Time Magazine’s half-assed reporting about the Slabs gave us a good laugh today, just in time for happy hour.

Need a good chuckle? Here it is:

Slab City, Here We Come: Living Life Off the Grid in California’s Badlands

One would think that Time could afford to hire a reporter capable of uncovering a different angle, or talking to people who haven’t been interviewed several times over by NPR or CBS.

If you want some laughter therapy, read the full story here. But if your Time is more valuable, here are the hilarious highlights:

“a squatters’ camp deep in the badlands of California’s poorest county, where the road ends”

“dropouts and fugitives of all stripes”

“recession refugees”

“a former drug addict turned born-again Christian”

“tribes have emerged”

“soul-searching Gypsy Kids who arrive by train with little more than the ragged clothes on their back”

“the rowdy bikers who pass through, or the meth-addled loners on the outer edges inclined to greet a trespasser with a gunshot”

“disappearances, mysterious drownings in the mud baths, the man who showed up in camp with his finger apparently bitten off”

“The border patrol keeps a visible presence, searching for illegal immigrants that ply the region.”

Yeah, that pretty much sums up most of us, like Jim and I, or our super friendly, squeaky clean neighbors, the Bayfield Bunch, or the Canadian politician who was here last week.

Can you say “Sensationalism”? Remember kids, The Media Lies.

Which can be a good thing, I guess.

Long live the Slabs!

With thanks to Rhodester, who shared this on my Facebook page today.

As the enterprising founder behind FtF, Kimberly Travaglino recently published “How to Hit the Road,” a terrific guide to help aspiring families learn everything about the road tripping lifestyle with kids. We can’t recommend it enough!

The Fulltime Families group is a membership-based community of like-minded non-retired parents and kids who’ve made the courageous leap to living life on the road. Fulltime Families is also a terrific resource for dreamers who want to learn all they can about the lifestyle.

Are the Slabs Kid-Friendly?

Kimberly wanted to know the lowdown on the Slabs. Her tribe is camped on the perimeter near Salvation Mountain for the night, and was scouting around to feel around for a kid-friendly vibe. While we wouldn’t exactly call the Slabs kid-friendly, there are a few living here, probably year-round.

But as far as whether or not this place is a good place to bring little humans, our NuRVer friend Sam, who has a grown family of his own, put it best:

“Would I bring kids here and stay a while? Definitely not.”

This wacky, offbeat community with its somewhat seedy-underbelly isn’t the best environment for kids.

“Would I come here for a few days to see it with kids? Definitely!” he said.

Families can skip the local watering holes like the Oasis Club, but taking a trip out to the East Jesus art installations, the mud pots and of course Salvation Mountain, are a one-of-a-kind, eye-opening, unforgettable experience found only here at the Slabs.

Are the Slabs on Your Snowbird Itinerary?

What a hoot to finally meet Kimberly in person after meeting online last year.

We are so impressed with the FtF community she and her husband Chris have built, especially because Jim and I know much time and energy it takes to manage a busy online support group.

So, who else is coming this way in February? If you’re a fellow blogger pointed in this direction, be sure to stop by our encampment and say hello!

I’m a sweaty guy.

I tend to perspire more than adequately during my morning runs (especially when we’re hanging out in the desert, like now) but apparently I do not have Hyperhidrosis – neither Axilary, nor Palmar, and I am happy to report no signs of Erythrophobia!

While Rene may disagree, I feel I also have my Bromhidrosis under control.

When you’re working out it hot weather, please remember to rehydrate, especially if you sweat excessively.

And if you do, understand the facts and get yourself on the path to stop Hyperhydrosis by learning the basics. This infographic will help. Click the image to view it at full size.

Via: Bye Bye Excessive Armpit Sweat

Saturday afternoon we packed up from our quiet little spot in Borrego Springs and headed east to our favorite free wacky camping destination, Slab City USA.

Slab City Goes Upscale

OK maybe it’s just me, but it seems that the Slabs have gone upscale. There seems to be a real sense of ownership and pride around here that we’ve never seen before.

Trash piles are getting cleaned up, “No dumping” signs have sprung up, people are putting more artwork around the community, and a new Slab City Calendar of Events sign welcomes visitors. You no longer have to be in the know to find out what’s happening every day.

This Lurker Walks Into a Camp . . .

Yesterday I walked outside our rig and a stranger on an ATV pulls up, turns off his motor and says “You must be Rene.”

Huh?

