It still happens.

Life on the road is still “life”, and it is not all beautiful sunsets and 50Gbps LTE. Sometimes the unicorns fart rainbows, and sometimes they just plain fart.

At the end of [...]]]> We’ve said it over and over again, building a nomadic lifestyle does not get you out of “bad stuff” happening.

It still happens.

Life on the road is still “life”, and it is not all beautiful sunsets and 50Gbps LTE. Sometimes the unicorns fart rainbows, and sometimes they just plain fart.

At the end of the last post I left you hanging mentioning how we saved $100 in fuel on the next segment of our adventure.

In case you haven’t been following along in realtime on Facebook, the secret to saving fuel while driving a GM 4106 across Montana at 75Mph (backwards!) is… to let a tow truck do all the work.

Here is the story…

We had just gone through the “Wavingest Town in the West” – Broadus, MT – where I was able to send a picture of my dad and I crossing into Montana to my family. We noticed a little RV Park in the town’s center, and we thought “this seems like a cute town with good cell signal” and seriously contemplated stopping for the night.

Crossing into Montana!

We knew our next camping option would not be for quite a while, and it would probably not have cellular coverage… (have you noticed the blatant foreshadowing yet?)

But it was still early in the day, we hadn’t made that many miles yet, and we decided to press on.

So westward we went leaving that glorious cell tower behind in the rearview camera. Twenty miles we traveled through beautiful eastern Montana prairie before we encounter the first chain-up area we’ve seen in a really long time. Of course it’s summer, so no chains required – but that means a mountain pass.

It’s a relatively minor pass however. Nothing of concern – Zephry has handled plenty of steeper and longer inclines without problem.

Zephyr starts climbing the pass, when the RPMs start to slip, Chris manually shifts her into 2nd to keep them up. All is fine, but I do note that the transmission sounds slightly different – a little more ‘airy’ perhaps. Not enough to mention it to Chris, it could just be the way the air is hitting the bus.

We crest the incline, and the temperature has barely budged above normal. Chris pats the dashboard and congratulates Zephyr on another hill well climbed.  It’s flat at the top of Camp Pass for a bit – and I jokingly note, ‘Camp Pass.. we could camp here!’.

And as soon as Zephyr regains her oomph, Chris shifts her back into 3rd. There’s a bit more of a lurch in the shifting than normal, but Chris says everything looks fine and isn’t concerned.

But I wouldn’t write about ‘normal’…

Retracing our steps – this is the downhill of Camp Pass. Zephyr is parked at the bottom.

As we start the downhill, which isn’t even as extreme as the slight incline we just climbed, rather than slowly going down, the engine temperature instead starts to spike up. That’s very unusual on a slight downhill, and Chris goes into alert. In all the bus training we’ve gone through, the tips on temperature regulation had to do with handling an INCLINE, or a downhill when using extensive engine braking. The temps aren’t supposed to increase when going down a slight hill.. that’s supposed to be the easy on the engine stuff.  We didn’t even have the Jake engaged!

Within a minute, even though we were essentially coasting, the engine temp was up to 205 and was rising fast. Chris started slowing down, braking to pull off onto the shoulder.

The temperature kept rising and as Chris was nearly on the shoulder (which was thankfully wide at this particular point) he put the engine into neutral to take all load off of it. Regardless, the overheat light came on and the engine automatically shut off.

We had enough momentum left to get safely parked well off the road.

The coolant draining out (this is post the gushing).

As we stopped we heard liquids gushing from the back of the bus, and rushed to find boiling coolant was gushing to the ground underneath the engine bay. Well, there goes most hopes of us not having done damage to the engine.

After the coolant quit gushing out all over the road, we had the not-so-bright idea to check the coolant in the reservoir to see if anything was left. Chris put his heavy work gloves on to open the coolant fill chamber, opened the inspection hatch, and out came a geyser of coolant that sprayed across the entire highway. Thankfully, Chris was positioned so only his gloves and arm got hit with coolant… and even more thankfully, it was actually not hot (?!?!) and didn’t scald him. It was just the steam from the rest of the cooling system that was pushing it out.

It was actually quite the spectacle to witness.

Ok.  So now we had a very hot engine bay, a bus on the side of the road… and despite checking our phones several times in hopes of new towers having been installed since our May ‘Coverage?’ update – no cellular signal.

Unhitching the Mini and driving back into town is of course an option, so we’re not completely stranded. But it sure would be nice to manifest some connectivity out here and get a call into our roadside emergency service – Coach-Net.

But first things first, if we may be stranded here for awhile, it’s best to start going into ultra conservation mode with our house battery systems – so we shut everything non essential down (just leaving the vent fan going to keep cool, and the fridge).

Our initial emergency landing spot.

Despite being in the Custer National Forest, we had spotted two houses right nearby. One of them has a sign over the driveway saying ‘Lemonade Run’, and there’s an RV parked there. Friendly signs?  We approach the driveway in hopes of finding the front door, to discover this is only the garage. The house is actually much further down the drive and up on a hill. We start to factor in if it’s worth risking trespasing on someone’s property out in the middle of nowhere like this to walk up and knock on the door of a potentially empty house.

We stand in the driveway for a few moments to contemplate our options. And then we spot two 4×4 ATVs turning onto Hyw 212 and heading our way. They stop right by us, and ask how they can help. *whew*

Turns out these are our new neighbors coming back from an expedition. She goes up to the house and returns with a cell phone.

What?? You have *VERIZON* cell signal out here?? How’d we miss that??

Oh, right.. our app ‘Coverage?‘ focuses on data coverage.. not voice. And there are still old voice only towers around in the rural areas that our fancy (and useless in this matter) data only devices don’t have an antenna for.

You can probably guess what the next major upgrade to Coverage will be, and that these nomads will be adding some pre-paid voice only phones from the major carriers to our connectivity arsenal for potential future emergency use…

So Chris gets a call into Coach-Net to start our ticket, and as we’re safely off the road and in the middle of nowhere – they say it’ll probably be the morning before they can get a wrecker to us. We inform them that we have no phone coverage of our own where the bus is parked, we give them our neighbor’s number as as stand-by, but tell them we’ll drive into Broadus where we know we have coverage to check in later with them.

Their diesel tech assigned to our case tells us he needs to go off and do some research to find us the right shop to take an old 2-stroke bus to, and to locate the right wrecking equipment.

Shuffling jugs of water to re-fill the coolant.

We’re actually thankful they’re not rushing someone out, as we also need time to figure things out – and want a say in the matter of where we go and how we get there.

We know that rushing and panic are not our friends, and we keep calm and collected. Besides, we’re at Camp Pass, a good place to camp, right? Our neighbors let us know that the driveway we happened to stop next to is not used by anyone, and if we can get the bus up on there we’d be a heck of a lot safer and more level.

By this time, our IR Thermometer indicates the engine has cooled down to a reasonable 140 degrees. We have a few gallons of distilled water onboard for topping off the coolant and start refilling the reservoir. Nothing is dripping out anywhere, so we’re pretty sure this wasn’t as simple as a coolant hose bursting that caused the overheat.

Zephyr drinks in the 4 gallons of distilled water, and is still thirsty. So I start filling water jugs from the faucet, and we end up putting 12 gallons in until the reservoir looks full again. Originally the bus took 24 gallons of coolant, but it’s hard to say what it needs today as some bus heating systems connected into the coolant system had been removed when it was converted.

We pull our Coolfire extinguisher out of the bay – just in case. We unhitch the Mini to reduce any extra loads.

Pulled more safely off the road. The water spots is where the coolant gushed all over.

We take a deep breath, cross our fingers and do a rear engine start. She starts up easily, the smoke is its normal white – so we have some hope.

Chris hops in the drivers seat and I guide him half way up unto the driveway, and even this small move is a struggle for our poor Zephyr girl – she has barely any power. And the smoke has a little bit of black in it when the pedal is pushed. But we’re well off the road now, and more level. We feel good about staying here overnight, and have more information to relay to our bus community when we can get online to help us figure out what went wrong.

As it’s nearly 8pm at this point, we decide it’s best to head into town – as Broadus is likely to roll up the sidewalks early. We make the 25 mile drive back, replaying the events over and over trying to figure it all out.

