Thursday, July 31, 2008 Oh My Goodness, did I miss the mark or what? My journal entry yesterday wasn't meant to be discouraging but after receiving a few emails I reread what I had wrote and I must admit that I did not do a very good job at making my point. It actually sounded whiny and I never whine!!! :-) The point was supposed to be that when life is disappointing (which it is no matter what lifestyle you live) that fulltiming is still a great way to live. After all, a bad day RVing is still better than a great day at w*rk. Even though this is not exactly what I had envisioned when we decided to go fulltime we still have the freedom to travel, visit family, and make new friends. Also, with our leased site in Alabama, we are in a great position to make the changes necessary to live "our" fulltime lifestyle even if we can't travel as much as our friends do. Each and every fulltime lifestyle has to be personal and will be different - no two will be the same. We have been reworking our budget for the next twelve months (my pensions will start next August) and we found that between an increasing budget and the impact of the recent down turn in the stock market our IRA will be around $20k less than we had projected. We'll need to replace that money because it is earmarked for upgrading our truck and making the transition back into the mainstream (our "exit strategy"). Hence the comment about putting a roof over our heads and eating when we get old (by the way, we don't plan on getting old any time soon). It will probably take us about three additional years of workamping to replace that money but that will be seasonal J-O-Bs for about four months a year which will leave us two thirds of the year to travel about the country. Further, we do not regret quitting w*rk early and going fulltime in 2006 rather than waiting until I could fully retire in 2009 because no one knows what the future will hold. So, what will be will be and we're not going to worry about it (worrying is like rocking, it gives you something to do but doesn't get you anywhere). Hakuna Matata, from the Lion King, means "no worries for the rest of your days". So, we are going to seek out workamping opportunities during the winter months which will free us up to travel during the summer months. We don't mind sitting in one place for several months during the winter but we get a real bad case of hitch-itch after spending too much time in one place during the summer. Right now we are chopping at the bit to get on the road again. So, yes, we'll need to get a new plan, Stan, but it will be a good plan and we will be happy and content with "our" fulltime lifestyle. Thanks to each and everyone of you who took time to drop me an email. I appreciate it and rejoice in the fact that I have friends who care enough to write me notes of encouragement. Hopefully our paths will cross real soon as we continue Wandering America. Wednesday, July 30, 2008 Boy, it's tough when reality sets in. I just spent the last half hour reading Norm and Linda Payne's website updates and recalled that that is how I had envisioned our fulltime lifestyle would be. It was back in the fall of 2003 that I first discovered See Ya Down The Road and proceeded to read everything that Norm had written from their very beginning way back in 1999. That website is still the "best of the best" when it comes to understanding the fulltiming lifestyle and providing excellent information on where to go and what to see. The Paynes and Emonds are at it again, traveling together throughout Canada and providing wonderful travelogues of their travels while I'm I'm sitting here totally envious. (See Ya Down The Road and Roaming America) The reality is that we can't afford to travel like they do. When we quit w*rking we knew that we would have to workamp for the first few years until my pensions kicked in but what we hadn't anticipated was how fast inflation would escalate. Knowing that there will be a time in the future that we will not be able to continue w*rking; we'll need to "make hay while the sun shines." That means that we will need to continue workamping even after my pensions start to ensure that we will be able to put a roof over our heads and eat once we get old (what is old?). So that means that we will not be able to live a lifestyle identical to Norm and Linda Payne's. So, does that mean life sucks? Not at all!!! We have been able to travel, see our kids and grand kids several times a year as well as other relatives, make tons of new friends, and make a few dollars workamping along the way. It means that we will just have to live our dream a little differently than we had originally planned. However, we do need to get a "new plan, Stan" in that we want to travel more in the summer months and do our workamping during the winter months. One of the best things that happened for us was acquiring the leased site in Summerdale, Alabama. We love the area and enjoy spending time with the folks at Rainbow Plantation so we be able use that as our home base and look for seasonal w*rk in that area. We may have to spend four to six months there each year but it will still allow us to continue doing extended travel. We feel truly blessed and fortunate to be able to live this lifestyle especially in light of the changing economy. So we will be thankful for what we have and be content, after all, life is too short to worry about what can't have. Further more, who really knows what the future will hold so "Hakuna Matata". Tuesday, July 29, 2008 Miss Perpetual Motion arrives today - both Briana and Lola hit the decks running the first thing in the morning and stay that way until they crash in the late evening. Oh my, what a week this will be. It will be fun trying to keep up to both of them and we can't wait to see them again but we know when it is all said and done we'll be one set of tired grand parents. One of the hard things about our life is that our kids are scattered across the country. Sometimes I think how nice it would be to have all our kids and grand kids located in one area of the country. Then when we grow old (or older) we could settle down in that area where we could see all of them each week. They could show up at grandma's and grandpa's each Sunday for a nice roasted chicken dinner and we could play badminton or bocce ball or watch football - a nice Currier and Ives scene. The only thing is that we would have to settle somewhere in the south because these old people don't want to spend long winters in the north (we don't mind seeing sn*w but a little of it goes a long way). Oh well, enough reminiscing about how things were in the "good ol' days". I gotta get ready to go to w*rk. Today I w*rk in Honey Bear Store for a few hours and then guide tubing trips on the Schroon River which is moving quite rapidly with the water level being higher than it was when we arrived in May. See ya later!!! Monday, July 28, 2008 Two years ago today we moved into our RV fulltime. For the next two and a half months we continued w*rking until we "hit the road" on October 14th of twenty oh six. Our little home on wheels has held up pretty well after two years of fulltime use although there have been a few minor issues. So far I have been well able to perform all of the preventive maintenance and repairs required along the way. The biggest issue that we had was the failure of