Albuquerque Central KOA

12400 Skyline Road NE

Albuquerque, NM 87123

505-296-2729

8/17-8/29/2016

We paid $45.84 for 12 nights, they did not have a weekly rate but upon our arrival the General Manager, Linda Evans instructed them to upgrade us to a water, 30/50 amp electric and sewer with a swing. The site was long and slightly wide so we did not feel crammed into it and was fairly flat. They offer free cable and WiFi which was not great signal.

We felt so blessed since due to cost we originally booked a water and electric only and would have used the dump several times during our stay but this way was so convenient.

The campground is in the middle of a neighborhood, not the best neighborhood but we never felt threatened at all as we drove in and out every day for work.

The pool and spa were nice to soak into our weary bones a few times during our visit.

We did our laundry and even though there were 6 washers and 6 dryers the room was not so wide and became cramped when another couple chose to follow us doing their laundry.

The staff was MARVELOUS and we had to deal with them several times during our stay for receiving our mail and then when our neighbor continued to plug into our 50amp while we were plugged into our 30amp. We asked him not to do it several times which fell on deaf ears so we went to the office and even with them telling him not to plug into our outlet, it did not stop him from doing it. He had a 5^th Wheel and had not moved up on the site far enough so his cord coming out his rear did not reach his pedestal so he thought he would just plug into ours because he did not want to be inconvenienced by moving up. So instead he chose to inconvenience us by plugging into our outlet and causing our lights to flicker. After several times from us and the office telling him not to do it, with them even offering him another site he just continued to do it so they asked him to leave and he did.

Though this park is pricey, it is conveniently located and we would highly recommend it to others if you need a great place to stay while in the area.

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

We Are SO Blessed!

Our lifestyle is truly becoming all about traveling and not sitting for long periods of time and even though this summer has been just that we have to continue to tweak it. We are still looking for work that will allow us to travel BUT there were moments in between our jobs this summer that we began to get short of cash but we did not panic we just moved on and it all worked out, as it always does.

We are still on the fence about where to go from here regarding Maggie, we now realize that she is killing us and needs to be dealt with quickly. She has been taking on water for years causing dry rot and expansion in many areas which in itself is bad but now we are realizing that the water has turned several areas into mold gathering spaces and us breathing it has caused some respiratory issues for both of us. We continue to clean up the mold we see but we know there are areas inside her walls that we cannot get into to clean but we smell it.

There is a light at the end of our tunnel…there always is…in just a few weeks we will be storing her while we drive the truck and trailer to the Marching Band Events and staying in hotels. All we have to do is get through these next few weeks and then we will have a few months to figure it all out. The money we make on this adventure could pay for something else but the question that still remains is the “something else”. Still not sure which direction to go with our new traveling home. Something smaller and with much better gas mileage is where we are leaning towards. We need to replace our mode of transportation as well since our bikes have taken a dreaded turn to destruction and we are sure we want to get a vehicle, no more bikes. The vehicle will either be towed by WHAT we still do not have a clue or one that we could tow a trailer…still not sure which way we want to go. Of course, the huge decision to be made depends on what we can possibly afford which sends us in directions we do not really want to take but it may be all we can do. Oh, if our lives did not always have to be led by our finances what a lovely world it would be…

Without our financial issues in our lives it would be perfect so we really can’t complain. With or without the money, our lives have been a dream and we are more and more grateful every day. We look at our photos, we look at our map with all the pins of places we have been, and our magnets on our fridge, as well as our tickets into many events we have attended and we are overwhelmed with appreciation. Life has really been good for us, especially these past 12 years of traveling.

The drama is gone, the stress has disappeared and we live our lives from a much simpler place that we both agree has made us love ourselves and each other deeper than we ever could have imagined.

Now we just have to trust that whatever we need for the next phase of our journey is there, we just need to see it and then claim it. Life is always what you make of it, you can choose to wallow, you can choose to hate, you can choose to feel like a victim, or you can dust off your big person panties and jump back into life and make the best of it with what you have at this moment…we choose the latter.

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

Black Bart’s RV Park

2760 East Butler Avenue

Flagstaff, AZ 86004

928-774-1912

8/30/2015, 7/26-8/9/2016

Our initial visit in 2015 was just an overnight and even though we thought it was rustic and outdated we needed a place to stay in the area while we worked at Sam’s Club and this place was not only the closest but the cheapest so we thought we would give it a try. Mistake number one.

