Next Adventure

Wayne and I are currently in southwest Texas (current nighttime temperature is 60 degrees). We are working as gateguards for an oil company. We have our motorhome parked inside the gate and we log in/out every vehicle 24-hours a day, seven days a week. We sleep, eat, and work in shifts. We have only been here six days, so our schedule is still a work in progress. The company we work for provides a generator, a tank of water, and a crew that comes around once a week to dump our tanks. The oil company is drilling two wells on our site using fracking to get to the oil quicker. I'm learning a lot about the whole process because I ask different workers questions about what they're doing. Everyone is polite and answers lots of questions. The hardest part is getting used to all the noise! It doesn't stop either. I took a couple of pictures the first day that I will try to post in here. Ziva isn't sure about all this. She likes that we sleep in shiffz, because she can stay in bed longer. The dust was bad the first few days, but then it rained a little Friday morni.g and packed it down. We have been lucky with the weather so far, but I am sure we will get cold weather soon. We are located off I-35 half-way between San Antonio and Laredo. We have to drive 25 miles for a grocery store and the nearest Wal-Mart is one of the originals and very small. We are enjoying it so far because it is something new and different (did I mention we make good money doing it?). Apparently I can't post pictures from my tablet.

Hurry Up and Wait

Still in Albuquerque -- our initial round of appointments, fixing things, etc., has now resulted in us waiting around for pieces and parts to arrive. Wayne is in the process of trying to install running boards on the Ford Explorer. Never as easy a job as the directions would like you to believe! He has one done and will install the other one tomorrow. Today is a day of kicking back and watching football (and maybe some World Series baseball). Hope everyone is doing well and getting geared up for Halloween!

(Campsite across from us at Jellystone Park)

Update

It's been awhile since I posted, so here we go (lots of pictures). We are now in Albuquerque for a couple of weeks (we've been here one week so far). It's catch up with all the "chores" we have to do while in the city: doctors appointments, flu shots, voting, trading Jeep in for a 2009 Ford Explorer (love it), replacing old, dead washer with a new, more efficient one, renew driver's licenses, get mail and various other items. It's been a busy start to our visit, but now we are just waiting for all the various things that have been ordered to arrive before we decide what to do next!

We left Jellystone a few days early because the weather was turning cold and we were dangerously low on propane for heating -- and we got out before the serious snow started!

We hope to be back next summer along with all the other Workampers from this past summer!

Wayne had a great checkup with the doctor last week and everyone was happy with the weight loss and blood sugar levels, and all those other levels they track. He will be doing a sleep study this next week to see why he has so much trouble sleeping at night. We had a nice visit with my parents before they left for Branson, Missouri. My Mom turned 80 yesterday and is still going strong!

I've been enjoying the sunsets (and one great sunrise) since being back in New Mexico; that is one thing I miss about NM when we're gone. So for now we're just hanging out and waiting. Hope everyone is doing well and we will let you know where we are headed next (once we decide, of course)!

Fall in the Rocky Mountains?

Yesterday was cool, overcast, rainy, and today we awoke to snow on the Mummy Range Mountains the other side of Estes Park! It was 36 degrees when we got up, so fall is definitely here! Last night was our going-away dinner for all the workers and it was great fun! This is the last weekend for the campground to be open and the last Halloween weekend! Last weekend was a lot of fun and I have two favorite costumes that parents made for their kids that I'll add to this post. Creativity is still around! Starting Tuesday the other workers will start leaving for the winter, but we're all coming back next summer! Yeah! Wayne and I will hang around Jellystone until October 14th, then head to Albuquerque for a few weeks. What's next? Who knows!

Halloween in September

At Jellystone, we celebrate Halloween every weekend in September, because we close September 30th! It's very popular with the locals and people make their next-year's reservations when they arrive for this year's festivities! Campers decorate their site, their rig, wear costumes, give out candy, and of course there's the Haunted Hike on Saturday night through the dark woods. It's been fun! We'll be winding down here soon!

Hiking in Rocky Mountain National Park

Our season has started slowing down and we're working fewer hours each day and now have three days off a week! Yeah! We survived July and August! This whole summer I kept asking Stan and Kay if I could go hiking with them (they are avid hikers). This week it turned out we could and did. We hiked to Ouzell Falls in the Wild Basin Trail area of Rocky Mountain National Park. The day was overcast and it did rain on us (yes, I had my raincoat with me). It was a six-mile round-trip hike and I had a great time! Thank you Stan and Kay!

