We had spent only 1 day packing to leave Wanna Bee camp. It did not take as long as we thought. We thought it would take 2 days to pack, but it only took one afternoon. We did not unpack as much as we thought. So we left Dave know we would be leaving Wednesday in the morning.
We got ready to leave that morning. While letting the motor home warm up, we drove around camp to say good bye to everyone (Greg, Dave, and Cole). While speaking to Cole he notice a tire going flat, so we drove to the tool shed and used the compressor to fill the tire. We got that done and were on our way.
We had to make one more stop at Walmart. We had been riding our bikes there all summer. It was nice to be there in the motor home. We got some groceries and some new shoes. All of our shoes had been ruined in the rain and dirt of camp. Rocky waiting in the motor home for us. We also had to stop for gas. We did that about 30 miles from the Dells. We finally got on the road by 11am. A little later than we wanted, but we were in no hurry.
We got to the state line, and entered Illinois. We got stopped by road construction. It took us only an hour and a half to go 2 miles of freeway. This put us farther behind. But we reminded ourselves, we were not on a time schedule. We decided to stop in Bloomin ton-Normal Illinois. It was already 5pm and wanted to stay in a Passport America campground. So it was here or 50 miles further.
We were lucky. We stayed at Kamp Komfort in Carlock, Illinois. When I got out to plug in the electric and water, I hear a hissing noise. It was coming out of the same tire we had filled with air at camp. Our neighbor also heard it and looked. Sure enough, we had a flat tire. We were lucky we decided to camp here, or the flat would have happened on the side of the interstate.
We got out the phone number for the roadside assistance associated with our motor home insurance. They took all the pertinent information and said they would call me back after they found me some help. Then minutes later they called and said help would be here within an hour and they were. He replaces the flat tire with our spare. He found a nail in the tire he took off the motor home. He said that if we had to pay the bill it would be $190.00, Thanks to the roadside assistance, it did not cost us a cent.
We got up the next morning and headed down the interstate toward Indianapolis. There was only a small mishap at a Love's gas station. We had prepaid for the gas. We did not need all the gas we paid for so I tried to stop when full, but the pump would not shut off. Gas was going all over the ground. We had to prove to the manager what happened, but he did give us some money back. This put us a little behind, but remember we were not on a time schedule.
This rest of the trip was good. We did get to Milford, Ohio about 3pm. When we pulled up to the old house, who was waiting? Sara, Kaitlyn and Kirby. They were all happy to see us.
Friday, October 15, 2010
Thursday, October 14, 2010
Our First Season.
Well we were ready for the campers to come Memorial Day Weekend. You are never totally ready for this. We had no idea how it would turn out. We were not totally booked for the weekend. The camp was about 2/3 full. There were a lot of families there. The groups were big. There were also some party people, but not many. They were camping way up in the primitive sites, and away from everyone. We did meet our security guard for the first time. He patrols the camp during the night to make sure all is safe. It went well.
The next month was quite. We still had some outside work to take care of. It was not easy because of the rain. It was raining almost every day. Some of the storms came down in inches. We would have to check camp when the rain would stop to see if we lost any trees. Also we were having flooding problems. When campers would come, some of the sites were under water. That was one thing that plagued us all season.
Along with rain and wet weather comes mosquitoes. A hundred thousand mosquitoes. They were so wicked that the insect repellent would not work any more. A mosquito bite was the fashion statement of the season.
Fourth of July weekend was the killer weekend of the summer. We were totally booked. There were so many people, that the bathrooms had lines 24 hours a day. I have never been in such a crowded campground. The crowds were hard to control. But we survived. It took a few days to recover.
The rest of July and August were busier than normal. The booking in camp were up from the previous year. We were getting more repeat business. We were getting compliments of how good camp was this year from our guests that come each year. They saw improvements. We also took over doing crafts for the campers. We also did scavenger hunts with the kids. They had fun with that.
Labor day weekend was the last hurrah. We were not totally book, but were pretty full. We had the good crowd in. A lot of the return guests. It was nice to see them so we could say good bye for the season. It was a good weekend.
Well our first season of work camping is over now. It's time to say good by to Wisconsin Dells until next spring. Saying good by to the staff and seasonal campers wasn't easy. We made many good friends that were seasonal and many that come up there just because it is a nice campground.
