We had 2 volunteers here on the Northwest side when we arrived and on the Northeast side are volunteers Pat and Jerry! One set of volunteers left here today after being here for 6 months and are coming back in April, the other set are leaving here Sunday, they are leaving because they just don't care for it here, too secluded they say, they have only been here for a month, there was another volunteer arriving this weekend but their travel trailer got blown over from the winds of Sandy, now they don't know when they will arrive! Soooo, it looks like after Sunday we will be the only ones on this side and Pat and Jerry the only ones on the Northeast side! Jerry showed us around yesterday and today and this place is massive, 22000 acres and only 6 rustic campsites the rest is a reserve with horse stables and paths, a fireman's cabin (they have several controlled burns here), hundreds of hiking and horse trails, next weekend they are having a marathon run over 100 miles thru the trails, they will be out there for 24 hours! We will be taking turns at the visitor center on Sat. for about 6 hours, opening and closing the front gates, mowing the trails, around the buildings, and our area, but we get to use a z-mower which Craig loves, I have to be trained on it yet, count manatees and scrubjays, make sure all the bathrooms have toilet paper (2 in the visitor centers, 2 rustic outhouses, clean the visitor center while we are on duty there, which is every other week, vacuum and clean the offices once a week, take the dump truck or gator out every night around dusk and make sure all the visitors have left befor the gate is shut! Sounds like a lot but we only work a total of 20 hours a week! More then we expected but not any heavy physical work or a lot of walking for Craig!
I am waiting for a new charger for my camera to arrive or I would be posting more pictures of the deer, manatees, horses, cranes,herons, etc. I have yet to see the 350 pound wild hogs yet but they laugh at me and tell me I will see them when I least expect to!! Jerry and her husband are about our ages and have an older class C motorhome with 3 cats, one they rescued while here, they took it to a cat rescue and they had no room there for about 3 weeks so she took it home and gave it a name, lol, sounds like my daughter Susan! She told me this gig will be like none we have ever done, there is no camphosting here because there are no rv campers, the only campers here our backpackers and they have to hike back in for miles before they get to a campground and when they get there it VERY rustic, no bathroom, electricity, just a few benches around a firepit, ugh, I give them a lot of credit, maybe when I was younger but not now!!
We will start working on Sunday at the visitor center because the gal the does it then will be out of town, but are official start in Monday! So wish us luck, we will either really, really like it or really, really hate it! Ah, the life of a volunteer!!!
Ok, out of here, have a great day and God Bless!!
Starting a new chapter in our lives by living for a year in our motorhome, come along and watch us as we begin our adventure!
Thursday, November 1, 2012
Wednesday, October 31, 2012
WE MADE IT!!!
What I seen this morning!
Went into town to get a few groceries and when we got back there was a herd of deer right next to our mh, then after we got inside I looked out my window and there were a few more, I was able to get some cool pictures! Feels good to finally get here and relax, temperture is around 70-75, we have some cool nights they are telling us, but not like they have in Michigan! Our satellite, internet and phone(weak signal but if I step outside it comes in better) all come in! We have a nice lot with green grass carpet, sewer and water! Only problem is that we will have to use our own shower because they do not have public showers for us to use, only problem with that is when our propane gets low we will have to break camp and go into town to refill, unless they deliver like they did in Texas. I will take pictures today of our living area and surrounding areas.
Well, gotta get dressed and ready for Ranger Jerry to show us around! So until later, God Bless!!
Sunday, October 28, 2012
HELLO ALABAMA!!!
What a view from our big Windshield
Our best day so far as weather goes and for traveling! Windy but no rain or accidents! We are at least a day behind schedule because of the accident that caused the traffic back up yesterday! I called Ken at St. Sebastian River Preserve State Park and told him we will be coming in a day late because of the traffic back up, he said not a problem and to be safe, he said one of his hosts will be coming in late because their travel trailor flipped over in the wind from Hurricane Sandy, so I guess so far we have been fortunate! We got off the road early today and are at the Oak Mountain State Park in Birmingham, Alabama, it is beautiful here so we wanted to relax a little and enjoy the park! Plan on being up early tomorrow so we can make up some time!
Got a shower and a walk in before retiring for the evening, was able to even play some scrabble on facebook! Met the camphost here and swapped stories of camphosting experiences and the love of this lifestyle, they have been here for a year and plan on going to the Gulf State Park campground for next year! We both agree that state campgrounds are so much nicer then the privately owned resort type campgrounds, more room and privacy but most of all so much more beautiful and scenic, plus all the wild life we see! If we didn't have a deadline to catch we would stay here for a few more days because I have a nephew that lives near by and friends that we met at our first workcamp job in Texas that also live in Birmingham Al. and only a short distance from us and I would love to see again, told them on our way back home in the spring we will be able to stay here a little longer so we will be able to visit!