the electric dump valves on the holding tanks. They were replaced with manual dump valves under the warranty and we have had no further problems with them. As you know from reading our past travelogues we have made a lot of renovations to the interior of the coach to make it Home Sweet Home. We still have a couple more projects left to complete this winter and, as time goes on, I'm sure we will think of some more. All in all, we have been happy with our "Little Home on the Highway". Hopefully Big Dawg (our truck) will be ready for release from the hospital today. They will get the new water pump sometime this morning and we are hoping that it will be installed so I can pick up the pick up this afternoon. What ever will be, will be!! It will definitely be ready by tomorrow. Other than grocery shopping we haven't really needed the truck but that doesn't mean that we don't want it sitting in the driveway ready for whatever whim that just happens to pass through our little brains. Tomorrow Briana and Lola arrive for a grand parent fix. Yes, they are bringing their parents with them; as a matter of fact they are allowing them to drive which is a good thing since neither Briana or Lola have their driver's licenses. As always, it will be nice to see them but by Sunday we will be a couple of worn out old grand parents. Last year, if you remember, Miss Energizer Bunny (Briana) was well able to wear out four adults in a matter of hours. Well, this year Miss Lola is also a mobile unit with hands faster than a speeding bullet. This means that there will be two of them to gang up on the same four adults who just happen to be a year older. Lord, help us!!!! Sunday, July 27, 2008 Eleven hours!!!! That's how long the missuss and I slept last night. Friday is one of our late nights and by Saturday evening we hardly have enough energy to toddle off to bed. The idea was to watch TV in bed but the eye lids slammed shut and that was that for the night. Somewhere during the night I had to make a potty run and that's when I turned the TV off. There is only five weeks left but whose counting? Yippee!!! Five more weeks and we are "on the road, again". After visiting with family in New Hampstir and Massachewsets we will be heading for Nick and Terry Russell's Gypsy Journal Rally in Ohio. That will be our first big rally since hitting the road way back in October of 2006. Randy and Terry Guiler will be there as well so we know that we are going to have a great time. I'm sure that we will "bump" into several other people who we know from the various Forums that we that we participate in plus we will get to meet Nick and Terry whose website I have been following since 2003. Needless to say, we are looking forward to the Rally. Yesterday was one of those strange Adirondacks days starting out with beautiful weather in the morning. Then in the afternoon small Thunderstorms started passing through. It would storm for a half hour or so and then the sun would come out for a short while another storm formed. This continued from around 3:00 in the afternoon until mid night and guess what? The weather people are predicting the same thing for today - what fun, yeah, right!!! Saturday, July 26, 2008 Miss J is beginning to feel better but is not quite one hundred percent yet. Hopefully she will be back to "normal" (at least her normal) in a couple of days. In the meantime we are still running on the treadmill of the w*rking life. The truck has been diagnosed with a case of bad water pump and is still in the hospital until Monday when it will get a transplant. The "garage" doesn't think there is any problem with the rear wheel bearings so that is a good thing. While he is there I'm going to have them do the alignment so when September 2nd rolls around we'll be "good to go". The katts and I are doing just fine and hope to stay that way. I am not a very good patient; at least that is what my DW says. I have no idea where that assessment comes from. None of us have time to be sick but when it happens we just have to deal with it. We have a lot of people in the park this weekend. Just as I had thought, more people are staying closer to home this year. Most of our guests are from a within a three hour radius of the campground. One exception was the three Prevosts coaches that we had in here a week ago. People who can afford a couple of million for a motorhome have the money to travel just about anywhere they want. As for the rest of our guests, a lot of them have been in a "funky" mood. I don't know if it is just the way they are normally or if the negative economy is affecting their attitude. We have noticed that the guests this year are more "snarly" then the ones we had last year. For instance, we just had two days of pouring rain with the river being higher now than it was when we got here in May. After the rain there was a lot of standing water throughout the campground and quite a few "campers" insisted that their sites be "pumped out" or they be relocated. The problem is that we are full and there are no sites available for them to move into and as for "pumping out" a site - get real people. In any event, some of these people are just down right nasty so I just walk away - we are not being paid enough to take any "guff" from these types of people. Fortunately it is only 10 to 20 percent of our guests who are this way but that is a far higher percentage than last year. Today I w*rk at the boat rental (that is one of my favorite assignments) and Judy w*rks in GCE (Games, Crafts, and Events). Today is Honey Bear's Big Birthday Bash - Honey Bear is the campground mascot. She makes various appearances throughout the year but is quite prominent during this week of celebration. There will be a birthday celebration with cake and a large birthday card that all the guests can sign. One of the neat things about Lake George Escape is that there is a theme each week with events that correspond. Next week is Western Week and we'll all get dressed up as cowboys and cowgirls. There will be a sheriff who will be arresting the culprits so if ya visit us ya better be good. Friday, July 25, 2008 It's nice to see the sun and clear blue skies after two days of pouring rain. It was kind of nice to just stay inside and do very little but we are outside people and don't like to be couped up for very long. Katie and Alex will be glad to get us out from under pussy foot for a while. Unfortunately today is our Monday and so it is back to w*rk this afternoon. Miss Judy hasn't been feeling to well the past two days. We think that she had some sort of gall bladder "thing". She is better today but still has some pain. Hopefully this will pass quickly and not continue to be a problem. Thank God for prune juice - yuck!!!! We did go out for a while yesterday to pick up an order at Penney's. On the way home the truck got sick - it threw a belt (actually its only belt) off the pulleys. That meant no power steering (that thing "steers like a truck" with out power steering), no power brakes (the brakes worked but it surely took a lot of pressure on the pedal), no generator (last spring we put new batteries in so we had enough "power" to get home), etc. etc.. In any event we got home and I was able to talk with a long time resident from Warrensburg who recommended a good repair facility that will not rip us off. The good news is that we weren't out