Paying for our full time RV travel

October 9, 2014July 2, 2022 / Roadtirementvintage / Leave a comment

A 10 day festival with our old Starcraft hybrid. See the two EZ-UP shelters with drop down sides.

We make money as we travel by setting up as vendors at festivals and selling various items. Our first cross country trek as full timers took us from central Indiana to Seattle. This trip’s money came from the proceeds of a four week circuit of festivals we ran in Ohio and Indiana in July and August. We had just closed on the sale of our house, so this was our first time to really travel in our new Hideout travel trailer.

Sher wrote a post here describing how we got started by setting up at a flea market a couple of years ago. This was back when we had a tiny Starcraft hybrid trailer, but we still had a ball. We do it, you can too!

Set up, 30′, at a festival, Hideout behind, two shelters and an open space. This 4 day event had 20 AMP service. It cost $40 for 7 nights at the fairgrounds.

We soon discovered that we enjoyed festivals more than flea markets. Small town festivals are lots of fun and we began to see the same vendors at each event we went to.

Save a little propane

October 9, 2014July 2, 2022 / Roadtirementvintage / Leave a comment

Propane is expensive! Any conservation will help the budget.

Lurking underneath that black (or white) plastic cover on the front of your home on wheels are the propane tanks. Conservative use of the LP will save money and allow for longer dry camping sessions. Here is a tip on saving a bit of that precious commodity used for cooking, heating and providing hot water for the shower.

We normally do not have our propane fired only hot water heater turned on. When Sher or I know that a shower is imminent we turn the heater on. If one of us is going to shower, we shut the heater off before showering. If we both are going to shower we shut the heater off before the second shower. The tank is full of hot water, enough for the shower. After you take your shower the hot water tank will fire up again, and if you are not going to use the additional hot water there is no need to heat up a tank of hot water that you won’t use!

Every little bit of conservation helps, and not heating water that you won’t use is one way to conserve.

Mountain driving and Ten Sleep Canyon in Wyoming

October 8, 2014July 2, 2022 / Roadtirementvintage / 1 Comment

The deep gorge of the canyon, looking west from the Highway 16 turnoff.

Let me say that Sher and I were amazed at the scenery in Wyoming. Let me also say that the mountain driving in Wyoming on Highway 16 through the Big Horn Mountains was an experience in itself towing our travel trailer. Climbing up to and descending from the Powder River Pass (elevation 9677) was at times a white knuckle affair!

We were heading west from Buffalo, Wyoming on our way to Yellowstone National

Hello from Ten Sleep Canyon

Park. We had no idea what to expect, just that we knew we were in uncharted waters for a couple of Hoosiers from the flat farm lands of Indiana. This terrain we were seeing was awesome, but the road was a bit scary.

All of the feelings of “Did we really drive that steep curvy mountain road?” slipped away when we got to Ten Sleep Canyon, on the western side of the Big Horn Mountains.

The stark beauty of the cliffs of the canyon.

Cliffs that take your breath away.

This valley was formed by a glacier. The rocks of the canyon are almost vertical in many places, and this area is very popular for rock climbing. The pictures do not do the canyon justice.

Yellowstone is an adventure

October 7, 2014July 2, 2022 / Roadtirementvintage / Leave a comment

This big fellow owned the road. Just ask him!

During our trip across country we were fortunate enough to stop for a couple of days in Yellowstone National Park. What an adventure it was for Sher and me as this was the first trip for both of us. We stayed at the only campground with hookups for RV’s.

Our adventure began before we got to the campground. As we were driving on a

Dragon’s Mouth geothermal pool.

road overlooking the Yellowstone Lake we saw traffic stopped. Thinking it might be an accident as the road was narrow with a guardrail on one side and a sheer rock cliff on the other. Well, then we saw the huge bison calmly walking down the road in the middle of the oncoming lane.

Bison in Hayden Valley

Our journey within the park took us to Hayden Valley, where we saw other bison. Here we also saw the Dragon’s Mouth and the Mud Volcano. The scenery was magnificent.

Our second day took us to West Thumb of the Yellowstone Lake. There were the famous wood boardwalks leading around the geothermal pools and geysers.

Since I got my undergraduate degree in geology Sher had to put up with my going ape over the geologist’s dream that is Yellowstone.

Steam from the geysers give an almost creepy feel to the scene.

Sher with West Thumb of Yellowstone Lake in the background

Geothermal hot springs pool

October is the time for pumpkin picking

October 6, 2014July 2, 2022 / Roadtirementvintage / 2 Comments

This looked like a good means of travel!

Today at the north end of Snohomish Valley, Washington it was absolutely beautiful with clear skies and temps in the low 70’s. A perfect day to go to a U-pick pumpkin patch! Sher and I went with our daughter and son-in-law to Carleton Farms. They had a lot of October type stuff to see and do. This place has a year round farm market, and their pumpkin patch was huge. It probably covered at least five acres.

Hay ride to the pumpkin patch! (That is the kids zip line on the right.)

A covered wagon hay ride took us down to the pumpkin patch. I’ve never seen so many wheel barrows lined up for your use! The place had lots and lots of people there, mostly families with kids of all ages. It was fun watching the little ones with eyes light up in awe of the hundreds of pumpkins on the ground.

What a variety!

$A tiny fraction of the pumpkin picking area available.$

A tiny fraction of the pumpkin picking area available.

We spent about half an hour or so picking out the pumpkins we wanted. It was amazing that there were so many different sizes and shapes available all still on the vine. There were kid sized zip lines too.

One of the pumpkin cannons. The range of this cannon was very impressive!

