Life At Laguna Seca

Life here at the race track has been nice and quiet. The views are still amazing and every week there is always a new set of cars racing around. The noises from the gun range and from the track get tuned out and  we often forget that they exist. Id like to tell you how extremely busy I've been here as a camp host while Ben is at work. I'd also love to tell you about how welcoming and friendly the other camp host are but truthfully I haven't done anything here and a few of the other camp host we haven't met. I had this image of all the camp host being like a happy family but it's been far from that.

I went down to the Kiosk for a day and met Kathryn. I spent about 5 1/2 hours with her observing what she did and learning how to work the Kiosk.  It all seemed pretty easy until then end of the day when all the camping fees and credit card stuff had to be "batched" and cashed out. I was told that the system was going to be redone beginning of the year so my learning the computer had been a waste of time.  I was hoping to learn the stuff so that I could be used as a sub but because there are 3 ladies who work in there I probably won't be needed. So I've been just hanging out working on my crafts. We are hoping that once Ben is done working he can find a "man" job around here.  I kind of feel bad living here for free and not really doing anything but we've tried to get some guidance and the communication here is null and void!

As the weeks pass by we've been continuously adding stuff to the trailer to improve it and add more storage.  We first bought 4 lockers from IKEA and arranged them so we have ample storage and a little shelf where we placed our tiny Christmas Tree.

This has been great to store little odds and ends. 

Another upgrade we installed was some hanging buckets  (also from IKEA) to the "bathroom" sink area. 

Not only is this super cute but it also added some extra storage. Our medicine cabinet had been busting at the seams. 

One thing we really needed were proper curtains. We gave the fabric from the room divider to my mother in law Jaci and she made us beautiful curtains! We absolutely love them and have privacy with these.  We can now have the back window opened all day.

Our most recent upgrade in the kitchen was adding a tile back splash. Here are before and after pictures. 

We were finally able to put up our magnetic knife bar which comes in very handy in a small space. Having the tiles makes the area feel like a real kitchen. It was a quick job to attach the "tic tac tiles".

Nothing else to report from Laguna Seca. May you all have a Merry Christmas and we hope you continue to follow us on our journey  in 2018!! Benny retires Dec 15!! 

Tiny Living

Its been a week since we've moved into our tiny home. The longest we have ever stayed in the Trailer. Before it was just camping but now this is our home and we don't have a city to go back to. We are learning how to adapt to our tiny space which is going very well. We work together so we don't get into each others way. I don't feel like we are cramped and I don't feel like we are in need or tons of space. When we lived in the house we rarely used the second bedroom and there was a lot of stuff we didn't use and it was just taking up space. Everything we need is in our Tiny home. We have a kitchen, bed, bathroom with shower and cabinets for our stuff we absolutely need. This smaller space is way easier to keep clean. As we live in this space longer we are figuring out what works for long term and what doesn't. We changed out our old tan shower curtain to a clear one and it sure made the space open up. Before it felt like you were in this dark small box.

We've become huge fans of Command Hooks. They come in all different sizes and are very useful and do not wreck your walls. We didn't want to end up with many holes so we use these. It frees up space and if we ever need to change it up its easy. We will probably be adding more gadgets to our home so stay tuned! :)

We are settling into our new "home" at Laguna Seca Recreation area. We sit up top of a hill which gives us amazing views. Our front window opens up to the race track but the trees block the view so I can't see the cars that are racing right now. Our spot is the second to the last spot in a row of 5 Camp Hosts. We haven't started our jobs yet but that will start next week. They gave us this week to relax and settle in, which is good because we need to adjust the trailer a little to make it level. We will have this weekend to get our spot up to par because this trailer isn't going to move for 3 months! :)

Since I have some time on my hands I decided to try out baking. The first thing I had to figure out was how to lite the Pilot. I have only used this oven once before and Benny was there to help. After a few minutes I lit the pilot and commenced with mixing the batter. I realize we need to get a bigger mixing bowl to add to our kitchen area. I worked with the smaller bowls we had and used the baking pan to also mix the batter. Now came the time to put into the oven. I wasn't sure if the oven was true to its dial so I turned up the temperature a tad. It came out wonderful and the trailer smells like the holidays! I love to bake but I will need to make smaller portions.

Never would I thought I'd be living this tiny home life. I never would have done this with anyone else. When two people share the same dream this life is so easy to live and is awesome. I am excited to share this adventure with you and I hope you continue to enjoy reading about our adventures.

The Open Road

Today we set off on our new adventure. We said goodbye to our house that we rented for almost 3 years.  We had originally planned to start this adventure in 2019 after my daughter graduated from High School. With the way the world is going now we made up our minds and said "why wait? Let's see the world right now that we are able".  That's when we started selling our stuff. We wanted to take as little as we could and keep only the stuff we absolutely needed. Most of our stuff could be replaced and we weren't attached to anything.

So in order for us to live life on the road Benjamin had to make the decision to retire. This was an easy decision for him as he has been with the sheriffs dept for 26 years. He was ready to retire and will officially be retired Dec 15, 2017.

Starting Nov. 1st we will be "Camp Host" at Laguna Seca. This is so Benjamin can be close to work and we will have a free spot to live for 3 months. I will be doing the volunteer hours for our spot. Its gonna be an experience and will be our platform to see if we want to camp host other places.  So before we start we have set up our home in Lake Cachuma for the night. 

This first trip as a loaded up trailer we learned valuable lessons. Like finding new ways to keep the cabintes from opening up when its being driven on a bumpy road.  I walked into the trailer to find a huge mess. Lesson learned. 

After setting up camp we took a drive to Solvang 

We had some danishes and drinks.  This is a cute little Danish town with unique stores.  This town is only 15 minutes from Lake Cachuma

Its been a nice day of traveling and now we are headed back to chill in our tiny house. Before I leave I want to give a few special thanks.

1. My momma! Without her help we wouldn't have been able to purchase this tiny home!

2. My Pops! Thanks for letting us invade your back yard with a shed to store our stuff we kept!

3. Our Family and friends! Thank you for supporting us and encouraging us!

Stay tuned for more blog posts.  :)