on the highway towing the RV - that thing would have been a bear to stop without power brakes. While the truck is in getting a new belt installed I'm going to have them check the rear wheel bearings. I've been hearing a noise occasionally that sounds like one of them needs to be replaced. Another thing that needs to be done is a front end alignment so, since the truck is going to be in the hospital, I might as well have that done also. It's only money and the budget is already shot for this year. At least the truck will be in good condition and ready to roll after Labor Day. So, as you can see, fulltime RVers deal with the same issues that everyone else has to face. The only difference is that we don't have familiar surroundings with family doctors or that local garage that we've done business with for years. But, guess what, there are good family doctors in each community and there are honest repair facilities in every town. After all, Judy was able to find a good dentist in Warrensburg that did her bridge work at a reasonable price and has seen her a couple times since at no additional charge. These instances just add to the "excitement" of Wandering America and, to be honest with you, they increase your faith in the Lord as well as trust in your fellow man. Thursday, July 24, 2008 It is still wet and damp outside so it looks like another day of playing inside which is okay with us. Yesterday we did go out for breakfast, that's the meal that we enjoy eating out the most. There's just something about eggs, bacon, hash browns, toast and coffee prepared at a "greasy spoon" dinner. Here in Warrensburg that greasy spoon is called the Luck-E-Star Restaurant. They are a combination of a soft served ice cream parlor in the front and restaurant in the back. Other than a good breakfast they have a decent reasonably priced lunches and dinners as well as excellent deserts. One evening we need to just go over for a cup of joe and a piece of pie - they have several excellent choices. It is almost 8:00 and Miss Judy is still in bed. She has not been feeling well these past two days. She has a pain in her lower chest area just below the rib cage that hurts whenever she moves in a certain way. Also, her acid reflux has begun acting up again so it maybe all part of that. She says it feels like a pulled muscle but can't think of anything that she has done to pull a muscle. If things don't improve this morning then it is off to the doctor with her. Alex doesn't like it when mama doesn't get up in the morning and fix his breakfast - I guess no one else can serve up a dish of kibbles the way mama can. Speaking of the katts, Katie and Alex are in quite a quandary. They are not sure they like having us inside and under foot all day long but they definitely don't like it when we are gone all day either (no one around to do their bidding). So, what to do, what to do? When we are not workamping we are in and out of the house all day long. That way they are able to get most of their bidding done while sneaking in several katt naps along the way. But our current schedule has us out of the house for long periods of time or, with the rain yesterday and today, in the house for long periods of time. And that's just not the katt's meow! Oh well, I guess they will just have to live with the disappointment for a while longer. We are approaching the end of July and that means just one more year before I can officially retire and start collecting my pensions. In looking at our next twelve months' budget in light of increasing prices and hits to our investments it looks like a $6,000 to $7,000 short fall which means that we will have to continue doing some sort of workamping. When we get back to Alabama in October we just may look for some part time J-O-Bs to fill in the gap so we won't have to workamp next summer. We really want to travel next summer rather than sit in one place for four months. The hard part would be that we enjoy "playing" with all of our playmates at Rainbow Plantation but somehow we should be able to balance it all out. If push comes to shove then we can come back to Lake George Escape next summer; it's just that it ties up the entire summer from mid May through August. We'll just have to go over the numbers again and keep searching for alternatives. In light of the current economy and everything thing that other people are facing this is certainly not an insurmountable dilemma. Wednesday, July 23, 2008 The weather is helping to determine our "Saturday" agenda. It is pouring like katts and dawgs this morning and is suppose to continue raining until tomorrow morning. So, we will just lay low and play inside today - what do you wanna bet that a nap will creep into the agenda this afternoon? I'm sure Katie and Alex will give us another Katt Napping demonstration that will have us purring right into never never land in short order (they are experts at it). Miss J will probably work on some of her basket weaving endeavors like beading or quilting while I work on the website. The website is becoming more of a hobby to me than I had anticipated. When I first began it was just going to be a way to record our travel and adventures but now I enjoy "tweaking" it from time to time. There is a major enhancement that I would like to make that will take a little research and a lot of reformatting. It all deals with the pictures and how they are displayed in the travelogues. I have to decide which method I want to use - one is change the layout of the travelogue and use larger pictures while the other is to use "thumbnails" that can be "clicked on" in order to see the full sized pictures. I'll most likely not make any changes until we get back to Alabama but in the meantime I'll experiment with both alternatives. My good friend, Norm Payne, told me to minimize the number of times our readers have to "click" to get to the travelogues. He said that you shouldn't have to click more than twice to get to them. So I have tried to follow his advice and our readers currently have to click once to get to the index and then click on the travelogue they wish to read. Norm has a link to his recent travelogues right on his "Home Page" so his readers can just click once to get to the latest update. This is something that I have been considering as well. I have had a lot of people tell me that Wandering America is an easy site to navigate through which is what I have striven for with Norm's tutelage. I would be more than happy to hear any suggestions from our readers so please don't hesitate to e-mail us - just put the word "Suggestion" in the subject line (we screen our e-mails and delete any that we are not sure about). Well, as the rain continues to come down Alex is demonstrating napping technique right in the middle of the living room floor. It's a bit to early in the morning for us to take a nap, Alex, and the living room floor is a little to hard for us old folks. So, just wait until after lunch and we'll be happy to join you on the nice soft bed (that's where Katie is hiding out with a big smile on her face). Until next time, be careful - the life you save might be mine!!!! Tuesday, July 22, 2008 It was bound to happen sooner or later - in this case later. Our lovely daughter Mary has gotten herself a beau. We don't know a lot about this young man but do know that he w*rks for the Gummint - he is employed