11/30/13 Georgetown, Tx

We really like our winter gate house job here at Lake Georgetown Corps of engineer park.  It's pretty laid back  and stress free.  Almost boring.  There's not much to do really, we sit in the gatehouse and check in the occasionl camper.  We watch a lot of TV, interet surf and take care of any business possible so we don't have to do it on our days off.  I do like to be a little busier than this, but I'll enjoy it while I can.

Tuesday we spent most of the day with the grandkids since they are out of school this week.  What a joy they are.  Amazing little people.

10/21/13 Georgetown, Tx

The parks opened back up for business Thursday.  We just completed our first week (4 days a week) as gate attendants with the corps of engineers here on lake Georgetown.  So far we are really liking it here.  This is a primative tent only campground and is not used much during the winter.  There is a day use swim beach but with the low water level it's up useable.  The boat ramp is used regularly.  Our only problem may be boredom.  We have our TV set up in the gate house along with computers and all comforts of home.  It's about a block away from our camp site, a nice walk.  

Our job duties are selling day use permits, annual entrance passes, camping permits, group rental areas and checking reservations in and out on the computer system.  At the end of our work week there are financial reports to prepare and turn in to headquarters.  The cash sales we take to the bank and get a cashiers check made out to the corps.  We also are required to make "rounds" through the park to check on things.  Our days off are Mon-Wed.  In the winter the gate house is closed those days yet the park remains open.  There is a volunteer that lives in the park that keeps an eye on things on our days off.  Oh and we are required to unlock the main entrance gate at 6:00a.m. And lock it at 10:00 p.m.  There is a 2nd volunteer that also lives in the park that does this on our days off.  That's the only thing we don't really like about this job, getting up at 6:00 to unlock the gate.  At least the gate is not far, within walking distance, we can see it from our site.  

There is a smaller campground about 7 miles from us.  Tejas campground is also primitive with only 12 sites.  No gate house but there is a volunteer that lives over there and keeps an eye on things.  We are responsible for that campground also but don't have to go over there.  We check reservations in and out on the computer (we just assume they show up and assume they leave).  They have to call the reservation line to reserve and pay for sites.  Otherwise they need to come over here to purchase a camping permit.  Volunteers can't accept money, you have to be a bonded contractor.  

The game warden has already been out here twice this week.  The Department of wildlife and game also made an appearance.  They launched their boat and took a cruise around the lake.  

 

The grand kids were out of school last Monday and spent the day with us here exploring the park.  What a fun time we had with those two.  

10/11/13 Georgetown, TX

Day 11 of the Government shutdown.  The President and Republicans are talking again.  Hopefully they will come to an agreement soon.  For us it means we have the whole park to ourselves.  Getting to paid to do … not much.  We are to keep an eye on the park, security, make sure no one camps on the property.  We get a lot of people that park just outside the gate and walk in.  That’s okay.  When we leave the park we get out to unlock the gate, drive thru, then get out to lock the gate behind us. 

We've been rearranging the gate house to suit us.  We’re as ready as we’re gonna get once the park opens back up.  Once open we will be working in the gate house from 10:00-7:00.  Selling day use passes, camping, and group picnic passes.  One of us will make a patrol of the park 3 times a day to check on things.  Got to unlock the entrance gate at 6:00 each morning and lock it at 10:00 each night.  There are two volunteer couples in the park.  One of them will unlock and lock the gate on our days off which are Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday.  The gate house will be closed with a sign letting people know to pay during working hours.  This is their winter plan since there is not much traffic in this park during winter.  In the summer they have two gate attendant couples that work 4 days on, 4 days off.  That's the way the two other parks on Lake Georgetown operate year round.  They are much bigger than this park.  We have about 30 tent camping sites here, some with screened shelters.  No RV camping, no hookups.  We found out that we are the only new gate attendants here this season.  Looks like the same people keep coming back.  There was a couple that was to come back here to Russell Park this winter but could not make it due to a family member’s illness.  We feel lucky that we got this job.  Got our foot in the door.  When we bid on the job it was for two consecutive winters, 2013 and 2014.  Nice to know we have this to come back to next winter. 

 Seems strange to be back in Georgetown.  Seems like we never left.  Norm went to play guitars with his friend in Austin, Richard.  Plans to get together with him once a week for that, just like he used to when we lived here.  I have plans for a shopping day and lunch with my friend Linda next week. Will be nice to have some girl time. 

Nasty critters in Texas

Our site is to the left by that white mail box.

Nice site tucked back in the trees.

PICS

Our winter site at Russell Park, Lake Georgetown, TX

The pics below taken in Colorado.