We enter Broadus and have our first internet signal since this all happened, and get a quick message out on our Facebook page to let everyone know we’re ok – but have a potentially big problem on our hands. We then find a little cafe open, and decide some dinner would do us good as we post the saga to the bus forums to start soliciting ideas.

Gone for help sign we left on the door.

The cafe closes up, so we head further into town to complete our online time. We decide to top the gas tank off on the Mini, to be more prepared for needing to make multiple trips into town. Clifford, a bus forum hero who we affectionately call ‘bus yoda’ says the symptoms sound bad. We potentially have a cracked head, or at the very least blew a seal gasket due to the overheating.

But what caused the overheating in the first place?

Theories abound online – it could be anything ranging from a thermostat getting stuck, a water pump failing, or even something related to the transmission. But regardless, this won’t be something we can fix on the side of the road, and we’ll need to find a good shop to get the bus to for some potential major repairs.

The forum folks put us in touch with a bus nut in Billings, MT to help us locate our options. We call one shop in Miles City to at least leave a message, who remarkably answer their phone at 10pm. They tell us they’re swamped right now, but might at the very least be able to offer us space to park and equipment to rent, and a little coaching. While we’re resourceful, we’re not sure we’re up to the task of doing this work ourselves (but what a learning experience that would be!).

A particular shop in Billings, Interstate Power, keeps coming up from multiple sources as a potential.. so we start putting out feelers.

We get another call into Coach-Net to check in, there’s no new news. We set up a call for 9am the next morning to compare notes and start sorting this out with the diesel tech. We decide it’s time to head back into the land of no-internet, to give Kiki some company and get some sleep.

It’s been a long day.

Saturday in Broadus

We set the alarm for an early morning wake-up, and try to catch some snoozes after a very intense day. Our minds are over-active continuing to replay the events. We’re sleeping at an incline, and the bus shakes as occasional big rigs speed down Highway 212 several feet from us.  But we manage to each get a few hours in.

We wake up before our alarms go off, ready to tackle what we know will be another long day ahead of us.

Shade, internet, power and a rodeo – what else does a technomad need to solve a problem?

We hop in the Mini and head back into bandwidth. We’re greeted with more advice that had arrived overnight, and waiting voicemails from our diesel tech at Coach-Net. We check in again with the shop in Miles City, and they give us several great ideas, but still can’t offer a lot of their time. And then we call iState Power – who tells us they can fit us in their schedule on Monday, and we can stay onsite in our bus. We continue asking around for first hand accounts about the company, and decide we’d like to be taken to Billings, MT – liking the idea of having more resources around in a bigger city.

We call in to Coach-Net, and are told they’ve located a shop in Sheridan, WY that they want to take us to. We tell them we’ve already contacted a shop in Billings, and they tell us we’d have to pay the extra mileage to get there. We point out that it’s actually 10 miles closer to our shop of choice, and they instantly approved it for us.

Now, to make sure we get the right kind of wrecker service…

Because we have an automatic transmission, it’s not recommend we get towed behind something. It can be done, but would require the drive axle being disconnected – and there’s just so much more potential for damage being done if this is not done right. All our bus folks told us to insist on a Landol, ‘low boy’ or ‘drop deck’ style flat bed trailer. Coach-net said they’d do their best – but we’re out in the boonies, and would have to take what they can find.

We winced at the thought of our Zephyr being swung around on a tow hook going over 140 miles of mountain passes, and decided when we got back to the bus we’d pack up everything essential (ie. the computers and backups) and an overnight pack – just in case.

Hanging out in the Wavingest Town of the West!

We got the call from Coach-Net that they had contacted a wrecker service, and with enough poking and prodding we got the name of the company out of them so we could make direct contact. Between the desire for a flatbed option and the lack of cellular signal, we wanted to leave little to second hand communication. We knew the neighbors near where we broke down were out of town for the weekend, and thus would be unable to get a message to us if the wrecker or Coach-Net tried to call.

At noon, Hanser’s Towing & Recovery service called to say a team from Billings had been dispatched to come get us – and to expect them in 3-3.5 hours. They assured us they knew what they were doing when it came to equipment, and that they knew we would not be reachable by cell phone once we left Broadus to go back to the bus.

That left us plenty of time to hang out in Broadus, grab some lunch, continue to research, soak up internet, watch the junior rodeo in the park we stumbled upon, and explore the little town.

It’s a very friendly town, and seems quite proud of being the “Wavingest”.

As we were getting ready to head back to the bus, our phone would not quit ringing. Every call was from a fellow bus nut offering support, advice, and just letting us know we’re not alone. It was so incredibly invigorating, and reminds us why owning a bus comes with an entire new family.

Winched and Saved

Around 1:30 we decided to head back to the bus. If they were running early, we didn’t want to miss them. And we also wanted to fiddle with the engine a little more and do some further diagnosis that was recommended on the bus boards.  We also made sure we had everything packed into the Mini that would make the 3 hour drive into Billings comfortable, and prepared ‘just in case’ this turned into a wild and crazy tow.

Precisely at 3pm, exactly on schedule – a huge truck with a flatbed pulled up across the road. Hooray!! The message of our special need for a flat bed made it through the game of telephone. This gave us an instant sense of relief, and our fears of Zephyr swinging all over a curvy mountain road put to rest.

Yes! They sent a lowboy. (Plan A.. ain’t gonna work.)

And then our wrecking crew.. Chas and Mike walked across the street the greet us.  Their smiles lit us up, and their sheer confidence and professional attitude put us instantly at ease. This wasn’t some little tow shop that Coach-Net contracted, they called in honest to goodness professionals.

They asked us to go over what transpired, and were shocked that they hadn’t been called in the night before – as they’re a 24/7 operation. We told them not to worry, we didn’t push Coach-Net to handle this as an urgent situation and we appreciated the time to get our ducks in a row.

Their first idea was to pull their truck into Lemonade Run’s driveway across the street, and then simply drive Zephyr up.  We told them they’re welcome to see if she had enough power left to attempt that – but we didn’t think that’d work, and nor did we want to risk her running out of power while in the middle of the street.  So we fired up the engine, they gave it a good listen, throttled her up – and agreed. They also told us that just by the sound, we had at least one cylinder out.

One of the many angle they had to maneuver to get us to the flat spot up the hill.

Ok..  Chas quickly, calmly and confidently moved on to Plan B without hesitation – we were winching her out of her spot, up the slight incline of the forest service road we parked on and up to the flat spot where they could park the flatbed trailer.

Watching these two guys coordinate the various angles and moves they’d have to make to get Zephyr on the trailer was like watching artists carefully craft a palette of colors. They made no less than 5 different angle adjustments to get her precisely maneuvered, and it was all fascinating to be part of. Chris steered the bus, Chas operated the winch and directed everything, and Mike constantly hooked, blocked and spotted.

The final pull onto the trailer. (And have you noticed the extreme customer service here.. Hanser’s sent us a wrecker color matched to our bus!)

I took pictures. Kiki napped.

Team effort.

It was 24 hrs since we stopped at this spot, and now we were on our way to civilization. It was slow going, but they got it done exactly right.

And they did it with extreme professionalism and a fun always smiling attitude. Once they got Zephyr secured on the flatbed, the let us know it was time to grab Kiki and move her to the Mini (we didn’t want her out in the sun during all this.)

Our heros – Chas and Mike!

We followed them back the 140 miles to iState Power in Billings, and they got us placed exactly where we were advised to park to get a power cord run.

We could not be more impressed with the service provided by Chas and Mike. Chas says ‘My job is to make your day better’ – and boy did he. This is a true artist – someone doing exactly what he wants to be doing, and doing it with joy in his heart.

Thank you Chas and Mike for being our heros and making our day better!

And thank you Coach-Net for coming through for us – that $130 annual fee is chump change in comparison the what this tow cost (easily over a grand), not to mention having someone to call to help coordinate this all.

Billings

So, we’re now in Billings. A shop tech has already greeted us and gotten the general story of what happened.  On Monday morning, they’ll start digging deeper as to what caused this and how much damage has been done.