Most of the campers we made friends with will always remain deep in our hearts. This was our first time working for a whole season in a camp. They made it fun.
The work was fairly easy but it kept us pretty busy. Even though we had our fair share of time off. During our time off Sara, Melissa, Joe and Kaitlyn camp up to visit us for a few days. In case you don't know Kaitlyn is our grand daughter and yes she is grand. The only bad thing is when they come up, I get forced to tip a few beers (maybe more than a few). It is always enjoyable sitting around a campfire with some beer and your loved ones. We did make a trip down town and to one of the major water parks there. It was fun to get out to do something in town.
We opened our hearts to may friends from about 2 years old to some in their 70's. After all of this it all comes down to the fact that it was a pretty good season. We will be going back in spring.
The next month was quite. We still had some outside work to take care of. It was not easy because of the rain. It was raining almost every day. Some of the storms came down in inches. We would have to check camp when the rain would stop to see if we lost any trees. Also we were having flooding problems. When campers would come, some of the sites were under water. That was one thing that plagued us all season.
Along with rain and wet weather comes mosquitoes. A hundred thousand mosquitoes. They were so wicked that the insect repellent would not work any more. A mosquito bite was the fashion statement of the season.
Fourth of July weekend was the killer weekend of the summer. We were totally booked. There were so many people, that the bathrooms had lines 24 hours a day. I have never been in such a crowded campground. The crowds were hard to control. But we survived. It took a few days to recover.
The rest of July and August were busier than normal. The booking in camp were up from the previous year. We were getting more repeat business. We were getting compliments of how good camp was this year from our guests that come each year. They saw improvements. We also took over doing crafts for the campers. We also did scavenger hunts with the kids. They had fun with that.
Labor day weekend was the last hurrah. We were not totally book, but were pretty full. We had the good crowd in. A lot of the return guests. It was nice to see them so we could say good bye for the season. It was a good weekend.
Well our first season of work camping is over now. It's time to say good by to Wisconsin Dells until next spring. Saying good by to the staff and seasonal campers wasn't easy. We made many good friends that were seasonal and many that come up there just because it is a nice campground.
Most of the campers we made friends with will always remain deep in our hearts. This was our first time working for a whole season in a camp. They made it fun.
The work was fairly easy but it kept us pretty busy. Even though we had our fair share of time off. During our time off Sara, Melissa, Joe and Kaitlyn camp up to visit us for a few days. In case you don't know Kaitlyn is our grand daughter and yes she is grand. The only bad thing is when they come up, I get forced to tip a few beers (maybe more than a few). It is always enjoyable sitting around a campfire with some beer and your loved ones. We did make a trip down town and to one of the major water parks there. It was fun to get out to do something in town.
We opened our hearts to may friends from about 2 years old to some in their 70's. After all of this it all comes down to the fact that it was a pretty good season. We will be going back in spring.
Sunday, October 10, 2010
Our First Two Weeks
The first couple of weeks we were there life was pretty simple. There weren't any campers to deal with, just a few of the seasonal campers. We had plenty to do.
There are 13 cabins at the campground. Some are only sleeping cabins and all they have are beds, a microwave and camp a refrigerator in them. These we had to clean and wash down everything. We had to was winter out of the cabins. Had to make sure there were no uninvited guests. We had to change the plastic mattress covers and make sure there were no mice in or under the mattresses. Then there were the deluxe cabins. This have a queen bed, single bed, sleeping loft, kitchen area and bathroom. These needed to be cleaned and flush out the water line of anti freeze put in for winter. There were also 2 super deluxe cabins. These cabins have bedrooms, full size kitchen and full size appliances. We had to shine stainless steel appliances and clean carpets up in the lofts. We had to flush the water systems also. Had to make sure the electric fireplaces were in operating order. This took a couple of days. It was okay because you could work indoors.
We had the bathrooms to clean also.We had to deep clean the bathhouse from winter. We had to use heavy duty cleaners and good old fashioned elbow grease. The water system This not bad because they had already been flushed out by Greg, the maintenance man. He lives at camp, so when he opened the water system for camp, he flushed out the bathhouse.