by the U. S. Air Force. Knowing our daughter, as we do, we will probably like him because she has good tastes. Her past boy friends have been very nice polite young men (although one wore ear rings) so there is hope for this gentleman as well. When we get back to the Nashville area to see Matt and Jackie's new house, meet our new grand daughter (Kalina), and have a grand daughter (Catia) fix we'll have to check Mary's new boy friend out as well - that's what dads are for, ya know!!!! Katie has decided that she likes to watch the humming birds better than the song birds. We have a humming bird feeder that fastens to the dining room window so guess where Katie likes to perch herself? Yep, right on the dining room table. Katts are not supposed to be on the table but Katie and Alex don't know they are katts so they sit where ever they want to sit. We're just lucky that they like us well enough to let us live here. It is the opinion of most katts that they should own at least one humanoid, if not two. Today is our Friday and we haven't figured out what we are going to do this weekend. Sitting in our reclining chairs outside sounds like an awfully good idea. If the weather holds another kayak trip maybe in the offering, this time a lot shorter - five hours was just a tad bit too long for us. There is also a bike trail that we would like to ride as well as a rodeo that we want to attend. All depends on the weather and our state of mind at the time. Freedom is the ability to live life flexibly without deciding what we are going to do until we feel like doing it. Hmmmm, what ever that means!!!! Monday, July 21, 2008 "As I sit in my chair and contemplate the daily events that take place during our fulltiming journey" I realize that right now our life is pretty boring. It is no different than the countless millions that get up each day, go to work, and waddle home with just enough energy to stuff some food into their faces before toddling off to bed. We knew when we "quit w*rking" that we would still have to w*rk but I have to be honest with you when I say that some days I feel like I should just go get a real J-O-B, Oh yes, I went through this last year at about the same time. We've sat in one place way toooooo looooong and would rather be out playing with our friends but we need to earn at least 25% of our annual budget in order to live this lifestyle. All in all, that is not a bad gig but I'm ready to roll none the less. I think that the real problem is that we need to start thinking of w*rking during the winter months while we are in the south and traveling during the summer months. But, guess what? That probably wouldn't be any better. When we are in Alabama we like to socialize with all of our fulltiming buddies. There's crafts to be done, there's pot luck breakfasts, lunches, and dinners to be eaten, and there's the evening fires with wine to be drunk. To be honest with you, there is just not any time in our schedule for w*rk and that's the rub. So Judy and I were just wondering that if we set a donations jar outside our door if some of you would drop by and make a contribution or two? I don't blame you, I probably wouldn't either. It's kind of hard to feel bad for someone who only has to w*rk four months a year while they play for the other eight months - isn't it? So, we just need to get a new plan, Stan, while we sneak out the back, Jack, and get on the bus, Gus. Okay, I'm done whinning now so it's off to w*rk I go. Saturday, July 19, 2008 Hot, Hazy, and Humid - the Dawg Days of Summer continue. I was listening to some of Lake George Escape's guests as they were telling their kids that it was too hot to go swimming. When it is too hot to go swimming you know it is too hot but I'm not sure where they are coming from because I don't think it is all that hot - a little "sticky" maybe but the temperatures are only in the 80's for Heaven's sake. I certainly can tolerate this a whole lot easy than I can handle 10 below zero (or even 10 above zero for that matter). Yesterday I saw a two Cobras. Yep, they were just sitting on our beach at the boat docks sunning themselves. Cobras are sit-on-top kayaks that are made in California. They are real light weight (a twelve footer only weighs 47 pounds) and they have two "dry" compartments with a "pick up" bed in the back. Not bad looking kayaks that are fairly reasonably priced. You can generally find them at MC Sports stores. And the search goes on!! Well, yesterday was a w*rk day and today is a w*rk day so there is not much new going on here in Cedar Creek land so stay safe, have fun, and keep cool - maybe even go swimming if it's not too hot. ;-) Friday, July 18, 2008 We didn't do very much yesterday but recuperate from our kayak trip. We did do our bi-weekly grocery shopping trip. This, by the way, is working quite well for us in that we have been able to stay within our grocery budget which we reduced from last year's actuals. By going every other week it reduces the amount of extras that get tossed into the shopping basket each month. Yes, we do manage to still buy extras but have been able dramatically reduced the amount of them plus we get plenty of good food to eat. The biggest issue with doing two week's worth of shopping at one time is finding storage space for everything. I went online and looked at the Foreman grills to determine which model I wanted. The choice came down to two models, one had a heat control and timer and the other didn't have any controls. Both had removable grills, which was one of my requirements, and there was a $30 cost difference between the two. I chose the grill with no controls because of size - the "better" one was just too big for the storage space we have for the grill. The plan was to pick it up at Wal-Mart but Miss J wanted to stop at the Mall for some items so we checked at Target and they were on sale for $10 less than Wally World - Ten bucks is ten bucks plus we wouldn't have to carry it around while doing our grocery shopping. One of the problems with grocery shopping at Wal-Mart is the quality of meat and produce so we now go to "regular" grocery stores to pick up those items. Hannaford Brothers had some nice looking haddock (my favorite white fish) and Talipia (another nice tasting fish) as well as some very nice looking tomatoes. Also, the Wal-Mart in Queensbury doesn't carry my favorite cereal and a few other items that we regularly purchase. We're not sure but we think that a Publix has opened in Foley, Alabama; we always enjoyed shopping at Publix when we lived in Georgia five years ago. So, if that's the case, then we will be doing a lot of grocery shopping there whenever we are at Rainbow Plantation. (Note: Miss Judy went online and the new Publix opened in Orange Beach - ah, shucks!) We're in "crisis"!! Do you remember way back in Tuesday's entry that I talked about the use of the word "crisis"? There is the energy crisis, there is the housing crisis, there is the food crisis, and now, according to Al Gore, we are in a climate crisis. I guess we had better all go lay on the shrink's couch for a while in order to get our lives back in order, after all, just how long can we continue to live in "crisis"? Also, the news says that oil prices have "plummeted". Go figure, oil prices have more than doubled over the past eight months and now the price of a barrel drops by $10 and the news