However, we already know – this is very likely a pretty major repair. We’ll update when we know more.

Isn’t it awesome when the right signs just appear??

But in the end, it’ll all just be a bump in the road on our journey. We’re safe, we’re home and we’ll move on.

Want endless happiness? That comes from within, and how you approach everything life throws at you.

Those darn Montana mechanics… don’t they know the engine is in the BACK?? *wink*

We know without a doubt there’s a reason we were placed in this predicament.

Maybe it saved us from a more serious calamity down the road.

Maybe my Dad wanted to spend some time in Billings.

Maybe there’s an experience waiting for us here.

Maybe too many people were getting the idea that bus ownership was cheap & easy and we needed to be an example.

… or maybe, just maybe, it was time to flex some serious serendipity muscles beyond just scoring scenic campsites.

Always Positive (keep chanting it, Cherie, keep chanting it.)

First up, our routing change would have us passing through the Badlands of South Dakota, which [...]]]> We left our beautiful spot along the Snake Creek near Platte, SD and headed westward. As beautiful as a spot is, we always have to keep in mind that future adventures await us too!

Badlands – Not so Bad!

First up, our routing change would have us passing through the Badlands of South Dakota, which would mean we could finally meet up with Becky Schade of InterstellarOrchard. She started reading our blog some time ago in her own research for hitting the road full time as a solo female traveler, and I became instantly charmed with her writing style and tenacity.

She’s been searching out unique and fun temporary jobs to keep her funded, and her current adventure is working in the gift shop at Badland National Park for the summer.

Meeting Becky of InterstellarOrchard.com

We had a delightful time hanging out with her for the evening, going on a hike and seeing a snapshot into her life on the road. She’s every bit as awesome in person as she presents on her blog, and completely inspiring. We definitely hope to rendezvous with her in the future many times!

The little Circle 10 (our review) campground her employer is putting her up at is cute and basic, and easily reachable from the eastern entrance of the park. If you’re passing through, I know she’d welcome visitors!

Beautiful Badlands!

On our way out, she treated us to lunch at the lodge – and then we took the scenic drive through the park to continue our westward journey. It was just as stunningly beautiful as we remember the drive being during our last pass through the area 6 years ago when we came through to get Chris his South Dakota driver’s license.

Sturgis

Next up, Chris & Jim Guld of Geeks on Tour let us know they were staying in nearby Sturgis, on their way to the big FMCA rally in Gillette, WY.  We started following these guys when we first hit the road – I mean, who couldn’t? They’re geeks.. in an RV! And they’ve been at this since 2003. We’ve been corresponding more and more lately, and had a couple near misses in Florida over the winter.

Geeks on Tour with Technomads!

So it was obvious where we’d make our next stop – finally to meet them in person. And of course, they turned out to be even more awesome in person than we anticipated – we’re cut from similar clothes for sure. Well, except for them being Windows people – but we can overlook that.  We had a fantastic time hanging out with these two, connecting, sharing stories, sharing lots of wine, dinner and talking about life on the road as working geeks.

Meeting Tales from the Mutiny!

And just as those plans were coming together, another follower contacted us saying they too were in the area. Lynn and Clark Bonelli of Tales from the Mutiny hit the road full time back in October and had been reading our stuff – so they joined us too!  Instant nomadic meet up! And another set of awesome and fun folks we hope to keep meeting up with into the future.

Much laughter when you’re amongst peers.

We ended up extending our stay for two nights, just so we could soak in more nomadic community.  Despite Rush No More RV Resort (our review) being one of the most closely laid out RV Parks we’ve ever been in, it was worth it to be amongst new friends.

And you can bet we also shot some new Ramblings footage over these past few days!

The Montana Mission

Now it was time to get on with one of the main reasons behind our particular routing through this part of the country – a special mission.

Long time readers might have picked up that we take our special missions to heart, like Operation Dip Toes last summer.

The only state my father never got to when he was alive was Montana. (Yes yes.. it’s time to get out the kleenex again.)

Before we launched his ashes around a lighthouse in Connecticut last month, I did as I promised him – and gathered a small bit to take to Montana.

I’ve been anxious and nervous about making it this far on our itinerary. It’s a major milestone in the letting go process. Was I ready for it? I made no promise of when after all – I could just pass on by gently through Wyoming and return to Montana at a later date.  After some wonderfully soulful connections in South Dakota (Jim also recently lost his father), I felt I was ready to complete the mission.

And isn’t it fantastic that Sunday was Father’s Day? Perfect timing for a perfect tribute.

We looked ahead to our routing options…

Go more southerly through Wyoming and then cross up into Montana via the interstate?  Or take the back and more direct route via Hwy 212?

Well, of course direct and backroads win!  But let’s introduce another factor..

That’s from our Coverage? app, showing the two carriers we have – AT&T and Verizon.

See that big white blob? Our nice direct path would be passing right through that. And remember, this is Montana now, not some little state like Rhode Island. That white chunk represents well over 200 miles of no coverage.  Oh, and bringing up the Allstays, RVParking and Campwhere apps – there were very limited overnighting options along this route too.

We carefully considered it – where we ready to risk passing through such a large area without coverage? Being out of touch from time to time is nice after all. And the bus has been performing wonderfully. We decided YES! we were ready to get to Montana as soon as feasible, get my dad crossed into Montana, take him for some scenic road tripping and navigate the wilds of Montana with limited technology.

We said our ‘until next times’ to Jim & Chris and Clark & Lynn  - checked all the fluids in the engine – and off we went.

Mission accomplished!

Beautiful driving across the corner of Wyoming, and then we crossed into Montana where I had Chris snap a shot of my dad and I in Montana.

Happy Father’s Day, Dad. The only state you never got to was Montana. My gift to you this year, is taking you there myself.

I had to wait another hour or so until we made it to the island of connectivity (Broadus, MT) to send this picture to my mom and brother to let them know that Dad finally had gotten to all 50 states.

We continued on westward to further adventures..  adventures in which my father’s motto of ‘Always Positive’ are being chanted often.

Tune in tomorrow to find out how we saved $100 in fuel on the next segment of our trip into Billings, MT…

We apologize that is has been several months since we’ve released an updated chapter to this No Excuses: Go Nomadic series … it has been a busy few months for us.

It never really stopped raining on Wednesday when we were leaving Kansas City, and we weren’t too terribly excited [...]]]> Since we last left you, we’ve continued to follow the Lewis & Clark Trail northward through Missouri, Iowa, Nebraska and South Dakota. And it seems each location we arrive at is better and better.

Weston, MO

It never really stopped raining on Wednesday when we were leaving Kansas City, and we weren’t too terribly excited about staying parked in a Lowes lot for another night.  Free parking overnight is great, but we really don’t mind paying for an awesome view in a park when we find them.  After two nights in a row in parking lots, we were really quite anxious to move on and be in nature.

And besides, we had run our fresh water tank dry as we forgot to top it off before leaving Chris’ parents house.

The bluffs over the Missouri River inside the park.

Weston Bend State Park was only about 40 minutes north of our current location, so figured rain or not – we could make the transition. So northward we went, and found ourselves a nifty little pull through spot in the woods.  And I totally forgot to snap a picture of it, probably because it was raining most the time we were there (it has nothing to do with the vodka I’m about to talk about!)

When we went to pay for our spot, the camp host suggested that we head into the little town of Weston and check out the McCormick Country Store – which is the tasting room for the nearby distillery. Apparently, they sell tasting shots of all their vodka, whiskey and tequilas for a quarter each.  Yeah, 25 cents… a shot!

The cute town of Weston.

The town was super cute, and we enjoyed meandering through a couple of the local stores. And then we found the country store and plopped a couple quarters each into the jar.

Mandarin Orange & Double Chocolate vodka martinis with Mandarin Orange Guacamole! Yum!

We ended up bringing home a bottle each of Mandarin Orange and Double Chocolate 360 vodka… which we thought would pair quite nicely with a batch of Chris’ Mandarin Orange Chocolate Guacamole.  And it did!

Overall, we’d give Weston Bend State Park a positive review (our review on RVParking) – cute little park, and cute little town. But not much else to do there but see the bluffs overlooking the Missouri River. When the rain cleared in the morning, it was time to move on and find something more scenic.