Rain

We have started getting our monsoon rains in Colorado! Everything is turning green and the fires are out! Hopefully the fire ban on campfires will be lifted soon. It's amazing how many people cancel their camping reservations because they can't have a campfire. July is as busy as they warned us it would be. We have a lot of campers coming and going on a daily basis now instead of just Friday through Sunday. By the time Wayne and I get home we're ready to sit back and relax! We're doing fine and the summer is moving along. Hope everyone is enjoying their summer!

Colorado Fires

Just wanted to let everyone know that we are okay! There are a lot of fires burning in Colorado, some close to us, but we aren't even having smoke from the fires. The owner, Rick, is a volunteer firefighter in the local district, so we are up on the latest news. They do have an evacuation plan in place jn case it's needed. We are safe and hope we continue to remain out of the path of the fires.

TGIF!

After working seven days in a row, today is our Friday.  Yeah!  We worked to cover people that were off for family weddings, graduations, etc.  Now we are really looking forward to a couple of days to relax and refresh. 

This weekend's theme at our park is "Mardi Gras!"  There will be a "create your own mask"  at a crafts class early on Saturday and there will be a Mardi Gras "parade" Saturday evening followed by a dance party.  Since it's our day off, I'm not sure if we'll attend, but if we do I will take pictures!  They bought beads, etc., to have Yogi throw from the parade float!  (I am pretty sure there will only be one float.)

Mardi Gras in June -- who knew?!

Having a different day off this week allowed me to go along with two other couples on a horseback ride into Rocky Mountain National Park.  It was a great two-hour ride and fun company.  (I'm on the left.)


The fires in the area are still blazing and winds are still blowing.  The local fire district instituted a no campfire or charcoal fires yesterday, which has been very upsetting to our guests checking in for the weekend.  Fortunately we don't have the smoke from the fire -- the winds have been blowing it away from our area!


Hope everyone is doing well and enjoying their summer!

June in the Rockies

Just wanted to drop in with a quick hello.  We finally had a "warm" weekend at the campground!  The first three weekends we were open we had cold, snowy, and windy weather.  This weekend it was warmer.  We had a nice rain shower Saturday afternoon, and we need all the water we can get!

 
This is part of the elk herd that we have been watching grow and their antlers grow along with them.  The antlers are still covered with velvet.  It was Yogi's birthday last Saturday and Boo Boo came to celebrate with him!  The kids really enjoyed seeing both of them!

 Hope everyone is enjoying the start of summer.  We start working longer hours now that we have almost as many campers during the week as on the weekends. 

Visitors

My parents came to visit us at Jellystone!  They arrived on Monday and have been sightseeing around the area.  The next day they went to Rocky Mountain National Park and drove through the whole park and took lots of pictures.  As it turns out, they picked the best day to go -- it snowed up there the next day!  Wednesday around here was cool and rainy most of the day.  The mountaintops in RMNP were covered in new snow. Today we had thunder snow, which if you have never experienced is pretty amazing.  This was while the sun was shining, too!  In the picture above the snow flakes are falling around us, but you can't really see them.  


We drove in to Estes Park and toured the Stanley Hotel, which is where the movie The Shining was filmed.  The owner was the brother of the Stanley who invented the Stanley Steamer.  There was a Stanley Steamer in the lobby of the hotel.  It's a beautiful, big old hotel, that was built in 1909.  The snow came and went all day.


Mom & Darrell leave tomorrow to head to Bennett, Colorado, to see Gary & Barb.  It's been fun to have them here and I hope they have enjoyed the little cabin they have stayed in at our park.  


The campground gets very busy starting tomorrow -- after all, Memorial Day is the beginning of the camping season!  We are "sold out" for the three-day weekend!  


I'm very proud to say that my son, Brett, is going through commencement this afternoon for a Bachelors Degree in Liberal Arts. Way to go Brett! 

Happy Mother's Day!

Can you guess who is portraying Yogi Bear?

