We are always surprised when we hear others say they can’t find work. We realized a long time ago that there is always work to be found, it is all about how you go about it.
We knew we wanted to stay west this season, even with that in mind we received offers from the east and really considered them along with the many others from so many different areas. These offers continue to come in, but in the end we accepted the one that we felt best suited us at this time in our journey.
Most of the positions that were in the front running offered good pay…paid for all hours worked…a full hook up site included at no extra charge…perks, not just discounts at the location, but many other local discounts. The different types of work ranged from maintenance and front desk, cook and assistant, retail work and supervisor, bartender and restaurant help. Any one of them we would have felt comfortable doing, but as we said the final decision comes from our gut, our heart, and our feelings from within.
Our interview with Tom Forsythe, Artsudist and Proprietor of Frontier Movie Town in Kanab, Utah went the best. We felt most comfortable with our conversations with him. Even though our first adventure full timing we were at the North Rim of the Grand Canyon and spent a lot of our time off in Kanab and surrounding areas but would be content to revisit the area. We took thousands of photos the last time we were there but lost most of them when our computer crashed, so this will give us the opportunity to take more of this very picturesque area.
There was one thing that kept me on the fence longer than Jerry and that is the length of this position. We will be there until the end of October which means we will be settled in for 7 months. My hitch itch usually begins to show just after a few weeks, so this will be interesting. Taking many side trips on our time off will definitely help me with it.
For now until the first of April we will enjoy our travels around Arizona, California and Nevada before heading to Utah. This week we will leave Needles and head to Yuma for the Gypsy Journal Rally. If any of our readers plan to be there, let us know so that we can get together while we are there.
For more photos, check out our Picasa Web Albums.
Where we’ve been…All 48 lower…Where we are…Extensively traveling…Working and having a blast!
LIFE IS GRAND!
Wednesday, February 29, 2012
Sunday, February 19, 2012
A Gregarious Man!
The summer of 2010, we were tired of working in campgrounds and were looking to do something different in this lifestyle and that is exactly what we found when we received the call from Ernie Noia, owner of Mancos Dude Ranch located in Mancos, Colorado.
As many of you know from our posts on our blog that season, we had a blast and met the two of the best people we had ever encountered, Carolyn and Ernie Noia. They were married for a long time and the respect they showed one another was enlightening to us.
They both taught us so much that season but what we got from Ernie was life changing for us. He was such a gregarious sort of guy that taught us exactly how we wanted to live the rest of our lives. He was a straight shooter and never took any crap from anyone. He was a big man, tall and broad which was intimidating in itself. As big as he was, deep inside he was a very sincere and sensitive man who liked things his way but at the same time would take our suggestions and then use them. He was fair, he was funny, he was blunt, and was always giving of himself to others.
When we left that season, they offered us a place to stay if we were ever in the area, not just at the ranch but in Palm Springs where they lived and we knew that if we were ever passing through the area again, we would most definitely stop in for a visit.
Jerry and I spoke about them often, and every chance we got we tried to live the way he presented to us that season, tough but fair. We never had the opportunity to pass through their area and now it just won’t happen since we heard that Ernie passed away after a bout with cancer.
Our heart goes out to his family, especially Carolyn. They were friends, they were partners, they worked side by side with one another for years. How on earth do you recover from losing your soul mate and continue living your life without them by your side? We really hope we never have to find out, we hope when it is our time to go that we go together.
We are so grateful that we were able to share a part of his life that season, we will never forget him!
As many of you know from our posts on our blog that season, we had a blast and met the two of the best people we had ever encountered, Carolyn and Ernie Noia. They were married for a long time and the respect they showed one another was enlightening to us.
They both taught us so much that season but what we got from Ernie was life changing for us. He was such a gregarious sort of guy that taught us exactly how we wanted to live the rest of our lives. He was a straight shooter and never took any crap from anyone. He was a big man, tall and broad which was intimidating in itself. As big as he was, deep inside he was a very sincere and sensitive man who liked things his way but at the same time would take our suggestions and then use them. He was fair, he was funny, he was blunt, and was always giving of himself to others.
When we left that season, they offered us a place to stay if we were ever in the area, not just at the ranch but in Palm Springs where they lived and we knew that if we were ever passing through the area again, we would most definitely stop in for a visit.
