A Day That Changed It All

9/11 is a day that stands out to many people and most of us can recall exactly where we were that day that changed the world and so many lives.  Even if you were not personally affected by this tragic day, you were still personally affected.

For a moment right after this tragedy when Americans all stood together, when there were no planes in the skies, where people were too busy helping one another to even think about crime was a statement so powerful, I thought for sure we were all on the right track.  But those moments did not last and then the violence, crime and blame began all over again. 

I remember feeling powerless for a short time, then the feeling of empowerment took over from deep within my soul and there was no stopping me.  There were other instances throughout my life that rose up those same thoughts but this time was different.  This time the urgency sent chills up my spine for many years to follow and still does.  It reminds me of how precious every moment of each day truly is and how we each have to take hold of them and turn them into the best possible life we could ever imagine.

We each have to reach deep within our own souls and bring out the best we have to offer.  Stop putting off things until tomorrow…Stop waiting for the perfect moment…Stop making excuses.  That perfect time may never come and then all you will have left is a life not fully lived.  I may not be able to change the world, but I can most certainly change my world and make it the best possible life ever.

Still Learning

Be content with what you have and enjoy the way things are because it can all change in an instant.  ~ Kimberly ~

I just came off a week vacation from the land of “poor me” or a “wah wah wah” attitude.  It is not a fun place to visit, but am certainly happy that we no longer live there permanently.  I finally paid attention a few days ago when my body ached worse than it ever has before and my mind was angry and afraid of every little bump in the dark.  I decided it was time to get over feeling sorry for myself and get back into living our lives the best we can with what we have and stop looking at what we do not have.

On my vacation, I gawked at others newer and nicer rigs and wished we had them.  Everything about their things, I wanted. Their vehicles, their jewelry, their hair, their clothes, their smiles…you get the picture.

Also, in this land I constantly wondered how others see us…

Do they see us as worthless as I was seeing myself?

Do they think we have nothing, as I was thinking we had?

Do they look at us as we are unworthy of good things, as I was looking in the mirror and seeing?

The thoughts that had been creeping back into my thoughts were devastating and it began to get the best of me.  There was a time in my life when that was normal for me, but now I know it is an old pattern that needs to be worked through so that I can begin living my life to the fullest once again.

I was angry at myself for not finishing my books and publishing them.  I was angry for not publishing my photo ideas, my greeting cards ideas and my songs I have written.  At the same time it was easier for me to not fulfill these dreams because if I did and I became a successful creator of those things then my inner voice would not match up with who I was becoming.  Struggling with a big difference in my inner thoughts and who showed in the outer world has always been an issue that I attempt over and over to balance but never quite making it fit properly.

I have learned if I want what others have, I have to believe I deserve them and also understand that I will never have what others have because I have not lived their lives.  To have exactly what others have would mean I would have to have lived their lives the way they have done.  I choose not to go there, instead I chose to get back into meditating and living our lives truer to who we are and stop worrying about what others think or say about us.  We are who we are…take us the way we are or just leave us alone and we will continue to be happier than we have ever been before. 

Learning to stop trying to be somebody or something else than what and who we are from the inside is not always an easy task, but it is something that when lived I feel vibrantly alive and something I strive for as often as possible.

Life may not always give us exactly what we want, but it certainly gives us exactly what we need!

Lunch at Applebee’s

We are still hanging out in the Temecula area and really enjoying ourselves.  We had a gift card from Applebee’s for a long time now and since we did a Wal-Mart stop, we stopped and had lunch.

The food was good and the service was fabulous.

Our appetizer was scrumptious.  We have never had Chicken Won Ton Tacos, they were light and crispy and the sauce was sweet, spicy and delectable.

As usual we ordered different main courses so we could share with one another and neither of them was disappointing.

I had the Southwest Shrimp Fettuccini.  The shrimp was al dente which I love with enough spice to make you want more without causing flames to arise from your taste buds.

Jerry had the Quesadilla Burger.  It was a juicy burger with just the right flavoring served on a Quesadilla which added to the very unique flavor.

The Garlic Bread Basket was nothing to speak about; they were doughy and not very flavorful.  

We also drank Raspberry Ice Tea which was the sweet without being too sweet as many places serve it; it was the best tasting we have drank in a long time. 

We have always liked eating at Applebee’s and will continue to do so in the future.