Nebraska City, NE

Thursday we had planned to do a live video chat, which would require a solid AT&T 4G or better signal to utilize our unlimited iPad data plan, or some rockin’ WiFi. Looking ahead on our app Coverage? we saw a big missing chunk of connectivity for some miles ahead, and set our sites to get just south of Omaha to start scouting out our options.

We arrived to Nebraska City, our first taste of 4G for the day. The Walmart lot had solid 4G, so at least a back-up plan could work in this town. We then scouted out nearby Riverview Marina State Rec Area (our review), which we found little information on online as to the condition of the RV Park. It looked like we could have better signal and a waterfront view.

Our spot  (well, we’re actually technically taking up 3 spots) at Riverview Marina.

We went down, and had mixed feelings on the park. It was mostly empty, except for the host (who apparently has been there for 30 years), and the RV sites were seriously overgrown and rather far from the water. We also couldn’t get a stable signal, even with using all our magical boosting gear, at the RV sites due to the nearby bluffs blocking the tower. However, down by the river – the signal was rock solid as the tower was in line of sight.

Down by the river – broadcasting our livestreamed video chat!

We decided, what the heck – we’ll try an outdoor live stream, and paid for a spot for the night! It was a lot of fun, except for the setting sun put a definitive end time to the broadcast. If you missed any of our past chats (including last month’s where we revealed our mandarin orange chocolate guacamole recipe), you can watch the archives on our new Chat Archives page.

If the park had been crowded, we probably would not have enjoyed this stop too much – the sites are very close together and tiny. But for mid-week and having the place to ourselves, it served the purpose of a scenic backdrop with decent signal. We decided to move on in the morning and take our chances that we could find something upriver for the weekend.

South Sioux City, NE

Chris did a bit of poking around the RV review sites and our various RV iPad apps, and spotted an interesting sounding location near Sioux City. Snagging an ideal spot last minute over a weekend can sometimes be a challenge, especially in parks that take online reservations.

After a few hours of driving, some historic marker stops along the Lewis & Clark Trail and a wrong turn requiring a quick unhitching of the MINI when we arrived to the gates of a nuclear power plant –  we arrived to Sioux City.

Our awesome spot on the water!

We found our way to Scenic City Campground (our review), and crossed our fingers there were sites available. The hostess was super friendly, and said she thought she had just the site for us. She looked out her window, and came back with a smile.  She asked if we wanted to walk down and see it first – but we figured we would be happy with anything we could snag for the weekend.

Anxious to be stopped for at least 2 nights after several days in a row of being in motion – we happily paid $40 for two nights for an electric/water/WiFi/cable site (very reasonable).

It was immediate love – our site was water front with a view of the fake steamboat and lighthouse casino across the river. And, we had lots of open space around us – giving most our window views of things other than RVs.  We just love parks that keep some prime sites non-reservable to accommodate us enroute travelers!

The hike and bike trail

And to top off our bliss, there’s a bike & hike path that goes right through the park – so we got to enjoy some long walks exploring the city. And we seriously enjoyed keeping our windows open at night with a sweeping glow of the lighthouse over us.

Toasting a beautiful sunset!

Saturday mostly rained, so we were happy to not be out on the roads and concentrated on getting ahead on some projects. We contemplated if we wanted to extend our stay in our primo site for another day or two, but decided we were ready to move onward. It’s always tough to balance the pace of a cross country repositioning.

Platte, SD

After the rainstorms cleared, Sunday was driving the backcountry of Nebraska’s rolling hills into South Dakota. Our first thought at seeing SD license plates on all the cars was ‘Wow! There sure are a lot of full timer’s out today!’

On the road in Nebraska!

It’s ironic to be entering South Dakota, after we just went through the process of legally moving our domicile to Florida because we weren’t sure if we’d be able to return to SD this year to renew our driver’s license. Even so, moving to Florida is still the right choice for us given our many other factors.

Our water surrounded bluff campsite!

Chris again had his eye on a waterfront park, Snake Creek Recreation Area (our review) just outside Platte, SD. We arrived to some confusion at the gate – as the ranger’s station computer wasn’t able to confirm our preferred spot. Thankfully I could hop online in the bus and make & pay for the reservation myself and got to pay an extra $7.70 for the ‘convenience’.

But that’s ok – it was worth it to snag a glorious water front spot with panoramic views of Missouri River, with a trail down to a totally private beach. (Sadly, our private beach did not have a cabana boy serving drinks and massages. We survived the hardship.)

Pulled in forward in a back-in spot.

Of course, to get the panoramic view we had to pull forward into our back-in space – which means using our 20 amp extension cord for power. So score one for our wonderful boosting inverter that allows us to use our lithium battery bank to supplement any higher power draws.

I’ll leave you with some shots of this amazing spot, which easily ranks as one of our all time favorites.

Parked on the bluff.

How technomads enjoy the outdoors at night – the glow of iPads!

A view.. and rockin’ LTE!

Did we mention solid Verizon LTE and AT&T 4G?  Technomad, score. If we weren’t on a schedule to get to Oregon, we could be tempted to just stay put here for a while.

Oh, and yes – we did go swimming on our little beach. It was.. refreshing.

Up Next

From here, we’ll actually be leaving our friends Lewis and Clark, after following them for around 700 miles these past few days. Perhaps we’ll encounter them again out west.

A dorky ‘Lewis & Clark pose’ along our little private Missouri River beach.

Our arrival to Oregon is looking like we will need to be there a few days earlier than planned, so thus it just doesn’t make sense to divert so far north into North Dakota. Besides, thanks to Lewis & Clark already mapping it out, we know the Missouri River won’t take us to the Pacific Ocean.

Instead, we’ll be heading west from here to the Badlands, where we have plans to meet up with Becky of Interstellar Orchard later today.  And then after that passing through Sturgis and hopefully rendezvousing with Jim & Chris of Geeks of on Tour later in the week.

From there, our path will probably looking something like this:

Our upcoming route?

It was also exciting to [...]]]>

Concert in the park with family.

We extended our stay in St. Louis through the weekend so that we could attend a small family reunion in Carondelet Park for a concert in the park. It was great to catch up with family members we don’t see often, and definitely worth sticking around a couple extra days.

It was also exciting to have a blog follower who recognized us on the dance floor come up to us to say hi.

Us with Jennifer Joyce and her hubby.

It was even more surprising to discover she’s prosecuting attorney, Jennifer Joyce (DA to most other areas of the country) of the City of St. Louis and her husband!  I’m not sure we’ll ever get used to being recognized in public, but it sure is a lot of fun to see the reach and positive impacts our sharing is having. (And whew… when a DA recognizes you, it’s a good thing it’s because they’re a fan!)

If you see us out and about – or see we’re heading your way – never hesitate to say hi. That’s the primary reason why we blog, so we can meet you!

Our suburban park-like driveway spot in St. Louis.

On Monday early afternoon we left our sweet park-like courtesy parking at Chris’ folks house, and started our journey westward.

This was of course after managing the launch of our brand new book - The Mobile Internet Handbook.  First day sales, by the way, exceeded our expectations – and we are so very very grateful for the support!  We’re also very touched by the mentions and feedback the book is getting.

If you’ve bought it and had a chance to read it, we sure would love it if you left a review over on Amazon to help future-Technomadia fans know if the book is for them.

The Lewis and Clark Historic Site. The start of our westward journey!

We have decided to at least vaguely follow the Lewis & Clark Trail out to Portland for the World Domination Summit.

So we started our journey off at the Lewis and Clark Historic Site near Alton, IL – a visitor center marking the approximate location where the Corp of Discovery provisioned and trained for the winter before setting off west.

Rain and flooding have impacted some of the routes in Missouri, so we stuck to I-70 to make some miles into Columbia for the evening. Which is no big deal to us, as we have taken the Lewis & Clark river trail into Jefferson City on previous excursions. From Columbia, we joined the auto tour trail for some backroad exploring.

Historic town of Arrow Rock, MO along the Lewis & Clark Trail.

We made a lunchtime stop in the little historic town of Arrow Rock to walk around, explore and get a bit of work done.

