Starting Out - April 2008

Ok, I'm new at all of this but I'll do my best to share and explain my story as I've experienced it.

This may not be the beginning of the journey but it is the beginning of this blog.
(Pink Floyd should be playing in the background right now "...is there anybody out there, just smile if you can hear me, is there anyone home..."
I can't quite define the beginning of the story yet. It's like a fine thread that has been woven over time. Instead, I'll begin at the beginning of the Ultimate Road Trip.

My family and I lived in a small mountain town in SW Colorado. We sold all of our belongings in a month long string of garage sales, then hit the road on April 1, 2008. This may sound like an April Fools joke but it wasn't. We started out in an OLD 27' class A motorhome. We had three thousand dollars cash, no bills, no job set up for our journey, and no plan as to where life would take us. This may sound scary and even a little irresponsible - but I assure you, we knew in our core that we were finally doing what we were meant to do.

We pulled our three girls out of school (kindergarten, first and second grade) and began homeschooling them. The girls always wanted to see California and the beach - so we headed West. We began by traveling through the Four Corners, Grand Canyon, Yuma,AZ and San Diego. San Diego, the first time through, wasn't very impressive.(Later, we stood corrected.) We then headed up the coast of California. A great little town, NW of Santa Barbara, is Buellton. It's situated among three other small towns, nestled along the inland side of the mountains from the coast. One town, Solvang, has a Danish heritage and architecture.

We continued north, passed Napa Valley, stopping at Clear Lake. A gorgeous lake with small towns tucking in all around it. We knew some people who lived there but were unable to make contact until after we left. During our stay at a campground on the N end of the lake, we received a call from a KOA campground manager (thanks, Dennis) in Coarsegold, CA.

Now let me backtrack for a moment. Prior to leaving Colorado, I did nails for a living. A fun job that can be profitable and allows you to meet all different kinds of people. I had a client that told me about workamping. She and her husband lived in their motorhome while their house was being built. They lived at an RV park in town and worked there to offset their living costs. So, two or three weeks before we left, I put a resume online at work@koa.com. That brings us back to where we left off - with a call from the campground manager looking for a workamping couple. Since we had stayed in ALL kinds of campgrounds and RV parks up until that point (and believe me - there is a difference) we decided to drive through the park before we responded.

So, we drove down to Yosemite South KOA. This is a beautiful park located in a small town just N of Fresno. As soon as we pulled in, we knew we would stay. It became a whole new way of life. Not just a trip, or vacation, but work-camping. We had been on the road for nearly three weeks when we began to work again. And this kind of work was not work at all!
So there you have it. The "beginning".
I'll continue to tell the tale and go back and fill in as needed.
I hope to soon have links, to helpful and associated sites.
Farewell for now!
D