Jerry and I spoke about them often, and every chance we got we tried to live the way he presented to us that season, tough but fair. We never had the opportunity to pass through their area and now it just won’t happen since we heard that Ernie passed away after a bout with cancer.
Our heart goes out to his family, especially Carolyn. They were friends, they were partners, they worked side by side with one another for years. How on earth do you recover from losing your soul mate and continue living your life without them by your side? We really hope we never have to find out, we hope when it is our time to go that we go together.
We are so grateful that we were able to share a part of his life that season, we will never forget him!
Saturday, February 18, 2012
Compressed Mattress - What a Concept!
Now many of you may be saying that we have lost our minds or something…making such a big deal out of this, but we think it is the best thing since sliced bread.
Our mattress is only about 5 years old, but due to the constant moisture we endure, the mold issues and a few springs sprung, we decided to replace our Queen mattress. We have been looking everywhere but are a bit limited due to the area where the bed fits into the rig. It was originally set up for twins; we remodeled that as soon as we got Maggie, but soon realized because of the cabinets above we could not fit every type of bed. They have to be entirely flexible since maneuvering around in that area is difficult. The sleep number ones were unfortunately out of the question, it just would not fit in there.
Putting in the one we just removed was a hilarious moment in our lives that we really didn’t want to repeat so we researched and found this one at Wal-Mart online. They come in every size and depth imaginable. We chose the 13” Queen Pillow top with memory foam and were not disappointed.
We ordered it online and could have had it delivered but we chose the store to store option. Upon picking it up we seen how it was exactly how they described, it fit into a duffle bag and weighed less than 100 lbs. We put it in a shopping cart and then very methodically we shoved it into our rig.
We drove back to the resort where we removed the old one, not a fun task but we did it. We then were able to begin removing the bags which held the mattress in its shape.
We must have inadvertently created a small hole since as soon as we took off the second layer of plastic we began hearing this hissing noise.
We quickly flattened it into place before it lost all of its compacted air.
We then cut the third and final layer of plastic off the mattress and...
Voila…like magic our mattress appeared.
This was so cool and by the way, the mattress is perfect!
Our mattress is only about 5 years old, but due to the constant moisture we endure, the mold issues and a few springs sprung, we decided to replace our Queen mattress. We have been looking everywhere but are a bit limited due to the area where the bed fits into the rig. It was originally set up for twins; we remodeled that as soon as we got Maggie, but soon realized because of the cabinets above we could not fit every type of bed. They have to be entirely flexible since maneuvering around in that area is difficult. The sleep number ones were unfortunately out of the question, it just would not fit in there.
Putting in the one we just removed was a hilarious moment in our lives that we really didn’t want to repeat so we researched and found this one at Wal-Mart online. They come in every size and depth imaginable. We chose the 13” Queen Pillow top with memory foam and were not disappointed.
We ordered it online and could have had it delivered but we chose the store to store option. Upon picking it up we seen how it was exactly how they described, it fit into a duffle bag and weighed less than 100 lbs. We put it in a shopping cart and then very methodically we shoved it into our rig.
We drove back to the resort where we removed the old one, not a fun task but we did it. We then were able to begin removing the bags which held the mattress in its shape.
We must have inadvertently created a small hole since as soon as we took off the second layer of plastic we began hearing this hissing noise.
We quickly flattened it into place before it lost all of its compacted air.
We then cut the third and final layer of plastic off the mattress and...
Voila…like magic our mattress appeared.
This was so cool and by the way, the mattress is perfect!
Friday, February 17, 2012
Bad Vertigo Week
The weather and my Vertigo took a turn for the worse and our plans for Valentine’s Day were delayed. We thought we would delay it just for a few days but unfortunately it is not going to work out this time, but we will be heading back through this area next month and we will once again try to check off the Jet Boat to London Bridge from our Life List.
Vertigo has been a part of my life for many years but this past episode was the worst ever and no type of warning or reason for it to happen. On Monday morning upon awakening I turned my head and the rig began to spin out of control, so much so I became violently ill for about 30 minutes…and then out of it for the rest of the day.
