Annoyances Along the Way

For the past few days I have been doing a lot of whining, the wind has been awful and still continues to come and go but at least now there are intervals of none.  It began at 5pm on Saturday and did not stop until sometime late Monday evening.  We (I) finally got a good night’s after two very long and sleepless nights.  I say we but it was me who was not sleeping, Jerry can sleep through anything and he would if it wasn’t for me getting up and either having the TV on or the watching the weather warnings when we are back east where the really wicked stuff happens.  Here for the past few nights we have had some pretty wicked wind, lots of it and pretty strong for my taste so I kept the TV on to avoid hearing the gusts but we still feel them.  For some reason I feel safer up, instead of in bed where all of the sudden it wakes me from a sound sleep.  I worry about the wind blowing us over, or blowing us apart, or blowing something into us.  What ever happened to the days of no worries, it seems they are gone and I truly want them back.  I need to find my Hakuna Matata place in life again.

We still have about a month left here and I continue to get annoyed over such trivial things.  The plan was to open our windows for the first time since Saturday and dust off the inside and the outside but then the wind started to blow again and I find myself once again doing some stinking thinking.  I don’t want to be here anyway, I would rather be traveling and doing other things in different areas but life has put us here and I have to just suck it up…

Things had not worked out as we planned last year and so far this year we are not where we want to be either but we need to get back up and just enjoy what we have and STOP whining about what we don’t have.  This is getting harder every time our life takes another turn in the opposite direction of our dreams.

The dream was to be working out west full time for Scootaround by now and that is no longer even a blip on our radar.  Another part of the plan was to find some work to supplement our time here and to keep me busy but that has fallen flat.  I am not sure how others find legitimate online work that can be done from home but for me it has been unsuccessful too many times and believe me it is NOT from lack of trying.  Every day from the time we were told we would not be returning to the Christmas tree lot I have been sending out my resume, testing and finding more sites to put my resume out there but NOTHING ever comes of it.  I barely get any responses, except I have noticed a huge increase of new junk emails that offer me all sorts of things I don’t need nor do I want.  I have ideas of branching out and doing other things I love from our RV but they also never quite take off in the right direction and honestly I can’t understand what I am doing so wrong while others are successful in making it happen and I can’t even get it off the ground.  The one thing I know is that I will never give up but it is also getting harder to say that and to truly believe it.

Being positive and upbeat is a huge undertaking for me lately and being negative is just not a good feeling to experience either so I continue to see the bright side since the dark side is too ugly for me to want to hold onto.  But, when do you finally say enough is enough and just give up?

We had jobs lined up working at Phoenix International Raceway and Las Vegas Motor Speedway to work the upcoming NASCAR races but we had to take this job to keep us afloat until then and now we won’t leave because these people are really great people.  We were hoping it would not work out here and we would be able to work for a short time and then do the races but our plans never seem to work out the way we plan.  How strange is that?  Wishing our plan would NOT work out so that we can go to Plan B since it was something we really enjoyed doing, instead Plan A worked out too well and now we can’t go to Plan B because we really like these people and do not want to leave them without any help and it is too late in the season for them to find anyone in the kitchen to replace Jerry.

Again, what are we doing wrong?  How hard can it be to find work that allows us to travel continuously, to be able to pay the bills with what we make and to have it be a fun job that we enjoy?  Apparently, pretty hard for us since we have been searching for over 10 years now and are no further in finding it then we were back then.  The only thing we now know are the things that do not work for us, we are still waiting for the things that do work for us.  

It is a brand new day and I am working hard at getting out of my “poor me pity party” attitude and get back to not taking our lives for granted, enjoying what we have, living life to the fullest and trying hard to get back to believing that it can and it will happen for us! 

Getting Too Old For Some Places

Never thought we would ever feel this way…

Maggie has always passed the 10 year rule whenever they have enforced it because she always looked good even though she is much older but that has all changed now that our quick, cheap fixes of her dry rot expansions are now showing her age.

We were having a really hard time making reservations for our upcoming commitment with Scootaround and were getting really concerned about things falling into place but as usual we persevered.  Even though we live by the saying that if it don’t come easy let it go, there is always those exceptions.  Also, we were not sure exactly what we needed to let go of but we now know it was not the entire event but just the place we should stay.  Not sure exactly why we were not intended to stay there but we have learned we do not argue too much with the Universe when it is clearly making a statement. Unfortunately many times as we are being pig headed and do not listen and continue to force the issue, we eventually get it.  This time took way too much time for us to finally get it and understand that we were not meant to stay at Surf and Turf RV Park in Del Mar, California while we worked the event.