thinks it has "plummeted". Now here's my question, "How come the price of a barrel can go up a dollar or two and the price at the pump jumps up immediately but when the price of a barrel 'plummets' by ten bucks the price at the pump just sits there?" I don't know the answer but, according to the oil people and politicians, we aren't being "gouged" so that should make us all feel a little better when we go to bed each night. Anyway, now that I've got that out of my system, after shopping we just took it easy by sitting outside while reading and watching a little television. Then I grilled the haddock with some frozen broccoli on the Foreman grill. It was delicious but I let it cook a little too long and it stuck to the upper grill plate making a mess when I opened the grill. I can see that timing is an important issue when cooking fish on a Foreman grill but Yum, Yum. Thursday, July 17, 2008 Wow, what a woman! She is wife, She is a mom, she has had a career, and now she has run class II rapids on a kayak. Yep, Miss Judy, the none swimming housewife from Michigan, ran the class II rapids like a pro and there isn't even any nail prints in the sides of the kayak. We kayaked the Schroon River with Don and Debra who are fellow workampers here at Lake George Escape. Don went through the rapids first, Judy followed, then I went through in the Kay-Noe, and Debra followed last. I almost dumped the Kay-Noe when I hit a rock but not Miss Judy - she looked like she had done this type of thing all of her life. I wish I could have taken her picture but I was pretty busy at the time. We hit the water at a sister campground (Lake George - Schroon Valley), which is about 8 miles up the road, at 12:15 and it took us exactly 5 hours to paddle "downstream" to our campground. We stopped three times, once to have lunch and twice to rest, which probably used 45 minutes to an hour of time. Other than a couple of areas with rapids we had to paddle the entire twelve plus miles as the current was extremely slow. It was fun and I am happy to report that Miss Judy likes kayaking (but not five hours of it at a time - that was a bit much). The Schroon is an extremely beautiful river because it has remained pretty much rustic with lots of scenic views along the way - truly an Adirondack experience. One that we will cherish forever since it is the beginning of our kayaking adventure. Don and Debra have some really nice kayak paddles. Debra let Judy try hers which has an ergonomic design and is a lot lighter than the ones we borrowed from the campground. I liked the Kay-Noe but now know that we want sit-on-top kayaks instead. So we will continue to shop for a couple kayaks, some good kayak paddles, and a method of carrying them while towing the fifthwheel. While I'm at it, I might as well look for some money to buy these new toys (there ain't any in this year's budget that's for sure, however, donations will be accepted if anyone cares to contribute to the Kayak Fund :-) ). In any event, kayaking now replaces canoeing in our hobby list and we look forward to many more trips in our future as we continue Wandering America. Wednesday, July 16, 2008 Just a short entry this morning 'cause we are getting ready to go on a kayak day trip. We need to get the kayaks ready, pack some water and lunch, and grab a few items to take with us - camera, sun block, a couple of first aid items, etc. Then we will truck the kayaks up the river and spend the day returning to Lake George Escape. We are not sure how long it will take us or how many miles we will travel. The river is like a snake's back so we figure we will travel no less than 12 miles which will take us four or more hours. Ahhhh, kayaking - you can almost see the smile on my face. You can count on hearing more about the trip tomorrow. Tuesday, July 15, 2008 The three H's are beginning to set in today and will hang around for the next few days. The three H's are Hot, Hazy, and Humid. I remember well these kind of days from my childhood up here in the northeast. We used to refer to them as Dawg Daze 'cause dawgs would get real touchy during this kind of weather. Even extra friendly fido could become snappy during these days. While we are on the topic of snappy; it has been noted by no less than four of us workampers that the guests here at Lake George Escape have been more snarly this year than last. I don't know if it's the economy with higher prices due to the price of oil or what the issue is. We have had two fights in the park this past week resulting in management "throwing out" a couple of camping families and having to have the police and an ambulance in for the other fight. Combine this attitude (or whatever) with the Dawg Daze coming up this weekend and we could have a few tempers flaring. We don't get paid enough as workampers to deal with this kind for sh--, so we won't. So, we'll just have to deal with it like my grandmother dealt with the dawg, "Go lie down, Rex!" Have you noticed that the word crisis is being used a lot on the TV news? We have an oil crisis, a mortgage crisis, a food crisis, and on and on. Television news does their share of promoting crisis just so they have something to talk about. I remember several years ago they started by predicting a "housing bubble". There was no "housing bubble" and there is still no "housing bubble" but where there's smoke . . . . The real issue was banks writing bad mortgages and financial institutions accepting bad credit (they issue credit cards to dead people for Heaven's sake). Overall there is nothing in this economy that should make it anything but good. We have world wide markets clamoring for goods and services which means the economy should be expanding. Yes, oil supplies are diminishing but nothing has happen over the last eight or nine months that should have caused the price of oil to double (nothing except greed across the entire oil spectrum from OPEC to the pump). In the long run this maybe a good thing. We needed something to kick alternate energy research into gear. It's obvious that Gummint ain't gonna do anything about the situation so now there just might be enough incentive for the free enterprise system to take over - one can only hope!! In any event, I predict a quick recovery to this "recession" and a strong world wide economy in the future. So don't panic, turn off the TV and go biking, canoing, or hiking and get some fresh air - things will look better in the morning. Monday, July 14, 2008 We have managed to get to "our Thursday" and certainly feel a lot better than we did last week at this time. It has been "steady" but not overwhelming which has given us some relief as we were extremely tired after the Fourth of July weekend. Hopefully we'll be up for a long kayak trip that we are planning for Wednesday. We are going to transport four kayaks up the Schroon River where we will put in and paddle back to the campground. We'll be going with Don and Debra who are fellow workampers from Michigan. We are not sure how many miles we will travel, that all depends on where we "put in" but it will be no less than 12 miles (but don't tell Miss Judy). I will be "scouting" the river for possible canoe trips to offer to our guests here at Lake George Escape for next year. I told my department manager that if we established some river trips I would volunteer to guide them. I know, it's a sacrifice