We then made the final miles into Kansas City, where we had dinner arrangements to meet up with blog readers Julie & George, who have set a date of April 1 to hit the road themselves. We had a blast hanging out with them and making some new friends, and can’t wait to see them again out on the road next  year!

Up Next:  After the rain stops here in Kansas City, we’ll start heading northward for a bit following the Missouri River and Lewis & Clark’s trail. At some undetermined point we’ll turn west when we feel called to.

—

Join us for our next Live Video Chat:

Bandwidth permitting, we have scheduled our next live video chat for tomorrow (Thursday, June 6) evening at 8PM CST (that’s 9PM EST or 6PM PST).

The topic: Work, Life & Motion Balance 

After a month of being back in active motion, we’ve been getting in tune with finding our balance between making miles, getting work done and living life. So we’ll talk a bit about some of our thoughts on finding that balance – afterall, living on the road full time isn’t a vacation! You still have to get the laundry done. We’ll end with a Q&A sessions, where we’ll be happy to take your questions and make up answers.

The chat will be hosted on our UStream Channel and then added to our archives (you can view archives of our past chats here).

Sign up for our e-mail notification list for our future video chats.

This started as a blog post overviewing options for us RVing nomads … and it turned into a 26,000 word book. We apparently had a lot of information in our brains to dump, way too much for [...]]]> We are thrilled to announce that our new eBook – The Mobile Internet Handbook, is now available!

This started as a blog post overviewing options for us RVing nomads … and it turned into a 26,000 word book. We apparently had a lot of information in our brains to dump, way too much for a blog post.

So after weeks of late night writing, tweaking and polishing – it’s ready!

It’s available as a PDF or ePub file directly from us using your PayPal account. We’ve also made it available on Amazon Kindle.

We’ll also soon have it available on Apple iBooks and for purchase as a printed book – just as soon as those channels have completed their setup process. Check back at the book’s home at http://www.technomadia.com/internet for availability.

The Mobile Internet Handbook is a guide to mobile internet options for RVers in the USA. Cellular data, WiFi, satellite, HAM and more.

Over 26,000 words – 85 pages long!

The table of contents! (click to enlarge)

Buy Now!

List price – $9.99

Buy Direct from Technomadia	- Or -	Amazon Kindle
Purchase via your PayPal Account: PDF Version:   Or if you prefer… we have an ePub Version		Direct Kindle Link: The Mobile Internet Handbook

About ‘The Mobile Internet Handbook’

This book is written by full time RVing ‘technomads’ Chris and Cherie of Technomadia.com. As we work online running our software development business remotely, internet is essential to allow us to travel full time.

In this handbook, we share everything we’ve learned about assembling a mobile internet arsenal that balances your budget and needs for connectivity. We base this off our extensive real world experience of navigating the varying options and frustrations as full time RVers since 2006.

The book covers cellular, WiFi, satellite, HAM, cable/DSL, boosting, hints & tricks, managing bandwidth and most importantly – setting your expectations for what life on the road with mobile internet is like. We share information you need to know to help understand your options and build your own arsenal to suit your needs.

Preview – Click to Enlarge!

This handbook is geared specifically towards US based internet options, and does not specifically cover international travel. And more precisely, it is geared towards frequent or full-time RVers and road warriors, although frequent US travelers will probably find plenty of useful information too. Our aim with the book is not to provide a shopping list of gear to go purchase, but rather give you enough information to build your own unique mobile internet arsenal.

While we do cover specific products, we do not have financial interest in any of the devices, services or products mentioned. We are frequently referred to as ‘tech-Switzerland’, and simply share our opinions and experiences.

This book is written to help those with minimal tech backgrounds as well as geeks like us; for folks who just need to get online for a little e-mail & surfing, to fellow bandwidth junkies who need as much internet as they can get.

Chris and Cherie have decades of combined technology experience. Chris has worked in the mobile technology industry since the early days of mobile internet, and holds degrees in computer engineering and science. Cherie has been a location independent software developer since the mid-90s. And together we have been on the road working remotely full time since 2006.

Our home on wheels is a living laboratory for mobile technology, and we are delighted to share our experience with you.

If you’ve read and enjoyed our new book – we’d absolutely love it if you left a review on Amazon! (you don’t have to have bought it there to leave a review.)

Not ready to buy a book, but need some internet ideas?

Links to some of our past indepth mobile internet blog posts:

• Illustrated Guide to Our Mobile RVing Internet Connectivity Gadgetry
• Life in the Fast Lane – Our 4G/LTE gadget overview
• Mobile Internet Considerations

We had pulled off I-75 in [...]]]> We completed our 380 mile driving day from the Savannah area to Chattanooga, and then another 450 mile repositioning into St. Louis last weekend. Time on the road was mostly uneventful, except for a potentially scary encounter in Atworth, GA (just north of Atlanta).

Moving from Savannah to Chattanooga

We had pulled off I-75 in search of re-fueling, but couldn’t make it into the station we were aiming for. After getting ourselves turned around in a suburban neighborhood, Chris made a right hand turn onto the overpass to get back on the interstate. There were 3 lanes to move over to the left to make the ramp onto the interstate, but no problem – all lanes were clear, and the light at the intersection was red for the flow through traffic.

As Chris was moving into the 3rd lane – the light turned green. A SUV driver decided to try to gun it past us on our left, but got irritated when we overtook the lane before he could – we already had our signal on and were already well committed to the lane change.  So to vent his frustration, the driver speed up on our right side, then moved into our lane and abruptly stopped at the now red light in front of us. Thankfully we were already stopping for the light, and got to a safe stop.

But shiesh dude, you could have seriously gotten yourself rear ended **BY A BUS**!!!!  These things aren’t as agile as your little SUV!

At any rate – he gets out of his SUV, slams the door shut and starts yelling at us in the middle of the road! I check the lock on our door, as this guy is clearly not in a stable frame of mind – and we make apologetic gestures of ‘we’re sorry.. we didn’t mean to cut you off’.  But he’s not letting down, and his posture is quite threatening at this point… and um, dude, have I mentioned we’re in a 24,000 lb BUS that can CRUSH you??

The friendly sheriff handles the situation with grace. (The dent on his bumper is NOT from us.)

At this exact moment a sheriff’s vehicle swooshes up our left side onto the median. The sheriff gets out, and gets right into the face of our new ‘friend’. He gets him calmed down and seated back in his SUV.  *whew* So often you wonder where the law enforcement is when you need them, and here we are so blessed that they were exactly there when we needed them. Otherwise, this situation could have turned really ugly.

After calming the situation down, the sheriff comes to our bus window and explains that he was right behind us and witnessed the whole thing. He explains that while we may have technically cut the guy off (but understands we were already committed to the lane change in a non-agile large vehicle trying to get ahead of the traffic), the guy’s reaction was absolutely inexcusable. He took Chris’s driver’s license, and came back a few moments later to let us know he was going to have some final words with the driver and then we’d all be free to go.

When  he came back to us, he profusely apologized on behalf of the city of Atworth for our negative encounter, and wished us well on our trip.

And we profusely thanked him for being there and handling the situation in a very friendly and professional manner.

We left Atworth with a smile on our faces, and extremely alert.  We found a fuel station we could get the bus in, topped off the tank and then made the final miles into Choo Choo Express Garage – our favorite bus mechanic.  We had called ahead, and they had a power cord waiting for us in the parking lot.

Chattanooga

Our cracked exhaust manifold.

Our primary reason for stopping in at Choo Choo was because at our last maintenance in August, Joel (our genius amazing mechanic) discovered that the previous patch welding job on our exhaust manifold was failing. As it is cast iron, Choo Choo doesn’t have the welding equipment to do another patch. And we couldn’t track down a new (old) one for a 8v71 at the time to replace it, but he gave me enough information to start a search (re-assuring me that this wasn’t yet a critical issue).

I had been following the bus forums at Bus Conversion Magazine, and encountered someone parting out a 8v71 – and agreed on $100 for the exhaust manifold.  That had arrived way back in October, and we’ve been toting the thing around since then.

