Saturday, August 30, 2008 All that's left to do is wash the truck, everything else has been accomplished. Monday afternoon we will go through our check list to ensure that everything is ready for "take off". When I used to fly I would follow a checklist and never, never, never left anything to memory. I wanted to know that I knew that every item was checked and/or double checked - well, we have adopted that same philosophy for readying the RV for take off. We go through the coach packing, stowing, putting away, and then we take the check list and go through it item by item. That way we know that we know everything has been correctly accomplished and that the coach is road ready. The park is full again this weekend which means that we will be extremely busy. Whenever you have two to three thousand people stuffed into 175 acres your going to be busy. I don't know if it is "herd mentality" or what but it seems that if one person rents a boat then three, four, five, or more show up to rent boats. We can be sitting there with absolutely nothing to do and then, all of a sudden, we are up to our kiesters in boats. It's the same with pedal carts as well. Not one cart is being rented and then, all of a sudden, there's a line waiting for you to issue them carts. Somehow I think we need to find a way to "level load the line" - I know, now my old manufacturing hat is coming out of the closet. Friday, August 29, 2008 It's here, it starts today, the final week here at Lake George Escape. Four more days, this will be a short w*rk week. Today we w*rk the late shift (noon to 10) and then it is down hill from here. We are ready to go but the summer has sped on by. I hate to see our lives pass so fast but we are looking forward to getting on the road again. Yesterday was shopping day at Walmart* and then we just continued working on our "to do" list. We are down to about an hour's worth of work of organizing things and washing the truck. We'll leave the patio rug out to keep from tracking dirt into the house and put it away Monday afternoon. We'll, also, wait until Monday to put the bikes on the rack as we use them everyday to get around the campground. Since we don't own any kayaks we don't have to put them away (not yet anyway!!). Katie and Alex are beginning to sense something is about to happen. They know the drill and when they see things being put away they know they are about to go for a truck ride. Katie doesn't mind riding but Alex has been known to put up a protest. Hopefully he is looking forward to getting on the road with the southland as our final destination. Speaking of the southland, hopefully the hurricane season will be kind to our homeland this year but Gustuv is heading our way. Pray that God takes the wind out of his sails before he reaches land along the Gulf of Mexico. Well, that's it for now - may God bless. Thursday, August 28, 2008 It's always tough to say good bye to a good close friend but that's just what Judy and I had to do yesterday. I have enjoyed the friendship and the company of this good friend since our arrival back in May and I found it very difficult to say good bye to Mr. Schroon River. I've spent many an hour kayaking that river and yesterday Judy and I spent another three hours kayaking eight more miles. It was a perfect day, not too hot but nice and sunny with absolutely clear blue skies. Judy and I have now paddled about a third of the 45 mile long river (some portions many times) and have enjoyed every mile of it. Good bye, my friend, good bye. I borrowed Rudy's Sit-On-Top Ocean Kayak for the trip and all I can say is, "I gotta get one of these!!!" Judy and I have both decided that we enjoy kayaking even more than biking so we will be trying to figure out how to buy (buy has a big mouth, pay has a little one) two sit-on-top kayaks. Ocean Kayak tends to be about $200 more than Wilderness Systems or Perception so I will need to do my homework to determine if that cost is justifiable or just paying for the name. But, in any event, kayaks are in our future now all we have to do is beg, borrow, or steal the money. I guess we'll just have to wait until we get out west to see a rodeo. It has been on our agenda all summer long but I guess it just never got high enough on the agenda list to actually happen. Last spring Randy and Terry went to a rodeo in Robertsdale, Alabama (not far from Rainbow Plantation) so maybe we'll have to attend that one, anyway, somewhere down the road we'll get to attend a rodeo, We had a free pass for a dinner for two at the Woodland Grill so it was off to dinner last night. We had a chicken quesadilla and a marinated portabella mushroom with cheese sandwich, fries, two diet sodas, and two HUGE hot fudge sundaes. YUM, YUM!!!!! It was a great meal but we ate waaaaaaay too much, especially the hot fudge sundae which was one of the best I've ever had in my entire life. We "shant" do that again anytime soon!!!!! Oh yes, I did get the awning washed yesterday as well. Between today, tomorrow morning, and Saturday morning we will have everything ready to roll on Tuesday morning. Wednesday, August 27, 2008 This is our last weekend before we hit the road. Today I will be driving Miss Judy - shopping that is. We need to get our shopping list together and stock the shelves for the traveling mode. Once we get to New Hampshire we'll shop at one of our favorite grocery stores, the Market Basket. They have good produce, fresh meats, reasonable prices, and no sales tax. The "to do" list is pretty short now - outside I need to wash the awning, wash the rig above the awning and slideouts, and wash/clean the truck. Inside we just need to "stash" stuff for travel and then it will be away we go!!! It will be nice to have a couple of days off just to relax, do chores, and do a couple of things (rodeo and kayaking). Relax is the first thing on the agenda; we had several "kids" in our department this year and they have begun returning to college which means that we old fogies must pick up some additional duties. This equates to more hours each week so we are more than ready to have a weekend. Hey Speedy, we're just like you - going to w*rk everyday and being left with two days to get all our running around accomplished just so that we can go back to w*rk again!!! Monotonous isn't it :-) !!! One last thing that we'll probably do today is take a nap. We were up until mid night last night and Mr. Alex decided that we should be up at 5:00 this morning. He kept jumping up on the bed, walking up next to Judy, around the top of her head, and then hopping up on top of me while purring loudly. We were tired enough that it took him four trips before we finally rolled out of bed at 6:45. Cute kitty, isn't he? There's no snooze button on a katt who wants his breakfast. Well, that's the way it is for today. Tuesday, August 26, 2008 Yesterday went off without a hitch, however, it felt like a fall day - cool, crisp, and clear. I hope fall is not setting in early as we have several weeks left up here in the "north country" before making our way south. We got an email from my aunt saying that my uncle is recuperating at home and that they would like us to come and stay as long as we can. I'm sure that we can be a help if we can get my aunt to just sit and not wait on us. In any event, our plans are firming up but, as