Workamping, One Month In...

 Hey Y'all,

So, we're one month into this gig.... What are our thoughts?

When we first arrived, we were given our spot and got settled in. Picnic table and fire ring were delivered by Chris & Dave (one of the owners) a few days later.

The entrance to the park is very pretty! As is the park as a whole. The bathhouse is very nice, and always clean. The pond/beach area is looking very nice!

We wish there was laundry on site, especially since the nearest laundromat is kinda crappy, and takes forever to dry clothes.

The sunsets here? Beautiful!

One of the jobs Chris has done?

Mulching this area, it didn't photo real well but there a hill there, and some plants/flowers.

Another Chris job? Sanding & painting all the picnic tables.

Told ya these sunsets were stunning!

Chris has been doing the above jobs, weed killing, leaf burning, tree trimming, wood splitting, groundskeeping, and other manual labor. I've been learning the campground layout, the check-in software & process, organizing the store, taking inventory, reading electric meters for seasonal campers, and once delivered wood!

Neither job is too difficult, and we really like the owners, so that helps. 

The campground is large, but the seasonal sites are responsible for their own spots. There are over 100 sites, but only 30 are available/non seasonal. The common areas, like the playgrounds, pond, beach, and grasses/sand in those areas and between seasonal sites are campground responsibilities.

They have a bathroom crew, so we don't have to clean those regularly, just pick up in-between and make sure everything is running smoothly.

There are a few things we'd like-

the aforementioned laundry

a good grocery store close by (Sorry Sav A Lot, but you are expensive, and don't carry much.)

a few more things to do nearby- In under an hour there's Kankakee Sands, Fair Oaks Farm, and several small parks, a couple libraries, several truck stops, a few restaurants, a drag strip, a flea market.... and okay maybe there is quite a bit.

Overall it's a pretty nice gig, in a fairly remote part on Northwest Indiana. 

Have a great day,

Craftin' Wife

Reorganizing The Van... Again

 Hey Y'all!

Work In Progress!

We had a day off, and decided it was past time to clean the van and reorganize the drawers & the garage.

I worked on the drawers, and cleaning the sand out of the rugs-seriously so much sand, and we just washed them. Chris worked on the garage, and garbage.

Here's a short I did during one of my breaks:

I started off by emptying all the drawers and cleaning them out. One was full of soap, so I figured I may as well scrub them all. It was the right decision, they were kinda gross (hair, sand, dust).

While I did that Chris worked on taking things out of the rear, to rearrange and move some items elsewhere, as well as getting rid of a few things.

Since he had all the bins out I was able to organize what I refer to as the bathroom bin. It holds sunscreen, shampoo, hair care, razon blades, first aid, etc.

We had far too many sunscreen in the drawers, and both were out of bodywash, but the bin had plenty.

The rest was just throwing away trash, and organizing what we have. There isn't any more space in the garage area, but there's more in there right now, and it's much better organized.

There's less in the drawers and things are much easier to find!

Vitamins, Meds, Toothbrushes, Deodorant

My hairstyling stuff, razors, lotion, body sprays, Chris' beard care items.

Sunscreens, Shampoo & Conditioner, Body Wash, Nail Care.

They're not 100% but definitely better than before.

You'll have to watch the video for the FULL TOUR:

Have a great day,

Craftin' Wife

A Year FT Van Living! This Year's Travel Bucket List

 Hey Y'all!

Last Year when we started living full time in Brunilda, our 1991 Chevy G20 Conversion Van, we came up with a bucket list for the year. We never shared it with anyone, so we're doing that now.

We liked the idea, and it gave us a bit of a travel goal for the year, so we decided to do it again this year.

Without further ado here's what we accomplished from last year:

We had a lot on our list, and we're grateful to have accomplished most of it!

Here's a list of what we did:

See the eclipse (from Oakridge Campground in Rockport, IN)

Alabama!

Another state- South Carolina

5 State Parks; Warriors Path, Cedars of Lebanon, Harrison Bay, David Crockett Birthplace, all in TN. Santee in SC. 

2 National Parks; Cumberland Gap National Historical Park (KY/VA/TN) and Cuyahoga Valley National Park (OH)

A National Wildlife Refuge/ Nature Preserve; Wheeler National Wildlife Refuge (AL) Hatcher Gardens, Edisto Memorial Gardens, Glendale Preserve & Waterfall (all SC) 

(Amanda) Read 52 Books!

