Wheeling It: Tales From a Nomadic Life

On the Road Since 2010, Traveling Across USA & Europe With Pets

Nomad Liberation Day!

by 79 Comments

Our new "back yard"
Our new “back yard”!

It’s the day after Labor Day and I’m shamelessly stealing the term “Nomad Liberation Day” from van-dweller extraordinaire Glen at To Simplify…..just because I can. You see today is the day the last of the little ones go back to school which signals the end of the mad summer camping season. As much as I love that families get out to enjoy the great outdoors (really I do), I look forward to the end of it with equal fervor. This is a time of pure travel bliss for those who are fulltime RVers. Campgrounds empty out, reservations become unnecessary (even for “beast size” such as us) and travel life slows to whatever pace you like. From here on out I will think no more about reservations until I start my planning for next summer. Ahhhhh, so nice!

And our beloved lighthouse
And our beloved lighthouse

This day also happens to coincide with our return to one of the places we love most in the world. We’re back in Cape Blanco State Park to host at the lighthouse for Sept and Oct. This ~2000 acre natural wonderland has drawn us every single year since we discovered it with our first hosting job in 2012. What New York is to city slickers, Cape Blanco is to lovers of the wild. Evertime I come here this spot takes me over…I surrender to it’s charms and retreat into a fairytale cocoon of my own personal bliss. There is something about this place that I just cannot describe. Perhaps it’s the wild and changing weather, so unpredictable you may go from soothing sun to howling fog in just a few minutes. Or possibly it’s the forest so thick with pine needles your footsteps are muffled in natural pillows. Or maybe it’s the beach, so rugged & feral it makes you catch your breath in awe. This places makes me poetic and and sappy (even more than usual, which is saying alot), so be prepared my readers.

Damn, I love it here!

Just another day in paradise...
Just another day in paradise…
Afternoon fog obscures the sunset
Afternoon fog obscures the sunset

This year is made even better by the return of good buddies Technomadia who have succumbed to the charms of this place the same way we have (and who are much more efficient at blogging about it than I am :)). We’re both spending two months here and invite you to over for a lighthouse tour** if you’re in the area. If you decide to drop by and visit “the beast” we just ask that you let us know beforehand. This is our nature time you see, and we’re likely to be off running in the woods and communing with the earth. Oh, and if you’re wondering how we prepare our rig for 2 months of downtime I wrote a post about that here -> 3 Simple Steps To Protect Your RV During “Downtime”

I’ve got lots (and lots) of additional blog posts coming with more info on Cape Blanco, a cool new techie book I’m reading (you’ll want to get this one, trust me), and what we’re doing about health insurance & domicile (it’s coming time to make our final decision). Plus if I get around to it I’ve got about 20 or so other blog post ideas rummaging around in my head (I always have waaaay more ideas than time to write about them). It’s going to be a fine end of summer…..

**NOTE/ If you can’t make it physically over her for a tour, you can do it virtually! Last year Technomadia filmed a lighthouse tour with the four of us and and put it on Youtube. Click HERE.

Related Posts:

Back on the deserted beaches of Cape Blanco State Park...oh yeah baby!
Back on the deserted beaches of Cape Blanco State Park…oh yeah baby!

We LOooVE Comments, So Please Do

  2. How lovely, I look forward to your poetic and sappy postings. It looks like Polly is happy to be done with maintenance and back on the beach.

    Reply

  4. My wife and I are taking a two week meander down the Oregon Coast and will be at Cape Blanco somewhere between October 8 and October 12. Hopefully you will be working then as I would love to meet you in person. Also, we are currently submitting applications as volunteer lighthouse hosts and I would love to get some advice on applying and, if we’re fortunate to land a gig, on doing the job.

    Your blog has been really inspirational to me. Thank you for so generously sharing.

    Cheers,
    John

    Reply

    • We haven’t yet received our shift info for Oct, so not sure what exact days we’ll be working but check in again before you come.

      And great that you’re applying to be hosts! My best advice is that, in addition to talking to the central volunteer office, I recommend calling the individual state parks and asking to speak directly to the volunteer coordinator for that park. They’ll usually have the most direct info on what dates are open & when you can come. While you’re driving down the coast ask each spot for the name/contact of the coordinator. Also, talk to volunteers so you get real-life input on hours & working conditions. Good luck!