See the bunny hiding in the fireplace?

This guy came by to see us.

 An Alpine lake we found on our jeeping trip.

Our summer campsite at Ridgway State Park, Colorado.

10/3/13 Georgetown, TX

We had bid on several gate attendant jobs at a few lakes near our kids and gkids for the winter.  Applying with the Corps of Engineers is no easy task.  They called on Sept.20th to tell us we got the bid at Russell Park on Lake Georgetown.  Yeah!  We had to leave Ridgway State Park in Colorado last Monday, Sept. 23^rd in order to report to our jobs and training on Oct. 1^st. 

It’s just a bit over 1,000 miles to Gtown.  First night we dry camped at Russell Lakes State Wildlife area.  Nice place for an overnight stop, no hook ups, no charge.  Second night we made it to Dumas, TX where they have a FREE overnight city park with electric, water spicket available and dump station.  Nice.  Our last night on the road we camped at Sweetwater Lake campground, only $10 with water & electric.  Now if we could just find free or cheap diesel we would be okay.

We are all set up in our winter spot for the 6 months we’ve contracted with the Corps.  Work 4 days, off 3.  I’ll write more about our duties in a later post.  Attended the training/meeting on Tuesday and met some wonderful staff and volunteers.  We seem to be the only NEW gate attendants this winter.  I’m so glad we got our foot in the door!

Because of the government shut down, the corps parks are closed.  Today is suppose to be our first day on the job, but because the entrance gate is locked we’ll mainly be patrolling the park a few times a day just to check on ……. Nothing.  Easy peasy.  All campers were told to evacuate the park by 8:00pm on Tuesday.  They told us we will still get paid because the contracts have all been funded.  But not so for the employees at headquarters.  They locked their doors yesterday.  The campground ranger/manager is still working, somewhat, apparently the computers have been taken down and there’s not a whole lot you can do without that.  Hopefully this mess will be settled soon before it wrecks too much havoc.

Will post pics of our new digs once I find my camera.

8/15/13 Ridgway State Park, CO

Yesterday we took a rough scenic drive through the Billy Creek area just across the highway and up a few miles from Ridgway State Park.  We drove up to 8,200 feet and had beautiful views of the valley below.  We could even see Ridgway Reservoir.  The water is such a beautiful green color, like a jewel.
We had our last staff picnic yesterday. They recognized each volunteer and staff person, gave each of us a pin and a folding chair as a parting gift.  It was very nice.  Seems like the summer has flown by.  Things are winding down, although Labor day weekend will be the last big rush for campers.  It will be sad leaving here, we’ve enjoyed it sooooo much.  We are committed to this job through Labor Day weekend but may see if we can stay longer to enjoy the leaves changing.  Besides it’s too hot to go back to Texas so soon.  I have been looking for a winter workamping job in Texas near Belton.  State Park or Corps of Engineers.  So far no luck.

It’s monsoon season and we’ve been getting a good amount of rain.  It’s so strange how it will be blue sunny skies then dark clouds roll in quickly, drop rain then move on.  It cools it down a lot, sometimes as much as 15 degrees or more.

Animas Fork, a ghost town

Fishermen on the Uncompadre River

One of the fishing ponds in the Park

Taken miles away from another mountain top. Our camp site is up on that ridge (7,000') with the reservoir down below.

6/22/13 Ridgway State Park, CO

We are still liking our camp hosting job here at Ridgway State Park.  There are two other camp host couples here up on the hill near us. We chit chat frequently.  All of us get along very well.  We’re all getting together tonight to eat dinner at one’s campsite, potluck style.  Biting gnats and no-see-ums are eating me up.  Thanks goodness we got Avon spray from cousin Dori.  If I’ll remember to use it when going out I’ll be okay.

There’s a Blue Jay bird house just outside our rig.  It’s the parks blue jay program to increase the blue jay population.  We see a male and female coming and going frequently.  Two weeks ago we could hear the chirps of little babies.  Now they are getting a bit louder.  I can’t wait to see them.  Norm said he saw them poke their heads out a few days ago.  Beautiful birds.

We are off duty Tuesdays and Wednesdays.  Last week we took a drive up to Owl Creek Pass. There’s BLM land up there and we wanted to scout out future boondocking possibilities while unhitched from the RV.  What a nice scenic drive that was.  If you access the Pass from County 10 just outside of the town of Ridgway the road gets pretty rough and narrow.  Not good if for towing an RV.  But it goes on to highway 50 about 20 miles West of the town of Montrose.  That is the better way to take an RV up Owl Creek Pass if your pulling an RV.  The road is much wider, no switch backs and not as rough a road.  We found a nice area for dry camping near a stream.  There were a few folks camped up there, enjoying the cool mountain air I imagine.  We may go camp up there after our jobs are over in September.  A few miles away is a BLM campground (Silver Jack Campground).  For $14 a night you get no hook ups, same as the free camping area.