I included some pictures from a motel in Tennessee that are Teepees, even the office is a Teepee, thought it was so cool! Well, it's getting late so until next time God Bless!
OUR FIRST CAMPHOSTING JOB!
VIEW OF THE LAKE FROM OUR CAMPSITE
THIS IS A BLOG THAT I NEVER PUBLISHED SO HERE IT IS A FEW MONTHS LATE!!
Here we are at our first camphosting job and what a beautiful place it is! Port Crescent is right on Lake Huron at the tip of the thumb! We left Bay City State Park in the rain and arrived in the rain, so we have some drying out to do but today is suppose to be a warm sunny day in the 70's, but then the next few days will be raining! That's ok because we need one sunny warm day to get everything dried out and camp set up! Waiting for Ranger Betsy to come over and greet us and let us know what and when we start! The camphost site is beautiful and large, we have a pavilion for activities with storage units for all our crafts, we have a community firepit and a personnel one for our days off, we can see the beautiful lake from our site, so far there is only one camper here, right across from us, but they told us that on the weekend they get about 20 campers!
I picked up a bunch of stickers, finger paints, plastic eggs and animals to put items in for kids to find around the campground, bought coffee cups for coffee hour, etc., got all of it at goodwill, we will be getting a $150 allowance for any items such as coffee, cups, cream, sugar, or whatever we need to do our camphosting job. Can't wait, we have so many ideas! Saturday night Craig tried some of the campfire recipes he learned at camphost classes on the grandkids, they loved it! We have proudly framed our Camphost Certificates and will have them on display, we are as proud of them as college degree, lol!
Well, we are waiting for the rangers to come and mow our area so we can finish setting up our campsite, once that is done I will post more pictures! Until then have a great day!
BACK ON THE ROAD AGAIN!1
What a day, we were rerouted because of a horrible accident on I-65 where a semi and van collided, 11 people were killed, yes, that is right 11, 10 were from one family, the truck driver crossed over the mediam and hit a van with 12 menenites, 2 children survived! We were backed up and rerouted in a 5 mile long back-up, we made 15 miles for the day, but thinking about the 11 day died breaks my heart, yeah, we lost a day of travel but they lost there lives! They are in our prayers, how horrible!! We are suppose to be to our new gig by Nov. 1st but don't think that is going to happen, will have to call the ranger and let him know, Ken is pretty nice guy and will understand, plus we are heading into Hurricane Sandy, so the weather hasn't been the best! We were both exhausted last night and we in bed by 8, lol, I fell right to sleep, Craid made it until 10! We are in a beautiful park but a little more then we wanted to spend but the next campground was another hour away and Craig said he was just too tired to drive anymore!
Gotta get off here and get ready to hit the road! So until next time "God Bless"!
Friday, May 4, 2012
BIG STORM AND WE ARE STILL HERE!
Wow, what a storm, hail, high wings, heavy down pours, thank God we staked, straped and staked our canopy down, satellite went in and out but finally it came back in just in time to watch Idol, lol, but have to admit I love the sound of rain hitting the roof, Lenny freaks out but I love it! I went to our house in Bay City yesterday and dropped off and picked up a few things, love that house, but love living in our motorhome more, even if it is a lot smaller, but there is a freedom that I can't explain about it, yes, a lot less room but in a lot of ways a lot more, we live on acres and acres of woods, a beautiful lake a couple blocks away, deer come out in the evening, birds sing all day long, there are trails everywhere, we seem to discover new ones everyday, a big play area and a beach for the grandkids when they visit, there is a little cabin here for friends and family that can be rented, as a matter of fact my best friend of 37 years Peggy is coming this weekend and we are staying in the cabin for a girls weekend, time for catching up, do our hair, eat, watch girlie movies and laugh until we cry, my kids have bought a tent so they can follow us around! This is a beautiful way to live, I am so at peace here, I fall asleep with the sounds of the waves hitting the beach and wake up to the birds singing! It was a such a busy day in Bay City, but had a lot to be done, went to doctor and had a few things checked out, which led to blood work, a dobler on my leg, and a mammogram scheduled for next week, nothing serious, but I want to be in the best of health so I can continue to live this beautiful life, then a two hour trip to the dentist, I also want to look nice too, lol, then went to Kmart to get some much needed items, hit a couple of rummages sales for e-bay, stopped at my brother Bob's house to pick up Craig's sweatshirt that he borrowed last weekend, then got some new tires on our truck, thanks to my son Matthew, went to city hall to pay a bill, then to the bank to transfer some money and make a house payment! Sooo has you can see it was a busy day but got everything done on my list which had about 20 items on it, left at 7 am and didn't get home until 6 pm, drove thru heavy rain and hail, but made it! Today we plan on putting up our humming bird feeder because we have seen them in our bird feeder, then run into Bad Axe (about 20 miles away) to pick up a few items, oh yeah, we made homemade ice cream last night with our ice cream maker, can't wait to try it on the grandkids when they come and we plan on having an ice cream social with the campground kids as part of our camphosting duties!