      Nina

      Reply

      • Thanks for the input. I will be looking up Volunteer Coordinators as we work our way down the Coast. I’m really fascinated with the Umpqua River Lighthouse, Heceda Head (of course) and Cape Blanco.

        Looks like we will be staying at Camp Blanco October 12-13. John & Vicki in a 25′ Airstream.

        Cheers,
        John

        Reply

        • Haceta Head is a GORGEOUS lighthouse and they have a great hosting schedule. I’ve heard nothing but good things about the job here. Only reason we haven’t hosted there is no internet signal in the campground (Carl G. Washborne SP). Otherwise it’s a fabulous gig in a great location.

          Umpqua River is one of the few lighthouses on the coast NOT handled by State Parks (I believe it’s handled by the county) so volunteer hours are different there. It’s a gorgeous spot (and the host sites are amazing), but hours tend to be longer from what we’ve heard.

          Nina

          Reply

  6. There IS something pretty special about the Oregon coast. My feet hit the sand yesterday and my body felt the combination of euphoria and calm at the same time. I felt wonderfully renewed.

    Reply

    • Nice to have you in the “neighborhood”, and I can totally relate. We feel amazing everytime our feet touch the sand here.

      Nina

      Reply

  7. oh golly MissMolly…I hope all these plans (ie about “…health insurance & domicile … it’s coming time to make our final decision) doesn’t mean that we will be missing you NEXT year when we will be spend time in the PNW…finally, a chance to meet my fav RV blogger!! Well…we just can’t see you giving it up totally….so there is hope, I suppose.

    Your description of the PNWcoastal mystique surely is translated into all languages of the heart. It is where I found my love of ‘weather drama’…HEY, they don’t call me the ‘weather whore’ for nothing!! There is a WILDNESS, a TEMPERAMENT, and an INDECISIVENESS that us women (and SOME men) understand. If you get the chance, Cape Ferrelo just north of Brookings is a charming place to enjoy a relaxing afternoon with picnic and whale watching ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SADEDesebVo ) … If you didn’t get your fill in the San Juans! Can’t wait for your updates!

    Reply

    • Oh fear not, we’ll still be RVing. We just need to re-establish domicile. To make a long story short, our health insurance options in SD are basically nil now (recent news from some of the big insurers in the state has made the situation even worse for pre-Medicare RVers than it was before), so we are going to be forced to switch domicile. It’s a major hassle, but it’ll have to be done.

      Cheers for the link on Cape Ferrelo. That’s a new spot for me!

      Nina

      Reply

  8. It’s wonderful embracing a place you love that feels ‘just right’. I know you’ll savor your time in this special home surrounded by dear friends…. enjoy 🙂

    Reply

  9. 3 months until we hit the road. We just got our mail forwarding place in South Dakota. We will have health insurance from my company via Blue Shield. We do have to pay a portion of it. Just wondering where you guys are going to be domiciled at. Is it a better deal for auto insurance, RV insurance, taxes, income and state?

    Reply

    • It’s great that you get to keep Blue Shield thro’ your work as the insurance options for self-insured is very, very poor in SD. We’re STILL not exactly sure what state we’re going to chose, but likely it’ll be either TX or FL. Each state has it’s advantages & disadvantages, and to be honest if it weren’t for the health insurance issue we’d stick with SD (they’re a very easy, low-cost state to deal with). We’ve got a few more months to figure it out before we can’t delay the decision any longer.

      Nina

      Reply

        • good luck guys…:) the only drag I really didn’t like about Texas was vehicle inspections every year but the deeper I got into it, I found that, if your full time RV they wave that but they would love to have you stop in for a vehicle inspection as your passing through.
          Someone told me that Florida has taxes on income that you get from your retirement but somebody said they or stock? But they had stopped that a few years ago.

          Reply

          • Yes, in Texas the vehicle inspection is a drag…AND the fact that we would need a special driver’s licences for our rig (our size requires a non-commercial Class B in TX). Both are small things (in the bigger picture), but they are reasons we didn’t originally declare domicile there back in 2010. However SKP is well-established in TX with a long history of fighting for RVer rights. That’s a definite advantage. Pro’s and con’s….

            They do not tax retirement income or investment income in FL (I think they did at one point, but no longer).