A few days ago we took a scenic drive on Last Dollar Road, the back country route to Telluride.  Boy, what a beautiful drive.  Open pastures blanketed with pretty yellow and purple wildflowers.  The mountains in the background with hues of purple.  Traffic in Telluride was crowded.  We found out they are having a blue grass festival this weekend.  Luckily Telluride has lots of free public parking and the town is so small you can walk everywhere.  They have a free gondola that takes you up to a small community called Mountain Village.  Very nice place to just walk around, lots of shopping and restaurants.  Reminds me of Whistler, Canada.  Right out of a  Norman Rockwell painting.  We ate dinner at Smugglers microbrewery and took the highway back home.

Several fires in Colorado already.  Two we could see from here on mountains in both directions.   Sure do wish we’d get some rain.


Norm celebrated his birthday this week and yesterday was our 33rd anniversary.  Cheers to 33 more!

A cabin on a back country road near Telluride.

See Bridal Veil Falls way back on the mountain, seen from the town of Telluride.

Looking back on the town of Telluride from the Gondola.

Pretty Blue birds here at Ridgway State Park.

6/9/13 Ridgway State Park, CO

It's pretty laid back here, no rigid schedule!  We've found a routine that works good for us (they pretty much just let us do how we feel is best).   We get out by 9 or so and take a quick drive around our loop in the golf cart just to check on things.  Then come home for breakfast. Then go out again about 11 or 12 to clean sites ( check out time is 12:00).  We shovel ashes out of fire pits, pick up trash, blow off the picnic table and concrete pad with a leaf blower, etc. It's easy.  Then we go around a few times during the day to check new campers in.  Also to check for violations such as dogs on leashes, no ropes tied to trees, no vehicles on the grass, can’t have more than 2 tents in one site.  I don’t like telling people they can’t do some things so I just radio the ranger on duty and he gets after them.  The easiest non-money job I ever had!  I am so glad to be doing something.  We have about 35 sites in our loop.  We have made a few friends with other volunteers. One couple has us (and about 8 others) over for dinner.  That was fun.  Got to know everyone a little better.  I work in the visitor center on Mondays and am able to meet a lot of the staff and rangers there. Everyone is real nice and up beat here.  Nice atmosphere.  I like working in the gift shop and visiting with staff, not so much the business end, selling licenses, permits, etc.  I’m tired of working in an office setting.  I want to do something different for a change. But it's just one day a week.  Norm has swim beach duty for a few hours every few weeks.  The landscaping around the beach area is absolutely beautiful.  There are a few trees with good shade to sit under.  He simply watches for rule breakers, no glass on the beach, no dogs, no tents, etc.  Norm takes this job very seriously.  I call him the camp host nazi.  I tell you, if we can’t enjoy what we’re doing then I’ll just move on down the road. 

The whole park was full Memorial Day weekend.  But everything went very well.  During the week there are few campers but weekends almost fill up.  I hear that July and August are busiest with campers coming and going constantly.  For some reason our loop is the busiest.  We may have 25+ campers and the loop next to us only has 3.  But I like being busy and just having something to do.  The camp host sites in other loops are not near as nice as ours.  We have a somewhat private patio area with a lot of trees.  The weather is getting hotter than I expected, with highs suppose to get in the 90’s next week.  The sun is very hot but if your in the shade it’s actually nice.  Unlike Texas where it’s hot no matter sun, shade or night time. 

We drove down to Ouray last week on our day off.  It’s much like it was when we visited there about 15 years ago when we vacationed with Norm’s mom, dad, brother & wife, their kids and ours.  That was a fun time.  We want to scout out cheap or free BLM campgrounds or dispersed camping for the future.  Places we can take our RV. 

The park has a staff picnic once a month.  We have our first one this Tuesday.  Should be fun.

Google is doing away with Google Reader on July 1!  Anyone have another reader they like?