In my lifetime I have bursted my eardrums 3 times…once when I was scuba diving, once when I got a very wicked virus and then once when I was diving in and out of our pool incorrectly. I have always had problems with the Vertigo, some episodes were pretty bad, but most were just little ones, but this was the worse episode ever and it seems as if it will never end…
It feels as if my sinuses and ears are a bit out of whack so I picked up some Clariton non-drowsy and hope that it helps. It is a terrible illness that there is absolutely no cure for and the medications only mask the symptoms, never taking it away for good and always the possibility of reoccurring without any warning at all. It is not a deadly disease, but during some of the episodes, I feel as if I would rather die. Even though I have lived with it for most of my life I have to admit that this time is the worst it has ever been and I do not like it one bit.
It takes over my life and in the past has only affected me for a few hours with each episode, but this time it has been 5 days and not getting any better. Desperate times calls for desperate measures and even though I do not like taking any sort of medications, the natural measures have not worked and I need to do something because being in this state is not where I want to be today or any day for that matter.
It feels as if my life has been in a fog all week and at 54 years old, I feel I do not have a moment to spare. I want to live like I have never lived before, I want to soar and reach all of our goals, but can't under these conditions. It is a huge effort just to get out of bed...
This too shall pass!
Vertigo has been a part of my life for many years but this past episode was the worst ever and no type of warning or reason for it to happen. On Monday morning upon awakening I turned my head and the rig began to spin out of control, so much so I became violently ill for about 30 minutes…and then out of it for the rest of the day.
In my lifetime I have bursted my eardrums 3 times…once when I was scuba diving, once when I got a very wicked virus and then once when I was diving in and out of our pool incorrectly. I have always had problems with the Vertigo, some episodes were pretty bad, but most were just little ones, but this was the worse episode ever and it seems as if it will never end…
It feels as if my sinuses and ears are a bit out of whack so I picked up some Clariton non-drowsy and hope that it helps. It is a terrible illness that there is absolutely no cure for and the medications only mask the symptoms, never taking it away for good and always the possibility of reoccurring without any warning at all. It is not a deadly disease, but during some of the episodes, I feel as if I would rather die. Even though I have lived with it for most of my life I have to admit that this time is the worst it has ever been and I do not like it one bit.
It takes over my life and in the past has only affected me for a few hours with each episode, but this time it has been 5 days and not getting any better. Desperate times calls for desperate measures and even though I do not like taking any sort of medications, the natural measures have not worked and I need to do something because being in this state is not where I want to be today or any day for that matter.
It feels as if my life has been in a fog all week and at 54 years old, I feel I do not have a moment to spare. I want to live like I have never lived before, I want to soar and reach all of our goals, but can't under these conditions. It is a huge effort just to get out of bed...
This too shall pass!
Sunday, February 12, 2012
Wine Tasting - February 2012
Twisted Wine Cellars Spain Moscato - Surprisingly a delicate, sweet flavor. We will look for this one in the future.
Scenic River Riesling Qualitatswein 2007 - Crispness with a dry after taste, not one of our favorites even though we love the artistic bottle that the artist and wine-grower Heinz Ames paints with the Riesling wine which he grows on the steep slopes of the Mosel Valley.
Blufeld Riesling 2010 - Citrus, floral and peach with a pungent flavor at first, but then smooths out in the end. Light and crispy with a medium sweetness.
Lucky Duck Sauvignon Blanc - Dry with a clear finish. Refreshing taste that would be perfect with seafood or a fresh salad.
Arbor Mist Mango Strawberry Moscato - Very low alcohol content, low cost just makes it a very fun drink. Sweet and very light tasting.
Being really light drinkers nowadays, we can only handle two, possibly three glasses of wine and definitely no hard liquor anymore but we like tasting other types and got really lucky when friends turned us onto these frozen drinks. They are really low percentage of alcohol and quite tasty, a perfect drink when the weather gets too hot and taste just like the real frozen drinks made with the liquor.
Scenic River Riesling Qualitatswein 2007 - Crispness with a dry after taste, not one of our favorites even though we love the artistic bottle that the artist and wine-grower Heinz Ames paints with the Riesling wine which he grows on the steep slopes of the Mosel Valley.
Blufeld Riesling 2010 - Citrus, floral and peach with a pungent flavor at first, but then smooths out in the end. Light and crispy with a medium sweetness.