Walk A Mile A Day (Average)

7 "Mom & Pop" Campgrounds (our goal was 10); Oakridge Campground (IN) Oh Kentucky! (KY) Cowford Campground (AL) Mammoth Ridge (TN)  Woodsmoke Family Campground (SC) Pine Ridge Campground (SC) Outside Inn (SC) 

15 Free Overnights (outside of family); Planet Fitness (2) Walmart (2) Lowe's (1) Cracker Barrel (9 for sure, maybe more) Tamarack (1) 

Movie Night/Date Night

Any Amusement Park; Kokomo Beach (IN)

Beach Trip! (We didn't make it to the ocean, but we still played on a lot of beaches.)

Day On The Water

2 State Parks Outside of TN (Goal was 5); Fort Boonesborough (KY) Santee (SC)

A Trip With No Interstates; Kokomo, IN to Owensboro, KY

5 Visitors Centers was the goal; We love a visitor center! Richmond, and Berea KY, as well as Welcome to KY Visitors Center, OH Welcome Center, IN Welcome Center, as well as Rockport Visitor Center, Alabama Welcome Center, Athens and Scottsboro Visitors Centers, TN Welcome Center (3) as well as Greeneville and Jonesborough Visitors Centers, NC Welcome Center, SC Visitor Center as well as Spartanburg Visitors Center. (17?)

Our goal was 100 subscribers on YouTube, we've surpassed it now- but at the end of 2024 we sat at 95!

Try a new food monthly! This was easy, and fun to accomplish. From fresh sea food in AL, to the best Brazilian cuisine in SC, and a little Cajun place in IN we had some great meals in 2024! 

4 Lakes (Goal was 5); Wheeler Lake, Chickamauga Lake, Lake Reba, Cherokee Lake

4 Rivers (Goal was 5); TN River, Ohio River, KY River, Holston River

What didn't we do?

Grow Social Media (much)

Eat out 2x max per week

500 Followers/Subscribers

As we said, we're pretty happy with what we did get accomplish! I'm sure there are things we forgot, which is why we're gearing up to track things better this year.

So, what's on the list this year?

3 New States

A Day On The Water

4 New State Parks

Amusement/Waterpark Day

5 Visitor's Centers

Post to Social Media Daily

2 Wildlife/Nature Preserves

100 Subs on  Outland Adventures YouTube- WE DID IT! Currently at 106!

Then 500 Subs on YouTube

Travel By Train/Train Ride

Ghost Tour (Anywhere) - We did one in 2024 in Franklin, and it was okay, we've done them in the past and really had a lot of fun. The one in Chattanooga just was too large and moved too fast.

10 "small" campgrounds (not franchise, or state parks)

20 Free Spots

(Amanda) Read 52 Books!

Get the Drone out 2x month

Hit the beach, look for shells

Another National Park

Try local foods 1x mo

Visit with a fellow nomad

50 Followers on TikTok

50 Followers on Facebook- WE DID IT! Went from 40 something to 165 in January!

Then 100 Followers each!

Collab with a brand

Enjoy Fall Foliage for as long as possible

Camp in 2 new State Parks (Too bad I made this goal for a new one, we've done Warriors' already!)

Ride bikes

Tour a Small Town, See the Goofy Stuff

Visit a Nature Center/Zoo- We did Cleveland Metroparks Zoo last year, and really enjoyed the Rainforest.

Find a cool rock- leave it behind

Make a new recipe monthly

4 Museums (any kind)- We didn't get to many last year- AL Veteran's Museum, and Spartanburg Railroad Museum, Greeneville Museum, Jonesborough Museum, KY Hall of Fame & Museum (Okay maybe we did more than I thought...)

5 Tours, of any kind- Last year we did Mayfield, Ghost Tour, Carnton, Carter House, BMW, Walnut Grove Plantation, Greeneville Car Museum/Tour

Visit Local Libraries (Goal of 10?)

As you can see we have already accomplished some of our Social Media list, YAY! As soon as radiation finishes for me we'll begin our travels again!

What's on your travel list this year? Share in the comments below!

Have a great day,

Craftin' Wife

What's In My Makeup Case?

 Hey Y'all!

What's currently traveling with? 

Too much, but I really wanted to bring all my new Wet 'n Wild from Christmas...

But first here's the last Makeup Case blog:

https://craftinwifescreations.blogspot.com/2024/11/makeup-swap-out-it-was-past-time-for.html

So, for now I have two cases with me...

The large green case I started with, and the cosmetics bag from the Scooby Doo Collection.

All of both collections does fit in the Scooby case... it's too much to keep traveling with...

I don't plan to take anything out as of now though.

Video of each product, not in depth, just a quick "all this fit in there?" video:

The big case:

All back in, it fit better this time!