5/21/13 Ridgway State Park, CO

We’ve muttled through camp hosting not really knowing what we’re doing for several days now.  We had training/orientation Saturday and Sunday.  So now being armed with much information we are ready to tackle Memorial Day weekend.  There are a lot of reservations for this weekend so it should be interesting.   Our days off are Tuesday and Wednesday.  Other camp host will cover our area and we will cover theirs when they are off.  I have to say the one thing I don’t like about Colorado and Texas State Parks is that they charge to camp and charge an additional day use fee.  Electric sites are $22 and FHU are $26 then you have to buy a day use permit to put in your vehicle, that makes one night $29 to $33 depending on the hookup you have.  Pricey.  Campers are often angry because they didn’t know they have to also pay the $7 day use fee.  Can’t say I blame them.  Seems they could roll that into the camp site fee.  But you do have the option of paying $70 for an annual permit.  Saves you money if you camp more than 2 weeks a year at Colorado State Parks.  After we work 40 hours they will give us a free annual pass.

I have worked at the visitor’s center twice now.  They sell a lot of licenses.  Fishing license, hunting, boat and ATV titles and registrations, different types of camping permits depending on your age, military status, disability, etc.  It all gets very confusing.  They also rent group event areas, boat slips (they have a marina) and dry storage.  Yikes, a lot to remember.  All reservations are made online or by phone with Reserve America.  They charge another $10 to make those reservations, but you can’t call the park to make the reservations directly.  Geez, more money.   I was hoping to get experience with reservation software to add to my resume.  So far I’m not liking working at the visitors center much.  Although I do get to meet a lot of the staff and rangers that way.  I would feel disconnected from the Park if I didn't get to know the staff and volunteers.  Yesterday I got to go around with the head Park Ranger to post reservation permits on sites.  She’s a very nice young woman who’s very passionate about her job.  It was a beautiful day and got me out of the office for awhile. 

I look around and see the beautiful mountains with taller snow capped mountains in the background, the turquoise water of Ridgway Reservoir and can’t believe it’s real.  It looks like a painting I could just reach out and touch.  For wildlife we have a lot of deer and chipmunks in the park, a few rabbits and a bear was spotted in our loop of the park a few days ago.  And lots of blue birds that are just gorgeous.  Today we're off work and will make a trip into Montrose to shop and see what we can get into.  

5/13/13 Ridgway State Park, CO

Well we knew it had to happen.  We left our beautiful spot on New Mexico’s BLM land and stayed one night in Aztec, NM not far from Angel Peak Rec. Area.  This gave us a chance to dump and take LONG showers.  The next day we headed to Ridgway State Park only 160 miles away but a 4+ hour drive given the mountains and our slow way of travel.  Our route took us up the Million Dollar Highway with beautiful scenery, long winding mountainous roads up to 10,000 feet, up & down, then finally 7,000 at Ridgway State Park.  Andy the Park Ranger gave us lots of information then we got settled into our site #98 in the Elk Ridge Campground.  It’s up on a hill with a lot of pine and juniper trees.  Not much of a view but shade.  The lower campground has nice views of the mountains but no trees or shade.  The sun is rather hot in the afternoon with cool mornings and evenings.  There are 3 separate campgrounds here, we’re the only camp host’s in our Loop.  There are few campers but no one in our loop yet.  Norm & I washed the camper and truck today.  It was thick with New Mexico’s desert dust.  There is a laundry facility here. That’s where I spent the majority of yesterday getting caught up on laundry while Norm dusted the inside of the camper.  We’re getting all settled in.  Training/orientation is on Saturday and Sunday.  I am required to work 1 day a week at the visitor’s center while Norm gets beach duty.  Hmmmmm……how fair is that.  Norm gets bikini watch while I deal with campers all day. 

We drove our golf cart all over the campground today getting oriented with the place.  Cooked breakfast out on the camp stove and ate outside a few times.  It sure is nice here.  Each site has a nice large concrete pad with a large plastic coated metal picnic table and fire pit.  We've been looking over the volunteer manual and goodies they supplied us with (radios, brochures for campers, etc.).  We’ll probably run into Montrose 30 miles away to get the oil changed in the truck and pick up a few groceries.    

 Angel Peak Rec Area, our beautiful boondocking spot in N.M.

 Our campsite at Ridgway State Park

Our campsite

 A scenic view just a short walk from camp overlooking Ridgway Resevoir

Snow on the mountains in a distance

5/7/13 Angel Peak, NM

We sure are liking this beautiful boondocking spot here in Northern New Mexico.  The weather has been very nice, chilly at night but warming up nice in the afternoon.  Although we did have one night the wind blew so hard I thought we would topple over into the canyon.  Luckily the wind died down and is not suppose to get that bad again while we’re here, according to accuweather.  I think we picked a good time of year to camp without hookups.  We would like to stay until Monday.  That would mean 10 days of camping here.  But we will have to drive the truck into town (20 miles to Bloomfield, NM) for water.  Not sure how much we have in the freshwater tank since the sensors don’t work worth a darn.  But we’ll also need drinking water and gasoline for the generator. We have the satellite set up and turn on the generator in the evening to watch TV and recharge all our toys (phones, jetpack aircard, kindle, cameras).  This is boondocking at its best that’s for sure. 