Jellystone Camp Resort officially opened last Friday, May 11th, to snow, cold, and a foggy, cool Saturday.  Today was somewhat better, the sun actually arrived for a couple of hours.  It was a whirlwind two days and things will calm down now for a couple of days until we start all over again next Friday!  We are enjoying ourselves and our new "job."  Hope everyone is well and enjoying their weekend!

Mother Nature

Mother Nature decided to surprise us with a snowstorm.  The snow started yesterday evening and continued through the night.  This photo was taken a couple of minutes ago when I took Ziva outside (she was not impressed with the snow).  It's still snowing and the prediction is for snow the rest of today!  


Hard to believe that last Friday we were working outside getting the campground ready for opening day this coming Friday in our shirt sleeves.  Even the snow plows are already out and about!

Roaming Neighbors

There is a herd of about 30 elk that wander through the campground on a daily basis.  They get pretty close to the campers, too!  These two were nibbling on the grass in an empty campsite.  Right across the road is a nice meadow that we see them roaming around.  The second picture is where our camper is parked for the summer.  We face West looking out over the meadow and highway.


This coming week starts our full schedule and we officially open on Friday for Mother's Day Weekend!  Stay tuned!  You might see Yogi Bear make an appearance here on the blog!

My First Hike Up the Mountain

Yesterday I decided to take my first hike on one of the hiking trails at Jellystone Park.  This trail feeds into a Forest Service road and climbs up the mountainside.  I didn't go up that far, still adjusting to the altitude.  The views were awesome!  I will keep attempting to climb all the way to the top of the mountain.  Here's a picture of the view where I turned around.

I found a local yarn store in Estes Park and went there yesterday afternoon to check it out.  They have lots of interesting things and will be having classes, but I imagine our summer will be busy enough up here that I won't have time to go play.

There is a lake in downtown Estes Park (called Lake Estes) that I will have to get pictures of to send.  There's a four-mile walking/bike path around the lake and fishermen everywhere.  We're about 5-1/2 miles outside of Estes Park on Highway 36.  Lots of elk, rabbits, squirrels, chipmunks, and soon campers!

We Have Arrived

Wayne and I arrived at our home/job for the summer - Jellystone of Estes Park.  The views are gorgeous!

We met Shelly & Rick Spear, the owners, and their two kids, Ellie (age 8) and JJ (age 6).  We have a few days to get used to the 8300 ft elevation and check out our surroundings before we start working.  We are the first set of the Workampers to arrive, three more pairs are coming in later this week.  We will post more so keep watching!

Hello Colorado!

This morning Wayne and I took a drive to Pikes Peak.  It was amazing!  The weather was 60 degrees when we left Colorado Springs and 36 when we reached the summit.  The road is paved the whole way to the top now.  There were a few people up there, but not too many.  

The views were great.  Ziva was a big hit with the people up there.  We even saw the Manitou Springs and Pikes Peak cog railway at the top.  The wind wasn't blowing and it was a delightful up there.  I was a little white knuckled on the drive up (I am not crazy about heights -- guardrails are my friends), but the trip back down wasn't too bad.  

Tomorrow we head to Estes Park and start our summer adventure.  I will keep you updated and post pictures.  Cell phone coverage will only be available if we drive into town, so email will be the best way to keep in touch! 

Dust Storm

Ahh, you got to love spring in New Mexico!  There's dirt in the air all around us, blowing across the road, and wind gusts of 30-40 mph.  Thankfully we are parked in an RV park and not having to be out driving on the interstates in this weather.

This is the view we have when the dirt/wind isn't blowing.  Hopefully today will be the last day of this dust storm.  It's been a fun trip with our RV club, and a great Margarita Party last night.  Monday we head back to Albuquerque to pick up our Jeep from the repair shop and start planning on heading North to our job in Estes Park, Colorado.

Happy Easter!

Since arriving at Enchanted Trails RV Park in Albuquerque, I've been meaning to take pictures of some of the "relics" they have in the park.  These are working campers that you can rent to stay in and they do a great job of maintaining them.

 This combo was made in 1954 - I like how they color-coordinated them! 

This little camp trailer was made in 1959 -- a Winnebago.

They are all situated around a little grassy area with lilac bushes and pink flamingos of course!