but I guess I'm just a glutton for punishment. Can you guess whose birthday it is today? I will tell you that it is not Katie's or Alex's or Judy's - that ought to narrow it down just a little for you. So it is Happy Birthday to me!!! Yep, I maybe chronologically another year older but I'm still a Toys-R-Us kid. So, you maybe asking, "What didja get for your birthday?" To which I will answer, "Nothing yet, but on Thursday (while we are doing our grocery shopping at Wally World) I will be getting a new George Foreman Grill." I've been wanting one for a while and our old electric BBQ grill is getting pretty nasty so it is time to replace it. I bet you were thinking a Kay-Noe, nope, not this year - maybe next year when I hit the age of majority!! The price of fuel maybe escalating but we've still only spent $75 for diesel since June 4th and not only that we still have a quarter of a tank left. The fact that we don't have to drive to w*rk, that we can canoe and kayak right out of our back yard, and that we have a shuttle to take us into Lake George Village has certainly saved us a couple hundred bucks that would have otherwise gone to the oil speculators. Of course, we haven't done any sightseeing yet and are planning several day trips over the next month but we'll take a few dollars of savings where ever we can get it. Saturday, July 12, 2008 It has happened just as we knew that it would. Our commitment here at Lake George Escape is half over and we have a bad case of hitch-itch. We've looked at the same trees and scenery long enough and we are ready to roll. Marc, Amie, Briana, and Lola will be coming for a visit at the end of this month so we have that to look forward to but after that we will definitely be ready to hit the road. However, summer will be over before we know it. Speaking of hitting the road, there have been so many advancements in the class B and class C motorhomes that we started looking at them as possible replacements for our fifthwheel once we give up the fulltime status. With family scattered across the country we will always travel but it would be nice to have something small enough to park in someone's driveway without taking up the whole front yard. Now don't think we'll be coming "off the road" anytime soon but we've been seeing various rigs pulling into the campground which has led us to look at them on the internet. Forest River, the manufacturer of our fifthwheel, has a nice class B+ called the Lexington which has caught our attention. We would like to see the 255DS up close and personal; at 26 feet long with two slideouts it looks like it would be a comfortable rig for extended travel and small enough to park almost anywhere. We still have several day trips that we want to take over the next seven weeks. There are two museums we want to visit, a rodeo we want to attend, a kayak trip on the Schroon river, and a couple of bike trips we would like to take. Plus we do enjoy going into Lake George Village on Wednesday evenings for the "Concerts in the Park". So there is plenty to keep us busy for the rest of the summer. Friday, July 11, 2008 It was close to 5:00 in the afternoon before we started feeling "human" again. Wow, that Fourth of July weekend/week really took a lot out of us. Hopefully this w*rk week will be a little more "slow paced". Physically we were both worn out and would have liked another day off to recoup, but today is Monday for us and so it starts all over again - slowly, please, slowly. Yesterday I did get the windows washed, the bird feeders back up, the awning out, and the water filter changed. Judy did three loads of laundry and some house cleaning. Then we sat outside and read - Miss J took a twenty minute katt nap with Katie and Alex while I stayed outside reading magazines and the newspaper. We talked about biking and then we talked about kayaking but we just continued to sit there - our ambition level did not match our aspirations. Finally, around 4:00, we still couldn't muster up much energy or the desire to play with the stove so we went over to the Woodland Grill for a Philly Cheese Steak sandwich - boy, those things are good and they are big enough that Judy and I can buy one and split it. It comes with french fries and we order two sodas to go with it - cost $5.82. The enjoyment - priceless!!! Once we got some food in our stomachs we began to feel a little more rejuvenated. So we came home and sat outside and watched the news followed by Wheel. Around 8:00 we came inside and sat and talked for a little while longer then we hit the hay around 9:00. Did you notice a common thread running through our daily activities? "We sat!" Yep, some days are just like that, yeah they are!!!! Thursday, July 10, 2008 Well, guess what? I didn't get all of that stuff done yesterday. You didn't think I would, did you? I did get the house washed but still need to put out the awning, wash the windows, and hang up the bird feeders. Katie and Alex are not happy that the bird feeders are down and the birds are showing up looking for their breakfast. I'll make that the first thing I do. You know the old saying, "If the katts aren't happy, then no one is happy." Yesterday was a rainy, hot, humid day but I just kept washing the RV anyway figuring that I would wash and God would rinse. We did go out to dinner and then to the "Concert in the Park" with Thurman and Phyllis. Shepherd's park has a cute little ampi-theater with good acoustics and last night's band was very good. We took our lawn chairs and sat them out at the top of the hill which provided us with "great seats" with just the right volume - we could hear the music without being blasted out of the theater. Today we're just going to stick around home while continuing to do our chores as well as taking time to just relax. I'll tell you what!!! We've gotten to the age where it takes more than a couple of days to recover from a week like the one we just went through. Tonight we are going to the fireworks in Lake George Village. Actually, we are not going into the village. There is a "Park and Ride" area on I-87 that sits on top of a hill and overlooks the village. It provides an excellent vantage point to see the fireworks without having to enter the village as parking is always a problem. Plus this will keep us out of the traffic after the fireworks are over. Other than that, there's not much else going on in the Patterson household, so until next time . . . . . . Wednesday, July 9, 2008 Mr. Alex was a good little kitty and let us sleep in this morning. Miss J arose just before seven and Katie and I rolled out around seven thirty. I must say it was nice to sleep in but I still got out of bed with an aching body - what's up with that? Old age is not for sissys! Well, here's the agenda for the day - Drink several cups of coffee, put up the awning, wash the house, wash the truck, wash the dawg (oops we don't have a dawg), and tune up our bikes. And then after lunch - yeah, right, there's no way I'll get all of that done before lunch. The way I move I'll be lucky to get it done before bed time. If the weather holds we are going to take the shuttle into town with Thurman and Phyllis to enjoy a country band at Shepherd's Park. Lake George Village has free concerts every Wednesday night with professional performers and on Thursdays they have band music presented by local bands followed by