“You don’t know me but I’ve been following your blog for a long time, since you first started.”

Whoooah.

I asked him his name, but didn’t know it. And there’s no reason I should have: in the five years since Jim and I started writing about our travels, he’s never once commented or contacted us. But he’s been a loyal reader and he could recall nearly everything we’ve been through on the road.

“You’re a lurker!” I said to him. But he didn’t like that term, he said it sounded too creepy. I’m not sure what to call him, other than a really jolly, adventurous, respected Canadian politico who’s now living his own road trip dream.

Although his wife isn’t thrilled about this place, I reassured him that despite the cleaned up appearance, the Slabs is still a great, safe dry camping spot, especially when you’re surrounded by dozens of other Canadian snowbirds here off Canal Road, in what we call “Canada Camp.”

A Lilliputlian Universe

What a thrill to know our blog actually has a reader! We never know if anyone’s paying attention to what we’re writing (even our family members usually don’t know what we’re up to because most of them don’t follow us!).

To meet a total stranger who’s been loyally reading our blog for years, really made our day.

Mr. “I”m-Not-a-Lurker” doesn’t have his own blog, otherwise I’d reveal his identity. I guess we’ll have to convince him to start his own RV Blog.

The Interwebs have shrunk our world so much. Now, only three degrees separates each and every one of us. And in the full-time traveler’s universe, it’s turned our world into that of Lilliputlian proportions.

Feeling upset? You may be surprised at just how good a smile will make you feel.

You might even be more surprised how contagious it is. In fact clinical studies have proven that smiling improves relaxation.

But smile at the wrong people, and they’ll wonder what you’re up to. I feel for these folks.

Going for an early morning run through industrial areas of Los Angeles, I would make it a point to smile and greet everyone I encountered. The majority of these people would just look at me funny. Some would scowl, others would grunt, and oftentimes someone would literally be quite startled. But every time, the eyes would quickly be divereted, if any eye contact was made at all. And while I did get a few responses en español, it wasn’t a language barrier thing. Take for instance the one older Asian gentleman walking briskly who replied with a big grin and resounding, albeit thickly accented, Good Morning!

More recently, as I was running along Mission Bay in San Diego, many people out for their morning stroll would reply with a smile or at least a nod. But still, the majority would still appear a bit taken aback.

Is it big city shitty life that makes one so jaded? I believe it has more to do with lifestyle. Take the old Asian guy. He was healthy, happy, and he knew it. The hungover lookin’ gangsta type at a bus stop appeared to be none of the above.

I realized something after comparing these runs over the past few weeks. Those who were up early and walking or riding bikes because they needed to be were not very happy campers. Those out enjoying the morning air because they wanted to be seemed much happier.

Where in this wonderful world of ours have you been where you noticed people to be exceptionally happy? Or rude for that matter?

I would have to say everyone we’ve ever met at Vickers Ranch has always worn a smile. And Luckenbach must be one of the happiest places in the universe. It is the center after all, according to Hondo.

But after four days without shampooing, I couldn’t take the oily, gritty feel of my locks and surrendered to the ‘poo.

Using about a gallon of water to wash and rinse, I couldn’t help but think there has to be a better way to keep my hair clean.

My question to you, long-haired RV boondocking gals, is: when you dry camp, how do you keep your locks looking (and smelling) good?

When I had a cute pixie ‘do like my RVing friend Tracy (in the pic below) washing my hair wasn’t such an ordeal. But now that I’ve reached my goal of big Texas hair, washing hair when boondocking requires serious water usage.

No ‘Poo Alternatives?

Now before you say “What about joining the “no ‘poo’ movement?” I’ll just say it: the thought of not shampooing my hair regularly seriously grosses me out.

I realize that way back, people used to only wash their hair once a year or so, but I’ll bet if you caught a whiff of their mane you’d be hightailing it back to the future for a long hot shower.

While I would never consider ditching my shampoo, I thought I heard something about how dry shampoos work great in-between washings. Thinking that maybe I could use less water this way, I  searched the web for “dry shampoo recipes” and was surprised to see that something as cheap and simple as a dusting of cornstarch is supposed to suck up the grease and make your hair look nice again. Later this week I’ll test this idea.

Have you tried homemade dry shampoo? If so, what did you think?

Boondocking has a few drawbacks like this, but overall it’s our favorite way to camp. We’re loving it here in the Southern California desert as we buckle down on work, listen to the coyotes yip and yowl and soak in the sun. Free RV camping doesn’t get any better than this!