What we are finding out is we want to take good care of ourselves so we can live this lifestyle as long as we can, Craig has traded his scooter electric wheelchair for a bike and I got me a bike also, we have been eating as healthy as we can, taking lots of walks, Craig can only walk short distances but that is why he has a bike now and he is doing good with it, he said he can feel his legs getting stronger. People have asked us "aren't you getting sick of living in your rv yet?" I tell them "why would we, it is like a forever vacation"! Yeah, we realize it will all end someday and we will have to park the motorhome forever but until then we will live our dream until we can't live it no more! We absolutely love it, can't wait to get up every morning to see the new day, during the day we sit out under our canopy and gaze at the stars and if it isn't raining eat lunch and supper outside then we love going inside to watch satellite tv, playing on the computer as Craig falls asleep in his recliner! Even Lenny is loving the life and is even getting better when strangers come around!
Well, gotta get off here and help Craig hang the new bird feeder! So until next time "GOD BLESS"!
Tuesday, April 17, 2012
ON OUR WAY HOME!
KENNEDY AND HAYDEN WAITING FOR US TO COME HOME!
We are heading home to Michigan after an amazing 7 months of seeing this beautiful country! But it isn't over yet, we will be camphosting from May 1st to Oct. 9th in Michigan at 4 different state campgrounds! Going to be fun because we will be within an hour to and an hour and a half away from family and I sure have missed them. My son Matt and daughter-in-law Courtney have already got their tent out and ready to go camping with us, this will be grandkids Kennedy and Hayden's first time camping! My other son Richard and girlfriend Callie will be getting a tent and joining us also, with grandkids Callie Jean and Blaken, hoping Desiree will be coming also, but she is 15 yrs. old and might not want to join us! So will try to do a one on one with her, like a shopping trip! I can't wait to see them all! Got a busy weekend planned already, Sat. will be Blaken's 4th birthday party and Sunday will be Kennedy's 10th birthday party, Friday I have a dentist appointment, so plan on being home by Thursday night and will be staying at the Bay City State Campground until we leave for our camphost classes on Tuedays!
Seen a lot of family and friends on our adventure, some we haven't seen in years and some we see back in Michigan but all were awesome and we enjoyed our visits with them, cried when I said good-bye to them but then I have always been a crybaby! Looking forward also to seeing my best friend Peggy and have some quality time with her, will be back in time for her birthday at the end of the month! Can't wait to see my brothers Bob and Butch, and sister-in-law Norma, hoping to do some serious camping with them also!
I do know something after living on the road for so long is that I want to do it again and again! It has been the adventure of a life time and I don't want it to end! This time we will be going to Florida for the winter instead of west, we are trying to set up camphosting jobs for the fall, winter and early spring of 2012 to 2013, so wish us luck! Have already ordered our Woodall Campgrounds 2012 books and have renewed our campground discount cards. We have learned a lot of thing that we have brought along with us we didn't need, so we will be repacking the MH, we will also be getting ride of our truck and get a lighter weight car, Craig want's to get rid of his wheelchair and get a bike, he hardly ever uses it and it is a pain to load and unload, we will be getting rid of all the extra tables, lights, clothes, etc., live and learn, but we knew that this first time out you will know what is needed and what isn't! We learned that it isn't like camping, when you put out a lot of lights and decorations, especially when you are traveling and on the move, but when we become camphosts for a month to months at a time we will go ahead and put the mat out the sunscreen, reclining chairs along with the campchairs, maybe even hang a few lights, chimes and our campsigns out!
We will be going home to 50 degrees compared to the 80's so it's going to be some adjusting until it gets warmer out, but they have been having some warm temps so hopefully it will warm back up before too long, the nights are still dipping down to freezing temps yet, brrrr, but that's when you appreciate the bonfires!
Well, getting ready to pack up and head for Ohio, so until next time,
God Bless!
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