WE MADE IT!!!

                                         Seen a herd of deer right outside our window!

                                               Gator we will be using!

What I seen this morning!

 

Well, we are here, got here about 4 pm yesterday, what a huge place, we are in a gated area with 2 other campworkers, nice people, eager to meet us, but they are leaving us because one couple have been here for 6 months and need to go home another couple are leaving because they want to be closer to a golf course, go figure, not for everyone I guess, but we are about 5 miles from the ocean, and within 3 big towns, with Walmarts, K-marts, Public's grocery store, anything we need, and all within 10 miles.  Two more couples are coming in this weekend, so we will go from newbies to most experienced, lol! Today we will be shown around by Jerry the ranger and what our duties will be! What the other workers are saying is we open the gates to the park by 8 am and close them at sunset, work a couple days in the Visitor center, check and make sure everyone is out of the park before closing the gates, check on the manatees(love that part) and that's about it!
                                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!!

HELLO ALABAMA!!!

                                                    Craig & Me at Oak Mountain State Camp Ground Alabama

                                                 Me too!
                                                  What a view from our big Windshield

                                                  Oak Mountain S.P. Alabama

                                                TEEPEE MOTEL IN TENNESSEE

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!

                                                 PORT CRESCENT STATE PARK!!

              THE PAVILION WE WILL BE USING FOR CAMPHOSTING ACTIVITIES!

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

I know it's been awhile since I blogged but time to get serious about this again since we are back on the road again! Camphosted all summer in Michigan, first at Port Crescent State Park from May 1st to June first, then we camphosted at Tawas Point State Park for 6 weeks and then finished out at South Higgins Lake until Oct.15th! Now we are headed for St. Sebastian River Preserve State Park in Florida, we start Nov. 1st and will be there until the end of Feb.  Got out of Michigan just in time, it was getting soooo cold, but had an appointment I had to be at! Loved the fall colors and spending a few more days with the kids and grandkids! We are in Kentucky right now and getting ready to head into Tennessee!  Said our good-byes to everyone, which I hate, so I take my daughter-in-law Courtney's  advice and just say I will see ya in the spring! Well heading out for now, will finish this blog this evening!!!
                                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"!

BIG STORM AND WE ARE STILL HERE!

                                           ALL SET UP! ONE OTHER CAMPER!

                                                      THE CABIN

                                              SUNSCREEN ALSO HELPS WITH THE WIND AND RAIN

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"!

ON OUR WAY HOME!

                                              ENTERING MARYLAND!

                                           CAMPING IN MARYLAND!

                                         SAYING GOOD-BYE TO MY GRANDDOGS!

                                                 TINY AND SCOOTER!

                           BUFFALO IN MARYLAND BY OUR CAMPGROUND!

                                        HELLO PENNSYLVANIA!

                                                   JELLYSTONE PARK IN PENNSYLVANIA!

                                                  CRAIG AND LENNY RIDING THE TRAIN!

                                                 CREEK AT THE CAMPGROUND

 

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!

BEAUTIFUL VIRGINIA AND FAMILY!

                                OUR MH AT RUSS AND SUSAN'S MANSION!

                                      THEIR POOL, THAT IS THE ALLIGATOR WE GOT THEM!

                                                       MISS SASSY!

                               ME WITH MY FURGRANDBABIES..SASSY..DUDE..AND DESTINY

                                    KEEKEE AND TINY( IN THE FIREPLACE)

                                CRAIG WITH HIS SISTER ELYSE!

                                           MISS DESTINY!

                                       SUSAN WITH HARRY(THE OLD MAN)

                                              RUSS WITH KEEKEE!

                                       HOPE, THE NEWEST MEMBER OF THEIR FAMILY
                                        SHE CAME TO THEM NEAR DEATH AND AFTER
                                        SOME LIFE SAVING SURGIES SHE IS HAPPY
                                           AND HEALTHY!

We are having a great time here at our daughter Susan and Russ's beautiful home! They work everyday and let us have the run of the place and what a place it is, I call it the mansion, it is so huge that the rent out two of the rooms to friends, one to Paula and the other to Shawn!  They took us out to their favorite hang out at Jolly Roger's Friday night, then Craig's sister Elyse,who also lives in Virginia, showed up Sat. and stayed for Easter Sunday!  Russ and Susan are like the hosts of all hosts, we all had a fantastic day!  Monday we took them out to Outback Steakhouse for Russ's 50th birthday! But the best of our stay is our grand furbabies! They have 4 dogs, Harry(the old man)a Cocker Spaniel, Sassy and Dude their malteses and rescued Hope a beagle, who came crawling into their yard about 2 months ago and was almost dead, she had tumors hanging off her and several inside, plus the vet thought she may have cancer, plus she was heartworm positive, but that didn't stop Russ and Susan, they told the vet to do what you can do for her, all the tumors were removed and she has no sign of cancer, she is heartworm positive but it is treatable, she is one of the sweetest dogs you could  ask for, she's so happy and blends well with the others! Then their is the grandkitties, let's see now if I can get this right..the first one they rescued is KeeKee, then there was Mya(who passed away about a month ago) then Destiny who they found frozen on their front porch about 3 years ago, then their is Scooter that Russ found, then Nacho who passed away about 5 months ago, then they rescued Tiny that they rescued after Nacho passed and beautiful Sophia who was almost ferrel but has turned into a loving pet because of Susan's patience to bring her around!  There, I think I got them all!  Anyways they are all so affectionate and loving, but the best thing of all is they all get along good together and all sleep in Russ and Susan's bedroom at night, some in bed with them and some on a giant mat on the floor! Susan has found homes for so many homeless dogs and cats that I have lost track of how many! Every pet has a touching story!
                                     I got a call the other day from another state campground in Northern  Michigan, we will be camphosting for them also, that is a total of 3 camphost jobs we have now! We will be leaving here Monday and start working our way back to Michigan, plan on being there by Friday, our granddaughter Kennedy's birthday party is Sunday and we want to be there for that! Can't wait to see my family, missed my son's, daughter-in-law and grandkids sooo much! Going to be a wonderful summer!  Well, gotta go and get some e-bay items listed! So God Bless!