For more photos, check out our Picasa Web Albums.

What Were We Thinking?

We had time to spare and were just going to hang out in the Southern California area until our new work begins the end of September.  We will be working a Pumpkin Station, a big difference from the Pumpkin Patch we had been doing the past few years.  This job will allow us to use our management skills, not our physically hard working skills.  What a relief that will be and the hours are not as intense either.  We are looking forward to opening another chapter in our lives.

In the meantime, we wonder if we are truly cheap or are we really just frugal as we always say we are?  This past decision challenged those thoughts. 

Many of the RV Parks in California are expensive and we have been using our memberships to lighten the blows, but because of the holiday weekend we could not find any that we could use our memberships and found out many were actually doubling their weekend rates, they were almost charging $100 per night for a minimum of 3 days.  We looked and looked and finally came across one of our memberships that would allow us to stay for only $10 per night through the weekend and into the week.  We jumped on it without thinking…first mistake!  We knew it was a nice place since we had stayed there before, but that was in February of 2010.  The place hadn’t changed much but the big difference we noticed was it was nearly empty.  We soon realized why, it was September in Desert Hot Springs where the temperatures were still in the 100’s every day, and only cooling down to the 80’s at night.  What did we get ourselves into?

After being there a few days we thought we might leave earlier and head towards a bit cooler temperatures and pay the price.  We were getting cabin fever since being outdoors was too hot so we were in the rig all day long with the air running.  We tried to go for a swim but the water was so warm it was not even refreshing and the mineral springs were just too HOT.  Once the sun went down we tried to sit outside on the patio but it was still very warm and not refreshing either.  We took showers without even heating up our water so we were saving on our propane bill.  How much more cheap…hmmm…I mean frugal can we get?

We left Monday and drove just a little over an hour and got back to some more tolerable temperatures where we can turn the air off and sleep with our windows open, soak in a spa and cool ourselves in the pool…we do need to heat our water for showers but it is a price we are willing to pay.

For more photos, check out our Picasa Web Albums.

San Diego RV Resort

San Diego RV Resort

7407 Alvarado Road

La Mesa, CA  91941

619-469-4697

8/21-8/26/2012

This is definitely more of a place where long termers stay, not an overnight park, but the reason for our stay was to visit San Diego and use the public transportation which is located right outside the resort. 

The spaces had a very strange setup, they were going every which way and to get to our first site we (as little as we are) would not be able to finagle ourselves into the spot due to the extra vehicles all over the roads.  We found another site which we preferred and they were very obliging to move us there. 

Using our Good Sam discount and a free night stay by staying more than three nights we paid $42 per night for a flat gravel site with 50/30 amp service with a sewer hookup.  The spaces were adequate, we were not touching our neighbor but that was because we chose this site, otherwise in certain sites you could be within an arm’s length of your neighbor.

The facilities were magnificent, clean and well maintained.  The pool and spa area was plush with great landscaping.  The other entertainment areas, such as the TV and Billiards rooms were under construction, but look as if they will just enhance the facilities, once completed.

The restrooms/showers and laundry areas were updated, well maintained and very clean as well.  The washers cost $2.50 and $2.00 to dry, a bit pricey but they worked very well.

We got great Verizon and MiFi coverage with our service, they did offer four hours of free Tengo Internet but no cable.

Not sure if this would be a place where we would return again, possibly for a long term stay but not for short term even though it was conveniently located right next to the Interstate and just a block from the MTS Trolley to San Diego.

For more photos, check out our Picasa Web Albums.

Sycuan Casino

Sycuan Casino

5469 Casio Way

El Cajon, CA  92019

619-445-6002

Boondocked – 8/20/2012

On our first visit here they gave us a free buffet at Paipa’s Buffet, normally costing $21 each.  The buffet was delicious; they served a huge variety of foods, including Crab Legs…yummy!

They have a huge non-smoking area as well as an upstairs with some slots and a Bingo area, they also have tables which we did not play.  We played slots until the wee hours of the morning and won a lot of money!

Boondocking is welcomed, all you need to do is park up in the top parking area and call for shuttle service.  We were noticed upon our arrival so they met us up at the parking area, we were the only ones there all night.  Check in with Security and give them your information, driver’s license, make and color of your RV and then they give you a ticket to put on your windshield and they monitor how long you can stay.  No limit to the amount of days you can stay, they just do not want any squatters.  Security came through the area often throughout our stay so we felt very safe.