            Nina

      • Wow Nina, you had me in total shock! lol. We’ve lived in TX for years and now, since fulltiming, we’ve changed our address to Livingston Texas. I still carry a class C TX license and I didn’t know that I needed a class B NON-CDL, we’ve driven all over TX in our ‘big’ rig lol. So, searching I go this morning on whether I still need a class B NON-CDL or not? It’s all over the place. No one has a definitive answer. If you click here: https://www.txdps.state.tx.us/internetforms/Forms/CDL-2.pdf . It’s an exemption form. There was a good post about the subject: http://www.rvforum.net/SMF_forum/index.php?topic=47327.0 austingeezer makes a very good point, I read the CMV Driver Handbook myself and he’s right. flyboy makes good points as well. What does one do with the CDL-2 form? Take it to the TX DPS office and get more confused? It clearly doesn’t state what to do with it. Class B NON-CDL is a totally useless requirement IMO, they should get rid of it and just make us CDL Class Bs to keep the confusion down. There’s probably no difference between a ‘NON’ CDL Class B and a CDL Class B if one should taking the test. What chaos from the government. ugh! Thanks for the post. I guess I will be a test taker when we meander our way back to TX.

        Reply

        • Yup, the non-CDL Class B requirement for RVs (over 26,000lbs) in TX gets almost everyone confused, but once you dig into the nitty gritty details it’s there. This comes up often in the RV forums so that’s the only reason I know. There’s a lot more info on the test procedures in the SKP forums. For example here:
          http://www.rvnetwork.com/index.php?showtopic=108241

          Nina

          Reply

      • Thanks for the links Rob. I’ve been following the threads on this on the Escapees forum since it started, but it’ll probably be news to those who are just starting to look at domicile.

        Nina

        Reply

  10. Hey! You don’t have to be full-time RVer to enjoy Nomad Liberation Day….. I anxiously look forward to it each year when it’s time to travel and play!!! Glad to have you back in my neighborhood. Ain’t it WONDERFUL??? Picture living here year round, if only we could skip the summer months. 😉

    Reply

  12. LOL, I woke up this morning thinking the exact same thing. After being buzzed by teeny bopper dirt bikers all weekend, and enduring endless parades of inconsiderate ATVers all summer, peace at last.

    Reply

    • I can’t deny I enjoy the emptiness too. I don’t begrudge vacationers their summer outings, but I sure do love this time of year.

      Nina

      Reply

  13. Hi Nina and Paul,
    I’m just 2 weeks into fulltime and felt the relief as I heard the crowds leave last night. Today we (Geordie the Golden Ret. and I) left our last campsite and found a spot up in the Abajo Mts. in Utah.
    I’ve been reading your blog for awhile, and love the places you two go.
    Thanks for writing and allowing me to dream of going to those spots you find, and hope to find such places for myself.
    Rob

    Reply

    • Cheers for following along! Sounds like you guys got a sweet spot. The mountains of UT are lovely this time of year.

      Nina

      Reply

  14. Though not RVers (yet?), we are nomads at heart, who also love Nomad Liberation Day. There is nothing like having the peaceful solitude of our little road on the northeast Michigan coast virtually to ourselves, as most cottages are closed up for the season. 🙂

    One day, if we can ever complete this arduous purging/selling/downsizing task, we hope to make it out there to meet you guys, and see four of our other favorite host nomads. 😉

    Thank you for your continued beautiful prose to keep us inspired.

    Karen

    Reply

      • Nina and Karen….it has taken 9 months (worse than giving birth) to sell the house, relocate our kiddos and downsize….next week is the last yard sale….then, we will finish up and move to our new home…a campsite by the Blackwater…whew! It is exhausting but I am starting to feel the weight being lifted. Come Spring..we are on the road til then it will be here and maybe deeper in to SoFla….ain’t life a trip!

        Reply

  15. We’ve always tried to never let the start of school stop us from getting out with our son in our RV. He’s autistic and more inclined to be interested in computers than in camping, but he says he enjoys the outings, and I know we do. So, while school does slow us down a bit and limit where we can go, it does not stop us completely.

    Reply

    • I think many folks still camp over the weekends, but there are definitely a big portion that stop. I’m actually surprised more don’t get out. Even a few days in the wild is worth it!