always, they are carved in putty and subject to change at a moments notice. Today is a repeat of yesterday but at least it is our Friday. Over the "weekend" we have shopping to do, packing the inside of the RV to finish, and washing/cleaning the truck. As usual, I'm hoping to get one last kayaking trip in before leaving here one week from today. Maybe, we'll get to go to the rodeo as we haven't done any day trips this month and it would be nice to have that one last fling before pulling the anchor. I guess that is it for today so - Take Care, Have Fun, and God Bless. Monday, August 25, 2008 Well. this is it - the last week of work here at Lake George Escape and it will be a busy one. Families are out for their last hurrah before their fall routine sets in. I can't believe how busy boat rentals and the tubing trips have been. And Honey Bear's Store has been turned into a zoo!!! The pedal carts have been busy as well, the kids just can't get enough pedal cart time and maintenance has been running pedal carts through their garage almost as fast as a Daytona 500 pit crew. Finally, the rains have left us bringing in some great August weather - sunny, warm (you know, those lazy hazy crazy days of summer). Yep, there are now happy campers in the Adirondacks. Miss Judy and I are still ironing out our fall travel plans. We've painted the picture in broad strokes but now have to start looking at the finishing touches. Reservations have been made for Seven Maples Campground in Hancock, New Hampshire but we are not sure what we'll do about the Cape. My uncle is pretty sick and we may just go for a day visit rather than spending a week. We don't want to tire him or my aunt out - they feel they have to be responsive to guests and they have enough on their plate without us adding to it. Judy checked with Artillery Ridge Campground in Gettysburg and they have a few sites left but we need to decide what days we are going to be there so we can make reservations. With the RV show in Hersey as well as the fall tours going through the area there won't be any sites available if we linger much longer. Generally we don't make reservations but this time around we figure we had better or else we'll be spending a few nights along side the road. Well, that's it for today - it's back to boats and shuttle for me and back to Honey Bear's Store for Judy. We both w*rk until 10:00 tonight (tough on us morning folks!!!). Saturday, August 23, 2008 Yesterday it was back to w*rk for us so there isn't really anything new to report. I wish I were out on the river in a Kay-Noe just idling my time away but I'm not. I will be at boats today which is one of my favorite J-O-Bs and I will only w*rk a five our shift. Miss J, however, gets to w*rk in Honey Bear's Store and she gets to w*rk eight hours. We'll both be home this evening which will be nice, late nights are killers for us (we are not night owls and for the last week here at Lake George Escape we both have three late nights - ugh!). Needless to say we'll be ready for it all to end and to hit the road. Hopefully we'll be able to stay awake while we are driving down the road. We are still firming up our plans for the trip west to the Gypsy Journal Rally. Our plans include a trip to Lancaster and Gettysburg, Pennsylvania as well as to the RV show in Hersey. We'll probably hook up with Randy and Terry on that Wednesday and go to the show because it is senior day (half price) - too bad Terry is tooooooooo young! ;-) So we will be going to New Hampshire for a grand daughter fix, to Cape Cod to visit my aunt and uncle as well as do some sightseeing, and then onto to Pennsylvania before arriving at the Rally. Sounds like a fun trip, can't wait to get started. Friday, August 22, 2008 Yesterday was an absolutely positively most perfect wonderful day. After doing the morning journal entry and downing several cups of home brewed java Miss Judy and I "hit the hay" for another two and half hours sleep. Can you imagine that? Judy wasn't feeling all that great so I suggested that she go back to bed but she hemmed and hawed. I then said, "You know? I feel a little tired myself, how 'bout I lay down with you?" That did the trick - my wife, she's such a girl! Once we both attained our beauty sleep (some of us need more of that than others) we got up and went kayaking. The river was just beautiful with the sun shining high above and the skies just as blue as they could be - "not a cloud in the sky," as they say. Being a Thursday there weren't many people on the river so it was just nice and quiet and peaceful. Being that the river is higher than normal for this time of year we had to paddle upstream against the current but coming back we just put our kayaks together and held hands letting the river carry us along. Ahhh, that's the way life is supposed to be. When we got back from kayaking we took a little bike ride around the campground to see how many sites were empty. Surprisingly enough the park was quite full for this time of the week. We got home and sat and watched some of the Olympics for a while and then I had a great idea. Why not have a fire and cook some hot dawgs over it? Of course, we didn't have any hot dawgs (those are the forbidden fruit, ya know?) but the lodge had plenty. So, the two of us sat around the fire, cooked couple dawgs, toasted a couple of marshmallows, and listened to the sun set. Yes, my friends, you can hear the sun set if you just listen to it. The breeze gets real calm, the birds get quiet, the crickets begin to chirp, the frogs begin to croak - there is a significant change from day time to night time that you can hear if you take the time to listen. Never thought of that before, huh? Take time some evening and just sit quietly and listen to the sun set. By the way, it's pretty to watch as well. :-) Well, you might have thunk that that would be enough to make a perfect day but noooooo! We had a couple of passes for a free ice cream cone at the Lodge so what better day to use them. My bride and I walked hand in hand over the the Lodge to get our ice cream cones. They had a "Bittersweet Sinphony" which was a coffee ice cream (just love that coffee ice cream) with chocolate chunks and swirls - Yum, Yum. We came home to sit and enjoy our ice cream together. It was just the two of us enjoying life together all day long. So now you know why yesterday was an absolutely positively most perfect wonderful day! Thursday, August 21, 2008 We got some more items crossed off the "to do" list, took a nap, and went to dinner with Don and Debra and Craig and Bonnie. There is a diner in Warrensburg called Luck-E-Star which has very good food at reasonable prices. The atmosphere is that of a diner but we were able to leisurely eat our food and take time to chat without feeling rushed. Miss Judy and I ate from the lunch menu so that we would have "room for desert" which was a nice piece of peanut butter pie. We always say at the end of the meal that we should have eaten less so that we could have had desert, well this time we pulled it off and the pie was yummy. I got the tires "topped off" and installed the Pressure Pro sensors as well as washed most of the RV leaving the areas above the slideouts and awning. It requires climbing up on the roof to get those areas and I didn't feel like doing that yesterday but