For more photos, check out our Picasa Web Albums.

Hotel Stay and Dinner at Claim Jumper

During our grueling time at the Orange County Fair, we were presented with several wonderful gifts but this one was heaven sent.  The weekend before the last we were treated to a night stay at the Westin Hotel in Costa Mesa.  It was a great room with a great view and it helped us to survive the last week at the Bacon A-Fair. 

We were able to take long hot showers, sleep and nap in a King Size Bed, and just be tourists without being around the Fair.

We walked over the Unity Bridge to the Claim Jumper for lunch.  

We enjoyed a Sangria Drink... 

Tomato on Flat Bread Appetizer...

Chicken Alfredo on Bow Tie Pasta... 

Ribs and Shrimp that the Ribs were perfectly rubbed and fell off the bones.

We learned that we need to give into more of these specialties in our lives and allow ourselves to truly be in the moment and enjoy it all.  We have a tendency to beat up our bodies and not allow them to truly heal before we beat them up more.  It is about loving ourselves more than anything and taking care of ourselves more than we take care of everything else.

Working at Bacon A-Fair was challenging in so many ways but we both pulled together and got the job done.  At least at Orange County we had a great team for the most part, there are always a few that want to disturb the flow, but we learned enough that those moments passed quickly when we say what needs to be said.  We learned to say it without malice, but we said it firm and when and if that did not work, we went to the boss and he immediately took care of it by backing us up. 

Everything in our lives is a teaching tool, everything has a purpose.  It either shows us something new or confirms something already learned.  The lessons we learned these past few months are priceless and we look forward to sharing them all with our readers.  Thank you again to all of you for staying with us during these times when we don’t write very often and we look forward to more of your comments, we have truly missed them.

NOTE:  All photos were taken with my IPhone since I forgot…can’t remember the last time I forgot to take one of our many cameras with us, goes to show you just how tired we were during this adventure.  The quality of photos with our IPhone is not as good as our cameras, but they do help tell our stories.

Wow…What a Ride!

This adventure began in June and ended on August 13^th when we pulled out of the Orange County Fairgrounds looking for some rest and relaxation.  We drove a short distance to arrive at the Pechanga RV Resort in Temecula, California.  Time to rest, play a little, Jacuzzi, barbeque, swim, clean, relax, and get our bodies and minds back into what they were before this entire adventure began.

This was by far the hardest we had worked in a very long time.  The hours were long, most were 13 hour days, others 15 and more.  The heat was extreme, some days hitting almost a hundred degrees, but adding the heat from the smokers, grills and more grills it was excruciating.  We made a boat load of money and we were blessed with working with fantastic owners.  They treat all their staff as if they were irreplaceable.  They were always concerned about our welfare and showed it in so many different ways.

One of our worst and one of the best adventures we have ever been on…

After almost a week we are now feeling almost back to normal.  We will be leaving here tomorrow and the plan is to head for San Diego to be tourists.  Something we had planned to do back on our honeymoon over 15 years ago. 

Another part of feeling normal is to get back into the writing and photography mode again.  I have missed it so much and do not feel complete unless I make it a part of my daily lifestyle but it has been a challenge to get there once again.  Something I plan to rectify in the near future.  We have so many stories to share and so many life lessons we learned during the past few months but just could not find the time to write about them all.  Life always has something in mind for each of us and it is not always obvious, but looking back it becomes apparent why we made the choices we did…

For more photos, check out our Picasa Web Albums.

Has It Really Been That Long?

We had absolutely no time to write during our time at the San Diego Fair.  We worked so many frigging hours and those hours were the busiest and hardest we have ever worked.  The media caught onto this new idea that Mike Peterson came up with for the Bacon A-Fair and we were off and running and I do mean running our entire shift.  

Nobody expected it to be such a fantastic busy ride.  Our best sellers were the Bacon Wrapped Turkey Legs and our Porkabellos (play on words)...Portabella mushrooms stuffed with Gouda Cheese, wrapped with bacon and grilled to perfection!

Most of our days were 13 to 15 hour days without much time to catch our breaths, we were exhausted and tried to find ways to make this adventure fun...it wasn't easy but we were determined to keep smiling.