I am experiencing mild altitude sickness.  Shortness of breath, unable to sleep much.  We’re at almost 7,000 feet which is what we’ll be at in Colorado this summer. I read that altitude sickness usually happens at 8,000 feet and above.  Hopefully I’ll get used to it and start feeling better.  Trying to drink lots of water and rest. 

I’m surprised we haven’t heard coyotes here at night.  There doesn’t seem to be any wildlife other than a few birds.  And not many of them.  I did see a little cotton tail bunny this morning. 

Here’s pics of the sunset over the canyon:

5/3/13 Angel Peak Recreation Area, NM

With a lot of BLM land in New Mexico I searched high and low for a free spot to dry camp for several days, or a week since we don’t have to report to our summer Colorado jobs until mid May.  We left Albuquerque this morning and drove about 160 miles north to Angel Peak Recreation Area near Farmington, NM.  After calling the BLM office in Farmington and confirming the road conditions with a Park Ranger we determined it the perfect place to boondock.  

Boy is it ever a slice of heaven on earth!

Our campsite

 Our view of the Canyon

Our view of Angel Peak 

5/2/13 Albuquerque, NM

We spent two days visiting with Norm’s childhood friend Marc and his sweet mom at their lovely home in Albuquerque.  One day Marc took us to tour the Petroglyph National Monument.  It turned out to be a beautiful day.  We enjoyed a few hikes around the Petroglyphs.  On top of one of the Mesa’s we had a gorgeous view of Albuquerque.  And what interesting images carved on the lava rocks.  Afterward Marc took us on a drive through Old Town Albuquerque.  We’ll have to plan a trip back there to walk around the shops next time we’re in the area.  Kathryn cooked us another delicious meal when we returned home.  We fell in love with Albuquerque.  Beautiful views, mountains all around including beautiful views from Marc’s back yard.  Wow.  We can’t wait to return.  

4/27/13 Tulsa, OK

We spent the day with Norm’s brother Al and SIL Pat.  They had a wonderful day planned for us with a tour of the Gilcrease Museum in Tulsa and lunch at the nice café with a view right there at the museum.  What a nice western art museum.  We enjoyed it immensely.  Afterward all of us had dinner at PF Changs where we met up with our beautiful niece Allison, her cute son Trip and his dad David.  It was so good to see the three of them.  Wish we could have had a bit more time, but I sure enjoyed the time we had.  So glad I got to sit by Allison during dinner. I had the best time talking with her.

We stayed overnight at a Flying J in Tulsa, OK that night then headed toward Albuquerque, NM the next day.  We drove as far as Foss Lake State Park in the Oklahoma Panhandle for an overnight stay.  Then on another 200 or so miles to stay the night in Vega, Tx at Walnut RV Park.  We made it to Albuquerque, NM on Wednesday

04/25/13 Tahlequah, OK

While in Waco we worked on moving the utilities closer to where we park our RV.  I cleaned out, put up shelving, organized and purged stuff in the storage shed. We also washed and waxed the RV.  Because the finish had oxidized we de-oxidized the whole exterior.  A huge job I hope we don’t have to do again.  This was the first time we had stayed out on our lot in Waco any length of time (about 6 weeks).  My brother Wes came down from Arlington, Tx to see us before we left for the summer.  Always good seeing my big little brother. 

We left Waco, Tx on April 9^th.  Because of the threat of thunderstorms and hail in the Dallas area we stayed at a campground in Elm Mott just 15 miles north of Waco.  This gave us plenty of time to load up and ready the property for the summer. After checking the weather the next day we continued on to Kiowa, OK to spend the night.  Stone RV Park is the same place we stayed last year on our way to Tahlequah.  Nothing special, except the FHU rate $16 and its convenient location. 

After arriving in Tahlequah we set up camp at Indian Village RV Park, just on the edge of town.  Norm got his new photo ID card at the Cherokee Nation office and went to his dental consultation at the Indian dental facilities at Hasting Hospital.  They scheduled his root canal 2 weeks out.  After staying in Tahlequah 2 nights we drove up to Collinsville, OK to stay with Aunt Nita and Uncle Ralph for several days camped in their driveway.  We haven’t seen these two much in several years and I have to say we thoroughly enjoyed being able to spend time with them.  Both of their children live close by and we were able to see them as well.  What a special treat.  During this time I went over to visit an ole high school friend that lives in the area.  We shopped, ate out and talked ALL night long (until 8:00 the next morning)!   The TV was never turned on, we talked and laughed nonstop.  Thanks Sherry for a wonderful girl’s night.

