Search Results for Texas A (28)

The 2019 Tiny Shiny Home Travel Route

Jonathan Longnecker / February 17, 2019

Below you'll find a map showing our travel route in 2019. Click on a marker to get a link to any articles we've written about that area. We'll keep this post updated so you can follow along with us. Enjoy!

Tiny Shiny Hike Challenge - How We Hiked over 330 Miles in 2018

Jonathan Longnecker / January 13, 2019

If you’ve already caught our 2018 year end recap, then you may have noticed a little something called #tinyshinyhike.

Last year we set a goal for our family to walk a mile a day - or 365 miles in a year. And now we’re finally able to look back and see how we did.

So, where are we now?

Ashley Longnecker / September 19, 2018

Hi friends! Maybe you’ve noticed that we’re a little behind on our location posts…or maybe you haven’t (more on that in a minute). Once we left family in Tennessee and Indiana this summer, we started moving quickly!

So far we explored 6 new states in 2 months on a mission to get out west as soon as possible.

Why? Because paying for campsites since entering Texas back in March has taken a toll on our sanity and our pocketbook. Guys, paying for campsites is downright expensive! Even if you’re in the lower end campgrounds, you’re typically paying $30+/night. That’s over $900.00 a month! With fees like that, I’d rather be paying on a mortgage! YIKES!

So, once we hit the middle of South Dakota it was easier to find public land and we finally got back to our favorite means of camping…boondocking (camping off grid, no hookups, dry camping).

Y’all, we’ve had some pretty incredible sites lately so I’ll share just a few here with you.

Here we are just above Badlands National Park!

Polishing our Vintage Airstream in Austin, TX

Ashley Longnecker / June 25, 2018

When we were spending the week at McKinney Falls State Park, we made a big decision. Ever since we bought this Airstream we had thrown around the idea of getting it polished to a mirror finish, but every time we would just say, ‘maybe someday’ because it’s a huge commitment. It costs a ton of money to have done, or you spend around 200 -400 hours doing it yourself.

It’s never been a very high priority for us. Our rig is in really good shape for being 46 years old! But then again, we are Tiny Shiny Home…so why not make it truly shine?

Everything lined up perfectly (well…almost everything) – we felt like it was meant to be. It just happened to be the week our CPA was able to tell us if we’d have a tax return, and we happened to be 30 minutes from a guy who polishes Airstreams, and we happened to be getting back the amount it would cost to have the Airstream polished plus a little extra that would help cover housing during the 2 weeks we were homeless.

Yes, you read that right. TWO WEEKS of being homeless. It’s less than ideal, but we thought it would be worth it. However, finding affordable housing near Austin was a logistical nightmare. That town is so expensive!

A fellow Airstreamer was able to hook us up with our first two nights in a hotel downtown Austin at a discounted rate! Huge thank you to @all.ways.home for helping us out there.

We spent the next 2 weeks jumping around different AirBnB’s and going broke cause Austin is just crazy expensive. However, I will say that the moving around was a lot smoother since all of our clothes are packed in our eBags Packing Cubes! Seriously, how cool is it to just grab one or two packing cubes and have your entire wardrobe with you at all times! Pretty sweet! (If you missed our closet/clothes/eBags post, check it out here!)

McKinney Falls State Park

Ashley Longnecker / May 21, 2018

After a beautiful week at Mother Neff State Park we packed up and headed to McKinney Falls. If you’re visiting state parks in Texas, you NEED to buy a Texas State Park Pass! It’s saved us so much because without it you get charged a daily entrance fee per person! That adds up quickly! It’s more than paid for itself in just a few nights.

I’ll admit, I wasn’t as excited about this state park after being spoiled at Mother Neff. It’s hard to go from new, pristine bathroom to the standard state park bathroom. However, it wasn’t horrible and we’ve grown a lot about what we can tolerate when it comes to the cleanliness of public restrooms.

McKinney State Park was beautiful.