Our Sweet Home In Alabama!

After a trip that took us  six days to drive 1810 miles, through 6 states and 3 time zones, we have arrived at our winter home in Greensboro, Alabama. Payne Lake Campground in the Talledega National Forest is where we will be spending the next few months.  The folks we'll be working with are very glad to see us, and we are just as glad to be here. 

 

This place is gorgeous. We have a really nice campsite, up on a hill, overlooking the lake. There is a washer and dryer, and a freezer for us to use while we are here. A golf cart, and a riding lawn mower, and best of all, satellite internet service right at our site! We feel really loved already and we just got here. 

 

This is the entrance road to the campground and day use area. We stopped here to wait for Joe, the forest service guy to meet us there and show us where we our campsite is. 

 

Another view of the entrance road. The closest town is 16 miles away in Greensboro. It is very quiet here.

One more view of the entrance road. 

  

This is our front yard at our campsite. There is a huge oak tree, a picnic table, a fire ring, and you can see the lake across the road. 

  

The West Campground has 18 sites, 9 of them have water and electric hook-ups, the other nine have only water. At the East Campground there are  32 primitive sites for tents with no hook-ups. The East campground is closed right now, as they do not have water over there at the moment. That is coming, and there will be another camp host couple over on that side in a couple of weeks.

  

More of the campground. This campground is really nice, we would recommend it to anyone. The larger sites with water and electric look like they could accomodate a 30 foot RV or trailer. 

  

 This was on Saturday--it was a beautiful day, with sunshine and puffy clouds. These geese probably don't know there are alligators in that lake!

  

 There's our trailer, up on that hill. Doesn't that look nice?

 

And this was taken from the dam. The fall colors are just starting here but it is already beautiful. I know soon it will be winter, so we are enjoying this view while we can. 

Today, Joe came over and took us on a tour of the place, showing us where to get supplies, what we are expected to do, and such as that. Tomorrow, we go to town to pick up some personal supplies, then the next day we'll get to work getting things in shape for campers who will be coming in soon.

A Very Long Time Coming

Last winter we worked at a Christmas tree lot with our friends. It was very hard work, having to lug all those trees around, keeping them watered, fluffing them out, standing them up, tying onto people's cars, etc.  Our last day working there was Christmas Eve. When we received our last paychecks, each of us was shorted 13 hours pay. Our friend, Lynda, who was the manager of the lot, called the owner of the company several times, and sent several e-mails, with no result.  I also called several times, and sent several e-mails, and then just decided to write it off, and call it one more business owner who took advantage of a traveling gypsy employee. 

Well, guess what? On Friday, this was in the mail!

It only took, what? almost 10 months for him to pay us? At least he did, but we won't be selling Christmas trees again. Ever. 

I Had A Little Visitor On The Job Today

I was working out at the entrance station today. I didn't hear this little guy come in, but I did hear him bonk his little head on the window. He was stunned a little bit, I think.


He sat there on top of the sign that says "Sorry, Our Campground Is Full", looking out at the meadow in the distance, probably wondering where the heck he was.


The little poser sat there quite still and let me get very close to get a nice picture. Then, I picked him in my hands, and took him outside, where he quickly flew away into the trees. It was amazing how soft and fluffy he was, and how he seemed to not weigh anything at all. I was afraid I might crush his little self if I held him too tightly.


Bye, bye, little friend! Come to visit again some time!

The Man Helps Around The House, How Could I Not Love Him?

What a week---work work work. But thank the Lord, I have a job. And a job I love, at that. I worked the late shift every day last week, so I was not doing the cleaning and cooking for the most part. Yesterday FabGrandpa was off and I had to work, so he cleaned house from one end to the other. It was soooo nice to come home and not have to worry about doing all that.

He has been doing the cooking all week--I leave all the ingredients out on the counter, with detailed instructions, and he puts them together and gets dinner ready. He has been doing a pretty good job of it, too.


He has made chili, goulash, and beef stew, all according to directions from me, and all I have had to do was come home and eat. I am liking this set up---I am liking it A LOT. One night he even baked some chicken thighs and made some rice. Since he follows my directions to the letter, and there are no wheat products in the house at all, everything is gluten free, too.


The beef stew he made was especially good. Of course, I cut everything up and got it all ready for him, and all he had to do was put it all in the crock-pot at a certain time, but HE did do that so he gets the credit for making it. Here is the recipe:


1 lb cubed steak, cut up into bite sized pieces
1 large onion, chopped
olive oil
4 potatoes, unpeeled, cut up in bite sized pieces
4 carrots, peeled and sliced
2 portabella mushrooms, chopped
2 stalks celery, chopped
Aunt Cora’s seasoning
½ tsp garlic powder
1 tsp black pepper
1 tsp salt
1 16 oz can crushed tomatoes
enough water to cover all in the crock-pot


Sprinkle the cubed steak pieces with Aunt Cora’s seasoning. Heat a couple of tablespoons of olive oil in a skillet. Add the steak pieces and onion; cook until the onions are clear and the steak is browned. Pour into crock-pot. Add all the rest of the ingredients, and cook on high in crock-pot for 4 hours. Simple to make, yum to eat, gluten free for your safe eating.