Our next mooch-docking spot was at Aunt Myrna and Uncle Lonnie’s in Coweta, OK.  Another special couple we don’t get to see much.  Three of their 4 kids and 5 grandkids came over to visit.  Norm’s cousin and spouse are getting ready to Full time in the next few years and it was great hearing their plans to do so.  We hope to meet up with them on the road somewhere.  Ya’ll share your blog with us when you get it going.  It would be great to work camp at the same place sometime!  Thanks Myrna and Lonnie, we enjoyed you and your family so much.  We are so glad you are able to enjoy camping in your beautiful travel trailer and have so many friends to share in the same interests. 

Juanita, Ralph, Myrna, Lonnie, we love you so much.  Thanks for staying in touch with us and your generous hospitality.  I’m so glad we were able to spend several days together. 

We are now back in Tahlequah, OK.  Norm had his root canal yesterday.  He’s doing well and will be ready to leave Saturday to visit his brother Al and SIL Pat in Tulsa.  We look forward to catching up with them and seeing his daughter and grandson Allison and Trip. 

Our plan is to leave Tulsa Sunday and head to Albuquerque, NM.  Norm has an ole childhood friend (Marc) that lives there now.  We’ll visit him a few days then find somewhere warm to stay before we head up to our summer work camping job in Colorado.  Probably Northern New Mexico, a nice boondocking spot if we can find one.  We’re looking forward to spending the summer at Ridgway State Park. 

Lonnie & Myrna

3/16/2013 Waco, TX

We stayed at Riverview Campground in Waco, Tx for 1 month.  A nice place to stay awhile.  Well off the interstate and lots of shade trees (in the long term area, not so much in the short stay area).  After having a gravel driveway put in, we moved on to our lot here in Waco two weeks ago.  Since then we have been making a few improvements to the property.  Moving the utility hook ups to more convenient places, etc.  We work at our own pace which is nice.  If we don’t feel like working, we don’t.  No hurry, we have plenty of time.  Weather lately has been in the 70’s and low 80’s, very nice. 

This is the first time we’ve stayed in Waco any length of time.  We are approximately 10 miles from town with a Home Depot, Walmart and HEB grocery stores within that 10 mile area.  Other than checking out a large Park in Waco one day and regular shopping, we haven’t prowled around Waco much.  It’s a good size town, bigger than what we’re used to.  We often wonder if we did the right thing by buying this lot.  As opposed to not owning any real estate, which was our first intention.  It’s nice having a storage unit here on the property and boy do we have it full.  Much more room here than any RV park.  At any rate, it will be a good transition if we decide to sell later on and live off-grid.  I’m not sure what we would do in some situations though.  For instance, you have to have a physical address for your driver’s license.  The UPS Store we use for our mail has a physical address but DMV won’t let us use that address.  They somehow know it’s  not a residential address.   Same thing when registering to vote. 

We have our mail sent to use about every 5 weeks.  I got a jury duty notice, little too late, the date I was suppose to report had passed.  Norm also got one but his was a later date.  He called and got both of us rescheduled to report for same day.  Guess I won’t get arrested after all.  Not sure what we would have done if we’d been traveling far off.  They were insistent we serve within 30 days or so.  That’s this Monday, hopefully it will be short and painless.  I would have just ignored it, but Norm did not think that was the thing to do. 

We plan to leave here in about 1 month to start our trek up to our work camping gig in Colorado.  We don’t have to report there until May 18^th.  We’ll leave here mid April so we can visit friends and relatives on the way up.  I am so ready to get going.  Our trip to Alaska last year lingers in my mind.  What a fantastic trip that was.  I want to go back up North to see the Northern Lights again this Fall.  Thinking Northern Montana, or into Canada a ways.  Norm thinks it’s too far from Colorado to make the trip for that.  We’ll have to see when we finish up our work camping in September.  I imagine we’ll be anxious to get back to Texas to see the grandkids.  Hmm…..Aurora Borealis or grandkids…..hmmmm…..

1/26/13 Waco, Tx

Since returning from Alaska we’ve been staying in Belton, Tx to watch our grandkids while Bonnie worked through the holidays.  She now has a job that is Monday through Friday 8-5 so she is able to pick up the kids after work.  We were in Belton approximately 3.5 months.  Then we moved up to Georgetown for 10 days and got all of our annual Dr. Appointments out of the way.  10 days was not enough time to see everyone I wanted to see but we were ready to move on.  Lake Georgetown is a nice campground but because they don’t have sewer hookup we can’t stay in one place much more than 10 days so we moved on up to Waco a few days ago.  We had bought ¾ of an acre here last year and had planned to put in the electric and a gravel driveway in order to live in our RV there.  We’re still trying to decide if we want to do the improvements now or just wait until we return in the fall.  For now we are staying at Riverside RV Park about 10 miles from our property. 