fireworks. Bolton Landing also has concerts in the park on Thursday evenings with local groups. Ya gotta just love these small towns. It makes for an inexpensive enjoyable evening with friends. Here's an update on the Kay-Noe that I was drooling over at Dick's Sporting Goods. The campground bought two of them to be used by the guides on the tubing trips so I have had the opportunity to use them several times. I like them!!! They are very stable and exceptionally easy to paddle and control. The Kay-Noes are more responsive than regular canoes while turning around (not quite as responsive as a kayak) and track very well for a 12 foot canoe. Now, having said that, they are cheaply outfitted. The seats will not stand up to a lot of abuse and there are several other little modifications that I would make, however, considering the price of the Kay-Noe which is $400 and less than a hundred dollars in outfitting you would have a great little canoe that would compare to Old Town's Stillwater canoe which sells for $900. Tuesday, July 8, 2008 TGIF. This has been a busy week and we are now ready for some time off. Two days won't be enough to get rested, do our chores, and do something fun but we'll have to make it do. The weather has been perfect and the Adirondacks are just so beautiful that they are calling to us to come out and play. It's hard to sit and do nothing when there is so much to do. If you are into back packing and hiking then the Adirondacks are for you. There are thousands of miles of hiking trails from easy to hard that can accommodate the novice to the expert hiker. If you are into bicycling then the same thing holds true with bike routes all over the 6 million acres. There are a ton of canoeing and kayaking opportunities as well as white water rafting along the hundreds of rivers that flow through the Adirondack Park. Further, there are some of the most beautiful, clearest lakes in the world here in the Adirondacks so it is just plain hard to sit and do nothing while being surrounded by all of these opportunities. As for chores, I hate, with a capital H, black streaks on our house and we have some that need to be eliminated. So that means that I need to give the house a bath as well as the truck who has been sitting and collecting dust (but not burning any diesel fuel). Then I want to tune up our bicycles for a bike trip on Thursday. That's a lot to do in one day - do you think I can pull it off? I hope so because Miss Judy is chomping at the bit to go on a bike tour. ;-) I wish we had three days off because I would like to go on another kayak trip, I guess that will just have to wait another week. :-( To think about it, I wish we had four days off because I would like a day to just sit and read. I guess it comes down to what I have said before - we just don't have time for a J-O-B. To bad money doesn't grow on trees 'cause there are a lot of trees in the Adirondacks. Monday, July 7, 2008 Whew, the long weekend has ended. Both Judy and I feel like we have been rode hard and put away wet. They came, they brought their kids, they brought their dawgs, they brought their toys, they had their fires, they ate their smores, and hopefully they had a great time. Now, please go home!!!! And don't let the gate hit you in the rear end cap on your way out. We need rest and we need it now!!! This past weekend was a sudden burst of activity with the likes of which we have never seen while workamping. We had to have had close to 3,000 people in the campground and the weather was absolutely beautiful which means our guests were outside wanting to do everything. On top of our normal routine was the southern fried chicken picnic lunch on Saturday that was "manned" by our department and added to our already busy w*rk assignments. We w*rked, we ate, and we slept then got up and did it all over again but we made it and we are still alive, barely! Even though we w*rked hard we had a lot of laughs as well. Did you know that some people shouldn't even be allowed to drink water, let alone be near it? We had people who didn't know a canoe from a rowboat or which end of the paddle to hold go to the Honey Bear Store and rent boats. I saw more boats upside down this weekend than I have ever seen in my life ("People, the swimming area is up around the corner!"). I saw boats drifting downstream as the participants just managed to paddle themselves in circles ("Don't forget to drop us a post card from Manhattan when you get there!"). A guy who would have easily made three of me showed up wanting to rent a canoe for himself and five children (all of who were on their way toward looking like him). "How many people can you put in a canoe?" "We rent them by the pound, sir." "Well, how many pounds will a canoe hold?" "A canoe will hold 600 pounds but it has to be evenly distributed." I wanted to say, "Sir, why don't you just rent two electric boats and we can put a cheek in each boat, you'll just have to steer with both hands." Be nice, Darrell. They ended up renting three canoes and we watched them head upstream with the water right up to the gunnels. We had so many boats in the water that at one point, when I looked upstream, it looked as if Indians were about to hit the beach. I began to get a little feel of how Custer must have felt. The other problem was that the swimming beach, which is about a quarter of a mile upstream from us, had so many people in the water that the boats couldn't get past without running over them. There are signs telling people not to swim outside the roped off area but who can read when you're on vacation? Besides, there were just way too many people in the swimming area in order for them to stay inside the ropes. In any event it just added to the "boat" congestion in that area of the river. Now add to all of that the people who brought their own canoes, kayaks, and tubes (I won't even mention the people trying to fish); to say the river was busy would be an understatement. We have two more days of w*rk this week and the campground is still fairly full so we'll continue to be busy. Rain is predicted for today so that should slow things down a little and allow us to catch our breath. The rest of the summer will stay busy but relatively calm; hopefully we can keep our sanity. Yup, everyone in Fun and Games earned their badge of honor this past weekend. Hope you all had a nice and safe Fourth of July weekend. Saturday, July 5, 2008 Are we having fun yet? Wow, yesterday was way too much w*rk for us old workampers. The campground is full, which means over 2500 people, and we were flat out busy all day serving the guests. There is a ton of "goings on" all over the campground with lines of people waiting to take their turn. Waiting in line would not be my idea of a vacation but keep in mind that most of these people come from populated areas where waiting in line is a way of life so our relatively short lines don't phase them in the least. But, in any event, Miss Judy and I woke up tired this morning and had to literally peel ourselves off the sheets. Today the campground continues the 4th of July celebration by hosting a huge family picnic. That adds more responsibilities to the Fun and Games Department but it is still a lot of fun (but a lot of fun can wear you out fast!). There will be hot dawgs and hamburgers with all the side dishes that accompany them. There will be games