We continued to play catch up with trying to get some good people to work, it was not easy.  People say they want a job, but work does not seem to be a part of what they want to do.  We had long lines of people from opening to close almost constant, we started so far behind that no matter what we did it was never enough. 

Most of our staff ended up being whining, crying babies who needed a break every hour and then began to tell me that I was picking on them, oh boohoo!  I asked them to do certain things and when they did not do it, I asked them again and again and again…then they cried and said I was picking on them.  Then a few brought their drama lives to work with them… 

We had never worked with such incompetent people before in our lives...they fought us every step of the way for one reason or another.  We did have a few that were exceptional workers and got it, but unfortunately we needed more of them to step up and do their jobs without all the chaos they brought with them.  Several said I showed favoritism to a few of them, I wanted to ask them if they thought we were back in grade school but instead I tried to explain that it was because they knew how to do their jobs well and did not need micro-managing, but they just did not get it!

We had Mondays off, and it was spent doing laundry and shopping and then just trying to get our bodies to not hurt, one day was not enough.  Then the last Monday the fair was open so we worked for 9 days straight at 13 to 15 hour days…we were spent!  We had nothing left to give to our writing or anything but to try to sleep a few hours before having to do it all over again.

We barely got through with that fair and we have now moved to the Orange County Fair.  The big difference is that we are ahead of this one.  We have over hired the counter and grilling staff, so it gives us leeway to let people go who are not up to par.  It only runs 5 days per week so we will have Monday and Tuesdays off with no long stretches of work days in a row.  The long hours will be the same but we will be able to handle it until August 12th.  After what we endured at the San Diego Fair, this will feel like a vacation.

The only thing that kept us going was working for Mike and Brittney Peterson, owners of RSI Concessions.  They are so good to work for, Brittney is funny and says the things that I am thinking and Mike, well he is so laid back but gets his point across when needed.  We are such total opposites, they are so easy going and we are so intense, but together we make it all work.  When they hired us, they were looking for someone who can take charge and restructure the counter staff, bet they didn’t expect such a strong fix but they seem to be happy with us.  Micro-managing is not my style, but when the staff does not step up to the plate, then that is what ended up happening.  We plan to lighten up a bit now that we have the San Diego Fair over and we all know what to expect here at the Orange County Fair and will be prepared. 

June – Wine Tasting

May was a slow month for wine tasting, we were just so caught up in other things we hardly took the time to enjoy a good glass of wine and conversations...we intend to make up for it in June.


Covey Run 2010 Columbia Valley Gewurztraminer – We paid $6.02 per bottle, has an alcohol percentage of 12.5 and we gave it a 7.8 rating.  Produced in Columbia Valley, Washington region, we tasted a lime, lychee and spice with floral aromas.  This wine has a crispy taste with a slight sweetness to it and a very strong finish.  It is the better one of the two so far of the Gewurztraminer’s we have tasted and would purchase again.

Pacific Rim 2010 Columbia Valley Sweet Riesling – We paid $8.03 per bottle, has an alcohol percentage of 8.5 and we gave it an 8.7 rating.  Produced in Columbia Valley, Washington region, we tasted the peach, pear and pineapple flavors.  This wine was sweet, smooth, and crisp with a scrumptious green apple finish.  We bought it because of the bright design on the bottle, but loved it for the taste and we will purchase this one again.  

Maurice Carrie’ 2011 Muscat Canelli Moscato – We paid $6.49 per bottle, has an alcohol percentage of 11.2 and we gave it an 8.2 rating.  Produced in the Temecula, California region, we tasted the apricot, mango and peach aromas.  This wine has a light, sweet, clean & crisp flavoring with a smooth lingering finish.  It will be on our list of wines to taste again.

For more photos, check out our Picasa Web Albums.

Silver Strand State Beach on Coronado Island… WOW!

Silver Strand State Beach

5000 Highway 75  

Coronado, California

(619) 435-5184

 Reservations are highly recommended and are made through Reserve America

The bridge crossing over to the island was very intimidating, so much so that I almost forgot to breathe.  Jerry drove it fine, but me I would have preferred to be driving instead of hanging off the edge of the passenger side of the RV.  Once we overcame the excitement of the bridge, the rest of the drive was spectacular.

The idea was for a relaxing day/evening at the beach and that is exactly what we got.  We made the drive to the Silver Strand State Beach where we hoped to get a beachfront site for the night.  We checked the reservations for the past few days, not knowing for sure this is where we would end up and they had plenty of room, then when we tried to reserve it knowing we were heading this way it was within 24 hours and they no longer took online reservations so we chanced it.  We knew they had plenty of availability in the inland sites, but we had our hearts set on a beachfront.

We arrived around 10:30 am and were informed that they had 2 beachfront sites available but they could not be reserved at this time.  Our only choice was to check in at 2pm and hope for the best.  When they say 2pm, they are not kidding, no checking in or getting into line until 2pm, not a moment sooner.  We hung out in the $10 all-day pass area and enjoyed ourselves for a few hours, walking the beach and just relaxing.

We were first in line at exactly 2pm and we got one of the $50 beachfront sites.  For $35 we could have had an inland site, but we are glad we were able to get the beachfront one.  None of the sites had hookups and they were very strict on generator usage so yes it was pricey, but after all we were right on the beach, the ocean was our backyard for the entire evening.  Hearing the sounds of the waves all night long was exactly what we needed, it was meditating and so peaceful.

  

For more photos, check out our Picasa Web Albums.

Play Day at Valley View Casino

Valley View Casino

16300 Nyemii Pass Road

Valley Center, CA  92082

760-291-5500

Two days off before we head to the San Diego County Fair and we plan to take full advantage of the area.  We had laundry and the big shopping at Walmart to do first, but then we took some play time at the Valley View Casino where we boondocked for the evening.

Talk about an accommodating place, this was a very welcoming establishment.  Every staff member we encountered was eager to make us feel as comfortable as possible.  Apparently, due to some squatters, they limit the stays to 72 hours.  It is a shame when a rule is created just to defer some stupid people who take advantage of situations.    

Even though we were told that it was a slow Wednesday night, it was crowded, mostly due to the loose slots and all of the giveaways.  As first time visitors, we received a free Lobster /King Crab Legs Buffet.  It was so delicious and we got our fill of seafood. 

Do not allow your GPS to take you through the mountain on Lake Wohlford Road to get there as we did.  Instead you can reach it by staying on Valley Center Road/Co Highway S6, a much better road without all the twists and turns.  Again, our GPS seems to be in a tizzy here in California and continues to take us down some pretty stupid roads that are not necessary or advisable in an RV.

We would not advise boondocking or even visiting on a weekend, or if you plan to sleep past 6:30am.  The place we are told is packed on weekends and for sleeping in past 6:30am, there was this generator noise from the building below that was so loud that there was no sleeping through it.  It ended up being a great thing for us since it allowed us to partake in the early morning spectacular view.

For more photos, check out our Picasa Web Albums.

Before the Start of the San Diego Fair

The official opening day is not until June 8, 2012 and will run until July 4, 2012, the fair is closed on Mondays and we may be able to squeeze in some down time.  Until then we are still driveway mooching and helping with preparations for the fair. 

Mike & Brittney Peterson, no relation to us, own and operate RSI Concessions aka Sippers and More.  Mike has been a part of it all of his life, his grandfather started it and his father dabbled in it and Mike took it over in 1997.  It is a well-oiled machine in so many ways and once we get set up it will show just how great of a business it truly is.

Jerry has been helping with some projects revamping some of the trailers, adding more lighting, cutting piping and cleaning and packing the trailers for travel to the fair, which has begun. 

As for me, I have been going through many resumes and looking to hire a few more people.  Most of his employees are returning from last year, which for us says a lot about his character but there are a few open spots that need to be filled.  This is the first time they hired managers, up until now he and his wife has been doing it all themselves.  We look forward to making their lives a bit easier and then we are excited about heading with them directly to the Orange County Fair once this event is over for our next adventure.  Same business…different venue!

This week the trailers went over to the fair, we picked up our credentials and worked on setting up our temporary trailer.  Friday is “Media Day” and we have to set up for that on the fairgrounds, but then tear it down and move it to our location for the fair.  Media day apparently gets a buzz going and gets people interested in coming to the fair and visiting the different types of food trailers. 

RSI Concessions always has something new and adventurous to add and has 2 different food trailers and 2 carts located throughout the fair.  We will be managing just one of the food trailers and they will handle the others.  If you find you are in the area and plan to attend the fair, please come by and see us.  We will post more about our location once we get settled in.