I’ve been looking for a work camping job for this summer.  Yellowstone National Park is where I REALLY wanted to work so we applied and were contacted for a phone interview.  The interview took almost an hour and we were offered a position if interested.  They only have full time work, we don’t want to work that many hours.  It’s an extremely busy park and we don’t want to work that hard.  Minimum wage pay and they charge you for your campsite.  Maybe some other time.  I’m very disappointed that’s not going to work for us.  Maybe we can find something in the area so we can enjoy Yellowstone and Grand Teton parks one summer. 

We’ve applied with several places, Rocky Mountain Recreation Area, Snow Mountain YMCA, Colorado State Parks, a dude ranch, a lodge near Bryce Canyon, Utah (LOVE Bryce Canyon) and interestingly enough we’ve been offered several positions.  However I am being very picky and have certain criteria to be met.  We don’t want to travel far this summer, elevation can’t be too high or too low, temperatures can’t get real high, there has to be plenty to see and do in the area, not too much work or hours involved and I want to work with other work campers, and getting paid would be a big plus as well as a free campsite.  We don’t want to work 40 hours, 20-30 would be good.  After all, we’re looking for a fake job, not a real one!  We accepted a job at Ridgway State park in Colorado.  After much research the area is perfect (near Ouray). Lots of hiking and historical sites.  Within driving distance to a lot of sites.  The job meets all of my criteria except pay.  We get a campsite but it does not pay.  It involves riding around in a golf cart checking campsites, preparing sites after someone departs (sweep patio, clean out fire pit, etc).  It’s a nice area, 7,000 ft. elevation.  No cleaning bathrooms.  We do have to work in the visitor center one day a week.  Oh, and we have to be nice to the campers, that could be hard.  Lol.  What I’ve found out in general is that part time jobs offer a FHU site but don’t pay.  I have seen some jobs in Oregon and Washington that have fewer hours and pay, maybe next year we’ll go there.  I subscribed to workcamper.com where there are many job listed but a lot I’ve found just surfing the internet.  There are free sites that have work camper jobs posted as well.  I’ve kept information on jobs I may want to check on next summer. 

We report to our jobs the last week of May and work through Labor Day.  The plan right now (it changes daily) is to go up to Tahlequah, OK to get Norm’s dental work done in April.  Stay in that area a couple weeks to see family and friends.  Maybe take a trip over to Arkansas (Eureka Springs?) for a week or so before heading to Colorado.  I’m ready to just do something!

Retirement pictures from recent annual staff recognition event at SU:

 

 

 

ALASKA PICTURES

https://picasaweb.google.com/home?hl=en

FINAL THOUGHTS ON ALASKA

Sorry it's taken so long to post. Life happened I guess. 

ALASKA/CANADA STATS AND THOUGHTS:

We left Texas on May 6^th to make our way up North, making a lot of stops along the way to visit family, see sights, etc.  We entered Canada on May 24 and Alaska on June 19, 2012.  We left Alaska on Aug. 24^th and entered back into the lower 48 (Montana) on Sept. 2^nd.   Plenty of time to thoroughly enjoy Alaska, knowing it would be a long trip and we would most likely never return.  A Trip of a lifetime.   We enjoyed the Canadian Rockies on the way up. Most wildlife (bears) was seen in Canada and the Yukon on the way up, when spring flowers were abundant on the side of the road which they love to eat.  The Alcan highway was not as bad as I imagined it would be, still it was rough and you had to be careful, especially in the spring before they had a chance to repair damage from the previous winter.   I don’t know how many times we said we were glad we didn’t bring our nice RV.   We had a guard installed on the front of our truck to protect it from rocks flying through the radiator.  An expense I wouldn’t do again.  Mosquitoes were not as bad as we had been told, take repellant and maybe a head net (they have lots for sale up there real cheap, the only thing that’s cheap up there).  I never even put on repellant or the head net, Norm did but the mosquitoes like him better than me.  Other than Anchorage or Fairbanks, many towns don’t have descent stores, grocery choices are limited. 

There’s really only one road into and around Alaska, so itinerary choices are easy to make.  Go clock-wise or counter clock-wise.  We wanted to end up in Fairbanks where the Aurora is best seen so we went clockwise in hopes of seeing it in August.  The RV traffic wasn't as bad as I had anticipated.  Norms thinks it’s because most people go counter clock-wise.  I think maybe the price of gasoline kept people from traveling so far. Who knows. 