      Nina

      Reply

  16. Absolutely nothing in the world more beautiful than a deserted beach unless it is a truly wild deserted beach. Lucky, lucky you. Planning well done. Can’t wait to read and see all about it again. You could post on it for the entire year and I’d be thrilled. Wish I wasn’t half a continent away headed in the other direction. Some day, I keep telling myself.

    Reply

    • Given how much you both enjoy the outdoors I do think you’d have a blast travelling this side of the country. One day, one day…

      Nina

      Reply

  18. Nomad Liberation Day, the perfect term to describe end of summer for those of us who wander. Glad to hear you made it back safely to Cape Blanco. You have already captured some beautiful shots and I look forward to many more. I am also interested to hear your ongoing thoughts on health insurance. 🙂

    Reply

    • Basically it’s going to come down to switching domicile for us. No good health insurance options left in SD, sadly.

      Nina

      Reply

    • Cape Blanco is actually always a bit of a retreat, even in the crazy season. The pic I took of Paul & Polly on the beach were taken during Labor Day week-end. Right on the “busiest” day. Love this place!

      Nina

      Reply

  20. Here’s hoping you guys have a fabulous two months on the Oregon coast. I for one and ready to head for home and get out of this little “dog house” and back into our own spacious “beast!” This trip has been awesome!

    Reply

    • I can only imagine Janna. If we get to catch up this winter I’m looking forward to all the “insider” stories of your trip.

      Nina

      Reply

  21. Gypsy Rangers also embrace Nomad Liberation Day. I feel the shift of visitors to senior, retired and younger internationals with barely any Junior Rangers.

    I know that feeling of coming home to a special place, in more than one location. Will be marvelous to see the coast while you’re there. An enticing tease for an upcoming road trip along the Pacific.

    Reply

    • We see the same shift here. The lighthouse gets different types of visitors. More seniors, more relaxed travelers. It’s an interesting switch and our tour pace tends to slow somewhat to match.

      Nina

      Reply

  22. Nomad Liberation Day, I love it! I’ve had a few names and descriptives for it over the years, but I think that is the best one and so accurate too. I’ve always thought the best time to head out to the boonies is after Nomad Liberation Day and have been practicing it for years. I have a work project that requires completion, then I’m off to “MY” empty mountains for a week, before starting the next project. 🙂
    Glad to here you and Technomadia are both back at Cape Blanco and I’m looking forward to your coming posts.
    Have Fun!

    Reply

  23. Nina and Paul, we have been regular avid readers for a few years. On July 7 – after a year of possession-purging that we thought would take two months – we pulled our Lazy Daze 30′ Class C away from our rented acre in Sonoma into the full-time RV life. We drove south and spent our first month on wheels on top of a friend’s 18 acre secluded hilltop in North San Diego County. We are still doing lots of upgrades and modifications, and one that we needed to do was to open up the cabover entertainment center into storage space for my guitars (I am a full-time singer-songwriter). My nephew in Denver is a master cabinetmaker who volunteered to help, so that’s where we are now – after a mind-numbingly beautiful trip up I-70 thru the canyonlands of Utah and Colorado. We will now make our way thru Wyoming, Montana, and Idaho to Frederika’s hometown in the Okanogan Valley of Washington, where her cousin has invited us to stay on his acreage overlooking lakes, mountains, and the Canadian border. After visiting more of her family in Seattle, We’ll head down to the Oregon Coast to see friends and family in my hometown of Lincoln City. Guess what? In late September or early October we’ll be heading down the coast back to the Bay Area – and we would looove to meet you and Paul – and Cherie and Chris, too (you might even coax a song or three out of me…) All the best, Pete Olson & Frederika Haskell.

    Reply

    • Well a huge congrats to you on starting the lifestyle! Looks like you’ve already had some wonderful travel months and have a fabulous adventure planned for the rest of the year. We’d love to see you in Cape Blanco when you come by and would love to take you up on that song offer 🙂

      Nina

      P.S. Your name sounds very Scandinavian. Any Nordic blood in you?

      Reply

      • Well, my dad ‘s name was Olaf Olson, his father Nels and mother Ida both immigrated from Sweden, and dad didn’t speak English til he was 9. (And on my mother’s side there’s a great-great-grandmother who was from Sweden). So, uh-what was the question again?-I’m not sure if there’s any Scandahoovian in me…maybe

        Reply

        • I figured as much. Nice to meet a fellow Scandinavian on here! If we ever meet we can confuse the masses by chatting in Danish and Swedish (I don’t always understand Swedish, but I get close).