Turns out, I tracked down the exact right part! Joel was able to quickly get it replaced for us. Score for this bus babe. (Chris says I’d get more bus babe points if I had installed it myself.. but come on, let’s not go getting crazy here. At a very reasonable $65/hr – I’ll happily pay Joel to do it right.)

We also wanted Joel to give Zephyr a thorough safety inspection before we headed out west – however there was another bus stuck on the pit awaiting a part. No worries for us, we had plenty of stuff to attend to while parked in their lot for the day, and we’re on no schedule.

Chris re-wiring switches – we have working headlights again!

I went deep on some work projects, including processing maps for the next update to our app Coverage? and some major edits on our ‘The Mobile Internet Handbook‘ eBook (releasing NEXT WEEK!!). And Chris went to work installing new switches on the driver’s side dash. The switch for our headlights had gone out last summer, making them unusable. Which generally isn’t a problem as we don’t tend to travel after dark anyways. But – we have headlights again, and don’t need to worry about any of the other switches failing anytime soon.

On Friday morning, we were able to pull Zephry over the pit. Aside from an air valve that needed replacing – everything checked out most excellently. We left Choo Choo with our smallest bus maintenance bill yet of just $200, well worth it for the reassurance that everything is in tip-top shape.

Exploring downtown Chattanooga with Bruce & Yvonne.

The other cool thing about this stop over was that long time readers (and future full timers), Bruce & Yvonne, reached out to invite us out to dinner. In all our recent stops in Chattanooga, we had never taken the time to get out and do things outside of the garage. So we were very thankful for the excuse to go downtown and explore. We had a wonderful dinner talking about full timer stuff with new friends, and then they gave us a walking tour of downtown.

Hopefully our next meetup with these two is out on the road!

St. Louis

We’re really quite anxious to get off the east coast, as it’s been 2 years since we have been west of St. Louis.

We had contemplated routing through Evansville, IN where we have several friends – both fellow RVers and fellow bus nuts – but opted to just drive on. We made a direct beeline and knocked out a lot of miles on Friday. We ended up overnighting in a WalMart parking lot in Marion, IL – and had a great Thai dinner in the strip mall nearby.

Helping open the pool – so glad we don’t own a traditional home!

On Saturday morning, we made the final 3 hour drive into St. Louis – stopping along the way at a state park to dump our holding tanks. We’re finding that we can comfortably go 10 days without needing to dump our tanks (with no water conservation methods), and we were at day 7. Knowing we were going to be without sewer access while courtesy parked with family in St. Louis – we wanted to start off with the tanks empty.

We took Route 3 into St Louis, and arrived to Chris’ parents house in time for lunch.

Not much exciting to report from St. Louis this visit. We’ve been mostly busy with work related stuff supporting our clients and hanging out with family. Chris’ folks now winter in Florida, so they had just recently returned to St. Louis themselves. We helped them with some labor of opening up their pool for the summer – a very messy job! And we got a Trader Joe’s stock-up fix.

The Mobile Internet Handbook is almost ready for sale!!

And there’s been a lot of work on the new mobile internet eBook to get it ready to launch next week. Aside from polishing the content, continuing to expand it and preparing supporting graphics for marketing the book – we’ve been deep in research on formatting it for Kindle and iBooks too. We’re very excited about the eBook – as it’s coming together to be quite the comprehensive guide to this complicated topic. Keep tuned, we’ll be launching it early next week!

Take us out to the ballgame!

We did take a break last night and caught a Cardinals Game at Busch Stadium – which had a very exciting 8th inning.

Up Next..

Sometime in the next couple days we’ll be hitting the road westward, where a stop in Kansas City is looking likely. We are greatly looking forward to it, as it’s been a very long time since we’ve crossed through the gateway of St. Louis.

Potential routing options – following the Lewis & Clark trail?

We’re currently contemplating our routing options from here to Portland, OR for the World Domination Summit in early July. As we have a month to get there, we are considering following some version of the Lewis & Clark Trail, which would take us through the Dakotas and Montana. Somehow following the Corp of Discovery’s path on our way to world domination seems appropriate.

If you have routing ideas, we’d love to hear them! We’ve gone across I-80 before, and we love exploring new areas to us.

Clarke [...]]]> Meet Clarke & Elaine Hockwald

Clarke & Elaine took retirement as early as they could at age 62, after realizing their investments and house were declining in value. They decided there really was no perfect time to live their dreams, and instead trust that they could make it all come together.

Clarke has some insurance agent business he handles part time on the road, and the two supplement their social security by seeking out workamping positions – such as hosting at campgrounds or working at an Amazon.com facility for several weeks to pad the diesel fund.

They found an early 1980s Newell coach, a custom built high end motorhome, for super affordable – and tow a car trailer behind that serves as a bike garage for Clarke.  These two are out  having the time of their lives, and share some of the lessons they’ve learned during their first year on the road.

Direct Video Link

Follow Clarke & Elaine:

Blog: What’s Newell?

Meet more Ramblings

Meet some of the other nomads we’ve interviewed in this series:

• Ramblings: Tales from Nomads – The Roaming Pint
• Ramblings: Tales from Nomads – Digital Mastery
• Ramblings: Tales from Nomads – Voyager 54

Stay tuned.. more nomads coming soon!

Ramblings: Tales from Nomads is intended to introduce you to some amazing people who are living life on their terms by traveling full time.

In this video series, you’ll be meeting and hearing the stories from a wide range of nomads we’ve met, with one thing in common – they’re not waiting for a traditional retirement to pursue their dreams of perpetual travel.

The entire video series will continue to grow at:  http://www.technomadia.com/ramblings

We’ll continue introducing you to more nomads – make sure you’re subscribed to our RSS feed to be automatically notified when we post.

Would you like to be featured in this series? Let us know when our paths might be converging and let’s hang out – and we’ll be happy to film you in person too.

Want to be a Nomad too?

Inspired to explore a nomadic path yourself?  Check out our free blog series: No Excuses: Go Nomadic which is our brain dump on many of the common questions we get about making it happen – mobile jobs, affordability, pets, family, mail, healthcare, connectivity, community and more.

We also offer the same series as a ‘pay as you wish’ eBook if you prefer that format or would like to toss us some ‘thank you bucks’.

My father was a submarine sailor, and my mom worked on the sub base at the credit union. My dad was smitten with her immediately and chased her for years, but she wouldn’t [...]]]> Nearly 43 years ago, my dad proposed to my mom while sailing around Ledge Lighthouse near Groton, CT – where they met.

Ledge Lighthouse word art picture done by Karen Willmore as a special 40th Anniversary gift for my parents. (Click to open up a larger version.. this thing is *awesome*!)

My father was a submarine sailor, and my mom worked on the sub base at the credit union. My dad was smitten with her immediately and chased her for years, but she wouldn’t date him until he presented his discharge papers.

My parent’s wedding in 1970

They were married less than 3 months after he did (for those counting, I’m their oldest and I turn 40 soon – this was no shot gun wedding.)

Their love for each other was beyond inspirational, and their partnership was strong for their entire marriage – running businesses together, raising kids and continuing to be absolutely smitten with each other. A true romantic story.

So perhaps you’re putting the pieces together… our recent special side trip was to full fill my father’s final wishes of where his ashes should be launched.

Taking my dad on his final road trip.

We made way to park our bus near Savannah, where our friend’s Ann & Elliott had extended the offer to let Kiki rule their lives for a bit.

We had considered driving the bus up, but the cost of diesel and diversion from our goal of getting to Oregon just didn’t make too much sense.

My mother wanted to drive up to Connecticut in her van and stay around for a few weeks visiting family, so it fit well for her to pick us up in Savannah and we’d share the drive up together.

Rendezvous in Philly with Barb, Gwen and Wendy.

We made the drive up to Connecticut over three comfortable days, with a stop in Philadelphia to visit a dear friend of mine on the way.

And serendipity would have it that our nomadic friend Karen (who is the awesome artist who created the word art graphic above for my parents), was also in town visiting family – so we got a quick rendezvous together as well.

My brother flew into Connecticut to join us for the weekend, and my uncle arranged a boat for us to complete the mission.

