy, invited us over to enjoy the Christmas dinner they were going to have that evening. I was STOKED! i had been wondering what we could do about having a holiday meal of some kind. then these ppl just show up and invited us over??! YES. i was IN. I wasn't aware tho that they would be filming it, until we meandered over a bit before sunset. That's when we also met Sean, the CEO of the whole Escapees organization. He was dressed nicer than the rest of us. "He doesn't look like a camper" i thought to myself. Then he introduced himself and let us know he was NOT staying there in a camper, but he lives about an hour away. He ate dinner with us tho! A native to the Los Angeles area, he claims to have grown up in the valley... where the classic concept of "valley girl" came from. he's very friendly and funny! He came out stargazing with us the following night, too. more about that in a moment.
Eric told us all to just try and ignore his presence, along with that of the drone flying overhead in the beginning, and even all the bright lights he was to wander around with, setting up on tall stands, before moving to and fro with his camera and captured shots. He wanted us to act natural, enjoy our meal, and just be campers! as he does his thing. it was easy enough, as we became engrossed in conversation and stories and shared our plans for beyond Rainbow's end. It was just lovely. it felt like we were all one big family. and Laura, sitting next to me, said this was one of the things she loved most about living as a nomad and staying at places with other nomad-y folks: the sense of warmth and community is unlike what they'd ever experienced back at home. Everyone is so friendly, strangers will walk right up to you if you're working on something and offer to give you a hand, or give you a tip, or pass on helpful information, share a wonderful story about their time journeying along, and will invite you right into their camper to show you around their tiny home!
All that being said, dinner was wonderful, we laughed a ton, heard some amazing stories, they sent us home with leftovers, and it sounds like they're all going to a huge gathering in Arizona next month (Quartzsite) that i think they convinced Joel and I should show up at. 😊 John and Brenda, the solar-panel ppl, also let us know about an astronomy viewing gig they were going to be doing the following night, and said we should join them. We were planning on leaving in the morning tho, so we'd miss it. but after such an awesome time with everyone, we changed our minds! we are SO GLAD we extended our stay for one more night. Brenda and her husband have been doing these viewing events all across the country for 13+ years, i think she said. They are very passionate and fun about it. We learned a lot and had a very hands-on experience with 3 of their powerful telescopes. we had gorgeous night sky conditions for viewing, and i LOVED watching Joel take it all in, as he asked questions and had conversations with the two of them and one of their colleagues. Ever since i first met Joel, he has had a vivid interest in the sun, galaxies, and everything spacey. this was such a stellar little surprise that we got to be here for! ⭐
What else? Well, we arrived at Escapees on Friday afternoon... Joined the club, changed our address, and started calling around for car insurance quotes. only an hour later and the weekend was beginning. offices were closed. we HAD to go out exploring and play around until Monday. So Saturday we spent driving around through national forest and wildlife management land, looking for possible places to camp for free/ off the beaten path. we found some really neat areas! but not for us right now. we'd be better off with just a tent. it was BEAUTIFUL driving through the forests tho. They do everything BIG in Texas, and their pine tree forests are no exception! TALL towering acres of them, had me mesmerized. the air smelled incredible. we checked out about 8 possible camp areas and it took us a few hours. by the time we got back to our camper, we pulled off an hour-long bike ride around the resort and surrounding neighborhoods before nightfall. it was a lot of fun, as the roads have low speed limits, and there was a lot to look at, with all the different rigs, trailers, Texas homes with their own rigs built into or next to them, PLUS it's Christmastime, so lots of decorations to see. We pedaled past a yard that had a bunch of those inflatable, air-blowing characters in it, and one of them was a snowman. but i had never seen a snowman like this before. because it was holding a rifle. A RIFLE! built into the snowman! part of the inflation, lit up at night, lo and behold- this is Texas! And our Frosties hold rifles. where the heavens do you even FIND that?! i suppose the answer is "the internet". i've seen home depot down here but no menards. they also really love their Sonic drive-throughs. even in the smallest, dumpiest, run-down towns, you'll see a brightly-colored Sonic restaurant. makes me laugh.