We had the game room to clean and paint the floor. We first had to sweep and mop the floors. The machine had to be moved to paint the floor. This took days, because you had to do this by moving all the machines to one side of room, paint the floor and let it dry. Come back next day and move machines to painted side of room and paint other side and let dry. Then came back third day and moved machines and painted main walk area of room with an extra coat of paint.
We had to do the same in laundry room. This room was easier, because most of the washing machines were not there. They were being replaced so so machines to move. Only had to paint floors.
Then there was the picnic tables. There is one in every campsite. There are 126 sites in camp, so that was a lot of tables. We just started on side of camp and went site to site and painted the tables. We got 60 done when we ran out of paint. This took a few days because it would get hot in afternoon, so we only painted in morning.
We had two and a half weeks to get all this done because Memorial Day Weekend was coming. Campers were coming earlier because the weather was mild for Wisconsin. So the weekends before Memorial Day Weekend we did have some campers on weekends. We also had to take a few days off to return to Milwaukee. My mother passed away and we had to attend the funeral. It was a couple of sad days, but we made it back to camp and started to work. It helped get me over the hump of sadness. One good thing is when we came back from funeral, we brought Rocky with us. Then the fun began.
There are 13 cabins at the campground. Some are only sleeping cabins and all they have are beds, a microwave and camp a refrigerator in them. These we had to clean and wash down everything. We had to was winter out of the cabins. Had to make sure there were no uninvited guests. We had to change the plastic mattress covers and make sure there were no mice in or under the mattresses. Then there were the deluxe cabins. This have a queen bed, single bed, sleeping loft, kitchen area and bathroom. These needed to be cleaned and flush out the water line of anti freeze put in for winter. There were also 2 super deluxe cabins. These cabins have bedrooms, full size kitchen and full size appliances. We had to shine stainless steel appliances and clean carpets up in the lofts. We had to flush the water systems also. Had to make sure the electric fireplaces were in operating order. This took a couple of days. It was okay because you could work indoors.
We had the bathrooms to clean also.We had to deep clean the bathhouse from winter. We had to use heavy duty cleaners and good old fashioned elbow grease. The water system This not bad because they had already been flushed out by Greg, the maintenance man. He lives at camp, so when he opened the water system for camp, he flushed out the bathhouse.
We had the game room to clean and paint the floor. We first had to sweep and mop the floors. The machine had to be moved to paint the floor. This took days, because you had to do this by moving all the machines to one side of room, paint the floor and let it dry. Come back next day and move machines to painted side of room and paint other side and let dry. Then came back third day and moved machines and painted main walk area of room with an extra coat of paint.
We had to do the same in laundry room. This room was easier, because most of the washing machines were not there. They were being replaced so so machines to move. Only had to paint floors.
Then there was the picnic tables. There is one in every campsite. There are 126 sites in camp, so that was a lot of tables. We just started on side of camp and went site to site and painted the tables. We got 60 done when we ran out of paint. This took a few days because it would get hot in afternoon, so we only painted in morning.
We had two and a half weeks to get all this done because Memorial Day Weekend was coming. Campers were coming earlier because the weather was mild for Wisconsin. So the weekends before Memorial Day Weekend we did have some campers on weekends. We also had to take a few days off to return to Milwaukee. My mother passed away and we had to attend the funeral. It was a couple of sad days, but we made it back to camp and started to work. It helped get me over the hump of sadness. One good thing is when we came back from funeral, we brought Rocky with us. Then the fun began.
Saturday, October 9, 2010
Getting Started
It was around March 15, 2010. My wife had just left her job working at a major department store as a cake decorator. The job had gotten to her. It was all it took to convince her to hit the road. The dog and I were ready for a long time. We were just waiting for her.
We were just going to take our son back to college from his spring break and hit the road. We were going to go to North Carolina for a month. Being newbies we did not want to go far from home. And we wanted to travel a little before heading up to Anderson Indiana for a summer job. But the day before we were suppose to leave, we got a call from Wisconsin and found out my mother had fallen and broke her hip. She was 83 years old, and this was serious.
We postponed our trip and made a quick trip up to Wisconsin, or so we thought. We thought we would be there a few days and then take our trip to North Carolina. But our stay ended up being 8 weeks in Milwaukee. It was hard, because we had to take the bus everywhere we went. You do not drive a 36 foot motor home around the city.