          Nina

          Reply

  24. Hi Nina, I have been following many RV travel Blogs for about 3 years now, anticipating retirement and a life change. Of interest is private medical insurance prior to Medicare coverage. The issue is portability and coverage out of domicile area. I was on the S. Dakota and Texas websites yesterday comparing plans and rates. It seemed to me that because we are not in an “Open Enrollment” period, the number of plans are limited and rates are very high. Do you think rates will come down and plan options will increase when enrollment period opens again? Love your blog.

    Reply

    • I doubt open enrollment will change the landscape much. There may be small changes, but not significant ones, and the rates you see are likely to be very close to what you’ll get once enrollment opens back up. In SD you have to be especially careful since all three companies currently on the exchange have specifically said they will *not* support fulltime RVers. That said, we’re hoping for changes too.

      My advice if you’re interested in the latest news is actually to talk to Kyle at http://rverhealthinsurance.com (tell him wheelingit sent you). He is the true expert on all this, keeps up to date on the latest info and has helped a lot of RVers find good health insurance options.

      Also check out my “health care” section on the blog:
      https://www.wheelingit.us/category/health-care-2/

      Nina

      Reply

  25. Another “over the mantle” worthy end-photo. Polly is such a pretty girl :-). Schools in SoCal started the middle of August but Labor Day still “feels” like the end of summer break – yay! For us it means one final school “year”, and then we’re outta here! Looking forward to both sappy and educational posts from you little piece of heaven.

    Reply

  26. When our kiddos were of school age, it was great to have them with us for the summer. But-it was also a relief when they went back to school 🙂
    Enjoy your time on the Oregon coast! We hope to make it to a few lighthouses on the CA coast this fall. The one at Point Reyes is close enough for a day trip. We’ve been doing the stair stepper at the gym and we’re curious how well we can climb the 308 stairs up/down to the lighthouse.
    http://www.nps.gov/pore/historyculture/people_maritime_lighthouse.htm

    Reply

    • I think many parents can relate. I’m sure most families love the summer vacation, but also sigh a little relief when school starts again.

      The Point Reyes Lighthouse is gorgeous. It’s too bad they don’t take RV volunteers there 🙂

      Nina

      Reply

  27. I read about the changes in South Dakota health insurance on Howard Payne’s blog–what a pain for you guys! I have to brave the “exchange” soon–my great insurance I had while Michael was working and which I continued with COBRA is about done. And as we are still thinking of fulltiming, I will have to be careful what I chose. No nibbles on our place so it may be a while–selling real estate season is almost over in Montana for the year.

    Reply

    • Good luck w/ your insurance quest! I’m definitely not looking forward to ours, although I’m going to get Kyle to help us out. Bummer you’ve not had any nibbles on the ranch, but I like to think there’s a reason for everything.

      Nina

      Reply

  28. I’ve come to call it, “No Kid September.” I can go back to the mountains without droves of tourists ruining the peace and quiet. I’m smiling just thinking about it.

    Doesn’t sound like you’ll be languishing in the Sierras if you’re not leaving Oregon until November.

    Reply

    • Believe it or not we may still make a mad dash to the Sierra’s in November (mostly because we may not be able to resist). It’s pushing the weather, but you never know. We’re going to keep a close eye on the forecast and decide at the last minute.

      Nina

      Reply

    • Yeah, the liberation of fall travel is something you understand the very first year on the road. This time of year is one of of the very best for fulltimers.

      Nina

      Reply

  30. We too are celebrating Nomad Liberation Day and, as it so happened, for free here at the Charbonneau COE Park at Ice Harbor Dam near Pasco, WA. Apparently all sites are free thru the end of September, when they close for the season. And there is no one here but the gardener!! We so enjoyed our visit and tour of Cape Blanco. Beautiful and very impressive….

    Reply

  31. Nina, you are blessed with an incredible wellspring of creativity — 20 blog posts waiting to be written! I’m impressed! Your glowing descriptions of Cape Blanco are enticing us in that direction come late October. You sound happy. 🙂

    Reply

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