Sunday we went to the gulf of mexico. I had never been before! that was neato! We rolled into our
first sea side town, Crystal Beach, and all the houses were built up on tall pillars and stilts. that was funny to see! and we drove through a lot of marshy, swampy areas to get there. it got me thinking "how far west do alligators live?? they're in florida and louisiana, but what about Texas?" Sure enough, they occur all around the area we were staying in. we were over an hour north of Houston, and they were found in ppl's homes in the city after the hurricane hit. i haven't seen any yet tho. We ate lunch at a restaurant across from "goat island"- that has an interesting history to it. but no goats on it that we could see! So we hopped the ferry across the way to Galveston. And we saw dolphins!! i did not expect that! it was spectacular!! i love me a great dolphin sighting! it's just way more exciting than a walleye, IMHO.
That about sums up our stay in Livingston.
We are staying just outside of Wimberly, TX tonight, on a guy's longhorn cattle ranch, for free! up to 2 nites, he lets ppl "hang their hats." (HAHA- that's what they say :) we arrived just before dusk. This morning we reached out to the guy to see if we'd be able to stay here for the night, and now here we are! Welcomed warmly by the friendly and boisterous Robert. He lives here with his family and some critterss. Besides cattle, he's also got chickens and goats roaming around somewhere. Robert told us about a road that makes for a great bike ride, or trails that will take us over an hour to hike, all over this pretty plot of land he's on. I think we may hit him up on the maximum night's stay! there's a bonsai tree place we passed on the way here, and Jacob's Well, natural spring, that i'd love to check out. At one point we crossed over a creek and the water was this BREATHTAKING clear, but blue-ish hue... i want to go back and see more of that! and what else is around here?? we're in "the hills" we've heard folks call it. There are very different kinds of trees around us now. i am loving every iota of freedom i'm feeling, with having no schedule to be on. we can change our plans day to day, it doesn't matter to anyone else! and this wonderful website we joined that connects us to ppl with land that we can stay on for free... just priceless. we have no hookups tonight, but i'm cozy as ever with our solar power lighting the Christmas tree, and we have plenty of propane for heating us through the night. (it is winter down here, after all :)
btw, HOLY CRAP TEXAS IS HUGE. what the HECK??!!! crimony sakes! hopefully we make it to New mexico before 2018 (Hardy har har.)
If you're friends with me on facebox, you may have seen their pug video that i shared the other day. if you have not yet seen it, YOU SHOULD, it's hilarious- click here!
The Hebards were new to us. They have a crap-ton of videos about various things that broke down and were repaired on their rig. so if you're interested at all in that kind of stuff, they take the cake. They were about to be interviewed for the film just before we left this morning.
We also met the stars of RVLove- Julie and Mark. Julie's accent is lovely. HeHe. We discovered their videos only recently, when we were staying back at the farmstead... So it was a little trippy seeing them in person all of a sudden! They are being featured in the Nomad film too.
Lastly, we befriended some incredible solar-panel ppl, John and Brenda. Joel was stoked- John had a Packers jacket on, and we discovered the Hebards are big Packer fans as well. John and Brenda were pulling around a trailer with large panels on one side and on top. It's a sight to see, pumping out 7.2 kW. They told us they can camp off-grid, AND plug a friend's rig in and power theirs as well! talk about generosity 😄 They've also figured out how to dry-camp for up to a month and a half at a time, as they converted their black water tank to an Xtra grey water one. They use a composting toilet and minimal water for bathing and such. It is absolutely fascinating how they do it- and IT WORKS! They weren't smelly, malnourished, or seeming to feel lacked in anything. it totally works for them. and it's got Joel and I wondering how we'll change and evolve what we're doing, too. John was ALL ABOUT seeing the solar set-up that Joel and his brother Jeremy put together for us before we left. He and Brenda were quite impressed!