Then money started running out. My wife took a job in a grocery store for a few weeks. She did not do very well at this. She hated this job, but we needed the money. We were suppose to leave to go the the Indiana job in May, but we knew my mother was not going to make it very much longer. We wanted to stay near Milwaukee, but wanted to get a job in a camp. We did not want to give up on our dream.
I went on the Internet to see if we could get a job in a camp. We had been staying most of the time at a truck stop. This is okay for a day or two put not for a prolong period of time. I tried the Milwaukee area and did not find anything. I tried Madison and did not find anything. Then I tried the Wisconsin Dells area. There are plenty of camps there. I went one by one down the list of all the camps in the area. It was in alphabetical order. I call the whole list. I left our number at a few places.
I called Wanna Bee Campground. It was the last number on the list. I spoke to the manager. Just so happened his camp hosts had quit at the last minute and he was looking for a new couple to fill the position. I told him of our work experiences. The manager knew we were new at full timing it and working in a camp. He was willing to give us a change, but we had to come right away. Work was waiting. I told him that my wife had to quit her job, which was something that would not be hard to do, and we would be in a few days.
We got hired on Sunday, and got to camp on Wednesday. We left the dog with our son and daughter in Milwaukee to start with. We wanted to check out the camp first. From day one we always felt that we fit in there. The manager and maintenance worker and us hit it off good from the start. We knew we made the right choice.
We were just going to take our son back to college from his spring break and hit the road. We were going to go to North Carolina for a month. Being newbies we did not want to go far from home. And we wanted to travel a little before heading up to Anderson Indiana for a summer job. But the day before we were suppose to leave, we got a call from Wisconsin and found out my mother had fallen and broke her hip. She was 83 years old, and this was serious.
We postponed our trip and made a quick trip up to Wisconsin, or so we thought. We thought we would be there a few days and then take our trip to North Carolina. But our stay ended up being 8 weeks in Milwaukee. It was hard, because we had to take the bus everywhere we went. You do not drive a 36 foot motor home around the city.
Then money started running out. My wife took a job in a grocery store for a few weeks. She did not do very well at this. She hated this job, but we needed the money. We were suppose to leave to go the the Indiana job in May, but we knew my mother was not going to make it very much longer. We wanted to stay near Milwaukee, but wanted to get a job in a camp. We did not want to give up on our dream.
I went on the Internet to see if we could get a job in a camp. We had been staying most of the time at a truck stop. This is okay for a day or two put not for a prolong period of time. I tried the Milwaukee area and did not find anything. I tried Madison and did not find anything. Then I tried the Wisconsin Dells area. There are plenty of camps there. I went one by one down the list of all the camps in the area. It was in alphabetical order. I call the whole list. I left our number at a few places.
I called Wanna Bee Campground. It was the last number on the list. I spoke to the manager. Just so happened his camp hosts had quit at the last minute and he was looking for a new couple to fill the position. I told him of our work experiences. The manager knew we were new at full timing it and working in a camp. He was willing to give us a change, but we had to come right away. Work was waiting. I told him that my wife had to quit her job, which was something that would not be hard to do, and we would be in a few days.
We got hired on Sunday, and got to camp on Wednesday. We left the dog with our son and daughter in Milwaukee to start with. We wanted to check out the camp first. From day one we always felt that we fit in there. The manager and maintenance worker and us hit it off good from the start. We knew we made the right choice.
Wednesday, February 17, 2010
It has been a long time since I wrote anything here or on my other blogs. So let me catch you up on some of the tings that have been going on for us.
Well in August of 2009 after a couple of years of searching we found a motor home through a website "dreamfinders.com.". They put me in contact with a women in Monterrey California who was selling a 1998 Rexhall Airbus 36' long.
We communicated with her via email and telephone for the next couple of months. After Judy and I decided to buy it, we decided there was no turning back. We went around the house and decided if it did not go in the motor home, it would be sold.This is not as easy at it seems. We told our three children speak up on what you want or it will be sold. We sold most of our possessions. It took three weekend rummage sales, and putting the big items on "Craigslist", we got it done. Then we signed the paperwork it only took a couple of days for the deal to go through.
After the rummage sale, decisions needed to be made. Judy stayed home to keep working at her job. She works in retail, and it was Christmas seasons and could not get off work. I needed some one to go with me. Luckily our good neighbor Mike agreed to go with me to get the motor home.