and competitions along with face painting and other crafts available to ensure that everyone has a good time. Yes, we are tired but it gives us a good feeling to know that we have participated in helping people create good family memories ("Remember the time we went to Lake George Escape and did _ _ _ _? What a great time, we should do it again.") If we have to w*rk, and we do, helping others enjoy themselves is at the least meaningful w*rk. Judy and I had the same Lupper break yesterday (we don't always) and what did we have for Lupper? Why, hot dawgs, of course! The 4th of July wouldn't be the 4th of July without hot dawgs. Hot dawgs, more than any other food, is one of the iconic symbols of the 4th of July. They are right up there with the flag, the parades, and the fire works. How can you celebrate the 4th without eating a hot dawg? Actually, we ate two. ;-) Friday, July 4, 2008 "Happy Birthday to us, Happy Birthday to us, Happy Birthday dear America, Happy Birthday to us." Yes, today is America's 232nd birthday. Wow, she's an ol' gal alright but still looking pretty good for her age. Oh sure, there are a few wrinkles here and there but she's still the greatest country in the world and I can't think of another place that I would rather live. A special thanks to our forefathers for their dedication to the principles of freedom and liberty and a great big thank you to all those who have sacrificed in order to protect those rights. We need to be truly grateful for the privilege of living in America. So, what are you going to do to celebrate the Fourth? Miss J and I are going to be w*rking ensuring that the guests of Lake George Escape have a good weekend. I will be driving the shuttle into Lake George this evening which could be challenging with all the goings on in the village tonight. Fortunately for us they have fireworks in the village every Thursday night for the rest of the summer so we will get to see them later. The Fourth of July congers up pleasant memories from my past. The Riley family had a family picnic at Lake St. George in Liberty, Maine every year. There were hot dawgs and hamburgers and steamed clams and potato salad and baked beans and potato chips and strawberry/rhubarb pies and cherry pies. Yum, yum. We always had inner tubes to use for swimming while moms and dads would sit around on blankets chatting away and laughing. My grandpa and grandma were on hand to preside over the happenings of the day. The Riley clan was made up of ten kids (five boys and five girls) so there were plenty of aunts and uncles and cousins on hand for the festivities. That night there would be fireworks in Belfast that dad, mom, my brother Mike and I would attend. Vendors would be on hand to ensure that Mike and I would get our annual dosage of cotton candy. What a great times and what great memories. Happy Fourth of July to you all. Thursday, July 3, 2008 So, what did we find to do yesterday. Well, let me say this about that; w*rking five days in a row wears one out more than we care to admit, therefore, our ambition level never rose to expectation. First we went to the Lucky Star diner for breakfast after which we drove into Lake George Battlefield Park so that I could get the pictures I needed for June's Travelogue which I will publish later today. Then we took a drive up along the east side of Lake George where we found a farm market with fresh strawberries - a weakness of Miss Judy, she just loves her fresh strawberries. Finally we came home and just sat outside and enjoyed the beautiful weather. Thurman and Phyllis, fellow workampers, came over and joined us for awhile and a new idea was hatched. At 5:00 the four of us took the shuttle into Lake George where we had a pizza at Capri Pizza (our favorite New York style pizza joint). The four of us ended the day at Shepherd's Park listening to the free concert which was a Latin Jazz Band. They were good but not really our kind of music so we "shuttled" on back to the campground and before we knew it it was time for la-la land. We had great plans of kayaking or biking or going for a walk in the woods or something but we got a late start and, like I said, our ambition level was just not very high. One of the benefits of this lifestyle is that you can do absolutely nothing if you feel like and that's pretty much how we felt yesterday. Today won't be quite as exciting as yesterday - we have grocery shopping to do. "Ya gotta eat", ya know? Wednesday, July 2, 2008 We managed to make it through our five day w*rk week but, boy, were we tired! It was almost 8:00 when I got up and Miss J was still "cutting wood", she didn't roll out of bed until 8:30. We have the next two days off to get rested up, go grocery shopping, and do a day trip. Today is going to be the best day this week with low humidity, clear skies, and temperatures in the mid 80's so we'll definitely be outside doing a combination of things. You'll have to tune in tomorrow to see what decided to do - until then . . . . . . Tuesday, July 1, 2008 Miss Kalina Marie Patterson made her debut into this world this morning at 1:53 AM - This is grand daughter number four and she will reside with her parents in Murfreesboro, Tennessee. Now tell me, does Miss Judy look like a grand mother? (Ya gotta 50-50 chance to get the answer to that one right!!!) Anyway, congratulations to us; we can't wait to get our hands on her. Today is our Friday and I must say we are tired. W*rk maybe play but play can wear one out. As you recall, part of my w*rk for yesterday was to try out the new Kay-Noe on our tubing trip. It was "sweet"!!!! It handles nicely, it is light weight, and it is shorter than the other canoes we have been using. I certainly wouldn't mind owning one but it doesn't compare to the Sit-On-Top kayaks that we have tried lately. However, rather than buying kayaks this year we have decided to contribute a large sum of our money to the oil companies. They may go broke and heaven knows we wouldn't want to see that. Speaking of the fuel companies, what else is over $4.00 a gallon? Yep, milk is $4.37 a gallon. Do you suppose we'll see a barrel of milk hit the $150 mark this summer? Oh well, Mooo-ving right along; one thing I haven't heard about lately is the "Cost of Doing Nothing Index." With the impact of increased fuel costs and increased medical costs the cost of doing nothing must be going up as well. So I guess we'll just have to not "do nothing" and keep on doing something - it's more fun that way. There's no sense worrying about it because worry causes stress and stress causes crying and we all know that "there is no crying in fulltime RVing." Like any new year, you enter in with hope and anticipation of good things coming to past. Judy and I don't make New Year's resolutions but we do want to improve some of our daily habits in order to ensure that we remain healthy. As many of you know, I carry around extra unneeded pounds that make me look a little fat - oh alright, a lot fat! We have been changing our diet over the past year and now eat pretty healthy foods, however, it is now time to start concentrating on portion control and reduce our "eating out" (that would help our budget as well as my girth). I love to sample local cuisine (or any cuisine for that matter) but restaurants put way too much on the plate and I eat it all - after all there are starving kids in India. |