Both cases:

Let's see your collection! Tag me on social media! @craftinwife on most platforms or you can find me here:

https://linktr.ee/craftinwife

Have a great day,

Craftin' Wife

Our Clothes Storage in a Van

 Hey Y'all!

It's been awhile since I did an updated clothes storage blog, and things have changed about 3 or more times since then. I think we've finally come up with a solution we're happy with. We can both keep about 10 days worth of outfits easily in the new dresser.

Our current spot. It's so quiet and peaceful here. It's also mostly sand, gravel, and fallen leaves, so the interior is definitely needing cleaned multiple times a day, and looking very lived in. 

Here's how we manage that:

We picked up this infants dresser in Ohio. Chris sanded it down a bit, then put a few coats of sealant on it. It's not perfect, but it serves our needs much better than our previous storage.

We dug out the umbrella in anticipation of the rainy day, and then decided it wasn't worth the effort for the short walks. Going to put it away now...

We put all of our items in these fuzzy bins I found at Marc's, for $12 for a set of 3. (The middle size is being utilized for under the bed storage.)

Mine are the pink, Chris' the green. At that time they also had a medium grey, and an off white.

Socks, underwear, and our bathing suits are in the small bins. The large hold all our clothes.

They measure about 18x15x12 (inches) for the largest size, and easily fit 7pr pants, 8 or so shirts, and 2pr of PJs, and a jacket.

Here's mine:

We've found that overall rolling does take up less space, except for jeans- they're better folded.

Do you have any storage solution ideas to share? Let me know in the comments below!

Have a great day,

Craftin' Wife

Some of Our Favorite, and Least Favorite Experiences in October

 Hey Y'all!

We were fortunate to do/see a lot of different places this past month. We traveled from NE Ohio, through OH and KY, where we spent a day in Corbin, and then onto NE Tennessee, we took a few days in Bristol, VA, and spent a week in the great outdoors at the quiet, serene Mammoth Ridge near Greeneville. In-between trips in TN we stayed at my mom's and did the whole doctors appointments and scans thing, again.

PLACE-

While in Ohio we really had a blast, and there's so much to share there it'll be a couple of videos, very soon. Our favorites were the haunted attractions, and getting to cross another National Park off our list with Cuyahoga Valley National Park.

Brandywine Falls

History runs deep in the valley, with over 12,000 years of human occupation. From the unwritten stories of pre-contact peoples to the environmental disasters and comebacks of modern times, humans have left an impact on the valley. Here along the Cuyahoga River, humans have used, shaped, and been shaped by the landscape. Culture and nature interplay here, with each having its impact on the other.

The story of Cuyahoga Valley National Park's establishment highlights the impact local citizens and political leaders can have when they work together with passion and common purpose to protect aspects of America's heritage.

This story is rooted in the environmental and social movements of the 1900s. It is about the desire to have scenic open spaces near to home, especially for recreation. It is about not only saving significant features but restoring a landscape to be culturally vibrant, less polluted, a better home for wildlife, and a model for sustainable living.

We will definitely be returning to explore more of this park, and the surrounding areas, as well as take the TWO HOUR train ride! The areas of the park we explored were stunning, especially with the leaves just beginning to change. 

EXPERIENCE-

The Haunted House Restaurant, an absolute blast.

More pictures, and details can be found in this Outland Adventures blog!

THING-

Our new dresser, cabinet, counter space. 

It doesn't look exactly like this one, and we'll be doing a van updated tour in the near future, but it's very similar to this infant dresser I found online.

It's amazing how a larger piece can take up less room overall. This definitely feels more "home" and finished than the plastic drawer system. 

PERSON-

Y'all I know it wasn't part of this blog, but look at her. How could we not mention our great niece LPP!

 

Overall our October was pretty great, but we do have a few MEH experiences to share:

1) Replacing the belt...again. 

The new one, to bypass the smog delete, lasted less than a day (drive time). We then had to replace it with the old one, thankfully Chris thought to keep it. We had that most of the way back on, when we got kicked out of that parking lot, and had to remove it, put away the tools, limp it across the street, and get 'er done in a Lions Den parking lot. It only took about 30min from there, and thankfully it was a beautiful day. We're never in a rush, but it was annoying.

2) Sugar Hollow Park Campground Bristol, VA

This is a first come, first serve park. (No big deal, we've done that before- with Cowford Campground in AL.) So, I called- nicest lady ever on the phone, said only 3 spots were taken so we should not have any issue later in the day. 