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| Brenda and John being video-interviewed next to their solar panel trailer. |
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| Christmas dinner with our new friends. |
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| Dennis showing Joel how this telescope works |
What else? Well, we arrived at Escapees on Friday afternoon... Joined the club, changed our address, and started calling around for car insurance quotes. only an hour later and the weekend was beginning. offices were closed. we HAD to go out exploring and play around until Monday. So Saturday we spent driving around through national forest and wildlife management land, looking for possible places to camp for free/ off the beaten path. we found some really neat areas! but not for us right now. we'd be better off with just a tent. it was BEAUTIFUL driving through the forests tho. They do everything BIG in Texas, and their pine tree forests are no exception! TALL towering acres of them, had me mesmerized. the air smelled incredible. we checked out about 8 possible camp areas and it took us a few hours. by the time we got back to our camper, we pulled off an hour-long bike ride around the resort and surrounding neighborhoods before nightfall. it was a lot of fun, as the roads have low speed limits, and there was a lot to look at, with all the different rigs, trailers, Texas homes with their own rigs built into or next to them, PLUS it's Christmastime, so lots of decorations to see. We pedaled past a yard that had a bunch of those inflatable, air-blowing characters in it, and one of them was a snowman. but i had never seen a snowman like this before. because it was holding a rifle. A RIFLE! built into the snowman! part of the inflation, lit up at night, lo and behold- this is Texas! And our Frosties hold rifles. where the heavens do you even FIND that?! i suppose the answer is "the internet". i've seen home depot down here but no menards. they also really love their Sonic drive-throughs. even in the smallest, dumpiest, run-down towns, you'll see a brightly-colored Sonic restaurant. makes me laugh.
 |
| touching the gulf for the very first time |
first sea side town, Crystal Beach, and all the houses were built up on tall pillars and stilts. that was funny to see! and we drove through a lot of marshy, swampy areas to get there. it got me thinking "how far west do alligators live?? they're in florida and louisiana, but what about Texas?" Sure enough, they occur all around the area we were staying in. we were over an hour north of Houston, and they were found in ppl's homes in the city after the hurricane hit. i haven't seen any yet tho. We ate lunch at a restaurant across from "goat island"- that has an interesting history to it. but no goats on it that we could see! So we hopped the ferry across the way to Galveston. And we saw dolphins!! i did not expect that! it was spectacular!! i love me a great dolphin sighting! it's just way more exciting than a walleye, IMHO.
That about sums up our stay in Livingston.
We are staying just outside of Wimberly, TX tonight, on a guy's longhorn cattle ranch, for free! up to 2 nites, he lets ppl "hang their hats." (HAHA- that's what they say :) we arrived just before dusk. This morning we reached out to the guy to see if we'd be able to stay here for the night, and now here we are! Welcomed warmly by the friendly and boisterous Robert. He lives here with his family and some critterss. Besides cattle, he's also got chickens and goats roaming around somewhere. Robert told us about a road that makes for a great bike ride, or trails that will take us over an hour to hike, all over this pretty plot of land he's on. I think we may hit him up on the maximum night's stay! there's a bonsai tree place we passed on the way here, and Jacob's Well, natural spring, that i'd love to check out. At one point we crossed over a creek and the water was this BREATHTAKING clear, but blue-ish hue... i want to go back and see more of that! and what else is around here?? we're in "the hills" we've heard folks call it. There are very different kinds of trees around us now. i am loving every iota of freedom i'm feeling, with having no schedule to be on. we can change our plans day to day, it doesn't matter to anyone else! and this wonderful website we joined that connects us to ppl with land that we can stay on for free... just priceless. we have no hookups tonight, but i'm cozy as ever with our solar power lighting the Christmas tree, and we have plenty of propane for heating us through the night. (it is winter down here, after all :)
btw, HOLY CRAP TEXAS IS HUGE. what the HECK??!!! crimony sakes! hopefully we make it to New mexico before 2018 (Hardy har har.)
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| the Hebard's dogs. they travel with a cat, too! |
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