Our First Week...

Our first week has been lots of training and learning all sorts of new things. We have a feeling we are going to have a great summer. IF, we stay out of the drama of some of the other workers, not always easy but we have learned throughout our years in this lifestyle to just have fun, no matter how others feel about what they are doing. Because if we were that miserable, we would just have to leave, that’s what our wheels are for but this place seems to be a great fit for us.

Shopping for wine while we are in Colorado is going to be an adventure. Only sold in Liquor stores, not in grocery stores or Walmart's and the price is doubled from California and Arizona. Going to be an expensive summer but there are many wineries in the area that we believe have the sweeter wines that we love so we will be checking those out as well.

Weather here has been cool, to say the least, there has been frost several mornings, but thankfully no snow.

We have our patio set up and were able to use it a few times already...

This is our view from our front window...

We have several plans to check out some of the great things in our area but first we need to get acclimated to the 8000’ altitude. It’s taking a bit longer because we both caught colds when we first arrived. We are both getting better every day, but we still have a way to go before we feel totally up to par. That is why we just took our first days off and only shopped, cleaned and relaxed. Next week we should be able to begin exploring or at least take a drive instead of just to town but through this gorgeous area of mountains and rivers. Life is Grand!

Our Photos & Sayings

Our Summer Destination

Again, this year we attempted to travel extensively, it did not work out so we opted to take a summer job in Almont, Colorado, where we arrived today and are acclimating to our new altitude and getting over what might be head colds for both of us or maybe just allergies. We begin our training on Tuesday, here is our home site for the summer...

Our drive here was spectacular, the scenery was awesome around every corner. Our plans for the summer will be taking in all these breathtaking views on our days off and sharing our photos and stories with you all. We took hundreds of photos, these are just a few of the spectacular ones I took as I followed Maggie...

There were so many mishaps that lead us to this decision and in the past, every time we let go and went with the flow it all turned out for the best possible situation for us. We feel this choice will be the best decision for us.

We feel that settling in with a car will give us the opportunity to explore the areas without having to take Maggie all the time. We do plan to take her out for trips too but not every week.

Will keep you all updated as time permits this summer.

Montrose/Black Canyon NP KOA

200 N Cedar Avenue

Montrose, CO 81401

970-249-9177

5/10-5/12/2018

We paid $44.95 per night, which of course is high but it was the closest to the things we needed to do for a water, electric & sewer site on gravel with a picnic table.

Customer service was fantastic. The restrooms, laundry area and common areas were well manicured and clean.

The next time we are in the area, we will try some of the other parks that look pretty good in this area since the prices are much better.

Sleeping Ute Mountain RV Park & Casino
3 Weeminuche Drive

Towaoc, Colorado 81334

970-565-6544
4/26/2010, 5/10/2018

2018 UPDATE - We paid $19.25 using our Passport America 50% off discount for the same site that we paid more for 8 years ago and now they include sewer and WiFi. Everything looked the same and the girl in the office was the same and was wonderful.

Show them your Players Card or if you are over 55 they will get you a 10% discount.  We paid $20.79 for a water, electric site with free WiFi and Cable. For a few bucks more you can include sewer, they do have a dump station and the water and electric sites are located closer to the Casino which was our main purpose of the stopover.

The RV Park had great customer service, very friendly people working in the office. We also found Faygo Rock & Rye pop in their cooler…Life is Grand! We did not use the laundry room or the shower houses, but they both smelled and looked very clean.

There was a pool, spa and even a sauna room, none of which we took advantage of since it was still on the chilly side and even though it was indoors, the pool was not heated.

As for the Casino, well big difference. Customer service was lacking in every area, first at the Player’s Club, the line was getting so long and there were only two workers, one that was doing some sort of paperwork and did not take any player the ½ hour we were in line. Ceilings were low so heat and smoke was a major turnoff, the machines were pretty occupied due to it being a Saturday afternoon but the layout was extremely crowded anyway. There were too many slot machines and tables without enough room to even walk through many of the areas.