We paid $40 for an uneven, part gravel, part dirt, part asphalt site with iffy power, high pressure water (100psi), and sewer. NO cable or WiFi available.

When we first arrived at 11:15am the check in person was on the porch and bluntly told us we could not check in until noon. We smiled and said we would just hang around until then and she came around but said she needed to take a ride around the park to see her available sites.

On her return, we suggested a site that would be convenient for us because we would be taking Maggie to work with us daily because of our bikes were malfunctioning. She immediately said she could not give us that site but picked us out a great site in the rear of the park. This site was NOT level at all and was so enclosed by trees we could not find our signal for our DirecTV, then to make it worse it was among the full timers that were mostly hoarders. There was so much trash around these trailers that it was disgusting. We called her and asked for our original site and she said she could not give us that site but offered us two others…THE FIRST ONE WAS JUNK…

The other one was not so bad since the tree would be behind us and it looked more level then the first one we opted for this one. Within the first hour the breaker popped and continued to do it several more times so we went to the office, it now being after 6pm and the desk clerk said there was no maintenance onsite but would put in an order for the morning. Hopefully by changing out our worn looking electrical plug will solve the issue because we have a full work schedule ahead of us that we cannot continue having issues like this. They did not come by until after 5pm the next day but thank goodness we had come up with another plan by then, we plugged into the other sites box and called the office to let them know not to put anybody in that site…this upset them but we explained that we would not be without power all day. He tightened up everything and the power was fine after that for the rest of our stay.

We would definitely not want to ever stay here again but from the look of things it may be the best in Flagstaff...ugh!

For more photos, check out our Google Photo Albums

Can’t Remember the Last Time…

We crossed the desert in July but believe me when I say it is a memory that will stay with us for a long time. We now know what hell feels like and we don’t like it.

We could only do about 200 or less miles per day even with us leaving before dusk because within a few hours we were hot and so was Maggie. We didn’t want her overheating so we were checking into the resorts before 10am, turning the air conditioning on full blast and taking soaks in the cool pools just to keep our body temperatures at a reasonable rate. The nights were terrible since without the air it was stifling but with the air on all night my sinuses were almost unmanageable. It was not a good trip but we muddled through it. After about 5 days we made it to Williams where we hung out for about a week until we needed to head to Flagstaff where we worked a few weeks at the Sam’s Club for Lt Blender selling those wonderfully cool and refreshing cocktails in a bag.

The weather has been wonderful in Williams and Flagstaff, highs in the lower 80’s and night lows in the lower 60’s and even some in the uppers 50’s. Since it is Monsoon season it has been a daily thing for the lightning and thunder to start and then the pouring rain to drench the area but otherwise it has been perfect weather. We are not complaining about the rain, it is refreshing and nothing scary as it is back east but we have had enough, even if the locals say they want more.

There seems to be something in the air lately that is causing us to be in a crappy zone in our lives that is out of our control. We are finding ourselves in issues that we can’t fix and all we can do about them is to just suck it up and let them go. Usually we are able to do it without any problems but lately we are almost at our wits ends and getting tired of having to learn through our experiences. Lately the only thing we seem to be getting out of these nuisances is that life is not fair and that is not fair since we have been struggling ALL of our lives and had hoped that once we reached our age now that things might just come a little easier. No big issues just little ones that are adding up really fast…bikes breaking down…issues with Maggie…terrible customer service given to us…money running low…WE WANT OUT OF THIS CYCLE AND GET US ONTO A BETTER ONE NOW. We need to get back into the flow in our lives…

The customer service issues have been weighing on our minds, especially because we were surprisingly let go from a job years ago due to OUR bad customer service that only happened that one time. Now we seem to be getting terrible customer service that is 100 times worse than we gave during our hard times but they get away with it and we never did…NOT FAIR! Sometimes we both just want to lay on the ground, stomp our feet and scream” IT’S NOT FAIR”.  Oh to be a kid again when life was simpler and there were no bad memories of the past because there was no past yet.

Please send your good juju vibes our way to help get us out of this funk we have landed in, we will open our arms to all of them…keep them coming!

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