I'll do it today ("why do today what you can put off until tomorrow"). We had "meeses" in the basement this summer and they got into a bag of bird seed making a mess so today I will pull all of the storage boxes out of the basement and sweep it out. There won't be much reorganizing required because our system keeps the basement pretty much organized. It's nice to know where everything is so when you need it you can find it quickly. Miss Judy began organizing things inside the RV. Paper is always an issue - what to keep, what to toss, and where to put what you keep. It is an ongoing problem that has followed us throughout our lives although there is a lot less paper in our lives now but there's a lot less filing space for paper as well. We have two file drawers in our computer desk and they are pretty much full even though we keep going through them to "weed them out". Anyhow, with this kind of team work we will have the "to do" list completed next weekend. We (I) want to go kayaking today. We didn't get to the Painted Pony last night (maybe next Wednesday) but with any luck we'll get on the river today. You'll have to stay tuned until tomorrow to see if we pull it off. Wednesday, August 20, 2008 It got so c*ld last night that we are going to have a snowman contest here at Lake George Escape this morning - not really, but the temps did drop into the 40's. My friend Sandra in Ontario was trying to get rid of the c*ld and she must have found a way by sending it south to us. Actually it is a very nice clear day and the temperatures are predicted to go into the low 80's which will bring out the smiles. This will be a good day to wash the RV and maybe even the truck if my energy level holds out. With a katt nap this afternoon, maybe, just maybe, later this evening we'll go to the rodeo that we've been wanting to attend. It's gonna be a busy Saturday around the Patterson household but there are only a couple of weekends left to get this entourage ready to roll so we have to get our hinies moving. Last night I did something that I haven't done in a long, long time. I visited the RV-Dreams chat room. It was a nice bunch and we had some fun discussions, there was no party or no "twine" but just great folks chatting away. I got to meet FD who lives in Jackson, Mississippi right across the pond from where we stayed last April. Bill, Dee, Glenn, Jenny, and Sandra were there as well as several others. Howard and Linda didn't stop by but they are busy w*rkamping in Colorado. Well, that's it for today. Not really much going on as we are winding down up here in northern New York. Tuesday, August 19, 2008 Just a short entry this morning, I have to go to w*rk early this morning. The thunder storms began around 7:00 and continued through the night. Katie didn't like them one bit so she came up on my pillow to sleep next to me. Alex hugged up next to my feet so I was entirely blocked in by katts. I couldn't even move for a while, however, we all finally got settled in for a long summer's night. The weather is supposed to be clearing this morning and then we will get a few days of nice summer weather with temperatures in the 80's - just maybe a few days without any rain. Yay!!!!! Well, thank God it's Friday!!! I w*rk in Honey Bear's Store this morning and then guide the tubing trips this afternoon. This will be the last tubing trips that I'll get to do this year as I have to take over the shuttle for Zach and Brit who are returning to college on Sunday. The shuttle is a 14 passager van that we use to take guests into Lake George Village. Oh well, just 10 more w*rking days, but whose counting? We can't wait to get on the road again and see those two grand daughters of ours. It will be here before we know it. Monday, August 18, 2008 The day began as usual with a twenty pound katt, known as Alex, walking up my body while purring loudly and chattering. Then he sits on the pillows between Judy and I and continues to purr loudly expecting some loving which, for some unknown reason, he receives. What was unusual was that I got up first, fed the katts, and made the coffee. My bride wasn't far behind as she toddled out of the bedroom, through the kitchen, into the living room and turned on the fireplace to take the chill off before plunking herself down into her recliner with her blankey wrapped around her. Monday has officially begun. Today I will do some tubing trips in the morning and then have pedal carts in the afternoon followed by the evening wagon rides around the park. Miss Judy will be in Honey Bear's Store from noon until closing. Tomorrow ends our week and our schedule as we know it. We have several "kids" working in our department and next week they start leaving to return to school so our schedule will be changing for the last week and a half in order to cover all of the events. My favorite assignment is the tubing trips and tomorrow will be my last one as I have to cover the shuttle next week. :-( I would be totally in hog heaven if my all of my assignments were on the river. Oh well, life goes on!!! Wednesday and Thursday we will be working toward readying our rolling home for the road. I had bought an additional smoked detector and velcroed it to the ceiling. The velcro sticky stuff let go so I have to remount the detector - this time I will screw it to the ceiling. Next I will "top off" all of the tires and put the pressure pro sensors back on all of the wheels. The house needs a bath so that will happen (even if it rains); the truck also needs a bath but that may have to wait a week - we'll see what my energy level is. I need to do some repacking in the basement, but not a lot; we seem to have a pretty good system for storing stuff in the basement that keeps it pretty much organized. On top of that there's the bottomless "To Do List" that seems never ending but, in any event, it will be completed before we leave here in two weeks. We still want to squeeze an outing or two in if at all possible. There's the Painted Pony which is a dinner and a rodeo (a real rodeo and not just a show) that we have wanted to go to but it has rained every Wednesday evening for the past six weeks - so what's new? It has rained everyday for the past six weeks leaving the Schroon River at it's highest level in many years. It has seemed like a long summer but it has gone by awfully fast as well. We haven't done a lot of the things we had envisioned that we would and now we're getting ready to move out but we're looking forward to getting to New Hampshire for another grand daughter fix - there are never enough grand daughter fixes. Saturday, August 16, 2008 What about that Mark Spitz? What about that Michael Phelps? Even though we've been w*rking we're still staying plugged into the Olympics. Last night it looked as if Michael was going to come in second - how in the world did he pull it off? He's now tied with Spitz by winning seven gold medals, but ya'll knew that. Hopefully, he'll pick up his eighth medal tonight. We'll have to see after we get done w*rk at 11:00. Yesterday Judy balanced the check book and then we reviewed our spending in light of the budget as we look forward to the end of the year. By God's grace and no more "emergency" spending we'll end the year within our budget. That would be absolutely fantastic since our investments have taken