A visit with the Hutterites

One of the reasons that we love to travel to different countries is that we like to see how other people live. But you don't have to travel to a far off land to experience a different culture...sometimes you can find them in your own backyard as we learned yesterday when we visited two different Hutterite colonies.

But before we get to that, we should give you some background. The Hutterites arrived in North America to escape military and religious persecution in western Russia. They arrived in three separate groups from 1874 to 1879, and all groups originally settled in the North Dakota area of the United States.

The house is a little quiet this morning

Well, I got Sherman all put back together. It took me all day yesterday. That was a big job. My knees are reminding me once again that I'm not 25 years old any more! And I have sore muscles in places where I didn't know I had any muscles.

But it's done. I still think there's a very minor exhaust leak coming from that side, and it's because the manifold itself might be a little bit warped. I probably should have replaced it.

Well, I knew that was going to be a big job...

And it was.

But, the patient is being good. It's the doctor who needs to recover! The operation isn't quite finished yet, and my sore knees and back aren't looking forward to getting back under there.

But although it was time consuming, it was fairly successful.

No flying yet this year!

When we traveled in the motorhome with our dog Whiskey, we went several years without flying anywhere. It was just easier when you have the responsibilities of being a pet owner. But when Whiskey passed away in the fall of 2011 we began flying to different countries. As much as we love traveling in the motorhome, we also love visiting different countries and experiencing different cultures.

And we've done a lot of flying over the past 5 years!

I can't believe I let that happen!

Cool day yesterday, but with the sun shining we decided to go for a short morning hike. I took the iPhone with us, and using the Motion-X GPS app, we know that we did 5.9 kms (3.7 miles) in an hour and forty minutes. Not bad. Gotta get those hiking legs in shape for Romania, so we'll be out a lot more over the next few weeks. It feels great to get back into it!

But by the time we returned, the battery in the iPhone was almost dead. I knew it was getting bad, and had already ordered the necessary parts to fix the problem.

Another camping season comes to an end...

And just like that, the summer is over.

Kids (and teachers) are back in school, farmers are working the harvest, and our campground is pretty much empty of people. There are still a lot of trailers here though. The seasonal campers have two weeks from yesterday to remove their trailers from the park, so they'll be disappearing between now and September 19th.

Free budget tracking software

Ever since we changed our lifestyle almost ten years ago, we have kept track daily of how much money we spend. Because we weren't independently wealthy, we had to know where every penny goes. And we still do it.

And we still publish our monthly expense reports here on the blog. We like to show people that you don't need a lot of money to travel...or to live, for that matter.

No Mexico this winter...

This winter will be the first time in seven years that we don't spend at least part of the season in Mexico. Originally, when we were with our traveling companion Whiskey, we were confined to North America.

But there is a whole big world out there, and we want to see it all.

So since Whisky passed away in the fall of 2011, we have tried to go to at least one different country every year. But even though we have done that, we have always returned to Mexico at least at some point in the season.

Scenery around the park

I haven't taken many photos from around the park this year. And we haven't been out for a hike at all this year. There have been too many mosquitoes out in the hills! Even slathering the bug spray on, they have been terrible.

We think that's about to change after this weekend though. Looks like the weather gods are flicking the switch, and summer is over...just like that! So, it should be too cold for the little buggers.

Booked another flight deal!

Two years ago, I wrote an article titled How to Get the Best Airfare Deal.

The very first thing that I talk about is patience.

Well, for over three months, I've been watching for one particular airfare deal. But it had to be a fairly specific deal, because we need to end up near Alicante, Spain around January 6th in order to pick up the motorhome for two months. And ideally, we would be flying from and returning to, Ottawa.

Yesterday, my patience paid off!

August Expenses

Well, another month has passed, so it must be time for another monthly expense report. We were doing okay on our expenses during August...until we saw that kayak for sale. But overall, it was still a good month.

Except that there were five Wednesdays in the month, and we do grocery shopping on Wednesdays!

The best RV holding tank treatment

Yesterday, one of our readers told me about some treatment for your black water holding tank. I had never heard of this particular product before, and it has really high reviews, so I did some research.

Appropriately, It's called "Happy Campers"!

We're going to miss National Wine Day!

So I'm doing some research on the tiny country of Moldova, the least visited country in Europe. And I see that they have a National Wine Day.

Moldova is the 22nd largest wine producer in the world, and they have over 20 million bottles in storage underground. The largest wine cellar in the world is located in Moldova where there are almost 2 million bottles. And do you know where the world's second largest wine cellar is? Yep, it's in Moldova too!

These guys just don't get it...

I was looking at the map the other day while planning our trip to Ottawa next month, and I was remembering the last time we drove across northern Ontario in the fall of 2007.

At that time, we had stopped in the towns of Kenora and Dryden, and noticed that there were "No RV Parking" signs at the Walmarts. No problem for us. Even back then, we were good at finding great free overnight spots!

Happy Birthday Sadie!

Our little granddaughter is 3 years old today!

A motorhome built for two

There is a common saying among RV'ers here in North America....

How many people fit in your RV?

6 for drinks, 4 for dinner, and 2 for sleeping!

But when we get to Spain in January and have the use of this nice little motorhome for two months, it's unlikely that we will be squeezing in six people for drinks. Even four for dinner is going to be tight!

Just about jumped out of my boots!

Every morning, I wander down to the water pump and the shoreline here at the park. Just to confirm that the pressure is right and there are no problems.

Beside the pump, there are a couple of old docks and the bleed off hose to relieve the system pressure. The constant supply of water from the bleed off hose has eroded the sand underneath one of the docks and there is a little bit of trench there.