Tomorrow we leave for Las Cruces for a week with the RV club we joined.  It was a little cool this morning and threats of wind and thunderstorms later.  Here's wishing everyone a safe and Happy Easter!

See ya'!
 

Spring in New Mexico!

Just when you thought spring had arrived . . . 

you wake up to snow on the ground and more coming down!  There was a total of about 3 inches on the west mesa where we are camping outside Albuquerque.

Ziva thought it was a little too cool to be outside for any length of time!  A little later we stopped by my parents' house and I think this is a great way to showcase snow in the desert:

The sun has come out and it is quickly melting.  The RV park where we are camped lost a lot of branches because the snow was so wet and heavy.  They have started clearing them out.  One of them came down right behind our rig, where our car would have been parked (if we had been home).

So we'll sit back and enjoy watching the snow melt.  Stay tuned for more!

Huntsville, TX

These are the bluebonnets in Steve & Dianne Scariano's front yard in Huntsville, TX.  We spent three days visiting and catching up with Steve & Dianne.  We also washed our rig (took almost a whole day), then Steve helped Wayne install new LED taillights and they look great!  We had a guided tour of Huntsville and it is a great town and I can see why they enjoy living there.  The sunrise this morning before we left was awesome, and you may remember I love sunrises!

Thank you to Steve and Dianne for a delightful visit and great food!  We will be stopping by their home whenever we pass the Huntsville area!  Since Spring arrived early this year we have the added benefit of seeing all the bluebonnets along the highway.  They are an amazing sight.  We are headed back to Albuquerque and just taking it easy.

Winding Down

We will be leaving the Houston area on Sunday and driving a whopping 80 miles to Huntsville, Texas, to visit with the Scarianos.  Steve was in Scouting with Wayne and we had lost touch with them after Katrina.  Thanks to Lauri's investigative abilities, we found him at Sam Houston State University.  We will spend the night in their driveway and depart the next day to head back to Albuquerque.  

Yesterday Wayne and I drove down to Galveston and drove the length of Galveston Island and took a different bridge back over and came back to League City.  It was somewhat foggy when we started out, but it diminished as we went along.  It was fun to see the area and the beaches!

We are looking forward to heading up to Estes Park, Colorado, for our summer job.  We keep looking at their website and all the activities they have planned for the summer.  I'm getting excited about it!

We have one more side trip planned before we head to Colorado.  We will be going to Las Cruces with our Siglo de Oro RV Club.  My folks will be attending it, too, so it will give us a chance to visit.  Hopefully I'll get to see some family and friends while we're down there!

So we'll keep posting (even after we get to Jellystone of Estes Park) and let you know how we're doing!

Picture of Jackson Square in New Orleans -- don't know the people!

French Quarter, New Orleans

Although we have departed the French Quarter RV Resort, I wanted to post a couple of pictures of the fun time we had while there.  We surprised Irene and Snake by being in the resort when they pulled in, and our other friends John and Fran were just across the river at the Naval Base campground.

We had cafe au lait and beignets at the original Cafe du Monde in the French Quarter, rode a buggy around the French Quarter and learned the flavorful history of the area, then had a Po' Boy at one of the better known restaurants down there.  It was a great day and a fun time had by all!  

We are now in League City, Texas, visiting Lauri, Jeff, Charlie, and Teddy.  It's been nice, the weather has mostly cooperated, and we plan a side trip to Galveston, just because we're so close.

After we leave here, we will stop and visit a friend of Wayne's from his scouting days and his wife in Huntsville, Texas.  Then we are headed back to Albuquerque to get caught up on mail, appointments, and get ready to head to Colorado to start our job on May 1st.

We will keep you posted.

Fairview Riverside State Park, Louisiana

The Swamp Trail Boardwalk has this new sign posted at the entrance . . . yes, it does say there are alligators in the area and to use caution.  Trust me, I use caution whenever I walk on this boardwalk, which is just about every day after my exercise walk.  

We will be leaving this great State Park and heading across the lake (Lake Ponchatrain) to spend four nights before we head out to League City, Texas.  We have had a great time in Covington and enjoyed seeing all our family and friends in the area!  We are slowly winding our way to New Mexico and may get there by the first of April -- who knows.  We are enjoying the warm weather here (even though there's all that humidity to go along with it), and don't really want to head back to New Mexico until it decides to warm up there!

