Landed my first volunteer gig! Cape Lookout.

tabur · May 23, 2019

Long time lurker here looking for a small taste of the fulltime lifestyle. I was just selected as a Visitor Center Docent at Cape Lookout National Seashore. My report date is August 25th with an end date of Nov 15th. The volunteer campground has full hookups and is located directly behind the Visitors Center on Harkers Island. This will be my first volunteer gig. My girlfriend has one more year until retirement but has given me the green light to go off on this adventure. Really looking forward to this!

Al

Kirk W · May 23, 2019

We never did that volunteer gig but my wife & I have done more than 30 different RV volunteer tours and in all of those only two times did we have less than a great experience. In fact, we have been back to part-time RV life now for several years but we still do some volunteer positions with the most recently last summer in ND. It is a great way to really experience an area and not just skim the surface like any tourist.

tabur · May 23, 2019

Kirk,

Your posts on this forum coupled with your personal RV web site have been a huge inspiration for wanting to do this! Thank you.

Al

Kirk W · May 23, 2019

I have been rather remiss in keeping the website up since we left fulltime. I have several new volunteer experiences to tell but seem to be lazy. I do recommend looking for a place in South Dakota in or near the Black Hills. We were at Angustura SP because Custer SP was difficult to get a place and both are very good places to volunteer.

TherapyBound · May 24, 2019

That's great news, tabur, and it would be interesting to hear about it once you've begun your volunteer experience. This is something we'd like to do, too. Congrats!

tabur · May 24, 2019

15 hours ago, Kirk W said:

I have been rather remiss in keeping the website up since we left fulltime. I have several new volunteer experiences to tell but seem to be lazy. I do recommend looking for a place in South Dakota in or near the Black Hills. We were at Angustura SP because Custer SP was difficult to get a place and both are very good places to volunteer.

Back in the early 80's I was stationed at Ellsworth Air Force Base and lived in Rapid City. I loved the Black Hills area (except during winter) and would like to get back out there at some point. If and when we decide to go full time, there are a lot of places out west I'd look for volunteer opportunities. One of the reasons I applied at Cape Lookout is that it is only 7 hours from our stick and bricks in Maryland. My GF has lots of vacation time and is already planning some trips to come down and stay with me. Also, it wouldn't be a problem for me to come home occasionally on my days off.

Al

Twotoes · May 25, 2019

I volunteered at Cape Hatteras one summer and at Custer State Park several summers a few years ago. I am on my 8th summer as a full timer.

2gypsies · May 25, 2019

Lucky you!!! You'll love it. We gave lighthouse tours at Heceta Head at Florence. Loved the whole coast! There's nothing like being able to 'live' in those beautiful surroundings.

tabur · May 26, 2019

I envy you guys that have full timed so many years with so many adventures. If you look at my account, you will see that I joined this forum in 2007. My wife and I had thoughts of me retiring in 2010, selling our house and hitting the road. Unfortunately, in 2008 my wife was diagnosed with cancer and everything changed. When she died two years later, the only thing I could think of to do was to throw myself into the remaining years of my career. I lived in Pennsylvania and worked for the Federal Government. I was offered a promotion in Washington DC and moved to Maryland in 2012. Five years later, I was forced to retire in Jan. 2017, at age 57 (Mandatory retirement age for Federal Law Enforcement Officers). Since then, I have been fortunate enough to have someone new in my life who is willing to explore the full time RV lifestyle. Unfortunately, she is a year and a half from retirement. However, she has been very encouraging in regards to this volunteering adventure. She knows I'm following my dream.

Al

Kirk W · May 26, 2019

15 hours ago, 2gypsies said:

We gave lighthouse tours at Heceta Head at Florence.

We were there in 2011 and stayed in Carl Washburne State Park, just north of the lighthouse. The only bad thing was a lack of any type of satellite services or cell phone there.

10 hours ago, tabur said:

Five years later, I was forced to retire in Jan. 2017, at age 57 (Mandatory retirement age for Federal Law Enforcement Officers).

That was when I retired but it was an early retirement from 3M Co.

Quote

If your dream is important enough to you, you will find a way to make it happen.

Kay Peterson, 2000

2gypsies · May 26, 2019

5 hours ago, Kirk W said:

We were there in 2011 and stayed in Carl Washburne State Park, just north of the lighthouse. The only bad thing was a lack of any type of satellite services or cell phone there.

That was when I retired but it was an early retirement from 3M Co.

We also stayed at Washburne. We went across the highway at the overlook to use our phone. We don't do t.v. so that wasn't an issue. Rumor was that someone spotted a cougar in the tunnel from the c.g. leading to the beach. Don't know if true as everyone continued to use it.