Happy National Toilet Paper Day

The funny things you come across reading the news. Yep, it's National Toilet Paper Day.

So, as you are sitting on the throne today, you can think of all the poor toilet paper that has sacrificed itself for your benefit. Too funny.

Pretty sure there aren't any parades or time off work associated with this particular celebration!

It's that time of year

When we arrive here at the park at the beginning of May, we're enthusiastic about getting the campground ready for the season. And, it's actually nice to be settled in one place for a while with all of the amenities that we don't normally have when we're traveling. You know, like a steady supply of running water, hot showers, and an actual washer and dryer!

And then our busy season runs from mid June until mid August and there's not time to think about anything else.

But after mid August, time starts to drag and we get itchy to get on the road again. And it's that time of year right now.

Workamping or Work Camping?

I saw a comment on a forum the other day about work camping...that is, staying at a campground in your RV, and putting in a few hours of work at the campground in order to get your site and services for free. And a big discussion ensued about the various forms of work camping and the remuneration involved, if any.

The term "Workamping" was actually coined by Workamper News, which (before the internet came along) was the go to monthly publication  for those wanting to find a job work camping.

The benefit goes directly to the park

Every weekend when the park is busy during the summer, campers drink a lot of liquids. Soft drinks, juice, water, and of course lots of beer, wine, and liquor.

In Saskatchewan, all of the containers that these liquids come in require you to pay a deposit when you purchase them. That means that every single empty container has some value. Some people don't care about that value, and even though we have recycling containers throughout the park, they toss their empties into the garbage. Others simply take their empties home with them. But, a lot of people donate the empties to the proper bins, and the benefit goes directly to the park.

Out for a ride in our new kayak!

Our new kayak arrived on Friday.

Ever since we got the motorhome, we've wanted some kind of a boat to go relax and explore on the water. We thought about a canoe, but it wouldn't be convenient trying to attach it to Sherman's roof. And we knew that we could get an inflatable kayak but the ones that other RV'ers talk about on the forums cost upwards of $500, and we didn't want to spend that much without knowing how much we'd use it.

So when I spotted this one on sale for $100, we both looked at each other and said "buy it"!

Another thought on our motorhome windshield dilemma

Just to give you some background, the passenger side windshield of our motorhome has a crack about 18" long. The driver's side windshield  has a huge stone chip right in the center, and two smaller ones a little lower down.

We don't have glass insurance, and the cost to replace the windshields is minimum $650 USD per side.

But for $90 USD on Amazon.com, or $114 here in Canada on Amazon.ca, I'm thinking this crack and chip repair kit might be worth a try.

Where were you thirty years ago today?

Well we were at the hospital. But it was for a good thing!

Because today is our daughter Lindsey's 30th birthday. And she says she's having a bit of a tough time getting used to that fact that she's now starting her 30's. And I have to admit, it does sound a bit strange that our daughter is 30. But then again, none of us are getting any younger, are we??

The first day we met Sherman...

It was nine years ago today on August 19, 2007, that we did the five hour drive down from Ottawa, Ontario to the outskirts of Albany, New York.

We went there to look at a motorhome!

It was also the very first motorhome we had looked at. But, I knew what we were looking for and had scanned a lot of advertisements over the three weeks prior to that.

Good news, and bad news...

We own two vehicles...Sherman the motorhome, and the little blue car. And they both have windshield problems! Not bad, but enough to be annoying. The motorhome windshield is two pieces...there is a left side and a right side. The left side has two small stone chips, and one large one. The right side has a crack about a foot and a half long

So yesterday I made some phone calls.

Better to repair than to replace

In some situations. In other situations, it's better to replace than to repair!

But I had to come to some kind of decision about these lower door latches on the motorhome, because if I was going to order new ones I had to give them enough lead time so that they would arrive here before we leave towards the end of next month.

It's just the two of us now...

Our seasonal employee Valine had her last day of work on Sunday. Things start to quiet down here around this time of year and so she was scheduled to be finished now.

We also had two different gate staff helping through the busier period, but neither one of them lasted very long. Let's just say they didn't need the money very badly. At $12.60 an hour, you'd think it would be easy to find a teenager committed to the job, but apparently that's not the case.

And so it's just the two of us now to run the park for the rest of the season. That's what we've done the last two years, so we know that it's not a problem.

We want our money back!

Very often when you buy fruit in the grocery store, you don't know what you're getting. Oranges, cantaloupe, watermelon, and pineapple are all fruits that we have bought where you don't know until you get it home to eat it if it's any good on the inside.

And we're not putting up with it any more.

We bought a kayak!

Ever since we started RV'ing, we've always wanted a kayak. But we didn't want one of the hard sided ones because it would be too difficult to carry around. And the good quality blow up ones are like $400 or $500 and because we weren't sure how much we would use it, it was hard to justify spending that kind of money.

But yesterday, I spotted a deal. And when I showed it to Ruth, we both looked at each other and said "buy it"!!

Finally got the mosquitoes under control

Because of all the rain we've been having here at the park, the mosquitoes have been really bad. There was one week in July where you pretty much couldn't go outside without slathering on the bug spray. But I think we've finally got them under control with our new heavy duty mosquito fogging machine.

It took me a while to figure out the proper formulation to use for the chemicals, and the right settings on the machine. But now, it seems to work perfectly and is very effective at doing the job.

A few minor things going bad

Got into the motorhome yesterday to check out some of the problems our motorhome exchange guests had. They had very few problems actually. Sherman behaved himself while he was in their care! The major things were the inverters. The big one had gone bad a couple of weeks ago, and then the small one stopped working the day before they brought him back to us.

But yesterday, the small one turned on right away. As soon as I pressed the "On" button!