Once again our $44 yearly Passport America membership has paid for itself. Last Tuesday after a sad goodbye to my family in Los Angeles, we headed south to San Diego to see Tripawds friends.

Our destination was Mission Bay RV Resort, which offers 50 percent savings to Passport members during winter. This coastal campground is normally $50 a night for a bare bones back-in RV site, but with our Passport America membership we got our sweet spot for half off!

Many of Passport’s affiliated RV parks are located in smaller towns that want to attract more tourists, but oftentimes you’ll find gems like these in major destinations.

We’re always super frugal about paying for campgrounds, but since joining Passport in 2008, we’ve never once regretted spending the money on this membership. It always seems to come in handy whenever we need full hookups.

If you’re on the road and haven’t joined this club, do it today. I guarantee you a Passport America membership will pay for itself the very first time you use it!

Don’t care to install yet another bloated plugin package? Use Jetpack Lite like we’re doing on our new and improved Team Agreda blog.

But this isn’t about plugins, or jets, it’s about what we’ve been up to here at LiveWorkDream.com over the past year – at least according to WordPress.

Here’s what their algorithms had to say about our blog in 2011…

Some Crunchy Numbers

The Louvre Museum has 8.5 million visitors per year. This blog was viewed about 160,000 times in 2011. If it were an exhibit at the Louvre Museum, it would take about 7 days for that many people to see it.

In 2011, there were 59 new posts, growing the total archive of this blog to 633 posts.

The busiest day of the year was September 28th with 1,418 views. The most popular post that day was Stephen King’s Number One Faaayuuuun… Interesting, considering the post is four years old. And that date was a week after Mr. King’s birthday, but while we originally published that post a couple days after our visit on his birthday, we didn’t mention Stephen King’s birthday at all. Must just be some good SEO juice regarding Stephen King’s birthday there – either that, or something creepy is going on behind the scenes… bwaaaaahaaaaahaaaa!

Sorry, there I go digressing once again.

How did they find us?

The top referring sites in 2011 were:

hitchitch.com
Many thanks to the crew over at Hitch Itch! It is a great site for finding RV Travel Adventures and Journals, and it continues to drive traffic here daily.

dishpointer.com
Dishpointer has come a long way since we originally wrote about this cool satellite finder iPhone app.

thebayfieldbunch.com
Kudos to our friends Kelly and Al for clearly sending some readers our way

livingthecheaplife.net
We bet most visitors from this site find our blog after reading Living the Cheap Life in an RV, or because they found the popular video and resources we posted about How To Build Your Own RV Video.

ehow.com
eHow has referenced many Live Work Dream RVing articles, the most popular of which are likely our tips for Troubleshooting the Norcold N821 RV Refrigerator, and Our Fussy Magic Chef RV Oven.

Some visitors came searching, mostly for stephen king house gate, slab city, wawa, build your own travel trailer, and dishpointer.

How did you find us?

What did everyone read?

It only makes sense that those referring links all relate to our most popular posts of the year. While many of our most popular posts were written before 2011, these are the posts that got the most views last year, followed by their activity and original post date.

• 1 Stephen King’s Number One Faaayuuuun… 4 comments, September 2007
• 2 On a Budget? Build Your Own RV! 12 comments, October 2007
• 3 Our Fussy Magic Chef RV Oven 35 comments, February 2008
• 4 Build Your Own Travel Trailer, Cheap! 3 comments, January 2008
• 5 Calculate Satellite Settings with Dishpointer 20 comments, January 2008

Where did y’all come from?

We assume many of our readers are on the road, or hope to be someday soon. Most visitors came from The United States. Canada & Portugal were not far behind.

If you are reading this from afar, please leave a comment and let us know what brought you here.

Looking back, and going forward.

Does any one thing we wrote about here last year strike you as particularly memorable? Rene recalls the lively discussion inspired by her post titled Free Camping and Assassinations, Your Tax Dollars at Work. And for whatever it’s worth, my post about Paying Your Emotional Allowance will always ring true with me.

We shall continue working the dream life from our mobile headquarters of Team Agreda this year, and look forward to another summer at Vickers Ranch, and a return to the Right Coast next winter. We hope you will follow along and are enjoying your own life’s adventures. For more about the nuts and bolts of how we make a living on the road, be sure check out our new and improved home-based business blog and stay tuned for the launch of our new e-book about how to earn an income anywhere!

Along the way, we made time for one attraction that’s been on our bucket list, the Alley Oop Fantasy Land and Museum of Iraan Texas.