Round trip expenses from Texas to Alaska:

Gasoline  $4,922
Propane  $130
Entertainment $2,385 (Admission fees, day cruises, fishing guide, etc).
RV Park camping fees:   $3,052.70

We drove approximately 10,500 miles round trip from Texas.  We were gone and camped a total of 130 nights.  Boondocked (free) 30 nights making our average nightly camp fee $23.48.  If you don’t count boondocking the average is $30.53 a night for the 100 nights we paid.  We were actually in Canada and Alaska 101 days, the rest in the lower 48. 

Is there anything I wish we’d done?  Not really, we had plenty of time to thoroughly see and do everything we wanted.   It can be done in a much shorter time if you fast track.  We had plenty of time so took it slow and easy.  I do wish we had stayed a little longer to enjoy the aurora borealis.  It was a magical thing that we enjoyed sooooo much.  If you don’t have long to spend in Alaska I suggest you go in August.  It’s the shoulder season so not as many tourist and you get a chance to see the aurora borealis that time of year as it’s getting pretty dark by then.  They usually start seeing the lights the 2^nd or 3^rd week in August, but this year they were spotted August 6^th, which is when I started getting up at night to look. See “The auroral borealis notification” facebook page and sign up to receive a text on your cell phone when the lights are spotted.   It’s also easier to sleep in August because it’s getting dark at night.

Must Do’s:

*Make the trip to Valdez. It’s a BEAUTIFUL scenic drive.  Valdez is the “Little Switzerland” of Alaska.  Unbelievable.

*While in Valdez take a glacier cruise to Mears glacier.  It’s the only one you can get close to that’s calving.  Plus driving through the huge chunks of ice is really something to see. 

*Take a wildlife cruise out of Seward, the wildlife we saw were incredible. I almost didn’t go because we’d been on a cruise in Valdez, but I’m so glad I did. 

*The Ice Museum at Chena Hotsprings Resort.  Although I wasn’t impressed with the resort I did enjoy the Ice Museum there, and the free campground just south of there “48 Mile Pond”. 

*See the Aurora Borealis (mid to late August or later). I can’t believe how many tourist sleep through this! 

*Tour the Museum in Fairbanks at the University of Alaska. Even if you’re not a museum person, this is a must see.

*Denali National Park – Take a bus ride to the Eilsen Center (8 hours round trip). Lot’s of wildlife along the way. 

Things I wouldn’t do again:

*Go on a fishing charter.  Even if I hadn’t gotten sea sick and threw up most the day, It was $300 a person. The guides bait your hook, throw the line in the water, the pole stays in the holder on the side of the boat and the guide tells you when to reel it in. I didn’t see the sport in this, thought it ridiculous. I still don’t know who caught the fish, me?  The guide?  Hmmmm..  BUT, my husband and brother (he flew in for 1 week) enjoyed it very much.  Guess it’s a guy thing.   Here’s a tip: If you like to fish, spend the money on equipment and fish in Soldotna on the bank of the Kenai River.  Lot’s of fishermen pulling in salmon here, but check the salmon run dates first.  It looked like a lot of fun. 

*I wouldn’t spend a lot of time in Homer (although others love it).  It was very “tourist trap” like.  Good to visit a couple days maybe, but I don’t think I would even bother going back.  Same as Skagway, I wouldn’t go there again, but the train ride there was magnificent with beautiful scenery. 

By not making reservations in advance we could decide when & where to go as we pleased.  A good strategy for camping is this:  Arrive at rv parks early afternoon so you have a choice of sites and room to maneuver without crowds.   Also pay for a few days then decide if you want to stay longer. It usually isn’t a problem to extend your stay.  However, if you want to leave early you don’t get a refund. 

Places I would definitely return to:

Valdez (it has the most beautiful harbor I’ve ever seen), Hope (for it’s small town charm and small live band venues), Denali National Park (for it’s forested beauty, hiking and wildlife), 48 mile Pond campground near Chena Hotsprings/Fairbanks (free, beautiful pondside sites), Gerstile River campground (near Tok,free riverside camping, great open space for aurora viewing).  Banff National Park in Canada (lots of scenic hiking), I’ve heard this would also be a good aurora borealis viewing area. 

Places I may visit if I return that I haven’t been to:

Chicken, Dawson City, Top of the World Highway, Manley Hotsprings.  We weren’t real hot on seeing these things, but if I returned and wanted to visit new places I would most likely see these.