The problem with getting up early in the morning is that, like any bad habit, if you do it too often, you find yourself caught up in the action without even realizing it, or giving it a second thought. When that happens, only strong intervention and a lot of willpower can break the vicious cycle.  After our week at the Winnebago service facility in Iowa, I fear I’ve reached that point.

We were out of bed before 7:30 yesterday morning, and within an hour or so we had the RV packed up and ready to roll, the water and electric connections unhooked, window awnings and slides in, and leveling jacks up.

After saying our goodbyes to cousin Terry Cook and his family, we hit the road, headed south on State route 37. We traveled in a heavy overcast past miles of thick forests, broken by occasional small communities, or scattered houses and businesses.

The route was mostly very good two lane highway, with occasional passing lanes. There were a couple of noticeable hills, but we made very good time.

We passed over a couple of rivers that looked inviting, and noted several canoe and kayak rental businesses. We really need to come back here some day and get our boats wet.

There wasn’t much traffic, a few RVs headed north, and the occasional car or truck. 56 miles south, we got onto U.S. Highway 10, and another 25 miles brought us to U.S. Highway 31 southbound, an excellent divided four lane highway.

Less than an hour later, we pulled into the city-owned Fisherman’s Landing Marina and Campground. This is our regular stop when we visit Muskegon. We dumped our holding tanks, got the motorhome parked and hooked up in our site, and by then we were dripping wet from the heat and humidity. It sure was nice to get that basement air conditioner working to cool things down!

Fisherman’s Landing is a Passport America affiliate, and able to accommodate any size RV. The place is only about half full.

Our site is a back in, with 30 amp electric, water, a concrete pad, and a picnic table. Here is our Winnebago, all set up and ready to be home for the time we’re here.

My cousin Berni Frees and her husband Rocky are working folks, and they wouldn’t be home until about 5 p.m., so once we were settled in, I took a nap while Terry checked her e-mail and just enjoyed being inside where it was nice and cool.

Later on, I added the RVSEF weighing forms to our website for those having their rigs weighed at our upcoming rally. Click this link to complete the paperwork for your truck and trailer, or this link for the motorhome worksheet. Print the sheets out, complete them, and bring them to the rally. To schedule your weighing time, or for more information call Rick Lang at (207) 522-3336.

And don’t forget to call Dennis Hill at the RV Driving School at (530) 878-0111 to arrange for your behind the wheel driving lesson at the rally! Separate fees are charged for the weighing and driving lessons, but the costs are small, and they are two of the best investments you can make in your safety.

In addition to the campground, Fisherman’s Landing has a boat launch that always seems to be busy with fishermen and recreational boaters coming and going. When we left to go to Rocky and Berni’s house later in the afternoon, Terry took this picture of a tug boat docked across the inlet from the boat launch. 

It’s always fun when we get together with Rocky and Berni, and though we had not seen them in a year, it was like it was only yesterday. We picked right up with the silly banter we enjoy so much with them. We all piled into their car and went to a great Chinese buffet for dinner, and then back to their place for an evening of Mexican Train and more good times with good friends.

We’ll be here a few days, visiting, and getting some more prep work done for our Eastern Gypsy Gathering rally.  Then it’s on to Elkhart!

Thought For The Day – I don’t believe in a government that protects us from ourselves – Ronald Reagan

Click Here To Register For Our Eastern Gypsy Gathering Rally!

We know many RVers who work in RV parks around the country to offset their traveling costs. Typically, they work a set number of hours per week in exchange for a free RV site, and any hours over those agreed upon for the site are paid at an hourly wage. Some workamping RVers return to the same campground to work every season, while others prefer to move about and see new places.

Workamping in an RV park can be interesting, and can help you save some money in camping fees. However, as I always say in my seminars on working on the road, as well as in my book Work Your Way Across The USA, if your goal is to make the most possible money in a given time period, often you would be better off to rent a site in an RV park on a monthly basis, and got a job at the local Home Depot or a restaurant in town. RV park wages are just not that good in most cases.

But if you want to do something a little bit different, and still earn money, there are many, many opportunities out there to make money and have fun that don’t involve cleaning bathrooms in an RV park, serving French fries in a fast food restaurant, or working in retail stores. Here are ten jobs that RVers we know have done that you may never have thought of.  

1. Beet Harvest – We have known several RVers who have worked the sugar beet harvests in places like North Dakota and Minnesota. Jobs include everything from driving trucks to sorting the beets when they arrive at warehouses. One website on the sugar beet harvest claims that some workers make as much as $7,000 in a month or less.

2. Canoe & Kayak Tour Guide – From the Florida Keys to Michigan’s wild Upper Peninsula, canoe and kayak liveries are busy all season long introducing tourists to the joys to be found on the water. It’s a great job for RVers who want to make some extra money and spend the summer (or winter) paddling. 

3. Working For Amazon – During the Christmas rush, online retailer Amazon.com hires many RVers to work at their fulfillment center in Kansas. The last I heard, the wage was $11 an hour, plus bonuses, with overtime available.

4. Dealing Blackjack – The gaming industry, in places like Las Vegas, Reno, and Laughlin, Nevada, provides many working opportunities for RVers. Jobs range from dealing blackjack to working as a customer greeter in casinos.

5. Driving Tour Bus – From Alaska to the Grand Canyon to Florida, tourist areas provide many employment opportunities for RVers. Driving tour buses, ranging in size from extended length vans to full sized coaches, is a good way to make money while spending time in places where the tourists pay big bucks to visit.

6. Fish Cannery – This is hard, dirty, smelly, physically demanding work, but one fulltime RVer we know spends a full summer in Alaska working long hours at a fish cannery, and he tells us he makes enough in a season to pay for two years of fulltime RV travel.

7. Working The NASCAR Circuit – Every race car driver, from the superstars to the new guy in the pits, have somebody selling souvenirs with their names and car numbers on them. We’ve met a couple of RVers who tow a vending trailer behind their motorhomes and follow the circuit, selling souvenirs to racing fans.

8. Selling Christmas Trees – This is obviously a seasonal job, and is hard physical work, but we have known many RVers who sell Christmas trees on lots across the country, and several have told us that they have made $8,000 or more in less than a month. Many times the same companies who hire RVers to sell Christmas trees hire them to sell fireworks for the Fourth of July, and Halloween pumpkins on the same lots. One couple we know made about $7,000 in two weeks selling fireworks this past summer.

9. Horse Wrangler – I make it a point never to ride anything you can’t put gasoline in, but if you are an equestrian fan and are comfortable in a saddle, you may find work as a horse wrangler, leading trail rides at one of the many dude ranches in the Southwest. The pay isn’t usually top dollar, but tips can be good, and if you love horses, it’s your chance to get paid for playing cowboy (or cowgirl).

10. Gas Line Survey – There is a long, ongoing thread on the Escapees forum, on working as a gas line surveyor, and the RVers we have talked to who have done this work all say that it’s a great way to make good money and get a lot of exercise in the process.

For more ideas on making money as you travel, check out my Working On The Road web page. What are some of the ways you have earned money on the road?

Thought For The Day – My wife does all the driving; I just get to hold the steering wheel.

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