Lucky Duck Sauvignon Blanc - Dry with a clear finish. Refreshing taste that would be perfect with seafood or a fresh salad.
Arbor Mist Mango Strawberry Moscato - Very low alcohol content, low cost just makes it a very fun drink. Sweet and very light tasting.
Being really light drinkers nowadays, we can only handle two, possibly three glasses of wine and definitely no hard liquor anymore but we like tasting other types and got really lucky when friends turned us onto these frozen drinks. They are really low percentage of alcohol and quite tasty, a perfect drink when the weather gets too hot and taste just like the real frozen drinks made with the liquor.
Friday, February 10, 2012
Down Time…What Do We Do With Ourselves?
It has been a very long time that we have been in this mode of travel and we are not sure what to do with ourselves. Usually we are heading east at this time and kept busy traveling and working. That is not the case this year since we have chosen to stay west. Even when we find work, it will not begin until at least April and even though we will continue looking for other short term jobs to keep us busy we are really uncomfortable with all this down time.
We are not retired so it is too soon for us to act that way, plus financially we won’t be able to stay idle for too long. We have decided for the next few months that we will take this down time as a moment in our lives to figure out how to take our passions and somehow combine it all and make it our work.
There are things in our lives that we jump out of bed for every morning, this is a sure sign we are living our most authentic lives, but it doesn’t always happen and that is something we continue to tweak. Finding that passion so that every day we are doing what we love and make a steady income of it, then it doesn’t feel like work. We know we love to travel, to write about our travels, to photograph our travels, we love attending NASCAR events, to do all different types of work, we love to cook, we enjoy socializing, we love to create crafty items, we love tasting different types of wine and eating at different places and sharing our findings, we love reviewing campgrounds, parks, and resorts and sharing our thoughts. We are just not sure how this all can keep us working, but we are so ready to find a way!
Currently, we are once again in Bullhead City at the Ridgeview RV Resort for the next few weeks. We will just be hanging out and trying to catch some sun. We just remarked that we cannot remember the last time we were in rain…possibly back in San Francisco…we are not complaining we love the dryness of the desert and so does every bone and muscle in our bodies. The weather here has been exactly what we need and we are enjoying every ray of sunshine.
Since we are not allowed to wash our RV at our site and Maggie was in dire need of a bath, we headed into town to wash her, then came back to do all the detailing. She looks beautiful...for an old gal that is!
We took a day to go into Laughlin for some Seafood and play time at the casinos and will share those thoughts in another blog.
We also have a special event planned for Valentine’s Day, something we have wanted to do while visiting Laughlin for so many years and are finally here at the right time of the year to make this happen. We will share all the fun in another blog after Valentine's Day!
We will also need to go into town to pick up our mattress that we ordered and had sent to the local Walmart, using their free ship to store offer. Once we get the mattress we will post photos of the way they package it. It is squeezed into a duffle bag…no kidding a Queen size mattress in a bag! What will they think of next?
For more photos, check out our Picasa Web Albums.
We are not retired so it is too soon for us to act that way, plus financially we won’t be able to stay idle for too long. We have decided for the next few months that we will take this down time as a moment in our lives to figure out how to take our passions and somehow combine it all and make it our work.
There are things in our lives that we jump out of bed for every morning, this is a sure sign we are living our most authentic lives, but it doesn’t always happen and that is something we continue to tweak. Finding that passion so that every day we are doing what we love and make a steady income of it, then it doesn’t feel like work. We know we love to travel, to write about our travels, to photograph our travels, we love attending NASCAR events, to do all different types of work, we love to cook, we enjoy socializing, we love to create crafty items, we love tasting different types of wine and eating at different places and sharing our findings, we love reviewing campgrounds, parks, and resorts and sharing our thoughts. We are just not sure how this all can keep us working, but we are so ready to find a way!
Currently, we are once again in Bullhead City at the Ridgeview RV Resort for the next few weeks. We will just be hanging out and trying to catch some sun. We just remarked that we cannot remember the last time we were in rain…possibly back in San Francisco…we are not complaining we love the dryness of the desert and so does every bone and muscle in our bodies. The weather here has been exactly what we need and we are enjoying every ray of sunshine.