We travel the 2ish hours out there, and get up to the campground and are blocked (via golf cart) by the ranger (?) on duty. No admittance, unless it's a factory built camper. Ok great, then the website should state that, it only says no tents. While we maneuvered to turn around, made more difficult by his incessant cart blocking, another van (Sprinter, not an RV version) went on up, and our assumption is they were let in- we never saw them come back down, and we were in the parks parking lot awhile trying to come up with a plan B. We eventually figured out a plan B, ended up staying in Bristol 2 days and actually spent a bit of time in this park. Their trails are very nice.

3) NORM Trolly Rides Seville, OH

This was in September, but it was bad enough it deserved mention. Also October was pretty great, so...

I felt especially bad that this sucked, because it was my idea. We got up & out early, had breakfast at a cute little diner in town, then drove out to the railyard. We paid our $5 each, and went ahead and boarded the train/trolly a few minutes early, all excited for this "20 minute train ride". As we waited on this gorgeous day, the car got totally full, and excitement grew as we left the "station". We chug a lugged about 1000 ft, and stopped. Ok, maybe they needed to switch the track, maybe there were technical difficulties... we weren't sure. The conductor said a few things, but being a car full of people, you couldn't really hear him. After about 5min we headed back- very confused. Once we got off the train we found someone to ask what was going on, and were told that was the train ride. My issues were that was no where near 20min, and they were advertising this event as such. They also were giving directions from Ohio's large cities to here. If we'd have traveled several hours for this I'd have cried, and I'm an adult. Maybe the museum inside a rail car was awesome, we didn't stick around to find out.

Have you ever gone some place and thought That was it?! Where was it? Let us know in the comments below!

Have a great day,

Craftin' Wife

Makeup Swap Out (It Was Past Time For Some New Travel Makeup!)

 Hey Y'all!

While in NE Tennessee this last time, I took the opportunity to swap out all the makeup that travels with me, I was ready to switch things up since I hadn't done it the past few times.

Here's the only picture I took of everything before:

I had purchased the Turtles palette in Ohio, and really like it! That, plus a few other purchases, did put this case at over capacity during this trip, and so I'm taking far less this go 'round.

In retrospect, I should have at least attempted to film this, especially since I haven't posted to my YouTube in several months... I didn't think about that until I finished of course. Maybe soon I'll get something posted over there.

As I was pulling things out- of both the case and my collection- I realized some of these things I'd had a really long time. Thus started my side quest to see exactly how old the things I was questioning were. So, I found an app (free, android) and got to entering batch numbers....

 Most things were okay, but that Benefit Porefessional got tossed immediately! There were a few other very old things, and they too got put in File 13.

File 13 is a euphemism for the trash can. The phrase is especially used in the U.S. military, and is less common outside of the United States.

Once my side quest was complete I returned to choosing "new" makeup to take with me. While I did fill the case, all my brushes fit in here as well, which wasn't true before.

I'm just taking one primer, powder, and setting spray, and a few lip sticks/glosses. I have 3 mascaras open, so I opted to bring them all- the Purple Colourpop, and the two from Creme. I am also bringing more highlight, and blush options, but less eyeshadow.

Far more face palettes this time, but less makeup overall:

Even though I'm not a big singles fan, I threw in these Muppets Colourpop shadows at the last minute:

The case it all fits in, this vintage green hardcase I got a a thrift shop.

It used to hold my Sizzix embossing folders, but they're packed away in the storage unit, and this case was perfect for vanlife makeup!

What's your makeup must have? Share in the comments below!

Mine is a good primer with SPF!

Have a great day,

Craftin' Wife

Life Update (Where we going next?)

 Hey Y'all!

So, let's get this out of the way- My latest scan was inconclusive, but looked like the are we just hit was good, but the previous area may show growth, and may just be treatment related. Since radiation continues to do it's thing for awhile I decided to take the wait option. I already had a schedule for a PET scan in late December, so for now- it's all good. Thoughts, prayers, good vibes, etc appreciated.

We've decided where to next...

The roads impacted by the flood (Helene) are repaired enough to allow travel, so we're headed south to:

South Carolina! It's a state we've been through- multiple times, and while we've even spent the night a few times we've never really explored any of the state.

https://discoversouthcarolina.com/

We're most excited to see all the different regions, and their history. From the mountains to the coast, we know we're in for an adventure!

We'll have a short travel session this time, and be back here in NE Tennessee for Christmas, and the PET scan. Then we'll plan from there. Because of this shorter travel session we just plan to slowly make our way across SC and then back... route unknown as of now.

Any suggestions for SC? Let me know in the comments below!

Have a great day,

Craftin' Wife