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julielovephoto · 4 years

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RVing and Photography; Why I Chose This Way of Life

Welcome to my first blog which is dedicated to addressing how the RV lifestyle and travel photography work together. These posts will mainly focus on my photography adventures, but some posts will reflect how I transformed my vintage 1971 Coachmen camper to my new home on wheels. Oh! And I must factor in my wonderful travel companions; my significant other, Michael, and my beloved black cat, Salem.

To start we will need to go back in time to January 2017 in Salem, Oregon where I had a career as a photo editor as well as my own photography business. Needless to say I had become restless and I desperately desired a change. Deep down, I knew there had to me more to life than waiting for the next vacation.

Since I had no savings to speak of and not old enough to retire, I started researching how to make money on the road. I eventually came across the term workamping which would allow me to trade work hours for a place to stay as well as make an hourly pay. I would find locations to apply for on workamper.com and then email them my resume. Usually there was a phone interview and if I was accepted, I would begin traveling to the new location. I have worked for several RV parks, played in the dirt at Sugar Beet Harvest, picked orders at Amazon, worked retail at the Wall Drug Store, and worked for a non-profit in the Grand Canyon.

Living in an RV was and still is the only way to pursue my tour of the United States. Here are some samples of the amazing places I have photographed thus far:

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julielovephoto · 4 years

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Life on the Road: Year 3

It has been 3 years since we left home and I wanted to take this time to reflect on this past year. We spent our summer workamping at Mackinaw Mill Creek Camping in Mackinaw City, Michigan. I worked in the office and Michael worked at the Mackinaw Club Golf Course, Park Store, as well as outside maintenance. We loved exploring the area from Mackinac Island to the Upper Peninsula. We also made lots of new friends! We tagged along with Becky, Virginia, Wendy, and Laurie to Fort Fright at Colonial Michilimackinac and had a blast! I also got the pleasure to photograph the lovely Kimberly at Historic Mill Creek Discovery Park for a pre-wedding photoshoot! We departed in mid-October just as the fall colors were turning shades of red and yellow.

Our winter gig will take us to the South Rim of the Grand Canyon working for the official non-profit the Grand Canyon Conservancy. This exciting 2000 mile leg of our adventure will take us along parts of the historic route 66. From Michigan, our first stop to explore was Nashville, Tennessee and then onto the Route 66 Museum in Clinton, Oklahoma. We also were able to visit Michael’s sister, Sandy at this point in our trip. From there we continued on to Amarillo, Texas and stayed 2 nights at Big Texan RV Ranch. We loved exploring VW Slug Bug Ranch as well as Cadillac Ranch…we even got to do our own graffiti! We also visited the Jack Sisemore RV Museum and loved on all of the vintage campers.

At this juncture in our trip I-40 became unkind with strong headwinds and we had to pull off to let the truck cool down. Fearing that something was wrong with the transmission, we had the truck and camper towed to the nearest town in Edgewood, New Mexico. Unfortunately, we would have to wait until morning to have the truck looked at. The folks at East Mountain Auto and RV Repair were super helpful and we were back on the road in no time! No serious issues; just a simple transmission service.

With only one hiccup, we finished our trip and arrived at our new home inside the Grand Canyon National Park. The following day we were already getting acquainted; touring the area as well as meeting many of our new co-workers. In the last 4 months, we have come to love how the Grand Canyon draws you in. We have explored both Bright Angel and South Kaibab trails…even made it down to the bottom of the Canyon! We had a blast with Amy, Dave, Kori, and Chad at Bright Angel Campground as well as Phantom Ranch. I never imagined I would see the Colorado River up close…can’t wait to do this again!

The Southwest has so much to offer that we have decided to stay until October…So far we have explored parts of Phoenix and Tucson; thanks to Susan and Chuck who kindly opened their home to us! Not sure what the rest of 2020 is going to bring, but we are super excited to be here and love our life on the road!

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julielovephoto · 5 years

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1971 Coachmen Renovations: Part 2

I have always loved DIY projects - probably why I love Pinterest so much! Our vintage camper is an attribute to that and always a work in progress. I was never fond of the layout; we needed to secure our fridge and I wanted to have actual running water. I also wanted to take out the rest of the top bunk, redo the paint as well as the floors. We were working at Wall Drug in South Dakota at the time and we only had our days off to take on this challenge.

With a 45 minute drive to Lowe’s, I wanted to make sure we had all of the measurements and materials before getting started. We also only had a month to get it finished before heading to Minnesota for the Sugar Beet Harvest. I’m beginning to see a pattern - I like doing these projects at the last minute! So if you remember, this is what it looked like before:

The plan was to move the kitchen from the front of the camper to the side and then create a wall with a window ledge for our cat, Salem. Eventually we would put seating in front of it. To cut down on the material cost, I reused the original cabinets/drawers and split them into two pieces to allow the dorm fridge to nest in between. I bought wainscoting to finish the sides, the wall, and to seal off underneath the bed (this is where the cat box would live). For the counter I used pine and treated it with food safe stain. I also used the leftover pieces to create a shelf over the bed (but that came later). For the floor, we bought laminate planks with attached underlayment.

We ran out of time to finish and had to put everything on hold until after the Beet Harvest. It wasn’t until we reached Campbellsville, Kentucky, that we could start again. While I was working at Amazon, Michael got started right away. He cut out the holes needed for the sink and the new electric cooktop as well as completed all the plumbing with the help of another camper. It is amazing how close-knit the RV community can be; always willing to lend a hand! And of course, Salem couldn’t be happier – his own personal drinking fountain! Oh! And those grandma curtains are finally gone!