In the restaurant, the buffet was lacking so we chose to go off the menu and ordered sandwiches. Jerry ordered a Philly and I ordered a Rueben, his was great; mine not so much, it actually looked like little patties of ground meat instead of sliced corned beef. After a long conversation back and forth with the manager, all the time my sandwich and fries getting colder, he returned with the cold plate and informed me that the chef stated that it was indeed corned beef. I tasted a bit of it and made a face because it was not corned beef and he then suggested I order something else, which I did.

I have worked in the restaurant business for many years and know that on any food return like this you have the chef get to it ASAP, that was not the case. My new sandwich order went to the back of the orders; all awhile Jerry ate his so his wouldn’t go cold too. We felt a bit discouraged because as I said, I have been in this business for years, both as a server and management and something like this should never go without some sort of “kiss up“. The manager offered me a salad but was offered in a way and time that was not appropriate, possibly a desert or possibly taking off the charge for my sandwich or beverage would have been a bit more customer service orientated.

Our biggest gripe with businesses lately is customer service which if handled correctly can give a bad situation a big push to become a better experience with just a little bit of effort. This was not the case in this situation, and since our overall experience was not going well, but handling this more appropriately would have allowed us to see it in a different light but instead it deepened our opinion for inadequateness throughout.

Even though we were able to play on very little money and hit a jackpot that returned all of our money, we will not be recommending this casino to anyone, but will recommend the RV Park if you are ever in the area.

Railside RV Ranch

877 E Rodeo Road

Williams, AZ 85046

928-635-4077

5/7-5/9/2018

They did not take any discounts and the only other park in the area which took our Passport America 50% off was full so we opted to stay here. We paid $42.07 using our Good Sam 10% discount for an electric, water and sewer on gravel with enough room for us to park our car behind with a picnic table.

The staff was very friendly and accommodating. They offered a Continental Breakfast and it was good, the waffles were excellent.

The park was well manicured. The laundry room was small so we opted to go into town to do our laundry. The restrooms were clean.

If we are in the area again and we are unable to use our discount at the other park, we will stay here again and we highly recommend it.

Our Photos and Sayings

Silver View RV Resort

1501 Goldrush Road (GPS)

Bullhead City, AZ 86442

928-763-5500

12/20/2016-1/3/2017, 3/15-3/20/2017, 1/30/2018, 4/24-5/8/2018

2018 Update - Giving them another try, they put us on the bluff with a great view and where we were located there were not any undesireables, dogs or humans...it was a nice but very hot stay.

2018 UPDATE: WARNING: UNTIL THEY GET THE VICIOUS DOG ISSUE UNDER CONTROL WE WILL NOT BE BACK. But, are very grateful they gave us a full refund after we went to the office the next day and explained what happened.

We were sitting out on our patio and noticed the neighbors dog was tethered on a tiny little chain, it was a huge German Shepard that made its way to our site just enough to stare and growl at us. I was not comfortable, so we went inside and called the office, they were closed with no mention of any emergency number, only the Deli who took no responsibility to resolve our issue but told us to call the office and leave our complaint on the answering machine…REALLY? We would have told our neighbor ourselves, but we could not get to their door. A short time later our neighbor took their 2 dogs to the dog park, so we went back out and planned to ask him not to tether his dogs outside when they are not out with them as stated in the rules. Instead what happened was enough to send us packing. As the neighbor was returning with his 2 big dogs, another vicious dog (it was huge and mean looking) came out from the permanent residents chasing him and his dogs into their RV and as the neighbor slammed the door, the vicious dog took his sights on us, we barely made it into our RV.

The next morning, we went to the office and they had yet to retrieve our message, so we explained what happened and she claimed that it was a neighbor’s dog that they had called the police and dog catcher on almost a dozen times but have not been able to find the dog. So, at that point since it was apparent we would not be comfortable we asked for a refund and without any hesitation she gave us a full refund. That is really a shame because we did like the place but with all the trashy permanents getting worse and now the vicious dogs we will not be returning.