a beating this year and we don't want to hit them any harder than we have to with expenses. Now we just need to tread water until next August when my pensions kick in. We won't necessarily be on easy street at that time but the road will be a little smoother. Smooth roughing it!!! After playing with the numbers we did some house cleaning. I vacuumed the house and then "spot" shampooed the carpeting in the high traffic areas. Miss J did the katt box, dishes, and made the bed. We crossed a few more items off our "To Do" list as well. By the time we finished that it was time to go to w*rk making it a rather mundane day. We have to keep reminding ourselves that this is a lifestyle and not a vacation so everyday is not going to be an adventure. What a shame!!!! I love adventure, don't you? Friday, August 15, 2008 Oh what, Oh what am I going to do with myself? I went to bed last night at 8:30 and fell right off to sleep; the next thing I knew it was a little after 7:00 in the morning. All of this sleep on top of a 45 minute katt nap yesterday afternoon. What ever happened to my invisible body that ran forever on four hours of sleep? Is it that time of life where I have to start taking Geritol? Oh, yuck!!!! In any event, I do have some energy this morning now that I've had all that sleep. Speaking of energy, Katie and Alex are all excited about the discovery that we made while here in New York. We went to Benson's Pet Store to get another bag of Royal Canin Special 33 katt food and while we were there we met Renee. Renee knows her katt foods and told us about Taste of the Wild so we tried a small bag to see how our darling little furry kids would like it - "Hey Mikey, he likes it!!!" This katt food has no by-products or gluten fillers and is a mixture of pure meats, vegetables, and fruits. Both katts are eating well and seem to have a more energy - I'm not sure that is a good thing while living in an 8' by 38' metal tube. They'll be bouncing off the walls!!! Maybe I need to give this stuff a try. Yesterday we picked up two more large bags which will be enough to get us back to 'bama. There's a place in Fairhope that sells Taste of the Wild so we will be able to replenish their supply whenever we are at Rainbow Plantation. Yesterday we did our grocery shopping at Walmart*. Yep, it's no longer Wal*Mart, it is now Walmart*. I'm happy to report that we have been able to stay under our grocery budget by shopping every two weeks rather than every week. This is very good since we reduced the annual grocery budget for this year from $120 per week to $110 per week. That's only $10 per week ($520 for the year) but we were over spending when we shopped each week so, to be able to reduce the budget and come in under the budget in spite of the increasing prices is a break through. By the way, we are still eating healthy foods (lean meats, whole grain breads and cereals, and fresh vegetables) as well as picking up a few "extras" while we shop. I guess that's about all for this morning. Miss Judy is pouring me another cup of coffee and then she's heading for the shower. I need to go get the lawn mower later this morning and mow the lawn before I go to w*rk at 1:00. Today is a late day for Judy and me, we both w*rk until 10:00 tonight. Speaking of my bride, she has been in her corner again and written another entry in Judy's Corner. Well, thar ya go . . . . . . Thursday, August 14, 2008 Yup, it did so we did!!! It rained so we napped but we did manage to get a few things scratched off the "To Do List". When it's time to roll, I guarantee you that we will be ready. The countdown has begun as we will roll again on September 2nd. Anyway, way back on Saturday I lamented about all the work I have go through in preparing our pictures for the travelogues and stated that there had to be a better mouse trap. If you remember, I pleaded with you (our readers) for any suggestions or recommendations. Well, ask and ye shall receive - Jesse, one of our readers from Colorado, wrote and told me to do a word search on "Oscar's JPEG Thumb Maker" and viola there was the very tool I needed. Thanks Jesse, this will save me time loading my pictures into the travelogue page and will save you, and the rest of our readers, time when you open our future travelogues (I have redone the July Travelogue pictures). This program cuts the byte sizes of our pictures to about a third of the size they were in our past travelogues. It is definitely a "win - win" situation and I'm smiling from ear to ear. One of my favorite seafoods is fresh Haddock. Haddock is a white fish that you get in the colder waters along the Atlantic Seaboard. You can have it baked, broiled, or fried but one of my favorites is a nice homemade fish chowdah. Too bad that wasn't what I was able to get last night but I did have a nice fried haddock dinner. Yesterday was "Pickle Day" here at Lake George Escape. Pickle Day is when all the employees get half off in all of the stores and at the Woodland Grill. So we spent some time in the morning doing our Pickle Day shopping in the stores and last evening we went to the Grill for dinner (two meals for the price of one is a good deal, ya know?). And wouldn't ya know it? Fried Haddock dinner is on the Woodland Grill's menu - why I thought that I had died and gone to Heaven. Miss Judy got Chicken Tenders so we shared from each other's plate just like we always do when we get different dinners. Yum, Yum. Well, thar ya go . . . . . Wednesday, August 13, 2008 "Sometimes you get the bear and sometimes the bear gets you!" So the line goes, this month the bear has gotten us. We've had rain on every day off so far this month and here we sit, almost half way through the month, with nothing to put in the August travelogue. Now it is getting to that time where we have to pick up our toys and start getting ready to roll. The RV needs to be washed, all the tires topped off with air, truck readied, etc.. We still have six days off left this month with today and tomorrow (yep, rain in the forecast) being two of them so hopefully we'll get in at least one day trip before the end of the month. There's a rodeo that we want to attend and a couple of museums that would be fun to visit but, to be honest with you, we are ready to move on. I know that there are a lot of things that we could still see and do in the Adirondacks, however, we feel like it would just be more of the same. Yup, you're right, we got Hitch-Itch and we got it bad. It wouldn't take much for us to hitch up and head out this afternoon but we will honor our commitment which, by the way, will add another 1,200 bucks to our coffers. For those of you thinking about workamping as you travel; beware of the "travel bug". A four month commitment can seem like an eternity when you just want to hit the road and see what's around the next bend. Another thing to consider is returning to the same park for a second time - you do get to feeling like you have "been there, done that" and hitch-itch sets in really fast. There were several reasons for us returning to Lake George Escape - two of those reasons are spelled Briana and Lola. Others are the job itself - there are not many campgrounds with a Fun and Games Department where your work is play and there are even fewer campgrounds that pay for every hour worked plus giving you a