Summer home base

We are RV dwellers with a home base in Southern California. We like it here in the winters, but it’s just too hot in the summers. We are looking at establishing a summer home base in Montana, and like what we’ve seen online about your community. We would not be doing the bootcamp program…not really what we are looking for at this time in our lives…but would love to rent an RV space at basecamp where we could participate at will, but not be tied down to set hours, or community mealtimes.

Our food is all organic or grass fed. We only use sustainable, biodegradable soaps and our RV washer has an ozonating system so we don’t need to use detergents to wash our clothes. We are self-contained, with solar panels and our own full kitchen, so wouldn’t be using much in the way of community resources. If you have a system for recycling grey water, that would be great, but we could also just drive to a local dump station weekly, if necessary.

If this is acceptable, then we could discuss ways that we can contribute our unique skills to the community while there.

Thanks for reading this rather long post!

Tys

Welcome to the forum!

Here is almost everything you will need to know about visiting Wheaton Labs:

https://permies.com/wiki/367505/Visit-Wheaton-Labs

https://permies.com/t/58899/visiting-wheaton-labs

https://permies.com/wiki/bootcamp

https://permies.com/wiki/sepper

Hello Tys!

We would love to have you summer here!

We are cool and lovely in the shade and warm in the sunshine.  

There are few great RV spots at base camp and we will be working on more this spring.

Gray water can go into the plants here and you will have access to the shower shack, willow feeders and a regular bathroom.   You can jump into project as much as you want or just hang out and enjoy the gardens and woodland.  

Thanks for replying, Anne,  and thanks for the welcome!

I have looked at all those pages and read a lot of the comments. Many of them were made 10 years ago…I’m sure things have changed over time.

There’s a lot of information in this forum and much of it is general, rather than specific about Wheaton Labs. Is there someone I should be talking to if I want more specific information, and as a contact person before we travel north this summer? There are things we’d like to know before traveling…things like what is the access road like (paved, gravel or dirt?) and how far to a dump station. Also, are you north, south, east or west of Missoula?

Also, do you accept mail for renters?

Tys

Anne Miller wrote:Welcome to the forum!

Here is almost everything you will need to know about visiting Wheaton Labs:

https://permies.com/wiki/367505/Visit-Wheaton-Labs

https://permies.com/t/58899/visiting-wheaton-labs

https://permies.com/wiki/bootcamp

https://permies.com/wiki/sepper

Hello Tys!

I can get you all set with the particulars.

Our access road is gravel.

We are a few miles from a local camp ground with a dump station if you need one.  

You can get mail here or have things delivered to the shipping depot in Missoula.    

Here is the link to our rentals:
https://permies.com/wiki/sepper

In a few weeks we are going to overhaul a spot intended for parking an RV or camping trailer.   And we hope to make a first attempt at creating two more spots.  

A page about our cabin stuff:

https://wheaton-labs.com/cabins/

We like to call the cabin stuff "our sepper program" and samantha provided a sepper link.  

We are less than an hour from missoula - the best town in the world.

There are a few different ways to receive packages or mail.

Thanks, Paul!

We probably won’t get there till sometime in June or July….no fixed itinerary yet…so plenty of time for you folks to overhaul/create an RV spot.

I was under the impression that the sepper program could be done from an RV rather than a cabin. There was a time, back in the 70s, when I winter camped out on the trap-line, in tents with the Natives in Northern Canada. I also hiked the Chilkoot pass with a backpack, roughing it in a pup tent for 6 days in 1979. Ah to be young again! Now my 74 year old bones prefer the comfort of my own bed/bathroom/kitchen, and a rustic cabin has little appeal.

That being said, RV parks can get pretty boring after a while. It’s hard to connect with like minded people when you’re constantly moving from one to the next. We look forward to the opportunity of interacting with people who have a vision for a better future…people who are finding their way out of the rat race. I’ve always been an adventurer…raised my kids in rural Alberta…home births, home schooling, organic gardening, kept a few horses, etc. and I’m excited to see first hand what you’ve created in Montana!

Feel free to private message me if you want more details.

Tys

paul wheaton wrote:In a few weeks we are going to overhaul a spot intended for parking an RV or camping trailer.   And we hope to make a first attempt at creating two more spots.  

A page about our cabin stuff:

https://wheaton-labs.com/cabins/

We like to call the cabin stuff "our sepper program" and samantha provided a sepper link.  

We are less than an hour from missoula - the best town in the world.

There are a few different ways to receive packages or mail.

We have hosted several RV, camper and sprinter van folks.  They usually park in arrakis or the turtle lot.  

The idea of these new spots is kinda new.  

The current sepper page says

RV, trailer, and car parking is at the base of hilly base camp, in the sandy parking lot behind our shop that we call Arrakis, or in our small turtle parking lot. We do not provide RV hookups at this time and generators are not allowed to be used. Arrakis and the turtle lot do not have much shade, though we are attempting to grow trees (from seed!) to change that.

The willow bank (willow feeder style toilet) and shower shack are available for your use.

rocket-powered shower shack willow bank bathrooms


(Base prices are for 1-2 people)

1-15 nights: (click here to pay $250) (additional people $20 each)
16-30 nights: (click here to pay $300) (additional people $80 each)

We are thinking that these three new spots will be made for campers/RVs/vans.  The first one will have some water.  In time it might also have electricity.  The other two will be off-grid.  

Tys Dammeyer wrote:Thanks, Paul!

We probably won’t get there till sometime in June or July….no fixed itinerary yet…so plenty of time for you folks to overhaul/create an RV spot.

I was under the impression that the sepper program could be done from an RV rather than a cabin.

Hello Tys!


You can come do the sepper program in an RV!  

If you get a site at base camp will have your own private space and be close enough all the fun things going on that you can jump into projects, group meals and game night when you want to.    You will be close to power and have the super luxury of the shower shack and willow feeders!    
Here is a little map of basecamp:

Sounds great, Samantha. Do you have music nights?

Looking forward to meeting you!

Tys

Samantha Lewis wrote:

Tys Dammeyer wrote:

Hello Tys!


You can come do the sepper program in an RV!  

If you get a site at base camp will have your own private space and be close enough all the fun things going on that you can jump into projects, group meals and game night when you want to.    You will be close to power and have the super luxury of the shower shack and willow feeders!    
Here is a little map of basecamp: