Life is Fantabulous

We are in such a great place. Our bodies are healing every week, even while working all these events. We are having the time of our lives, enjoying every blessed moment.

We are headed back to the Cincinnati area, actually Covington, Kentucky for the Winterfest Event through the Thanksgiving holiday. We drove about 350 miles to Effingham, Illinois for our first night stay at Country Inn and they had a hot tub, no jets working again but it was hot so we soaked for hours. The room was spacious, the bed was comfortable and a television that worked, life is good.

Time zone change again so we lost an hour. The Comfort Inn & Suites in Wilder, Kentucky was our hotel for the weekend. Our room was huge with all the amenities including fantastic customer service. The breakfast’s were magnificent, everyday something new and delicious. EVERY hotel chain needs to follow suit and stop using the COVID-19 excuses and just get it done!

We once again attempted to have food delivered to us from a 3^rd party, DoorDash and again it was unsuccessful. Even though the restaurant was across, we already had wine so we opted to have it delivered. Mellow Mushroom had some great menu items so we ordered and the expected delivery was almost an hour later but we had the time so we placed our order. The hour past so we called the restaurant and according to their tracker it said it was picked up but they still had the order right there waiting. I called the driver and he said he was at least 15+ minutes out of picking it up and even though we were across the street, he had other deliveries. I told him to cancel our delivery and we would pick it up ourselves. It then took all sorts of calls and finagling to have them allow us to pick it up and had to pay for it again and then we would have to dispute the first payment. Needless to say almost two hours after placing the order Jerry picked it up and it was cold and not appealing. We will not be ordering from any restaurant that uses a third party ever again, if they don’t deliver themselves, we will order elsewhere or pick it up ourselves.

The Greater Cincinnati Winterfair was by far the slowest event we have done, the hours were short but so was the pay but it was still fun, that is until we were packed and heading to our van. Teardown is a mass exit for the ones who plan it correctly. We bungee our cart with all the stuff on it, something like Jed Clampit’s truck, if you know what I mean and we make a mad dash to the doors that we know will allow us to exit with a wide load. Well, some guy did not bungee his massive load and right in the exit door it all came crashing down. We all scurried to help and then as he attempted to get through the doors the second time, it fell again, only this time I was right behind him and huge pieces of wood art fell on my foot. It’s not pretty and it hurts like hell.

Good news is we have time to rest because we now head further north for our second from last event in Columbus, Ohio with a few play days included since it’s just a short drive. Life is fantabulous!

Life is Right Again

Each week our bodies are getting better but they are still trying to get repaired from the damage from BOA, baby steps and enjoying the progress is our goal.

Monday’s drive took us halfway to our destination, with a stop at Hampton Inn in Glen Carbon, Illinois. Apparently the County is having some sort of water crisis so it was inconvenient for certain things, especially ice for our wine. The hot tub was just that, no jets were working but it was hot. The room was spacious but no chair to sit on, only a bed to sleep. Great walk-in shower with a nice shower head. Customer service was lacking too, they seem preoccupied during our check in. Breakfast was excellent, real potatoes, seasoned sausage and buttery scrambled eggs.

We arrived Tuesday just in time for our move in time, we unloaded and setup a little before we had to get checked into our hotel, Hyatt Place. Spacious room with an extremely comfortable bed, a walk-in shower that was a tad small, a comfortable couch, and great customer service. The new manager was a bit rigid, but the others at the front desk were very accommodating. Unfortunately, the television was a disaster, no channels and was in and out all the time, luckily we were working 13 hour shifts so we didn’t have much time for TV watching.

We will NOT be hanging out in Missouri any time soon. We are doing an event in Kansas and needed to do some laundry so 6 miles from us in Missouri was Quinn’s Laundry. We pulled up front in an empty parking lot and as we were getting out we were met by the owner who asked us if we had an appointment, we surprisingly said no and she continued that we would also need to have proof of vaccinations AND wear a mask. We got back in our vehicle and drove away.

Never thought I would see the day that Jerry would be in Crocs and modeling them. He loves them…

We will NOT be hanging out in Missouri any time soon. We are doing an event in Kansas and needed to do some laundry so 6 miles from us in Missouri was Quinn’s Laundry. We pulled up front in an empty parking lot and as we were getting out we were met by the owner who asked us if we had an appointment, we surprisingly said no and she continued that we would also need to have proof of vaccinations AND wear a mask. We got back in our vehicle and drove away.

This event was 4 days, normally they have been 3 days and the closing hour was 9pm, much longer than the others, so it’s been long, grueling days. The event was busy and we made a boat load of money which is really making us wonder why on earth did we ever stay somewhere that we were so mistreated and so very unappreciated. We continue to search for the reason so that we never allow it to happen again. 

Our next few shows are much shorter with time in between without much travel time so we will be taking advantage and do some fun things. We are so enjoying this new adventure, making great money, doing fun work without hurting ourselves and being totally appreciated…LIFE IS GRAND!

Our First Solo Event…

Our first day drive out of Oaks, Pennsylvania took us through several tunnels until we got to the Best Western in Bentleyville, Pennsylvania. The room was spacious with all the amenities and a very comfortable bed. The bathroom was not as desirable, the shower was like being in a spaceship and it was very cramped in there. Customer service was excellent and even though it was right off the interstate, it was not intrusively loud.

Drove about the same amount of miles to get to our destination stay at Country Inn in Erlanger, Kentucky. It used to be an Econo Lodge and it showed in several areas of the buildings. Very small and cramped room with a huge fridge, microwave and a comfortable bed and truly smiling faces at the front desk.

We did some honeydo’s and spent a few hours checking out Cincinnati and it was crowded and I began feeling claustrophobic. Found our way to the Hard Rock Casino right in the middle of the downtown area where we made a small deposit, very tight machines, but no masks. 

We ordered pizza from a local pizzeria and we were not impressed with Snappy Tomato Pizza. Tasty but mushy, breadsticks were amazing.

Our event was at the Holiday Market at the Duke Energy Convention Center in Cincinnati, Ohio. Setup was on Thursday afternoon and then worked the weekend with teardown on Sunday. The event was very successful and our bodies and pocketbooks are grateful. We had fun and met some really nice folks. It’s exactly what we have been looking for since we chose to begin living this full time traveling lifestyle. Once we are done with these few more events back East and then head to Arizona, a new chapter of this will begin. We will continue doing these events but travel in our motorhome. We are so very grateful and blessed for our lives to finally have all we ever wanted and more. Thank you…Thank you…Thank you!

 The thing we regret the most is that we allowed PepWear to destroy our bodies so much before pulling the plug. It is taking time for us to heal, and though we have some really rough days, we are also experiencing some really good days where the pain is tolerable, and those days are getting more frequent. After all it’s only been a few weeks and we did go right from one to the other, but we knew that we want to buy our new motorhome and without working consistently it just would not happen. So, we press on!

 

 

Our New Adventures Begins

We moved from one hotel to another less than 10 miles away to stay a few days at Holiday Inn Express in Lorton, Virginia. Nice spacious room with a very comfortable bed with silky sheets. A great walk-in shower with a magnificent shower head and soft towels. All the amenities, couch, microwave, fridge, a huge TV, full breakfast and wonderful customer service.

Wednesday took us back on the road again, we headed to Oaks, Pennsylvania to be trained by the owner of True Honey Teas at the Oaks Holiday Art & Craft Festival at the Greater Philadelphia Expo Center.

We crossed the Bay Bridge in Annapolis, Maryland and it was definitely exhilarating that our photos do not come close to describing.

We stayed at SpringHill Suites by Marriott Philadelphia Valley Forge/King of Prussia in a spacious room with a separate sitting area, a comfortable bed and a fantabulous walk-in shower. We had issues our first night with our toilet and the air conditioner, both were addressed immediately once we brought it to the front desks attention. Customer service was excellent.

Our training went magnificent, we are going to love our new work which will keep us busy going forward. The Tea is amazing and just about sells itself, and the venues we are going to be at are totally our “Cup of Tea”. Stay tuned for more tea puns to come since training is officially over and we are now on our own, this week heading to Cincinnati for the first of several of Holiday events.