The plane tickets were bought. The car was rented.
On November 3,2009 at 4:00am the adventure began. Sara and Judy drove Mike and I to Dayton Airport to take off for San Fransisco California. The plane took off at 6:25 EST from Dayton Airport. Mike got pulled out by security because he took a XBox 360 and my luggage because I had tools in it. We had a layover in Denver and went on to San Francisco. We got there at 10:30am PST.
Then we got the rented car at San Francisco Airport. We got a Ford Focus and drove to Monterrey. We arrived at the Monterrey Pines Navel Campground where the motor home was. We were given a walk through and got the keys. The previous owner bought us a night at the campground. After the walk through, Mike and I drove to Carmel California to see the ocean. This was the first time I had ever seen the ocean. I had to put my toes in the ocean. It was very cold. We went into Monterrey to buy some groceries. We spent the first night in the motor home. It was a early night. It was a long day, crossing the country and three times zones.
The next morning, November 4, 2009 we got up and the lady we bought the motor home helped us return the car to the airport in Monterrey. We came back to the motor home and started for home. Judy had mapped our way home, using interstates all the way. We got on the interstate and after about an hour Mike is looking the the atlas and finds a short cut or so we thought. We took it and it took us up and down, round and round through the mountains peaking a height of 7000 feet above sea level. It was not a highway just a mountain road, but if was worth it just because of how beautiful it was. We also came across a wind farm, bigger than any one I had ever seen.
This first trip went pretty uneventful. We would drive about 500 miles a day. We stayed on the interstates. But we did have some excitement in Arkansas. Here we got pulled over for not having the motor home registered and searched for weapons and guns. Luckily we only got a warning and they didn't find any drugs or weapons. If took us five days to get home, but we made it and I got to be with Judy again, oh yeah lets not forget about Rocky.
December comes around and not only do we have the hassle of the holidays, but Sara has her baby, our first grandchild on December 18th. She had the baby a week early. Her name is Kaitlyn Alexis Hickman. She is a very good baby. Sara and Keith are great parents and Kaitlyn is almost as pampered as Rocky. Grandpa and Grandma have fun spoiling both of them.
Now there only reason we are still here is that we are grounded. We can't get the motor home out of storage because it is snowed in. Who isn't after the last 2 weeks. Once the snow is gone, so are we.
Well in August of 2009 after a couple of years of searching we found a motor home through a website "dreamfinders.com.". They put me in contact with a women in Monterrey California who was selling a 1998 Rexhall Airbus 36' long.
We communicated with her via email and telephone for the next couple of months. After Judy and I decided to buy it, we decided there was no turning back. We went around the house and decided if it did not go in the motor home, it would be sold.This is not as easy at it seems. We told our three children speak up on what you want or it will be sold. We sold most of our possessions. It took three weekend rummage sales, and putting the big items on "Craigslist", we got it done. Then we signed the paperwork it only took a couple of days for the deal to go through.
After the rummage sale, decisions needed to be made. Judy stayed home to keep working at her job. She works in retail, and it was Christmas seasons and could not get off work. I needed some one to go with me. Luckily our good neighbor Mike agreed to go with me to get the motor home.
The plane tickets were bought. The car was rented.
On November 3,2009 at 4:00am the adventure began. Sara and Judy drove Mike and I to Dayton Airport to take off for San Fransisco California. The plane took off at 6:25 EST from Dayton Airport. Mike got pulled out by security because he took a XBox 360 and my luggage because I had tools in it. We had a layover in Denver and went on to San Francisco. We got there at 10:30am PST.
Then we got the rented car at San Francisco Airport. We got a Ford Focus and drove to Monterrey. We arrived at the Monterrey Pines Navel Campground where the motor home was. We were given a walk through and got the keys. The previous owner bought us a night at the campground. After the walk through, Mike and I drove to Carmel California to see the ocean. This was the first time I had ever seen the ocean. I had to put my toes in the ocean. It was very cold. We went into Monterrey to buy some groceries. We spent the first night in the motor home. It was a early night. It was a long day, crossing the country and three times zones.
