September 20, 2012

River Bend RV Resort, Harrisburg, OR

We woke up around 7:30.  Monte got ready to go to the first seminar at 8 entitled, Understanding RV Extended Warranties.  I stayed back home to prepare our contribution for tonight’s pot luck dinner.  I made baked macaroni and I also made sausage & peppers.  Monte came back during the 15 minute break between seminars to have a quick bowl of cereal.  I wasn’t quite finished with my dinner preparation so I skipped the next seminar, Buying An RV-Pros, Cons & Must Haves.  I figured since we already had our RV, I really wouldn’t benefit from the seminar.  I had planned on attending the seminar at 10:15 on RV Weight & Tire Safety, but I got sidetracked and missed it.  Monte is recording all the seminars so I can watch it at a later time.

After lunch I attended Working On The Road because Monte and I haven’t ruled out doing some work camping along the way to help offset expenses.  There are several different types of work camping.  Some campgrounds offer a full hook-up site in exchange for a couple of days work.  Some campgrounds offer an hourly wage.  Most of the National Parks rely on “Camp Hosts”.  It is a great way to really explore an area but most of the parks will require a three to four month commitment.  I am not sure at this early stage in our adventure if I want to commit to that much time. 

The next seminar, Boondocking Basics, touched on different aspects of dry camping.  We had already experienced a couple of different types of boondocking when we stayed in the Camping World parking lot in Nashville, TN that didn’t have an electric hook-up.  Several of the Camping World’s will allow overnight parking and several actually have electric hookup and some even have water and a dumping station on site.  We semi-boondocked at Yellowstone as there was no electric and no sewer dump station.  There were water spigots and flush toilets.  We are looking at trying to do more boondocking, not only for ability to “camp” in a more natural setting, but also to save some money.

After the Boondocking session, Greg Holder of AM solar presented information on solar battery charging systems.  Monte stayed to tape that session because we are very interested in getting solar power.  I attended a Boondocking Break-out Session with Linda who answered specific questions about boondocking from a woman’s perspective.  It was a lot of fun hearing some tips and even some of the questions from the women who haven’t made the decision to full-time yet.  We discussed everything from toilet issues to hair washing issues associated with having no power for an extended amount of time.  We finally broke up the session just before 4 and I went home to get caught up some things I have been neglecting. 

At 5 I tried to light the pilot light in the oven so I could start cooking the mac and cheese I was planning on taking to the pot lot dinner.  I could not get it lit so I phoned Monte who was off gallivanting and as I call it, Smoozing, with the guys.  He came home and had a difficult time as well.  But finally, he got it lit and I was able to finish cooking the mac and cheese.  I also heated the sausage, peppers and onions I had prepped earlier in the day.  The aroma was making my mouth water!

We brought over our tins at 6 and there were already quite a few dishes there.  One by one the tables were called up to eat.  There was a huge selection to choose from.  I made two trips us to the buffet table and still hadn’t tasted everything. 

 

After dinner we participated in a game based on the newlywed game with all the questions were related to RVing.  Monte and I really bombed out.  I think out of the seven questions we only got two correct.  It was a fun evening.  When we got home I was surprised to see it was only a little after 9.