Domicile Changes, Quick Road Trip, and Farewell to the Tetons

Jackson, WY (46 degrees, below freezing at night)

Devils Tower

Our mail service in Sioux Falls, South Dakota - Dakota Post (formerly Alternative Resources) recently announced they were moving to a new office building which would require us to have to change our address.  They are adding a scan service which will email a picture of the front of your received mail envelope allowing you to choose to  forward or destroy each piece prior to forwarding it to you.  In addition, they are now the mail service for FMCA (Family Motor Coach Association) and for a variety of reasons need a bigger building  It's a huge inconvenience to us to have to change our address and there have been no offers of any kind by this mail service to compensate you for this inconvenience.  I'm not sure the scan service is all that important to us since we don't receive very much snail mail anymore.  

I started to  research changing our residency to Florida since we will be visiting this state more frequently than South Dakota  In the process of this research I read it is no longer required to return to South Dakota every five years to renew your drivers license. We've always been able to register to vote and obtained our vehicles license plates by mail after our initial visit. This recent change now allows you to renew your drivers license once by mail therefore only having return to South Dakota every 10 years. Sounded like a great idea, however, there is a catch.  You have to spend one night in a hotel or campground within the year of  renewing your license.  This receipt has to be less than one year old.

We talked about our upcoming plans for travel and it looked like our current location was our best and least expensive time to secure the one night stay in South Dakota.  The closest city with a  hotel from Jackson Wyoming was Hot Springs South Dakota and so without much time to plan we took off for the weekend.  It was one long road trip (over 1100 miles roundtrip) but we now have the receipt to use next spring for the renewal.

Residency requirements for states change frequently and many South Dakota full time RVers had to change to another state after Obama care went into effect. If this is your option for  medical insurance you are  required to live in the state for at least 10 months and this really is not an option for a full time RVer. We have Federal insurance which does not have this requirement and allows us to seek medical care wherever we are at the time.  

Deciding which state to call your domicile as a full timer requires a lot of research and what fits for one RVer may not work for you.  There is more to consider than just whether or not a state has income tax.  Somehow I missed this recent change in driver license renewals in South Dakota, so be sure to check often and watch forums, blogs, and state websites for the current information.

The cost of changing our residency to Florida would be more expensive in the long run. Our motorhome insurance would increase by $300 a year and licensing our car and motorhome is slightly more expensive. We would also have change to a Florida mail service because I think it's important to be able to have a good defense if your residency is ever challenged.  Claiming you are a full time resident with an out of state mail service in my opinion could be problematic.  Trying to coordinate license plates and registration take a lot of planning as well to avoid a big cost in the overlapping of dates.  

We did detour out of our way to visit Devils Tower National Monument.  It was an interesting place to visit and is considered sacred by many Indian tribes.  We saw four groups of climbers ascending the 867 foot tower.  A ranger we spoke with said there were more injuries from folks hiking around the monument rather than climbing it.  They average about five climber rescues year mostly due to climbing ropes getting stuck.  Working in a National Park this year has made us more aware of rescues and injuries  which occur each year. It really was not something we were very aware of until this season.  The Jenny Lake Rangers in the Grand Teton National Park were very busy this season rescuing climbers and there were several deaths and severe injuries.  We have great respect for the men and women who help out and risk their own lives in the process.  

The Devils Tower was named by explorer but the Indians named it Bear Lodge. The folklore around this name can be read here .

Back in Jackson you might notice there is SNOW on the mountains.  It sure is beautiful to see but also makes us realize it's time to go.  

Our last week with Grand Teton Association went by very quickly. It was very difficult to say good bye to the full time staff  and the friends we have made while living in the area.  It's been such a great experience and by far our favorite workamping job.  

GTA Luncheon

There were several good bye lunches and dinners and we really feel blessed by all the friendships we have made.  We will certainly return here again in the future and a long list of "wanna do" hikes and kayak trips is already being compiled.   We would highly recommend GTA to others workampers who might be looking for summer/fall employment for 2015.  

We will soon be on our way back to Florida but a few side trip are planned.  Be sure to check back soon.  

Snake River Float Trip, Visit With A Friend, and an Update On Future Travels

Moose, WY (72 degrees, clear blue skies, it just doesn't get any better than this)

Our friend, Linda, came from Indiana to visit us for a few days.  She could not have picked a better time to visit.  Fall colors were at their peak, crowds were less in the park, wildlife was plentiful, and she had blue sky days throughout.  