We are now off for a few days and we will take advantage of it.  We are leaving the driveway and going to hang out for a few days on the beach before heading to the fair on Friday.  Some sightseeing, some play, some shopping, and we might even throw in some relaxation.

For more photos, check out our Picasa Web Albums.

Driveway Mooching in Valley Center, California

Even when we are traveling we write, but we do not always take the time to post so we are catching up and posting our articles while we are at our destination near San Diego.  

We are working for RSI Concessions, a food vendor for the San Diego County Fair and our boss invited us to stay in their driveway until we can move over to the fair.  This is no normal driveway mooch, we have 50 amp power, water and even sewer and we had two choice locations…where we are located or next to the workshop, either was fine with us.  We may be spoiled for any future driveway mooching since this is our first time ever doing it and we love it.

They even spoiled us more and served us barbeque steak, grilled vegetables and a salad our first night here, and then served us warm apple pie with ice cream…we may never leave!

We need the relaxation because next week when we head over to the fair location and begin setup and then the work begins on June 8^th when the fair opens.  There will be some really long 12 or more hour days involved, so we are taking all the rest we can get for now.

The food trailer is called the Bacon A-Fair.  No healthy food available, everything is wrapped in bacon, or coated and fried.  They even have Chocolate Covered Bacon, a huge hit last year!  We are so looking forward to working this fair and having some fun.  They are wonderful people to work for and we are going to be busy!

For more photos, check out our Picasa Web Albums.

Kreativ Blogger Award

Hold your applause…please!

First we would love to thank Lily Tequila, the crazy yet wonderfully talented blogger who nominated us for this grand award!  

In accordance with the rules for accepting this award, we must list 7 things that our readers might find interesting about ourselves, so here goes it…

1.  We are spiritual individuals that believe that life gives you every opportunity to be all that you can be and if you are not living your life to the fullest potential then maybe you need to rethink it and make the changes needed to live the life you desire!

2.  We believe in reincarnation and believe that we were together in another lifetime and will continue to be together in the next.

3.  We miss our grandson, but know that his mother is taking good care of him.  Even though we disagree with her methods, we understand that she needs to do what she needs to do to follow her life’s path.

4.  We get really emotional when we hear about children being abused in any form and have learned to step in and help whenever possible.

5. We believe that what comes around…goes around and that when we send out bad karma it returns back at us almost immediately.  But when we send out good it takes its own sweet time coming back to us but eventually reaches us. 

6.  We are patient most of the time and try not to push things our way because every time we do it does not work out.  We want life to unfold for us and not be in dictatorship of our lives.  The Universe knows what is best for us and we are open and patient to hear what it has to say.

7. We believe our egos are our worst enemy and that we try to focus more on our spiritual side to get us through our lives.

Now, under the same accordance, we must nominate 7 other bloggers that we find interesting reads.  This was hard for us for many reasons, first we follow many wonderful blogs and had a hard time choosing which were our favorites and secondly, not everyone wants to be in the spotlight and we did not want to offend anyone in this matter.  Here is our list, not in any particular order and we hope they will accept this award as an affectionate means of telling them we think they are great bloggers, people and friends.

1.  Paul & Marti, creators of R Sanity RV Adventures – We began following each other’s blogs some time ago and had an opportunity to meet up with them in Quartzsite this past winter.  They are newbies and began their blog before adventuring out here.  Funny how there are people you just connect to almost immediately, this happened with them.  We wish we had more time to spend with them and will definitely meet up with them sometime in our future travels for sure.  

2.  Terry & Jeri, creators of Just Wanderin – We have followed there blog for a long time and finally had the opportunity to meet them in Quartzsite this past winter.  They are such wonderful people.  We love the feistiness that Jeri has and how easy going Terry is, and together they are a team that compliments one another.  They love life and it shows in every blog they write.  We look forward to meeting up with them whenever we are in the same area again.   

3.  Ron & Ali, creators of The Wandering Workentins – These two have had some rough times out here, but as we do, they too persevere and continue living their dream.  It is not always easy but they turn their bad times into great opportunities and learn from each and every moment of their lives, never wasting a moment feeling sorry for what life has given them.  We have not had the opportunity to meet them yet, but we do look forward to doing just that in our travels one day.  