About a month ago, we began attempting to make reservations there and thought that we were in even though my calls and emails were no longer being answered I just assumed it would be all right.  The week prior to us arriving I needed to give them the company credit card information to be charged and when she finally got back to me the day before we were leaving she said she was out of town for a family funeral and her assistant messed up the reservations and she no longer had a spot available at the weekly price but would set us up paying the daily rate which had doubled since she now said we would need to pay for two sites…OMG we are only 28’ long.  Anyway we agreed and then began to look elsewhere and everything else by then was booked except one which was further away in the opposite direction so we just decided we would just suck it up and allow her to swindle us.

We pulled into the RV Park which was just a gravel parking lot with water and electric, no sewer, no clubhouse, no facilities and were immediately approached by an elderly lady with broken English who asked very curtly what we were doing there.  I explained we were the Peterson’s and had a reservation which she immediately stated that she could not, would not allow us to stay because of the condition of our rig.  While coming into the parking lot we drove by several older and rugged looking trailers and she had the nerve to state this and then we noticed all the sites were filled.  She was rude and snooty and even though we were upset knowing we may not have a place to stay, I had this calming about me that I could not explain but now know that it was the Universe telling me that this is NOT where we are supposed to stay.  So I said to her, “Karma will come back and bite you in the ass because you were so nasty to us, have a nice day.” And we drove away!

We called the park that was further away from the event in the opposite direction and they had a vacancy so we drove there and hooked up.  Then what happened was exactly why I was calmed the day before…

As it turned out the bike trail from this park to the event was excellent and to top it off it ended up being 2 miles closer since where our booth was located was actually at a different location then the front gate. 

We are learning that if you just allow things to come a bit easier to you that it will all work out instead of constantly forcing things that are not falling into place.

We have also learned that we really do not want to be anywhere that is not receptive to our appearances.  We are who we are and even though Maggie is looking a bit tattered and torn we are still the same people and to be treated as if we are old and worn out is just wrong.  We may not have the funds to replace her and a total repair is not in our budget either, but if people look down on us because of it then we now understand, it is their issue not ours.

Ma-Tar-Awa RV Camper Park

Ma-Tar-Awa RV Camper Park

25 Browns Road

Alpine, CA  91901

619-445-3275

2/10/2015

After working the event in San Diego a little play time was well deserved so instead of taking the same route back to the Blu In Café we chose to take the roundabout way.

We paid $35 for a water, electric, sewer, grassy site that was not level at all and even using all of our blocks we could not get level but it was just for one night so we dealt with it.

The layout of the sites were confusing and when the very accommodating, extremely friendly, pleasant girl at the desk highlighted the available sites and said to choose any of them we thought it was a nice gesture.  Since our main objective was to enjoy some playtime at the Casino we chose the one closest to the office since that is where the shuttle picks us up.

Most of the sites were permanents that had plenty of barking dogs that continued at all hours of the night. The roads were all dirt and it was hard in many areas to establish the road from a site.  The only way we could tell where a site was by the hookup posts and that was not always clear.

The pool was well maintained but the restrooms and laundry facility is located in the gated area where we could not enter.

There was a small store that carried many of the essentials, and a game area for the kids to play.

They did give us coupons for 50% off of any of the restaurants at the Casino and other coupons for the outlets but we only used the restaurant coupon.

This park is more for the camping folks and we prefer resorts so we would not consider staying here again.  If we want to play at the Casino in the future we will boondock as we have in the past.

For more photos, check out our Google + Web Albums.

Santa Fe Park

Santa Fe Park
5707 Santa Fe Street

San Diego, CA  92109

858-272-4051 or 800-959-3787

2/2-2/9/2015

While working at the golf course we had other reservations lined up but at the last minute they fell through so we remembered this place on our research and they happened to have availability for the time we needed.

We got the weekly rate, but could have also used our Passport America to save 50% but because we forgot to mention it at check in we were unable to use it.  Since our company was paying the bill we decided not to push the issue in fear of them turning us away like the last park due to Maggie’s age and condition.

We paid $442 for the week which equals out to $63.15 per day for a water, electric, and sewer, semi level site on a slab with some grass, a picnic table and barbeque pit.  Our site was located directly under some pretty old and very tall trees that did drop little seeds on our roof but was not bad enough to keep us awake or startle us too much.

The sites were so close together and because of the humongous tree over us we were unable to find our satellite connection so we hooked up their free cable.  We had initially set up our dish about a foot onto our neighbors site where there was clearing from the tree but that was short lived since the neighbor asked us to move it since it made it more difficult for him to pull his truck in and out.  His truck was almost touching our rig once he was parked.  As stated above the sites were so very close together.

The park is located on a dead end road with only one way in or out with the freeway right in the front of the park and the Coaster at the rear which really made for a noisy time to sleep but after sleeping in complete silence in the desert this was a nice change except for one night that the train conductor decided to honk and honk and honk in the wee hours of the night.  Thank goodness that just happened one night.

They have a nice pool and spa area that was well maintained.

The laundry room has plenty of washer and dryers and it was connected to the game area which would be nice to pass the time while doing the laundry.