full hookup site with cable television. On top of that, Lake George Escape pays a bonus to those who complete their commitment. However, this is not really workamping; it is a seasonal job. They are looking for a five day work week of 35 to 40 hours which makes this a J-O-B and they do expect to get their "pound of flesh". So make sure that you are willing to put in that many hours for that many months before signing on. As Miss Judy and I sit here having our morning coffee on this "Saturday morning" we realize that we don't have a lot of energy to do a whole lot of anything. I would like to go kayaking again but the question is, "Will we muster up enough energy?" While I'm talking about kayaking Judy is talking about a nap. This just might be a pajamas day, we haven't had one of those for a long, long time. Like an old friend of mine used to say, "You need to come a part before you come apart!" Well, there you have it for today - be sure to have a good laugh before you go to bed tonight. It's very therapeutic. Tuesday, August 12, 2008 I hate black streaks!!! You'd think with all of the rain that we have gotten that the roof would be shining white so that there wouldn't be any dirt left to run down the sides of the coach but not so. The black streaks keep coming back with each rain storm. The sides of the RV have been finished with clear coat so I just can wipe the streaks off with a damp waffle cloth but it is becoming a weekly event and I need to do it again tomorrow. With our old fifthwheel I used to use black streak remover and Protect-All to keep it clean and shiny. I would be constantly washing and waxing the unit. It would take a week (evenings only as I was w*rking at the time) for me to do the entire unit. I would section the coach off and do one section a night. It was a lot of work which was all done by hand but the RV looked as if it had just rolled off the assembly line. The clear coat on our current fifthwheel keeps it looking shiny and new. I use Simple Green to wash the RV and Nu-Finish to wax it - this is done twice a year by hand. The rest of the year I use a brush with an extension handle and Blue Coral Wash 'n Wax to wash the coach. I use Simple Green for any road dirt that requires a stronger detergent (I also use Simple Green to wash the roof which I do twice a year as well). Clorox has come out with a new product called Green Works which I use on the windows - it cleans them without leaving streaks (Wash 'n Wax leaves the windows spotty). We use the Green Works to clean the shower as well. Another product that we've discovered is Barkeeper's Friend which we use to clean our Sealand Traveler toilet, especially the seal. We were having problems with the seal leaking and kept having to replace it. Finally I called Sealand custom service and they recommended using Barkeeper's Friend once a week to clean the toilet which turned out to be a good find. Judy used it on some of our stained coffee cups and it cleaned them right up making them look new again. We've not had anymore problems with the toilet seal leaking and use Barkeeper's Friend on our sinks and counters once a week as well. Well, I guess I got off onto a cleaning tangent this morning but, hopefully, you've picked up a tip or two. I'm picky, picky, picky when it comes to keeping the RV clean - as I said, I hate black streaks!!! Monday, August 11, 2008 This has been a really wet season up here in the Adirondacks. The water level on the Schroon River is higher now than it was back in May when we first arrived here at Lake George Escape. We have no beach area left at the boat docks which makes it difficult to launch the canoes and kayaks. Also, the current is so strong that novice "paddlers" will find it very difficult to paddle upstream. On top of all that, the tubing runs, which normally take about forty-five minutes, only take about twenty minutes plus the water temperature has dropped significantly. "Oooooooh, that water is cold!!!!!!" "Whiners get wet!!!!" Well, I don't suppose I'll soak them today - it's just too chilly to be that mean, but it is still tempting. The rain has been coming in the form of thunder storms and Mr. Alex doesn't like thunder storms. He paces and howls and cuddles and then paces, howls, and cuddles all over again - he is very unsettled. Miss Katie, on the other hand, just rolls over and goes back to sleep - she doesn't like the storms but doesn't get upset by them either. As long as mom and dad are home and peaceful then she figures that there's nothing to get all nerved up about. Talk to your brother, will you Katie? It's hard to get any sleep with a twenty pound katt crawling all over you!! Each week there is a different theme at the park. This past week was Halloween and on Saturday night, beginning at 9:00 and continuing until 11:00, there were wagon rides around the park with ghosts and ghouls and other"dark side" events taking place all along the way. We had three wagons that were dispatched at 15 minute intervals which resulted in 11 trips of about a mile and a half long. There was a witches coven, a grave with a corpse rising out of its casket, a chain saw massacre, an electrocution, and witches and other scary beings coming out of the woods along the way. People didn't realize how scary the trips would be but they were very scary indeed with lots of screams rising out of the wagons. The scariest was probably the chain saw massacre because the girl getting her head cut off had a scream that would send chills up your spine then the chain saw wielding maniacs (three of them) would go after the wagon. Judy helped with loading the wagons and I was a scary ghoul who would sneak up behind the wagon while everyone's attention was focused on the main event which was taking place. I was dressed totally in black and had a skeleton head with skeleton hands that would reach out for my next victim. All I had to do was lightly place my hand on someone's shoulder (generally a teen aged girl) and screams would ensue. It was fun and everyone seemed to enjoy themselves. There were over three hundred people who made the trip and everybody seemed to have a good time - for some weird reason people just love to be scared. Saturday, August 9, 2008 I just published our July Travelogue and have definitely got to get a better way to publish photographs. One thing that I haven't figured out yet is how to reduce the byte size of our pictures. Our pictures run three times more bytes than those of comparable pixel size (400 x 267) on other blogs. I use a resize program to reduce the number of bytes but it still doesn't reduce them near enough. Another thing that I could do is publish thumbnail sized pictures that you would have to "click" on to see the actual 640 x 480 pixel sized picture. I'm not sure that I want to do that, I already spend a lot of time on publishing the pictures and don't want to add a whole bunch of extra steps in to the process. If any of you know of an easier way to do this, please drop me a line. Finally, a nice sunny day without thunderstorms. We have been in a thunderstorm cycle over the past three days and enough is enough already. Actually July, and so far August, has been very wet months up here in the Adirondacks. If this keeps up I'll lose my tan and look more like a prune. Either the birds are very hungry or