4. Donna aka Froggi creator of 2 Taking a 5th who travels with her husband Stu and their dog, Sadie are among the wonderful people we have met while we have been living this wonderful lifestyle.  We had the great opportunity to meet up with them after following her blog for so many years.  We met them while we were in Florida a few years ago and it was as if we had known them all of our lives.  Donna has been writing for years and is finally ready to take the next step and publish her books.  Check out her blog and give her the support she needs to accomplish this goal, we know just how hard this step is since we are at the same bridge into our publishing career as well.   

5. Donna, creator of Adventures with Tassie – Donna travels with her husband Ralph and she is a breast cancer survivor.  It shows in their everyday living just how much it affected her, because even though we did not know her prior it seems that they live every moment to the fullest.  We love reading her blog for the totally upbeat messages she leaves behind. 

6.  Judy, creator of Travels with Emma - Judy travels the country with her dog Emma.  The two of them have some great stories to tell all awhile volunteering at many exciting places.  Her photography is exquisite, especially the many different types of birds she comes upon in her travels.  And, what a wonderful kindred spirit she shares with each and every blog she writes.  When she has a setback, she twists it until it works out for the best opportune moment.  It is always inspiring for us to read her blog!       

7. Mike & Gerri, creators of A View Through the Lens WithMike & Gerri – They have a great outlook on life, even after all the challenges that life has bestowed on them.  They are inspirational and love to take photos of their birds that feed in their birdfeeders just outside their windows.  We have been following their blog for some time now and whenever we are in the same area, we would love to get together and meet them.  

That is our 7, wish there could be more since we follow so many blogs and have many more favorites but for now this will have to be our list.  Please check them out, we are sure you will feel the same way about all of them.

How Funky Did We Get?

Somehow we got into a funk and it has been a hard thing to get out of, but we landed in San Diego and are once again on the right track in our lives.  Allowing decisions to be made out of fear only deepens the funk we get into, we know this but at times we do not follow our own advice and it just compounds the bad choices.  Another lesson learned and they just keep on coming!

We have been out here over 8 years and have not had back to back bad experiences with our work before.  As a matter of fact, we had only a few bad experiences prior to these last two in all the years, so it is unsettling for us and it deepened our bad attitudes in taking whatever came our way for the past few months, but we found the light at the end of the tunnel, finally!

The second experience at RV World Campground in Rawlins, Wyoming was not as bad as the one in Kanab, but basically it was not our ideal place to spend the next few months either.  There were many reasons it was not a good fit but the biggest reason for us was that the business was so slow and looking into future reservations that is the way it would stay.  We spent a lot of time in the month we were there looking for things to do.  How many times can I clean the windows and glass, vacuum, dust the shelves or just spend idol time looking for something to do?  It got the best of me and it felt as if taking care of customers were not at the top of the list since there hardly were any. 

Also, we have never worked where there were managers and owners together running the place, and even though they tried hard not to put us in the middle, it happened way too often.  We were told to do one thing from the managers and then the owners would tell us something different which would only get worse as time went on. 

As I said in the beginning, the biggest reason was the slow business but there were also some others that would have eventually worn on our nerves.  We are not the type of people who enjoy standing around or constantly finding busy work to do in between the one of two customers to take care of.  Instead we love busy, the busier the better for us.  Time flies when we are having fun and we were not having any fun at all!  This was never going to be that type of place so we opted to give our notice and once again it was rejected and we were asked to leave almost immediately. 

What is up with that? 

We are now wondering if giving notice is really a good thing in this lifestyle.  Each time we gave them notice, it was rejected and each time we had to leave sooner than we had planned.  At first this upset us because a few extra weeks of pay would have been nice once again, but things always work out for the best when we do the right thing which we feel we did.   We were willing to give notice, we could have just picked up and left but we would not have felt right about that and never expected them to be such poopheads about it.

Speaking about poop that was another issue that really got under our skins.  They have a dog policy in writing but they never adhere to it.  Dogs are allowed to run free and urinate and poop all over our stuff.  We told them so many times and each time they assured us it would be taken care of, but that never happened. 

We were also on opposite sides about one of the monthlies that they continued to allow their place to look like trailer trash.  It was a total eyesore and for the most part it was their dogs that were always on the loose, but others followed right behind and allowed their dogs to roam as well.  We were not comfortable sitting out on our patio and could not even set up our patio since the dogs would urinate all over our stuff.

The good news is we have moved onto our next adventure…more on that to come!

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