If you’re stuck on I-10 between El Paso and Austin, don’t miss this quirky little roadside attraction!

Iraan Texas Museum: a Big Gem in a Small Town

When you find yourself driving one of the loneliest stretches of I-10 between El Paso and Ozona, take a few hours to go 13 miles north on Texas Highway 349.

Here you’ll find one of the Lone Star State’s most rustic old towns featuring an abundance of dinosaur-era fossils and a larger-than-life monolith tribute to Alley Oop, that popular caveman comic from the 1930s.

And just as entertaining is the Iraan Texas Museum’s curator Edna “Snooks” Collett, an 85-year-young cowgirl dynamo.

Here’s a short video about this off-the-beaten path West Texas attraction that shows some of the highlights that make this offbeat spot so much fun. The park is always open but the museum hours are from 1 to 5 pm (closed Mondays and through Christmas to March).

Click here to view the embedded video.

 Ira-Ann, Not Iran

Iraan sits atop one of the richest oil field deposits in North America. During the early 20th century, oil was discovered on land belonging to Ira and Ann Yates. When a contest was held to name this newly formed town, the winning result was “Iraan,” a play on the couple’s first names.

During the late 1920s, local artist VT Hamlin was fascinated by the bounty of prehistoric dinosaur-era artifacts found in the Permian Basin lands surrounding Iraan. This was during a time when fossils were dug up and discarded without any real regard for preservation.

In 1932, Hamlin gained worldwide fame when his comic strip Alley Oop caught the eye of newspapers around the country. The comic chronicled the time-traveling adventures of Oop, a burly, axe-wielding caveman, his curvaceous girlfriend Oola, a pet dinosaur Dinny and their kingdom, Moo.

To honor VT Hamlin’s contribution to putting Iraan on the map, locals created the 7-acre Alley Oop Fantasy Land Park, featuring ginormous statues of Alley Oop characters Oop, Dinny, oola, Dr. Wonmug and Oscar Boom.

Snooks’ Museum Walks You Through Time

In keeping with the time-traveling spirit of Alley Oop’s adventures, longtime notable resident Snooks Collett created the Iraan Texas Museum.

This free attraction features hundreds of local artifacts from prehistoric times to the town’s oil boom heyday to the modern era of alternative energy development.

You can spend hours examining these treasures and learning about the region, but you’ll want to reserve even more time to chat with Snooks, who at her advanced age is still running the museum and going on field digs for local artifacts. This rugged but charming western cowgirl who actually lived on the ranch where oil was discovered in Iraan, can tell you endless stories about the region’s rich western history.

If you don’t have enough time to get to know the museum, you can spend the night in your RV. Iraan has two city parks (one located adjacent to the museum) with full hookups for just $12.00 a night. Visit in the springtime, and Snooks, along with the local archaeological association, will welcome you to come along on a real fossil dig.

Our visit to the Alley Oop Fantasy Land and Iraan Museum was too fast, since we were booking it west to California while trying to beat an oncoming winter storm. But we’ll definitely return; this little western outpost is too entertaining to miss whenever we’re on I-10.

Get off the interstate and see the real Texas. Don’t miss this one-of-a-kind attraction.

Recommended Reading

Caveman: VT Hamlin and Alley Oop
Roadside America: Alley Oop Land
Texas Escapes: Iraan, Texas
Texas State Historical Assn.: Iraan, Texas

Our workamping gig at Hill Shade RV Park in Gonzales, Texas has come to an end. Yesterday we said goodbye to owners Michael and Christine Moers and their awesome family. If you’re ever between Houston and San Antonio, stop by and say hello. You’ll love their park.

We can’t thank the Moers enough for being so good to us. They are two of the most genuine, funny and down-to-earth people we know, and we hope to be back at their quiet little retreat again in spring.

Today we’re at lovely Landa RV Park in New Braunfels to hang out with NuRVers.  Oh how we missed the serenade of the train that runs through the back of the park. Despite how dissed it pretty hard in this blog post during our last visit, it’s not a bad place to be. Compared to some of the dumps we’ve been in, this one is first-class!

Click here to view the embedded video.

Tomorrow we’ll be boot scootin’ in Luckenbach for their annual Christmas Ball. Then Sunday, we’ll be blazing across I-10 out to the coast, for some sunshine, warm temperatures and family.

If you’re also traveling somewhere to see your families for the holidays, hoppy travels!  Where ya headed?