Campground hosting

[Martha]

No bugs to speak of yet, but expecting a big mosquito crop any day now. Deet is my friend.

[Linney]

Originally Posted by Martha

No bugs to speak of yet, but expecting a big mosquito crop any day now. Deet is my friend.

Have you tried any of the "Buzz Off" insect-repellant clothing produced by Ex Officio (popular outdoor and travel clothing supplier). We are concerned about repeated exposure to Deet so we bought a couple of tops and hats and are trying it out. So far so good. But this is with our wimpy Pacific Northwest mosquitos here, not Wisconsin-class buggers.

Info on the Buzz Off brand:
Insect Shield - Repellent Technology - Insect repellent you'll love to wear

[Marquette]

Originally Posted by Linney

Have you tried any of the "Buzz Off" insect-repellant clothing produced by Ex Officio (popular outdoor and travel clothing supplier). We are concerned about repeated exposure to Deet so we bought a couple of tops and hats and are trying it out. So far so good. But this is with our wimpy Pacific Northwest mosquitos here, not Wisconsin-class buggers.

Info on the Buzz Off brand:
Insect Shield - Repellent Technology - Insect repellent you'll love to wear

They work well for Minnesota mosquitos as well.

[simple girl]

Originally Posted by Linney

Have you tried any of the "Buzz Off" insect-repellant clothing produced by Ex Officio (popular outdoor and travel clothing supplier). We are concerned about repeated exposure to Deet so we bought a couple of tops and hats and are trying it out. So far so good. But this is with our wimpy Pacific Northwest mosquitos here, not Wisconsin-class buggers.

Info on the Buzz Off brand:
Insect Shield - Repellent Technology - Insect repellent you'll love to wear

Looks like they treat the clothing with permethrin. FYI, you can buy permethrin yourself and treat your own clothes with it. Probably would save you lots of money, but would take some extra time. You also have to be comfortable dealing with a nasty product. I did it once when preparing some clothes for our trip to Thailand. It wasn't too bad. Bought the permethrin at an Army Navy store and sprayed the clothes outside while hanging on our line (being sure to stay upwind!).

[Martha]

I do have a couple of buzz off shirts, but the stuff does wash out after a while. When really buggy I spray my clothes with Deep Woods OFF.

I take a shower at night to wash off the bug dope and the deer ticks.

[ThurzNite]

If you don't mind me asking, do hosts get paid and if so, how much?
Dr J

[Martha]

Not here at this state park. We get a free site, that is it. But the work takes very little time.

[nvestysly]

I'm very interested to hear your comments after you've completed the assignment. My wife and I have considered hosting but have not had a chance to do it yet as we are still working - AARGH. We're always interested to hear about the various locations, accomodations and experiences.

Originally Posted by Martha

there is electricity but no sewer or water so we have to go a dump once in a while and refill the water tanks.

The rustic part would be interesting for a few days - we can go 4 days easy, maybe 6 if we are very mindful of water usage. I just can't get my mind to accept using a "blue-boy" to dump the sewer - YIKES!

I love the notion of RVing for long periods of time - maybe even fulltiming. We have a 29 ft travel trailer without slide-outs so space is a premium. Your idea to try something close to home is a great way to try it without making a huge committment.

Keep us posted - particularly regarding how the campers treat (or mistreat) you.

[Red_y]

We're thinking about doing some campground hosting in a few years. One resource I stumbled on for finding these types of jobs is Workamper News

...they also have other types of casual employment listed in the sample magazine they sent me -- picking apples in the Northwest in the fall, etc. One thing I've learned in semi-retirement is I can stand working periodically as long as the job has a clear END DATE. CG hosting, apple picking, H&R Block tax preparer...all fit the bill.

[SteveR]

Martha,
Sounds like a nice gig for you two. Being that close to home is great too as it gives you a safety valve from the confines of the coach and "rustic" life.

DW would not be a good camp host unless it was in a RV Resort. No extended hot showers means No Way! So, hosting is out of the question. Glad folks like you enjoy it so the rest of us can use the campgrounds.

[Dreamer]

Sounds like fun and looks like a beautiful place. Enjoy yourselves and keep us informed.

[Martha]

Very quiet here the last few days. Memorial Day weekend brought rain with tornado warnings, so a number of the tenters bugged out early. Most leave their sites nice and clean, but there is something of a propensity for people to leave trash in their fire rings. Don't do that! People like me have to pick it out so it doesn't gross out the next camper. The worst was someone who dumped their left overs in the fire pit. The second worst was a broken beer bottle.

The bugs and pollen have been a bit daunting so I haven't hiked as much as I would like.

No noise. No bears spotted yet. Nice people, nice rangers.

[JonnyM]

We preping to travel north from Central CA to Everett WA next week to visit DW's Father. He and Evil SM have been Full-timers doing the WorkCamper thing for about 15 years now. They are on Motorhome number 4. With a slide out or two (some have 4 nowadays) there is plenty of room inside for the two of them. They have traveled back and forth from Northern Locations like current to typically Yuma or thereabouts and we'd typically prepay a stay for them at French Camp near us so we could visit. They really like current gig which for in exchange for a bit of light work, they get a free space plus 2grand extra income. YMMV they tell me. He's getting up there now at age 75 but has always liked the ability to pick up and move at a moment's notice. This is proabably about two dozen WorkCamper gigs into the experience over a decade or two.

I keep thinking this must be a great time to pick up a used Motorhome for peanuts as the easy to panick types watch the price of filling that tank move into the mega-hundreds of dollars per fillup!