We have wanted to float down the Snake River from Deadman's to Moose, however, they have been way too many accidents and a fatality to risk taking our kayak down it ourselves. So, we lined up a float trip with Barker and Ewing and had  Michael as our great rafting guide. He was awesome and the scenery was just so beautiful.  They are the only company which floats through the Grand Teton National Park. After spending almost five months here you would think the Teton range would start to get old.  Hardly!  Just a add a little fall color and my heart just sings with each view of it.  

Linda, me, and John

Michael our super great river guide

We launched easily from Deadman's and headed down the river in our rubber raft expertly guided by Michael with six other people.  Immediately we were reminded this is not a river for our sea kayaks. It was bubbling and rolling and it's actually at a low level right now. This is a tricky river best left to the professionals.  Michael says it's ever changing and the best job he has ever held.  His enthusiasm for the river and the area was infectious even after running the river for 14 years. Come along for the ride.

My favorite photo from the trip

We saw five Bald Eagles.  There was one at the tippy top of a lodgepole pine (not pictured) which Michael called an Angel on a Christmas tree. What a perfect description for such a majestic bird.

Bald Eagle enjoying the fall day too

We saw lots of folks fly fishing on the river.  It  looked like fun

Menor's Ferry (famous landmark in the park)

It was a super great float trip which lasted about two hours.  It's certainly not as thrilling as a white water trip but its by far the best paid excursion we have done. Cost is $60/person and this company offers a great benefit for veterans - they can go on the trip for free. What a great bonus for our veterans including my husband.  

After our trip the weather continued to be perfect.  Schwabachers Landing is a very scenic boat landing with beautiful views of the Teton range.  What make it so special is the reflections of the mountains on the river.  There is a very steep decline down to the river and we'd recommend taking the trail to the right for awhile for even better views.  We returned here a couple of days later with a ranger led wildlife tour.  

Very busy beaver actively building a dam while we watched

I love the many textures in this photo

Linda was able to see a lot of wildlife during her stay.  One of the highlights was this Mama Black Bear and her twin cubs.  I had ran into Mama quite unexpectedly earlier in the day while setting up a GTA board retreat. Luckily for me she was more interested in berries than me.  

One of the babies eating berries in a bush

Mama and her family

We have just six more working days with Grand Teton Association.  It's been a wonderful season; in fact we have been here for three of them and trying hard to avoid the fourth- winter.  We started in late April and our last day is October 10th.  Workamping is something we enjoy from time to time and this has been by far our best experience. The hard working staff and management are great. It's especially nice to work for a partner of a National Park.  This is a non profit organization and the profits go back to Grand Teton National Park and help pay for programming, education, and staffing the Federal Government is unable to fund.  

John has enjoyed working in the warehouse. He has helped receive the inventory and take it out to the different bookstores.  He likes the fast pace environment and especially enjoys the staff in the warehouse.  They are a great team.  I've worked as an Administrative Assistant  for the main office and keep busy answering phones, arranging change for the bookstores, writing letters, helping organize special events, and lots of bookkeeping.  This job has been challenging and has a lot of variety.

We have been paid very fairly and get a small bonus at the end for completing our commitment. It's been full time work, however, if you have followed our blog you know we have seen a lot of the area and have had a great time exploring both Grand Teton and Yellowstone National Park. 

We plan to return again soon and would highly recommend GTA to other workampers. Staying in an area for a an extended period of time has lots of advantages and living right in the middle of this beautiful National Park is priceless. We have enjoyed viewing the mountains, hiking, and kayaking. The Teton range is ever changing and the ride into work each day is a delight.

We've had lots of company (friends and family) and it's been great to show them our "front yard".   Being here with our friends Bob and Patsy from J..N. Ding Darling has made it extra special and we have so enjoyed exploring the parks with them.  They know so much about the area. Thanks again for helping us get this job with GTA. Our new friends, Al and Karen, have also been great to hike and explore with together especially in Yellowstone. Karen reached out to us through our blog and has been working nearby for a couple who own Luton's Cabins.  

Some of the staff with GTA have also become great friends too.There have been lots of dinners together and a few outings.  Judy, the bookkeeper and her husband Randy, invited us out to their boat on Jackson Lake which was great fun and such a breathtaking way to enjoy the lake.  We have really enjoyed their friendship and hospitality. 

From here we will be traveling to California for a few weeks.  Our first adventure will be meeting up with a camping club we belong to and exploring the Mohave Nature Preserve together.  John and I will then travel for a few days in Death Valley.  From there we will slowly travel back to Florida and will again volunteer with J.N. Ding Darling NWR this winter.  The highlight will be seeing Jen, John''s daughter, who has recently moved to Florida.  There will be plenty of beach time in our future and maybe a few new sea shells.  Check back again soon. Jimmy is looking forward to being on the road again too. He loves all the new smells!