The next morning, November 4, 2009 we got up and the lady we bought the motor home helped us return the car to the airport in Monterrey. We came back to the motor home and started for home. Judy had mapped our way home, using interstates all the way. We got on the interstate and after about an hour Mike is looking the the atlas and finds a short cut or so we thought. We took it and it took us up and down, round and round through the mountains peaking a height of 7000 feet above sea level. It was not a highway just a mountain road, but if was worth it just because of how beautiful it was. We also came across a wind farm, bigger than any one I had ever seen.
This first trip went pretty uneventful. We would drive about 500 miles a day. We stayed on the interstates. But we did have some excitement in Arkansas. Here we got pulled over for not having the motor home registered and searched for weapons and guns. Luckily we only got a warning and they didn't find any drugs or weapons. If took us five days to get home, but we made it and I got to be with Judy again, oh yeah lets not forget about Rocky.
December comes around and not only do we have the hassle of the holidays, but Sara has her baby, our first grandchild on December 18th. She had the baby a week early. Her name is Kaitlyn Alexis Hickman. She is a very good baby. Sara and Keith are great parents and Kaitlyn is almost as pampered as Rocky. Grandpa and Grandma have fun spoiling both of them.
Now there only reason we are still here is that we are grounded. We can't get the motor home out of storage because it is snowed in. Who isn't after the last 2 weeks. Once the snow is gone, so are we.
Wednesday, August 12, 2009
Why a slide
When you're out looking for an RV many people say that it must have at least one slide. Some go with as many as four. Then there are the people that don't mind not having a slide at all.
Some things you have to remember when buying a RV with slides are that the campsite has to be extra wide to facilitate the extra width of the slides. One slide adds quite a bit of extra room and when it isn't open you only have one additional wall to put up with. Which will allow you easy access to the rest of the unit from the front. The more slides, the more walls making for more obstacles to put up with trying to gfet to the rear of the RV when they're not opened.
The people looking at them without slides just don't realize the extra space they're gaining so they figure they don't need it.
Some things you have to remember when buying a RV with slides are that the campsite has to be extra wide to facilitate the extra width of the slides. One slide adds quite a bit of extra room and when it isn't open you only have one additional wall to put up with. Which will allow you easy access to the rest of the unit from the front. The more slides, the more walls making for more obstacles to put up with trying to gfet to the rear of the RV when they're not opened.
The people looking at them without slides just don't realize the extra space they're gaining so they figure they don't need it.
Monday, August 10, 2009
Hey everybody. I'm the vagabond chef and I'm just letting you know what this blog is all about. It's going to cover the trials and tribulations of a husband, wife and black lab trying to break into a brand new lifestyle of fulltime RVing. At one time we had a class C motorhome and now are moving up to a class A. So I guess you could call me a newbie. So I am going to research from the basics on up, thus some of this information might already be known by you. I just think if you kee on reading from day today you will find some information that will be helpful to you.
So lets figure out if fulltiming is for you . Am I old enough, do I have enough money and am I healthy enough. How do you know it is time to become a fulltime RVer.
There are so many things to take into consideration. Do you enjoy your job and lifestyle (it is hard to believe but many people do). Then why change. Some RVers do so withchildren and some are out there fulltiming in their wheelchairs. So age doesn't matter.
When it comes to money who can say how much is enough. There is no correct answer. Some may think $1ooo is enough and some think you need $500,000. It all depends what you need.
When it comes to health only you and your doctor can decide this. Most RVers health improves while fulltiming because it is a less stressful lifestyle, they eat healthier and are more active.
I guess what I'm saying is thereis no wrong time to start. Now the problem is to convince my wife that it is time because Rocky the black lab and I are ready to go.
So lets figure out if fulltiming is for you . Am I old enough, do I have enough money and am I healthy enough. How do you know it is time to become a fulltime RVer.
There are so many things to take into consideration. Do you enjoy your job and lifestyle (it is hard to believe but many people do). Then why change. Some RVers do so withchildren and some are out there fulltiming in their wheelchairs. So age doesn't matter.
When it comes to money who can say how much is enough. There is no correct answer. Some may think $1ooo is enough and some think you need $500,000. It all depends what you need.
When it comes to health only you and your doctor can decide this. Most RVers health improves while fulltiming because it is a less stressful lifestyle, they eat healthier and are more active.
I guess what I'm saying is thereis no wrong time to start. Now the problem is to convince my wife that it is time because Rocky the black lab and I are ready to go.
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