Winter hadn’t quite hit yet and I wanted to take advantage of the warm weather. The outside of the camper needed to be addressed – the paint was starting to peel in places and the tar that the previous owners used on the roof was unsightly! We didn’t want to repaint another color so we went to Lowe’s to see if we could match it. It didn’t take a genius to figure out that they had used Rustoleum High Performance oil based paint in Semi-Gloss White and Leather Brown. I also picked up wire brushes for the tar drips and I ordered Ames Maximum Stretch on Amazon to redo/seal the roof.

Back inside, I updated the bathroom area by repainting and getting rid of the cabinet door. Then I framed it out with trim and stained it with the same stuff I used on the countertop. I also painted the screen door and added a cross bar and grille to keep Salem from climbing the screen. Lastly, repainted the front door and added a cute map to mark the places we’ve been so far! Check back for more updates!

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julielovephoto · 5 years

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Life on the Road: Year 2

Today marks our 2nd anniversary of living life on the road. This past year we have experienced some new places and revisited some old ones. After leaving Kentucky, we ventured to Iowa to see the backdrop of Grant Wood’s painting American Gothic depicting the famous image of a Midwest farmer and his daughter. We even got to play dress up and do our own parody! Moving on to South Dakota (our summer destination) we worked at the Wall Drug Store and got to see almost everything the area had to offer – from Mt. Rushmore in the Black Hills to large bison herds roaming within the Badlands. My daughter, Shanyah, came out and also got a chance to work. We had a blast and met so many new friends from the area as well as different countries! It was great seeing my Dad too when he came to visit on his own road trip!

Our next destination took us back to Crookston, Minnesota for another round of playing with dirty sugar beets. We worked the night shift this time and unfortunately the weather wasn’t playing nice – so we spent a bit more time than we would have liked in Minnesota. Moving forward – we started our 5 day stint to Campbellsville, Kentucky to work for Amazon one last time. We made a side trip to see the last place Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, and the Big Bopper played at the Surf Ballroom as well as the crash site in Clear Lake, Iowa. Working for Amazon doesn’t allow for much sightseeing during their peak season and Kentucky winters aren’t the kindest, but we did get a chance to tour a large castle as well as visit historic Georgetown.

This lifestyle has made it possible for us to see the country as well as meet new friends – I wish we had known about this sooner! We also got a new truck this past year (thanks Mom!) and our beloved cat, Salem, is still doing well. He loves to go on walks and look out one of the many windows in our cute little vintage camper. Which we also renovated for a second time and now have a huge working kitchen with running water (I learned more about plumbing than I thought I would ever need to know)! More on this in the next post. Our next destination will take us to the upper peninsula of Michigan this summer – can’t wait to see where else we go in 2019!

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julielovephoto · 6 years

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1971 Coachmen Renovations

On December 2, 2017 I drove to Louisville, Kentucky to checkout a 1971 vintage coachmen camper that I had found on Craigslist for a mere $500. Upon arriving we saw that the bones looked good, but she needed some serious updating. At this point we were desperate…and for $500 we couldn’t pass this up! We hooked her up to my Jeep Liberty and headed back to Green River Stables in Campbellsville, Kentucky. Shout out to Darrell & Erin for letting us do renovations and helping us sell the pop up!

Before:

Since I only worked 4 days a week at Amazon, the other 3 days of the week I spent on a cleaning her up. Michael (my significant other) helped demo out the inside; getting rid of the dinette and part of the top bunk. The camper was wired for shore power, but the plumbing and the LP lines were nonexistent. Since we were on limited time before heading to Hebron, Kentucky for another Amazon gig, I was only able to paint, redo the floors, and add some decorative pieces.

After:

Fast forward to 3 weeks later in Hebron, Kentucky – we needed to address not having a working sink as well as somewhere to put our 32” flat screen TV. Since I have a knack for vintage flair, I decided to build a standalone cabinet with a copper vessel and pitcher pump. Then bought two 6 gallon containers to pump fresh water from one and let it drain into the other.

The second project was to build a table for the TV that would fit over the exposed wheel well. It was a good thing that Home Depot was so close because I was spending a lot of time and money there! I picked up 3 pieces of finished pine, hardware, and some stain. For the legs, I ordered 4 black wrought iron hairpin legs on Amazon. Stay tuned for more renovations…can’t wait to pitch the grandma curtains made out of old sheets!

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julielovephoto · 6 years

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Life on the Road after One Year

February 2, 2018 marked our one year anniversary on the road; traveling from Salem, Oregon to spots unknown within the United States. With nothing more than my tax refund to live on and our newly acquired pop up camper - we knew nothing about the Rving lifestyle and at times I felt like Robin Williams in that RV movie.

I had learned about the term workamping by doing some online research and found that we could trade work hours for a free place to stay – sometimes also with $$ pay. This paved the way for us working at an RV park in Vidalia, Louisiana for 6 months, play with some muddy sugar beets in Crookston, Minnesota, and then on to some grueling walking hours at Amazon in Campbellsville, Kentucky.

However, it has not been without its hardships – like the Jeep breaking down not once, not twice, but three times! Once in Missouri, once in Tennessee (thank you Mom for saving us – I really don’t know what I would do without you) and again in Kentucky! Thank you to my new Amazon friends the Zanders and Saldivars for helping me get to work! Not to mention our trusty pop up no longer was suitable for living and we were forced to find another camper. Luckily I spotted a 1971 Coachmen for sale on Craigslist for $500 – which I absolutely love renovating (more on that project in another post)!

Despite some of the hardships - I wouldn’t have changed a thing – we got a chance to sightsee around parts of the country I have never seen, meet new friends, and still make ends meet! Plus my cat, Salem, has adjusted well to the new lifestyle and we can’t wait to see what 2018 brings! Below are some photos from the past year:

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