Bogue Chitto State Park

Wayne and I are spending two nights at the new Bogue Chitto State Park near Franklinton, Louisiana.  We are one of four campers in the whole park -- except one left today, so now there's only three of us!  It's a well thought out park and definitely a place that we will come back and visit. 


Today I decided to go on the five-mile hike which is the Gorge Run Trail.  It was well marked and scenic . . . until I got to the part in the second picture.  The trail is supposed to go where the tree is leaning.  There was some major flooding in this area two weeks ago when a major storm went through.  A lot of the campgrounds and roads in the lower part of the park (called Bottomland Camping Area) were washed away or still under water.  I backtracked and skirted around a couple of the areas, but met another submerged portion of the trail, so decided to turn around and backtrack.  My hike was four miles, but it was scenic (and muddy).  


We are headed back to Fairview-Riverside State Park tomorrow and will be there until March 13th.  Then who knows what we'll be doing!  Stay tuned.

Camp Avondale

A view of Tigator Lake at Camp Avondale where we have been fortunate enough to spend the past couple of nights and visit with Wayne's buddies at camp.  It's always fun to drive around camp and see all the changes and improvements that have been made since Wayne left.  It was 32 degrees this morning!  BRRR!

Welcoming Committee

A little fuzzy, but this is a small portion of the welcoming committee at the campground we pulled into on Thursday afternoon.  The ducks are bigger than Ziva.  She is leery about going outside when they are close by.  At one point, she thought about chasing one, until he spread his wings and started making a noise and she saw how big he really was, so she turned around and ran back to the door.


We had to hang out at DMJ Enterprises, a Generator Repair shop, to get our non-working generator back to working.  We got it fixed (new starter installed) on Friday.  Now we can dry-camp and know that we have generator power.


So we are in Louisiana for a while and the weather has turned cold and rainy!

On Our Way

Colder weather, here we come!  We are en route from sunny, warm Florida, to cool, wet Louisiana.  Gone are the days of wearing shorts and short-sleeved shirts and back to long pants and jackets.  We have enjoyed the warmth, but are we really ready for the cold again?  Guess we'll have to be!

Everglades National Park

We spent a couple of nights at Everglades National Park on the very southern tip of the mainland of Florida.  I was able to go on a riverboat ride and learned a lot about the area and see some wildlife - such as this baby crocodile.  We saw him on the left bank when we headed out and he was still sunning himself when we returned an hour later.  We had nice weather while there and I am glad we went.


We are now at Lazydays in Seffner, Florida, but will be heading out tomorrow.  We saw several friends from the Alaska RV Tour we went on two years ago.  It was a good time and good food.


We will slowly wind our way up to Covington, Louisiana, to hang out for a little while and see family and friends.  Still heading towards Albuquerque by late March or early April. 


Wayne and I start our summer job at Jellystone of Estes Park, Colorado, on May 1st.  We will be there until October 1st.  If anyone is passing through the area, please come see us!


Florida definitely knows how to do sunsets!

Bye Florida Keys - We Will Miss You

Our last sunset on the Florida Keys was amazing!  The weather was perfect the whole time we were there and I now have a fabulous tan.  This morning was overcast with a slight breeze, which was welcome considering we were dry camping and our generator starter wouldn't work, so we had no air conditioning or ability to run fans while there.  I'm not complaining -- we had a great time.  Everybody left this morning and headed home -- all but 2 of the 14 couples live right in the area and use this rally as a means to get together and visit and have fun.  You wouldn't have believed all the food!  We had a barbecue on Friday night for Jim's birthday (our gracious host), and it included Florida Keys lobster (two lobster tails per person), more shrimp than anyone could eat, chicken for those who couldn't eat or don't like seafood, clam chowder dressing with cranberry/chicken gravy, and assorted salads.  There was chocolate birthday cake to follow.  We met some great people and enjoyed the rally.

We are spending tonight in Florida City, Florida, and tomorrow we will be heading to Everglades National Park where we will be dry camping again for two nights.  I am so thrilled we took the time to travel down to the Keys and see it.  It was beautiful and warm and great time spent with great friends!

Will check back in once we bet to Lazydays and the Alaska Rally!