The Night Before

Kathie seems to be very interested in what Susan has to say, while Ace just watches the fire.

Val looks confused, while Bob just looks amused.

Richard looking down at his feet while Mary holds the leash.

Gizmo checking out Richard's feet.

The night before we opened, our department had a cookout at the campground. The campground host cooked us some hamburgers and baked beans. We had a fun time, socializing and getting to know each other better outside of the classroom. It was a great time, and helped loosen us up a bit. Of course, the campground was empty because we were still closed. The gates opened the next day, and we haven't had time to breathe since.

We Have Arrived

A balanced rock in Marble Canyon

Just wanted to come by here and let you all know we arrived safely at the Grand Canyon on Saturday afternoon. The wind died down a bit in the morning, so we left Flagstaff. Everything was fine until we rounded the bend in Marble Canyon, and were in a head wind. It was blowing about 45 miles per hour, and made it feel like the brakes were on. I have never experienced anything like it! That was the worst of it though, for about 20 miles, then it was fine the rest of the way. The trip up the plateau went smoothly.


There was one tree blown over and lying in the road, but we went around on the other side with no problem. There was not nearly as much snow on the ground as last year when we got here.


The weather has been warmer, too. I started working on Monday, after sitting on my behind all winter long. Let me tell you, with the high altitude (8800 ft) and the lazy winter, I am wiped out when I get home! Add to that the 15 pounds I gained over the winter, and well, I have to get into better shape. My pants are way too tight! Training the newbies starts this coming Monday. Can't wait to meet all the new co-workers. It is going to be another fun season, I just know it.

I had ordered our telephone service way back on April 14th, with a requested installation date of April 24th, our planned arrival date. When we got here on Saturday, the 25th, the phone wasn't working. Repair service told me there was "trouble on the line". So when they sent someone out, they discovered they had installed the service at the wrong address. They fixed all that yesterday, so now I have my telly and am back on line. Yay! But why on why can't a telephone service get it right???

Scenic Sunday

This is the entrance station at the North Rim of the Grand Canyon. The photo was taken on May 9, 2008. The park opens on May 15th each year. I was there because this is where I work. I am a seasonal park ranger there. I just love my cubicle!

For more Scenic Sunday photos, click here.

One Week To Get Ready To Go

We talked to the boss man at the job yesterday, and finalized a return to work date, so we will be rolling down the road in just one week from today.

The plan right now is to leave here on Tuesday morning, and go as far as Flagstaff. We'll spend two nights there so we can stock up the pantry and get some needed supplies, then we're off to the North Rim again. We should get there on Friday afternoon. I can hardly wait!

Workamper News

Just a quick note to those of you who think you may want to run away from home and live in an RV:

You can do it too! Just click here:



Subscribe to Workamper News Magazine or buy a book--Yeah, if you do, I'll get an affiliate commission, but hey, you like me, don't you?

Can You Type?

I applied for a job that asked the question on the application, "How many words per minute do you type?" I thought I could type about 30 words per minute, which is the minimum required for being qualified for that job.

So, after I sent in my application, I started having doubts about my actual typing ability. I mean, I had jobs in the past where I was required to type a certain number of words per minute, but not in recent years. And for all the writing I do now, for blog posts, emails, freelance articles, etc., I just type and don't worry about errors because of good old spellcheck. Get it typed, run spellcheck, all is good. Right? Unless you have typed "ass" instead of "add". Spellcheck won't find the error and you'll look like an add. hahahah.

Just to ease my mind that I had not fibbed on my application, I googled for an online typing test, And guess what? I did 50 words per minute! Yay!

So, tell me how well you did.

Workampers Meet-up

We were invited to a meet-up today with some members of an online forum from Workamper News Magazine. The place we were to meet was a gold claim on BLM land east of Quartzsite, about 30 or so miles from where we are parked.


This is the road to the claim. It is the good part of the road. We went about four miles out then turned off on a side road that looked more like a pig trail. Very rough, very remote.



I think they said this is a contraption used for dry panning for gold. They put the dirt in there, then sift it. Or something like that. Shit, I really don't know HOW it is used, just that they were using it to look for gold. It was really very interesting. Really.




FabGrandpa and I walked up that hill. I got some cactus stickers in my leg. That part was not fun. It was another beautiful blue sky day. I think I got sunburned on my face. That part was not fun, either, but I really did have fun today.


Some more scenery. I love this place.



Here, FabGrandpa is standing next to this big red cactus to demonstrate just how big it is. It had really big stickers on it, too. You don't want to be falling on one of those babies!



See, I told you it had big stickers on it. Those things bite.