they are just getting lazy. The traffic in our bird feeder looks more like the air traffic at JFK. Birds are hovering around while the other birds are getting their tanks filled. I have to put feed into the feeder at least every other day now (I used to fill it once a week). We only have a small feeder that suctions to the window behind the sofa and it accommodates one bird (or two very small birds) at one time. Now the Red Winged Black birds and Morning Doves have discovered the feed and are trying to fit into the the thing. It's a riot watching them - I should go buy a larger feeder to hang on the tree right outside the dining room window. But, you know what that would mean? Squirrels and chipmunks would be eating the bulk of that feed. We are getting the ruby throated humming birds coming to our humming bird feeder which also suctions to the window. I think that that is the only species of humming bird in this area, however, they are very pretty and fun to watch. Alex loves to just sit on the dining room table (he's not supposed to be up there) and watch the humming birds. He leaves them alone but does like to chase the birds away from the other feeder. Katie, on the other hand, thinks it's great sport to try and catch anything that lands that close to her. Yep, we need to take more time to watch the birds and the katts (and, maybe, smell the flowers). Friday, August 8, 2008 (08-08-08) Dilemmas, dilemmas, dilemmas. Which way to go? When we leave here we will be going to New Hampshire to see the grand daughters for another fix and then it will be off to Cape Cod to visit my uncle Clyde. Here's where the dilemma comes in; do we stay on the Cape and do sightseeing in that area or do we head out for the Hershey, Gettysburg, and Lancaster, Pennsylvania area for a short visit or do we head out for the north western section of New York for a wine tour? I want to do all three but we are attending the Gypsy Journal Rally in Celina, Ohio which begins on the 14th of September so there's not enough time to do it all. One thing that has come into the equation is that my uncle Clyde, who is 83 years old, has been diagnosed with congestive heart disease so we will probably want to stay longer there in order to spend some extra time with him. While we are on the Cape we can do some sightseeing along route 6A which runs through the villages of Barnstable, Sandwich, Brewster, etc. along the north shoreline. These were some of the first settlements on the Cape and are being protected for their historical value. On top of all of that, you all know how well Miss Judy loves her history. ;-) So I guess the dilemma has pretty much been resolved but let me say this about that; it is absolutely positively unequivocally wonderful to have dilemmas such as these. We will be coming back to New England every year since that is where one of the grand daughter nests is located as well as my brother and his wife Shauna, Clyde and Marge, and many of our friends from the past. So we'll have plenty of opportunities in the future to taste some wine and eat some chocolate but this year we'll do Cape Cod. Thursday, August 7, 2008 Boy, you know you're getting older when it takes you longer to rest up than it did to get tired in the first place. We're feeling a little more rested but would still like to sit in our PJs for about another three weeks or so. Our bodies don't feel achy like you do when you do really physical stuff but we just feel weary - drained - empty, something like that. So, today we're just going to sit in our rocking chairs, look out the windows, and watch the grass grow. Nah, not really, just in our minds!! Being that this is one of our only two days off we will push ourselves to do something. I would like to go kayaking; isn't that a bus man's holiday? But I love being on the river in a kayak just paddling around - I find it relaxing. A kayak feels like a rocking chair but instead of watching the grass grow I can watch the water flow past. We do have some "administrative" things to take care of this morning but that shouldn't take long. Phyllis and Thurman are planning on going to a concert in Lake Luzerne this evening and have invited us to go with them. Sounds like fun so we said we would go. Lake Luzerne is where Rachael Ray is from; maybe we can get her picture and an autograph - now where would I put that? Katie and Alex are smiling from ear to ear. We went to get them some more katt food yesterday at Benson's Pet Store and were fortunate enough to bump into Rene who knew her business. We've been buying them Royal Canin Special 33 katt food which is about $40 dollars for 15 pounds. Rene introduced us to Taste of the Wild katt food which has no grain fillers, no by products, and is made up of pure meats, vegetables, and fruits. On top of that it only costs $24 for a 20 pound bag. Wow, almost half price for a larger quantity. Alex went crazy over it and Katie, who is very reserved and lady like, daintily devoured her portion. After reading the ingredients list I told Judy that we could substantially cut our food budget and eat a very balanced and healthy meal - all we would have to do is just add milk. Yum, Yum and crunchy too!!!!!!!! Wednesday, August 6, 2008 Wow, we "stood" in bed until almost 8:00 this morning. We were "pooped" after this week's w*rk plus there was the rhythm of the rain on our roof this morning making it a good day to just roll over and catch a few more zzzz's. Plus our w*rk week is over and we have a couple of days for some much needed rest - boy, it's tough living with this eighteen year old mind on this 60 year old body. My favorite assignment here at Lake George is being the Tubing Guide. We take people on a converted school bus about a mile up the river and turn them loose with a tube to float back to the campground. The Tubing Guide accompanies the people in a Kay-Noe while holding contests ("First one to stand on their tube for 10 seconds gets a free pedal cart pass!") and responding to any and all whining ("Whiners get wet!). Before we depart the campground on the bus it is the Tubing Guide's responsibility to brief the "guests" on what to expect. Here is my "little talk" before loading the bus. "Gather around everyone. My name is Darrell and the bus driver is my other brother Larry. I know it says Dave on his name tag but that is because our sister can't spell. (That always gets laughs) We are going to take the bus about a mile up the road where we will get off and I will hand out the tubes. Please go to the back of the bus and sort of line up from shortest to tallest because we issue the small tubes first." "Once you get your tube, head for the bridge which is about 10 feet above the water. You throw your tube off the right side of the bridge and then run over to the left side. When the tube floats under the bridge you just jump into it. (more laughs) Another way to get into your tube is to wade into the water up to your calves and 'gently' sit into the tube. Note the word 'gently' because if you just flop down into your tube it will flip over and the rest of us are going to get a good laugh." (a few chuckles) "Now for a few of the frequently asked questions. How deep is the water? It can run from 3 feet deep to 15 feet deep. How warm is the water? We, here at Lake George, heat the river so the water is