As far as recommending this place, well the manager and workers were kind, nothing over the top and borderline rude at times but at least they allowed us to stay.  The location was so convenient for us, especially because the bike trail was located just down the dead end road and that was our transportation to and from the golf course every day for that week.

We would stay here if we are ever in the area again for work or site seeing, but we would not go out of our way to recommend or stay unless location was our main reason.

For more photos, check out our Google + Web Albums.

Scootaround Work at Torrey Pines Golf Course

We took a weekend off working at the Blu In Café to head out of the desert and to the coast.  That in itself was exciting but working with Scootaround was the icing on the cake.  Still wish they would get more events out west where we could make it work all year for us, even the ones back east are not enough to keep our funds growing but we are not giving up on that dream just yet.

Back to this event, we were here for a week, working the event Wednesday through Sunday renting out scooters at the Farmers Insurance Open, we did have to unload the scooters and set up the booth on Tuesday but that was only a few hours, the same with Wednesday, but Thursday through Sunday we worked all day.

This has not been one of the busier events with only 20 scooters and just Jerry and myself working the booth, but no matter we are still having a great time.

Torrey Pines Golf Course is located in La Jolla, California, a subsidiary of San Diego and located right on the Pacific Ocean.  The views are spectacular and the weather is perfect, highs upper 60’s to lower 70’s and lows in the 50’s with foggy mornings which makes it feel a bit chilly but perfect none the less.

The bike rides uphill were a bit challenging but all downhill home was fun and the entire trip was on bike routes which made it so nice.  We got to watch some golf but we could not take any photos during play.  It was a really good group of folks working at this event and most of the customers were great to work with as well.  We did have a few not so nice folks but that is their issue not ours, and we refused to allow their cloudy dispositions to block our sunny days.  Life is way too short to worry about them instead we enjoyed ourselves and called it our work vacation, since working for Scootaround is so easy, then we will take a few days for a play vacation before we need to head back to the desert back to the real work.

For more photos, check out our Google + Web Albums.

Ten Years Ago It All Began…

Even though the research began so many years prior, this is the actual day we had it all sold and we were “homeless” and so many dreams in our hearts.

We have to go back a little bit…

We both had this dream to travel from the time we were very young and when we married we shared those thoughts with one another but as life sometimes goes, it got in our way and we put that dream on the back burner…again!

We had a successful tile installation company, we were blessed with a grandson and we had a 4 bedroom, 2 ½ car garage that was packed with “stuff” and we were living the “American Dream”. 

But it was not our dream and then significant changes began to happen in our lives, we lost my baby brother, Jeff who hid his sadness behind a bottle as many people do but he died at forty taking all of his dreams with him.  A short year later my mother passed, then Jerry’s dad passed, then we lost our daughter and grandson a year into living this lifestyle.  We now consider ourselves orphans with no family, just each other and we are happy with it.

Our initial dream was to travel the NASCAR circuit but just a few weeks prior to us adventuring out the floor dropped out from under us and our dream took a very nasty turn.  We lost our RV, we lost set jobs along the way, we had nothing but a dream.  Jerry wanted to get our stationary lives back and me, well, being the dreamer I am, I talked him into staying in the mobile lifestyle and came up with a marvelous idea…so I thought.  We would find work that included housing, and/or tenting along the way.

It was rough, it was scary and I silently cried very often but I could not let Jerry see that because he just wanted to hang up the keys and get back to the stationary lifestyle where he had security.  Me, I knew if we went back, we would never come out again and I could not allow our dream to go under again.  So we fought, and we fought hard to stay afloat.  We found ourselves several times in the middle of nowhere with nothing, but we persevered and we made it to another state, another job, and many more items on our bucket list to cross off.  Not the way we had it planned but truly exciting none the less. 

Not always the way Jerry seen it, but then after about 3 years of continuous struggling, he came around and knew that this is our lives and he needed to jump on board and just live it.  That is the way we have been doing it now for 10 years…

“Living on a wing and a prayer.”  “Living by the seat of our pants.”  No bank account, no safety net, no idea at times where are next meal will come from or if we will make it to our next destination.  But, you know what, we would not trade the wonderful memories for anything.  We have been able to see the United States in depth and enjoy places we would have never been able to see if we were not traveling full time.

Would we like to have it differently?  Of course, nobody likes living by the seat of their pants, not even us who make it look good, but the alternative is just not an option.  Being in a stationary home lifestyle, working the same job, seeing the same scenery with only a few weeks for vacation is just not the life we want for ourselves.  So we continue to struggle, but through each struggle we learn a life lesson and we grow.

Our relationship was strong prior to us coming out here, but now it is so much stronger and the love between us is so deep and the respect for one another is absolutely the greatest is could ever be.  We would not trade any of this for anything, but if the Universe could make things easier, we would not complain.  But if not we will continue to live this lifestyle with all we got or don’t have and enjoy every moment of it.

Life is Good!