  

We have been invited to stay here many times throughout our years of coming to this area but we just never did, but now that they offer Coast to Coast, we are taking full advantage.

We paid in points with our Coast to Coast membership for a wide and long gravel site that included water, 50/30 electric, sewer, and cable. They also offered WiFi for a price. They did not add any resort fees, taxes or anything else to our total so all we paid was with our points which has become a rare find but a welcoming practice. 2018 UPDATE: They now add on an additional $5 daily fee.

This resort is huge and has a spectacular view from high atop this hill. Where our site was located, we did not have any views but we were nestled in so we hardly felt the wind that is very usual for this area and had been frightful many of those days, and the temperatures were frigid most of our stay so even the pool and spa were not inviting at all.

Our Photos & Sayings

Our Photos & Sayings

Our Photos & Sayings

Once Again…

We are not sure why we continue to put ourselves into these less than desirable predicaments, but we do, and it really is getting old. We hear about others doing it all the time without all the hassles that we encounter but for us it seems just one more thing after another goes wrong for us.

Even after working these 11 day shows every other week we are barely making it to our next show with no cushion whatsoever due to the many issues with our vehicles, but we will not give up, we will persevere.

It’s not always easy to hold onto our faith and with each incident it gets harder.

When will it be our time?

When will it turn out for us?

Will it ever get easier?

Each time we get close to our goals, we get knocked backwards so far that it is no longer easy for us to brush ourselves off and get back in the race of life. It’s getting harder to maintain a positive attitude when what we really feel is our lives are hard and just getting too tough for us to keep going.

Now, we are not saying that we do not have anything to be grateful for because we truly do. We are very thankful every moment that we have each other, for our home, for our health, for living this lifestyle, but it’s just not enough anymore. We want it all…

We want the good times to outweigh the bad times.

We want to be happy and positive without faking it all the time.

We want to be able to find work that we love doing and for that work to make us a continuous flow of money, not so sporadic as it has always been.

We want to know what it is like to travel without all the financial fear.

We want to make plans and be able to continue them without the fear of running out of money.

We want to be able to get a new rig or be able to fix Maggie, so we do not fear her falling apart driving down the road.

We want to be able to enjoy the finer things in life and not always have to settle for what we can afford.

Is that too much to ask for? Apparently, it is since we reach for the stars and end up drowning, never reaching our full potentials. For goodness sake, we are 60 years old and deserve to have some fun in our lives without all the fears of lack we always seem to get back to due to our accounts showing such low or zero balances all the time.

What do we keep doing wrong?

We are doing everything we can to keep afloat, but we feel we continue to get sucked down deep into that black hole of despair.

God does not seem to be listening to either one of us currently, so we are asking all of our readers to please say a prayer for us that we get the guidance to head down the right paths in our lives and not give up hope. Hope is all we have left…

We thought we could travel extensively and keep money in our pockets but again this year we were not able to do it. With all the mishaps of Maggie and May and shows being slow or yanked from us we are once again having to settle down. The good news is there is a light at the end of this tunnel. Once we finish this event in Bullhead City we have decided to stop the extensive travels again and settle in Colorado for a few months working at what sounds like a perfect place for us.

We will get this all figured out eventually, after all we have only been living this lifestyle for about 15 years and yet to find the perfect place for us, but we will not give up. We continuously find the work we do not want, so now the challenge is to find the work we love where we are able to travel. We have tried so many different avenues and many that have worked for others, just do not happen for us. 

We would love to find that perfect work…

That can be done from our rig that pays good money, all the ones that have come into our lives have been less than worthy and we know several people that have found decent work this way, so we know it’s possible.

Selling items or our experiences at different types of venues, like RV Shows, Boat Shows, Festivals that pays well. Again, we know several people that do this and pay well, but the ones we have encountered have been less than desirable.

We just need that break in our lives that gives us the right path for us to take so that we can once again begin living this lifestyle to its fullest and stop worrying so much about our finances.

That can’t be too much to ask for…is it?

Our Photos & Sayings

We have to believe...

Our Photos & Sayings

Our Photos & Sayings