around 86 degrees. (A lot of, "Yeah, Rights" at this point but some people are very gullible) Are there any snakes in the river? (fear sets in) We had problems with that last year but this year the alligators have eaten all of the snakes. (laughs) And don't worry because the alligators only eat once a week - some of them on Mondays and the rest on Tuesdays." (Guess what days I do tubing trips?) (more laughs) "For those of you with small children we have some ropes to tie you together so, when we get to the beach, let us know if you want your tubes tied." (This gets a good laugh) "As we are getting near the campground beach I will have you to start moving to the left side of the river. If you miss the beach please drop us a post card from Manhattan letting us know how you are doing." (A few more laughs as Manhattan is 187 miles away) "If there are no further questions at the count of three you can push, shove, and claw your way onto the bus. (more laughs) One, two, three!" (And I run out of the way) It's a pretty good routine and gets people in the mood to have a little fun. Once we are on the river I have a super soaker that I use to take care of all whining ("The water is too cold!!" "Aren't you glad that we heat the river?" as I soak them with the super soaker). Also, I point out things along the way like the snapping turtle crossing ("The snapping turtles only cross twice a day. Once early in the morning and then they come back across around 12:45."). Of course, you know what time it is? We hold the "standing on the tube" contest around the half way point in the trip and when you have 30 to 40 people on the water they can get pretty competitive. It is not an easy feat to stand on the tube for 10 seconds, however, there is always one or two kids that have great balance and accomplish the task with ease. Later in the trip I'll ask if anyone wants to see a rattlesnake nest. That gets some of the girls squealing but there's always one or two of the guys who says, "Yeah!" to which I reply that I would too. Often there are ducks and/or geese swimming along the river. Sometimes a muskrat swims his way along the shore line and/or snapping turtles sunning themselves on logs or rocks. There are two beaver dams on a small stream that feeds into the river but we haven't seen the beavers this year. Finally the trip comes to an end. It takes about a hour from the time we depart the campground until we get back to the beach. A fun time is had by all, especially me. Then Dave and I get ready for the next trip - the campground does five trips a day and seven on Saturdays (two Tubing Guides on Saturday to alternate trips). Tuesday, August 5, 2008 This morning I go to w*rk at 9:00 in the Honey Bear Store. I don't like it when I have to go to w*rk early in the morning - I feel rushed and don't have time to just sit and have my coffee. But, I don't like it when I w*rk late at night either - I get home tired and just want to go to bed which leaves no time to just sit and relax. I don't really like w*rking during the day time because it pretty much eats up the time that I would be going places, seeing people, and doing things. Oh well, I guess it took me 60 years to find my calling - I would have made a great bum!!!!! Lake George Escape has been busier this year than last and I don't know if it is because we have more people in the park or people are just grumpier but they are definitely more snarly this year. We can only deal with that for so long before we finally tell someone to "take their silly ass problem down the street and see if they can find someone who really gives a care". Further, "kids these days" just aren't taught any manners; they are pushy, they are mouthy, and they are just plain rude. If my brother and I had acted this way when we were on vacation with the family my dad would say I'm going to "box your ears" which meant that we were about to get our asses kicked. Not anymore, these people show up and just turn their off spring loose with no supervision what so ever. They have the attitude that we are the baby sitters - WRONG!!!! I have gotten to the point where I tell the little brats, "beat it kid, I'm busy!!!" I have found a new mood indicator - the seven dwarfs. A few days ago I was Sneezy, there must have been something in the air. I'm often Sleepy and occasionally Grumpy but hardly ever Bashful. By the time we leave here I will most likely be Dopey but definitely Happy to be on the road again. What's up with Doc? What kind of a mood is Doc? Has anyone ever been Doc? Maybe Hickory Dickory a few times but never Doc. Oh well, six out of seven isn't bad. Now all I need is a sign to hang around my neck that says, "Hi, I'm Grumpy" which will mean keep your monsters out of my reach. That should take care of the "little dears". :-) Monday, August 4, 2008 You know what is really encouraging to me? In spite of the "high" fuel prices and a "shaky" economy there are still people nutty enough to still be considering becoming fulltime RVers. We received an email from friends Mike and Gerri giving us an update on their "RV Dreams". Their house is back on the market and they are still looking forward to the day that they are free to Wander. I was just reading about Jenny J's "new to her" motorhome that she is now readying to fly out of the nest for destinations unknown. Other friends, Joe and Sherri, emailed us and he is still w*rking but they are looking forward to "hitting the road" in February next year. Good for all of them!!!! This world has waaaaaaaay too much gloom and doom to scare people into hunkering down and hiding under the rocks but that doesn't deter those who have dreams. By the way, Jen, you chose a good motorhome - Allegro would always be at the top of my list. So, are they really nuts and lost all of their faculties? Not at all. It is far less expensive to live this nomad lifestyle which provides far more flexibility and freedom than to live in the mainstream (i.e. stix and brix). People ask me all the time about the cost of diesel fuel and how it impacts our ability to travel. Well, let me say this about that; how much does it cost to heat a house for the winter while living in the northern states where temperatures dip to single digits or cool a house in the south when the thermometer is hitting triple digits. It is a whole lot cheaper to hook up and move to somewhere with moderate climate - our fuel costs will be under $4,000 this year while driving 9,000 miles (even with diesel hitting $5.25 here in the North East). Our biggest expense is health insurance and routine medical costs which chomps up almost 30% of our $42,500 annual budget and we aren't even sick. We do have meds for high blood pressure, cholesterol, thyroid, and "strong healthy bones" which costs us close to $1,500 after the insurance deductibles and co-pay and our health insurance runs $7,400 per year. This year we had over $3,000 in dental costs plus our annual check-ups and lab work which costs us another $800 (this will be more next year because we had to change to health insurance with higher deductibles - yes, that's right folks, you get to pay more for insurance while getting less coverage as you grow older. So, for a lot of folks, this is the driving factor to keep on keeping on in that J-O-B. But, where there's a will there's a way and