It was of course a very emotional experience – both sad and positive. Positive to get to spend time with family we don’t see often, explore where my mom grew up and a fun road trip. Kiki also apparently had a blast having a non-stop catnip party and unlimited access to food.

Rest Your Oars, Sailor.

And sad of course for the closure of my dad’s recent passing. It was hard to let go of his ashes and return him to the sea. These things aren’t meant to be easy after all.

Awaiting a commuter train in CT after being bused around the derailment.

On Monday, we made our way back to Savannah via Amtrak, which was complicated by the Metro North train derailment that occurred the Friday before. We decided to catch an earlier train out of New London and trust that we could just go with the flow and navigate several hops on the work around ferry train & bus services put in place to get around the track damage.

And tweeting our adventure got us an interview in the New York Times - crazy to get major media for doing mundane stuff.

We made it to NYC with plenty of time to spare to catch our train to Savannah, where we had left Pixel (our MINI Cooper) parked at the Amtrak station. Completing our hectic non-bus side adventure that involved trains, automobiles and boats. Well, there was a bus too, but not our bus.

We opted to catch up on sleep instead of immediately hitting the road westward and enjoyed another evening sharing a meal with Ann & Elliott. On Wednesday morning, we hit the road to Chattanooga completing a 380 mile driving day. We’re getting some routine maintenance done on the bus at Choo Choo Express Garage.

Excited to be out exploring again!

Up Next?

From here, we’ll head to St. Louis and spend a few days with Chris’ family next week before we start our adventure out west towards Oregon! Our route is completely unplanned, and we’ll be giving ourselves the entire month of June to make the repositioning.

We also hope to have our new eBook – The Mobile Internet Handbook - completed and launched in the next week or so.

On Thursday May 9, we decided the time had come to cross out [...]]]> The past couple of weeks have been super busy, and combined with some WordPress attacks that brought our server to a sluggish state – we just haven’t had time to keep up. So we’re taking you back in time to catch up!

On Thursday May 9, we decided the time had come to cross out of the state of Florida – where we had been since our arrival back in September. It’s a good thing we recently became official Florida residents, because we have definitely exceeded their 6 month leniency.

As we had an upcoming adventure already in the planning that would have us parking the bus near Savannah, we had some extra time – and put our sites on Crooked River State Park near St. Mary’s, Georgia. It would be just over the state line, and give us an opportunity for a couple more down days to chill. While staying at Wekiwa Springs north of Orlando was utterly fantastic, our time there was pretty full of projects.

Walnut St – where St. Brendan’s Isle is located in Green Cove Springs, FL

On the way into Georgia, we made a stop in Green Cove Springs – our new city of domicile with St. Brendan’s Isle. We didn’t have much time to stop in, but we can not recommend these folks highly enough. We have been so super impressed with our new mail forwarding and scanning service – a true gem for us mobile folks.

After our quick stop in Green Cove Springs, we completed our drive over the state line.. saying good bye to Florida after our 8 month stay in the state. While we weren’t stationary in one spot during that time (we stopped in Cocoa Beach, Melbourne, Arcadia, Cedar Key, Orlando and Spring Hill), that is a new state record for us since going nomadic!

We seem to catch Love Bug season when crossing in/out of Florida!

We did do Florida one final favor on our way out.. and took out a few hundred love bugs.

Crooked River State Park

We got to Crooked River, knowing they had plenty of availability and a reservation would not be required. And, because we remembered to consult our State Lines app, we knew in advance that GA State Parks charge a $5 vehicle permit fee on top of the nightly camp fee. It’s these little state differences that prompted us to write the app three years ago (and yes, we are still looking for a reliable Android developer to do a port for us – if you know anyone.)

Our awesome private feeling spot at Crooked River State Park.

One thing we love about Georgia State Parks, is that many of them are ‘first come first serve’ in terms of site selection. We drove around the park and found a wonderful large pull-thru that had a really private feeling. We put our pre-paid camping card on the pole, and that claimed it as ours – done. That’s so much easier than playing guessing games in advance as to which site might best suite your style of camping.

Crooked River Sunset

We enjoyed our two night stop over at Crooked River – it’s a nice little park, with great sunset views within the campground. The campground itself has a wide variety of sites – from those that feel more open, those with water views and some really nicely spaced out private feeling sites. Our AT&T was a solid 2G Edge signal, and our Verizon got a pretty solid 3G signal – that was kinda roughing it for us after getting spoiled with LTE and cable internet, but we survived.

Our hike turned into a fitness trail!

Another reason we tend to favor public parks like State Parks, is the opportunity to explore the hiking trails. We set off one afternoon, enjoying sites of dolphins, eagles, tortoises and deer – and then the trail turned into a fitness trail. They cleverly disguised the signs to look like information about various animals found in the park – like this one above telling you that Brown Trashers can hop from one foot to the other. And then the signs instruct you do the same.

Chris, one who can not pass up reading signs, got totally suckered into a bonus workout.  I had fun taking pictures of him imitating deer, turtles, frogs and hawks.  I’m thinking an upcoming ‘fitness on the road’ post, perhaps?  *grin*

All and all, a good stop. But after spotting a couple ticks – we decided two nights was enough and headed in to our next stop.

Savannah-ish

Three years ago on a stop over in Savannah, we got an e-mail from long time blog readers Elliott and Ann inviting us out to dinner. And ever since, whenever passing anywhere even remotely close to the area – we bypass Savannah itself and visit them instead. We hear great things about Savannah, but these folks are just more awesome.

For our upcoming special adventure, we needed a place to park the bus and leave Kiki for a few days – and they were quick to offer their help. Nomadic ports like these have become a treasured resource in our life.

Enjoying a glass of wine at sunset with Ann & Elliott.

I’m so glad we had the extra time to stop in early and just chill with good friends for a couple days. There was much laughter, great meals, wine and lots of adventures shared.

Off on a kayaking adventure!

One afternoon we set off on a long kayak ride – a perfect excuse to get our inflatable Sea Eagle kayak out! At the end of our 2 hours of paddling, we ended up at a place for a bite to eat and headed back to catch a great sunset.

What a great time, and we so enjoy each visit – whether we’re stopping in to see them, or they’re joining us for a mini-adventure.

Bird Poop Love

I’ll wrap up this update with some unique love we found on the docks at sunset… that’s one talented bird, I tell ya!

We’re now caught up to the start of our side adventure… which I’ll share in our next update later this week. Until then, our hearts go out to everyone affected by the tragedy in Oklahoma.

How and why are we here?

For about the past week we’ve been on a very purposeful non-bus road trip. It’s been an amazing and emotional [...]]]> So, we’re currently in Groton, Connecticut. Our bus is back near Savannah, GA parked with our dear friends Ann & Elliott – and Kiki is looking after them all.

How and why are we here?

For about the past week we’ve been on a very purposeful non-bus road trip. It’s been an amazing and emotional adventure, filled with a lot of love and family reconnections. We would have shared earlier, but between the blog being super sluggish last week and just a lack of time – we just haven’t been able to get the story up. We’ll rectify that later this week.

Our biggest problem right now is how we get back to our home.

Just an hour after we arrived, there was a huge train derailment down the tracks from us that has put a kink in our return plans.

Photo courtesy of Christian Abraham/The Connecticut Post, via Associated Press

The easy part of this adventure was supposed to be the trip home – we had booked Amtrak departing across the bridge in New London back to where we left our Mini Cooper parked at the Savannah station.

The problem isn’t so much that the initial leg of our train adventure from New London to NYC has been canceled. The real problem is that the train shut down is effecting tens of thousands of others, making all the alternate ways into NYC to catch our connecting train a potential headache.

If it looked like train service would resume in the next day or two, we’d just extend our stay up here. But that’s not looking likely at all.

So, we’re going to get an extra early start Monday morning – and either attempt to use the alternate combo train/bus workarounds… or get a ride with family over to the Harlem line for a direct shot down to Grand Central Station.

With any luck, we’ll have a fun chaotic adventure and then a restful overnight on the train into Savannah. And then we’ll resume our westward track in the bus.

Travels like these remind us why we love traveling in our home so much. There’s just something about knowing that no matter where you are, you’re sleeping in your own bed tonight. We miss home.