Since we are not allowed to wash our RV at our site and Maggie was in dire need of a bath, we headed into town to wash her, then came back to do all the detailing. She looks beautiful...for an old gal that is!
We took a day to go into Laughlin for some Seafood and play time at the casinos and will share those thoughts in another blog.
We also have a special event planned for Valentine’s Day, something we have wanted to do while visiting Laughlin for so many years and are finally here at the right time of the year to make this happen. We will share all the fun in another blog after Valentine's Day!
We will also need to go into town to pick up our mattress that we ordered and had sent to the local Walmart, using their free ship to store offer. Once we get the mattress we will post photos of the way they package it. It is squeezed into a duffle bag…no kidding a Queen size mattress in a bag! What will they think of next?
For more photos, check out our Picasa Web Albums.
Saturday, February 04, 2012
Where Are We Now?
Working at the Quartzsite RV Show we had a choice of jobs, one was giving out samplers…simple but boring, we chose to pass that one along to friends! The other was to serve food at the K Bar D BBQ trailer and work HARD. Of course this is the one we chose? We are working on making the right choices but we are not sure if we made the right choice this time or not. The couple we worked for were great, well she was perfect, him…well let’s just say he was a bit intense most of the time, but all in all it was a great 9 days. Many years ago, we allowed other people’s attitudes to change ours, but now we are confident in ourselves that we do not sink down to that negative level. It’s challenging but we have learned that we can still be happy and have fun, cause if we are not having fun, we need to move onward.
We met so many of our blog friends while we were working, several passed through with just a wave to let us know they read our blog, others stopped by so we could meet them. A few we were able to visit with for a little bit, others we were only able to give a quick hug and hello since we were so busy working the entire time we were there.
Once the job was complete, at first we thought we would hang out for the next show and possibly find more work…NOT! We hightailed it right out of Quartzsite first thing Monday morning and headed for Vegas, not on the Strip this time, we stayed a few days at Sam’s Town and took a shuttle into the Downtown Experience. We had not been there for so many years and it was pretty cool and we had a blast.
We also got a deal to stay a few days at Arizona Charlie’s RV Park at a great rate so we took advantage of it.
As of right now our plan is to just hang out and meander around Nevada, California and Arizona using our Coast to Coast membership parks along the way. One plan we have is to head for Yuma in March for the Gypsy Journal Rally and finally meet more of our blogger friends for the first time.
As of this moment we do not have any set work for the summer, but we are looking forward to staying out west where the weather is not always the topic of the day. We have had a few offers but we are really waiting for that one that fits perfectly, we know it is out there so all we have to do is wait for it. The hardest part of following our hearts is to let go of the ones that are not exactly what we want, learn not to settle for anything less, knowing the perfect one awaits but we have to be open to accept it.
We took more photos of our Downtown Experience, feel free to check them out at our Picasa Web Albums.
We met so many of our blog friends while we were working, several passed through with just a wave to let us know they read our blog, others stopped by so we could meet them. A few we were able to visit with for a little bit, others we were only able to give a quick hug and hello since we were so busy working the entire time we were there.
Once the job was complete, at first we thought we would hang out for the next show and possibly find more work…NOT! We hightailed it right out of Quartzsite first thing Monday morning and headed for Vegas, not on the Strip this time, we stayed a few days at Sam’s Town and took a shuttle into the Downtown Experience. We had not been there for so many years and it was pretty cool and we had a blast.
We also got a deal to stay a few days at Arizona Charlie’s RV Park at a great rate so we took advantage of it.
As of right now our plan is to just hang out and meander around Nevada, California and Arizona using our Coast to Coast membership parks along the way. One plan we have is to head for Yuma in March for the Gypsy Journal Rally and finally meet more of our blogger friends for the first time.
As of this moment we do not have any set work for the summer, but we are looking forward to staying out west where the weather is not always the topic of the day. We have had a few offers but we are really waiting for that one that fits perfectly, we know it is out there so all we have to do is wait for it. The hardest part of following our hearts is to let go of the ones that are not exactly what we want, learn not to settle for anything less, knowing the perfect one awaits but we have to be open to accept it.
We took more photos of our Downtown Experience, feel free to check them out at our Picasa Web Albums.
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