you too can join us gypsies on the road - just do your homework first and remember you can't control everything so don't try to. If you do you'll never get out of the driveway. So, happy motoring "guys" and we look forward to seeing you along the way. Sunday, August 3, 2008 Katie and Alex are running around the house with big smiles on their faces once more. They aren't spoiled, mind you, just slightly pampered and they don't like it when their routine gets disrupted. Can you imagine what two grand daughters, one almost 10 and the other 16 months, does to a katt's routine? Needless to say, there was a lot of howling, hissing, and hiding going on in their little world. But now there is peace in the valley once more and, yes, katts do smile. We are continuing to look forward to traveling once more; four weeks from today will be our last w*rk day. My uncle Clyde, who lives on Cape Cod, is very sick and has been diagnosed with congestive heart disease. Once we leave here we will go to New Hampshire for a few days to spend with the kids and then onto the Cape to see Clyde and Marge. It's sad to watch your family grow old and pass on. There were 10 children in my mom's family with only five currently left. However, there are a life time of memories left behind from growing up in Maine with that many aunts, uncles, and cousins around - memories that will live on as long as I am on the green earth. Clyde has always been my favorite uncle and I always look forward to getting together with him and Marge so this year it will be a special meeting indeed. In times like these it is nice to know "That the Lord is my Shepherd and I shall not want." Saturday, August 2, 2008 Wow, this is it! The kids are leaving today - boy did that time fly by fast. It is always great to have the grand daughters around even if Miss Lola Mae is on the door step of the "terrible twos" (she gets into anything and everything - and she's quick about it!!). We'll see them again after we leave here on September 2nd. It's about a four hour drive to Seven Maples Campground in Hancock, New Hampshire which is a Passport America campground. So we'll be able to visit with them that evening as well as the following days. At least this made a nice little vacation for them and they got to stay at Lake George Escape without paying those exorbitant prices. Tent sites start at thirty-six bucks and that's for two people - they charge another five dollars a night for each additional person which would make it forty-six dollars a night just to pitch a tent. There are a lot of "free" activities going on but, at those rates, you're paying for them whether you use them or not. This is not in the price range that most fulltime RVers would pay for a campsite. Lake George Escape is a destination campground designed for family vacations and it serves that purpose well but fulltimers don't always appreciate all of the kids, dawgs, and camp fire smoke that is generated by families on vacation. Anyway, it was a good visit with Miss Briana and Miss Lola having fun (a 55+ campground would be boring for them). And, yes, we set fire to some wood so we could burn some marshmallows in order to build "s'mores". Just think about that one for a minute - this is something that you do in the evening just before bedtime for kids. So, you supercharge them with sugar and then sit back saying, "Be quite in there and go to sleep" as they are bouncing off the walls of the tent. "Yeah, right!!!" Sometimes we adults just aren't very bright. If we were smart we would start the fire the first thing in the morning and have "s'mores" for breakfast. :-) :-) Four weeks from tomorrow is our last day of w*rk. Holy cow!!! Can we make it? We are more than ready to "roll" right now - there are things to do, places to go, and people to see. Our friend Terry thinks that July was a long month - she ain't seen nothing yet!! Wait and see how long it takes August to pass by for us. None the less, this to shall pass!!! Friday, August 1, 2008 Tuesday afternoon Miss Briana and Miss Lola arrived for a visit with grandma and grandpa while camping with dad and mom. This is a vacation for them but a grand daughter fix for us. Just like last year Briana wanted to do it all. "I'm full of energy and bored, what can we do now?" "How about sitting and listening to the quite?" "Nah, I wanna do something, can we go to the pool?" "Can we go for a wagon ride?" "Can we. . . can we. . . can we. . . ?" Yep, she's still Miss Perpetual Motion but it's just wonderful to have them around. We wished they were around all the time. Lola on the other hand is a mobile unit this year. She's sixteen months and very good at it. Her hands are faster than a speeding bullet. She can be on the other end of the room while you put something down and she will have it before you can put your hand in your pocket. Further, she knows a few words and one of them is "No". Why, out of all of the words in the dictionary, is "no" one of the first words they learn? She also knows "kitty" which means that Katie and Alex have been pretty much terrorized ever since she arrived. I was doing tubing trips and Judy was w*rking in the Honey Bear Store when they arrived. My day ended at 6:00 and Judy's ended at 10:00 so we had gotten stuff ready for them to have hamburgers for dinner. Marc used my new Foreman grill to prepare their dinner and their ears were going up and down when I arrived home. So we just sat around and visited while waiting for Miss J to get out of w*rk. Wednesday was "Build a Buddy" day at crafts so we took the kids over to build a stuffed animal. Briana stuffed a wabbit and Lola stuffed a moosey. I was impressed with the quality of these animals, they are really pretty nice. After the stuffing is added the children (or the children at heart) choose a "make a wish" star to put inside before the animal is sealed up. Then a bandanna is selected for him/her to wear for the rest of his/her days. Each animal is then named, weighed, and measured with the information being recorded on his/her birth certificate and an official adoption ceremony taking place. Thursday morning Judy and Amie went grocery shopping (we still hadn't gotten the truck back yet - it's a good thing it was nothing major because it could take this place a year to fix it). While Lola took a nap and Marc took Briana to some more crafts I did the housework - it's amazing how fast six people can trash our "Little House with Wheels". More crafts, more visiting, a BBQ chicken dinner with fresh native corn, a fire with smores, and a couple of movies; before we knew it it was time for bed and another day was shot. Today it's back to w*rk for us at noon time so the "kids" will be on their own to figure out what they want to do. Maybe a trip into the village on the van, maybe a wagon ride, maybe, maybe. You'll just have to wait until tomorrow to see what they decided. Amie figures that they are on vacation and are free to do whatever whenever. She would make a good fulltime RVer, wouldn't she? The truck finally came home after $845 worth of work (water pump, idler pulley, and serpentine belt) - Ugh, this is turning into an expensive year with computer repairs, teeth repairs, and now truck repairs. Oh well, this is part of life regardless of whether it is fulltime RVing or living in the "mainstream". |