We had been in Florida for a long time.  We arrived last September, so that’s 8 months – a lifetime to a kitty!   Especially when a lot of that was spent with my people out visiting my grandmeow and grandpaw, and me back at home sitting patiently in the bus [...]]]> Hi all.. Kiki here.

We had been in Florida for a long time.  We arrived last September, so that’s 8 months – a lifetime to a kitty!   Especially when a lot of that was spent with my people out visiting my grandmeow and grandpaw, and me back at home sitting patiently in the bus watching birds and lizards torment me through the window.

Let me out! There are lizards to chase!!!

So not fair.

But, I did get some quality stalking and hunting time in. And I think I accomplished my goal of sampling all of Florida’s lizards.

Because yesterday we drove into a new state!

Yes… I hunt on a leash. Quit laughing.

We’re now in Georgia.. where I have all new lizards! They just taste peachier here.

Ok, I gotta get back to hunting. This blogging stuff is a lot of work.

PS. My people said I should share that today is Cherie’s 6th ‘Nomadiversary’.  Apparently that’s some sort of big deal.  Eh. What could be more important than the day I came into their lives??

Not only have we gotten lots of rest and relaxation in – we’ve also been able to catch up on some research projects, hung out with friends, went to an intense yoga class (ouch!) and handled some business projects.

Oh, and there’s [...]]]> We have thoroughly enjoyed the past week parked at Wekiwa Springs State Park.

Not only have we gotten lots of rest and relaxation in – we’ve also been able to catch up on some research projects, hung out with friends, went to an intense yoga class (ouch!) and handled some business projects.

Swimming at Wekiwa Springs

Oh, and there’s been some hiking, writing, swimming, getting a haircut at our lawyer’s office while we updated our estate planning and lots of fresh vegetables!

Now that’s a produce stand!!

Our friends in the area pointed us to the local farmer’s markets, and we were immediately in love. This place stocks tons of very fresh produce, and some varieties we’ve never seen before. We’ve had fun trying out new vegetables we haven’t cooked with, and adding new flavors to our diet.

Yum… dinner! Love all the colors!

Like, did you know that traditional eggplants are white? I mean, duh – that’s how they got their name. They really look like eggs!  And they are super delicious. The other evening I made an amazing vegan masaman curry with white eggplant and purple yams, and it felt like opposite color day!

We’re definitely looking forward to returning to shopping local produce and markets as we embark on our future adventures, we’ve been devoid of much of that lately.

A typical Technomadia day – Chris attending iOS development classes on his iPad. (Kiki helping.)

Aside from cooking at home lots, we’ve also been catching up on lots of projects.  Chris has been delving deeper into research on solar panel research, a project we hope to tackle this summer. And he’s been catching up on the latest iOS application development, as we’re about to approach our next major iPhone/iPad app for travelers. More on that later as we get closer to launch. But we’re very excited about it!

The other evening I was also starting to update the next chapter in our blog series No Excuses: Go Nomadic that is sort of a brain dump of the frequent logistical questions we get asked about (ya know, like getting mail, income sources, pets, family, healthcare, etc). The Mobile Connectivity chapter was in need of a major updating (it still references 3G as the latest and greatest!), plus I wanted to expand the content and follow a more structured format than the 10 tips.

As I outlined it and started writing, I noticed that our brains have a lot to dump on the topic. After I had written several pages just on cellular data (not even getting to WiFi, satellite, routers, boosters, alternative options, managing bandwidth, setting expectations, etc.) – we decided this was probably a topic deserving its own eBook.

Our new Mobile Internet eBook coming together!

So, we find ourselves in the polishing stages of finishing up a dedicated eBook about mobile internet options for US based nomads. Given the number of questions we get about this topic, it’s a much needed resource. If you’re curious about your internet options on the road, and assembling your own personal arsenal of tools – stay tuned. We’ll hopefully have a pretty darn comprehensive book out soon (it’s over 60 pages long so far, and we haven’t even started putting pictures in!). It’ll be available here on the blog, and I’m looking into what is needed to make it available in Amazon’s Kindle store, and Apple’s iBook market.

Clip of our BCM article in May’s issue.

Oh, and speaking of writing projects – we’re featured in this month’s Bus Conversion Magazine. I submitted a version of our Full Timer’s Perspective on Fuel Costs blog post that got published as Pouring Rent in the Tank. We continue to be super impressed with the new crew who has taken over the magazine – the issues keep getting better and better each month. If you have any interest in bus conversions, make sure you’re subscribed! (And tell them ‘Technomadia’ sent ya!).

We’ve been quite productive this past week – this chilling stuff is a lot of work!

Tomorrow after we sign our estate documents with our lawyer, we’ll pull out of the Orlando area and head northward a couple hours to wherever our next destination might find us. It’s a pretty cool feeling to not have any firm plans for the next few days!

Lucky Clover Mobile Home Park (our review) has served us well for over [...]]]> On Wednesday morning, we fired up the engine and left the Melbourne area – where we’ve been parked, this time, since late February. It’s been nearly a month since my father passed away, and it just felt like the right time.

Hitched up and ready to depart Lucky Clover RV Park.

Lucky Clover Mobile Home Park (our review) has served us well for over 5 months since we arrived in Florida last September. It’s walking distance to the beach, grocery shopping and dining – which is very handy. And of course, being able to have ample power, water, sewer and cable internet had been fantastic. But we had grown tired of living in a mobile home/trailer park with close by neighbors.

When your neighbors are dear friends.. that’s one thing. But these sites are generally a little too close for our comfort. (Our friends Ann & Elliott came down in the Le’Sharo - which played an amusing role in our bus hunt 2 years ago – to attend my dad’s services with us. Thank you guys!)

But the biggest triggering factor was nearby construction that was waking us very early on weekday mornings – not ideal for these night owls who were already sleep deprived.

And we had gotten tired of fighting Melbourne traffic, which has gotten tremendously worse since I hit the road 6 years ago.

Oh, and the growing heat and humidity in Florida really convinced us it’s time to start heading northward.

Yeah, it was time – the nomadic itch was flaring up.

With all of the major logistical stuff handled, my mom and us were ready to start the moving on process. Which for us, involves literally.. moving on.

Our spot at Wekiwa Springs!

For our next stop, it made sense to relocate to Altamonte Springs, just north of Orlando. This is where a business colleague lives, and sometimes it’s just nice to work in person instead of remotely. We have a major software project going live this weekend, so the timing was perfect.

Serendipity further confirmed the timing was right, by scoring us a fabulous site. We love staying at Wekiwa Springs State Park (our review), it’s one of our favorites – very scenic, but yet close to town.

Wekiwa is undergoing campground renovations (including installing sewer at many sites.. score!), and is currently not available for reservations. Which was wonderful for us, as the rangers advised us that showing up mid-week would pretty much guarantee us a site that we could keep through the weekend. We can hardly ever get weekend reservations at popular Florida State Parks last minute.

Kiki loves this spot too!

When we showed up – the ranger assigned us to spot 33. Which is the spot we always try to reserve anyway, and not just because 33 is our magic number.

Ahh.. so nice to not have to rely on our Cedar Key Sunsets Calendar to supplement my desk view!

Our site is far from other neighbors with lots of privacy, and we can almost pretend we’re alone in a forrest with LTE. Especially if we can imagine the nearby road traffic is the rumble of an ocean or waterfall (an essential RVer skill sometimes.)  We pre-paid a few nights to get us through our work project, and we’ll decide later if we want to extend.

Ever since we arrived, it’s been pretty much non-stop raining – and is predicted to keep it up through the weekend.

Hooping in the rain – I’m not letting a little rain stop me!

And that’s fine by us.  With nearly daily commutes to visit my parent’s house since February – we are seriously in need of some self-imposed homebody time. We’ve had hardly any time in months of feeling ‘at home’. Ironic that to feel stationary, we had to get in motion, eh?

Besides, we have a new mattress to break in. *grin*

We have some general plans shaping up that will next take us to the Savannah, GA area, then Chattanooga and then on into St. Louis by Memorial Day weekend. After that, we’ll start our journey to the west coast.

We’re excited to return to having regular travelogues on the blog!