At the top of the hill the farm had two pumpkin cannons set up. These compressed air powered cannons were hurling small pumpkins for hundreds of yards into a corn field. Some went farther into a nearby stream, creating quite the splash on impact. Kids were really enjoying firing these cannons and watching the pumpkins soar!

The Carleton Farm also had a corn maze and was preparing for haunted activities for Halloween. They have an extensive website listing all the October fun planned.

Heavenly Fire Kitchens, makers of wood fired pizza

October 5, 2014July 2, 2022 / Roadtirementvintage / Leave a comment

Will and Brian with a hand made masterpiece ready for the oven.

This afternoon Sher and I went to the Railroad Days Festival in Granite Falls, Washington. This festival is a yearly tradition in the town, and in addition to a fair style midway with rides and games one of the streets was filled with different vendors selling all kinds of wares.

One of the food concessions was a nifty pizza caterer. The name of the vendor was Heavenly Fire Kitchens, based out of Marysville. I spoke with Will, Brian, Sophi and Devin in the booth. Brian told me that they started the business in May of this year. The set up is really impressive, as there is a real wood fired pizza oven mounted on a trailer. The pizzas are hand made on the spot and baked right before your eyes.

Sophi and Brian in front of the oven. Look at all those boxes ready to be filled!

Sher and I shared one of their cheese pizzas. The ones they were selling today were thin crust and hot out of the oven. The wait after order was not really a problem, as there were plenty of other booths to look at while we waited the 10 or so minutes. Check the Heavenly Fire Kitchen website for their next event. Or better yet, have them cater your own private party.

Pirates landed at a Railroad Festival

October 4, 2014July 2, 2022 / Roadtirementvintage / 3 Comments

A “handsome” gathering of scalawags and hooligans. Can you tell who is the Captain?

The location was Granite Falls, Washington, hosting their annual Railroad Days, held the first Saturday in October. As we entered the town we noticed an odd vehicle on the side of the road. Somehow it looked like a ship of some kind. Then we saw (and heard) pirates leaving the “ship”, having a great time as they ambled down the sidewalk and entered a bar or grill.

Later the vehicle, an amphibious Duck, drove by us as we were parked on a side street. That was my chance to go see what this bunch of scalawags was all about. I walked with Pirate Steve, aka Fingers, as the raucous crew made their way to the local American Legion bar. Steve told me that this bunch of pirate dressed holligans were in fact the Seattle Seafair Pirates.

The Duck transformed into a rolling and floating street legal scourge of highways and seaways alike.

The group traces its history back to 1949. The original bunch began the decades long mission of promoting Seattle and the SEAFAIR celebration. The select group also visits hospitals and nursing homes, as well as civic events such as the Railroad Days in Granite City.

These guys have a ball, speak the language, and are dressed to the hilt. Yes that is a pun on the hilt of a pirate dagger. It takes a year for new members to be signed up for a position on this elite crew. Their civic duty is legendary in the Seattle area. A visit to their website is a journey worth your time.

Fun time at the Everett Sausage Festival

October 4, 2014July 2, 2022 / Roadtirementvintage / Leave a comment

Tonight Sher and I and our daughter and son-in-law went to a neat local festival. The Everett Sausage Festival is a three day fundraiser for Catholic education at the Immaculate Conception/Our Lady of Perpetual Help in Everett, Washington. According to the Festival website this is the 38th year of the festival. There were lots of great vendors selling everything from cooking spices to Alpaca sweaters to hand made jewelry. A full Midway full of rides was also set up .

This is one of those events that is just plain fun. The crowd was mostly locals, most of whom knew each other. The food we had was what you would expect from local concessions. It was great! Hand cut fries served in a tray the size used for a full meal at a Dairy Queen, delicious huge sausage and kraut sandwich, large hot off the grill cheeseburgers filled us all up!

One stage under a tent gave local bands a venue to play. Good music and lots of dancing! Another stage was set up inside a “Beer Garden” that offered different wines. This is a fun festival that is open Saturday from noon to midnight and Sunday from noon to 7.

Brava’s Pizza & Pasta in Snohomish, WA

October 1, 2014July 2, 2022 / Roadtirementvintage / Leave a comment

Sher found some great deals on restaurant dot com the other day. One was for Brava’s Pizza and Pasta in Snohomish, Washington. This place is in downtown Snohomish, and apparently used to be in Seattle. When we got there we were in time to cash in on the lunch special: half price on any pizza! Brava’s also has pasta, salads, gyros and other menu items.

The gal who took our order was very nice and brought our pizza right to the table. It was excellent! I devoured my half, Sher had a couple of pieces left for take home. The restaurant also had a very good connection to free WiFi, and there were outlets on one wall since I needed to plug in my laptop.

We highly recommend this place, and we will definitely be returning. Check out the menu at Brava’s website.

Haunted Mt Baker Theatre burns a ghost light

September 30, 2014July 2, 2022 / Roadtirementvintage / 11 Comments

Ghost light on center stage at Mt.Baker Theatre

The historic Mt. Baker Theatre in Bellingham, Washington is supposedly haunted, as most old theaters claim. When we took a tour we saw the ghost light which burns on center stage at all times when there is no production going on. Ghost lights are a tradition among theaters and actors. The lights provide a means to placate ghosts who either want to perform or who want to watch.

The best well known spirit at Mt Baker Theatre is Judy, an amorous young lady. It seems Judy lost her house (or boarding house room, as some say) when the theater was built in 1926-1927. She is reported to be interested in young male projectionists, actors, or ushers. One theater staff member told me Judy is a flirt! Others ghosts who haunt the theater include a well dressed fellow named Geoffrey who appears in either a fancy pin-striped suit or a tuxedo. Another theater staffer said there is a ghost feral cat that haunts and hunts the basement.