This one is tiny. I had to sit on the ground to get close enough to get this picture. It was about four inches across and about 5 inches tall. It had the remains of red flowers on it. I think this is where I got the cactus stickers in my leg.


The real name of this cactus is Cholla, but some people call it "jumping cactus" because if you brush up too close to it, the little arms will "jump" off onto your clothes. And that is not fun. No, it didn't happen to me. And I hope it never does.


More scenery. Jaimie, the girl who owns the claim, told us she has seen bighorn sheep up there before. We didn't see any today. Probably because there were too many people around.


Here we are, proof we were there, looking for gold! George, Jaimie, Lynda, and me.



This was a bunch of people camping on the BLM land on the way out to the claim. This was a couple of miles off the main road. I bet it is real quiet out there.



That is a tiny little house out there in the desert. I probably have more room in my RV than there is in that house. It is hard to believe someone actually lives out here.



A gravel pit mine on the way out to George and Jaimie's claim. There were several claims being worked out there. Jaimie said they do find gold, but it is a LOT of work to find just a little bit.



Of course, Workampers can't get together without eating! We all met up back in town at Palo Verde Restaurant. The food there was good. I had liver and onions, FabGrandpa had a rib eye steak. MMMM.


left to right: FabGrandpa, me, Jim and Bev (ymeIsay on the Workamper forums), Charlie and Lynda (G'Ma on the Workamper forums), George and Jaimie (Calamity Jaimie on the Workamper forums), and Bob and Ann (TwoRootless on the Workamper forums)
Oh, and when we got home and were getting out of the truck, when Charlie opened his door, rocks fell out! Pretty rocks.

A Friendly Visit

Yesterday I had some visitors at the Christmas tree lot. Harlan and Arnette, a couple from California who are workamping in Mesa, stopped by to say Hi! Arnette introduced herself and said she reads my blog. She really introduced herself as "Anonymous", as she has commented a couple of times anonymously. It was great to meet them.

This is their first time workamping. Arnette just retired in May, but Harlan has been retired for 12 years. Lucky dog! They described their job as being "food service", but what they do is serve punch and coffee and oversee whoever is serving the food at meal functions at the campground where they are staying. It sounded like a pretty good gig.

Oh, I just LOVE being recognized. It is so much fun.

Project 365 Day 53 Bottoms Up

Ha Ha Ha! Lynda will understand this one...

Working At The Christmas Tree Lot

We met Charlie and Lynda a couple of years ago, when we all worked together in Virginia. While we worked at that place, their motor home was parked next to ours. We spent a lot of time off the clock traveling around sightseeing together. It was there in Virginia that we all decided to work at a tree lot together sometime in the future. Well, that day has come.


Charlie and Lynda are managing the lot and we are working for them. Today was our first day on the job. When FabGrandpa and I arrived at the lot, the first delivery of trees had just been taken off the truck and were stacked up like this:




We had to put each one on a stand. You take a green plastic bowl that has a hole in the bottom of it, with a gasket in the hole. Then, you take one of these metal things and push it through the hole. The sharp metal part goes into the trunk of the tree. You take a large hammer and pound it into the tree trunk, then stand it up. While all that pounding is going on, someone takes a measuring stick and measures the tree, and someone writes the height, kind, and price of the tree on a tag and ties the tag to the top of the tree. Then you stand it up.




After the trees are standing up, you take a tree mover and move it where it is supposed to go. We lined them up in rows with all of one kind the same row. I have not bought a live tree since my youngest daughter was about 6 years old (she is now 33), so I have not even been on a tree lot in oh, about 27 years. So, I had never even seen on e of those nifty devices. It enables one old grandma to be able to move a 12 foot tree by herself!! Pretty cool! (That's Charlie in the picture below. That red thingy with wheels, that is the tree moving device)




When you get the trees all lined up in rows, you fill the green bowl with water, then you have to cut the twine that binds them to remove it, and then fluff out the branches. They pretty much fall into place by themselves, but it is fun to see each one unfold and start to look like a beautiful Christmas tree right before your eyes. (That's Lynda and FabGrandpa working in the picture below. And YES, I did do some work other than take pictures, thank you very much!)



We had a couple of customers while we were setting things up. You help the customer pick out a tree. When they have decided on THE tree, you put the tree on the mover, and take it over to an area where we have a chain saw, and cut off an inch or tow off the bottom of the trunk so the tree will be able to suck up water better. That makes it stay fresh longer. Then, we do the transaction at the register while someone helps the customer load up their tree. We also offer delivery service for an additional fee.



We have six kinds of trees: Noble Fir, Douglas Fir, Nordman Fir, Grand Fir, Fraser Fir, and Scotch Pines. They range from table toppers that are about 3 feet tall to over 12 feet tall. The huge Noble Firs cost $240!! (Here is FabGrandpa standing beside a big Noble Fir)




Here are me and Lynda by the same tree. The trees are really beautiful and smell so good!



Look at that cloudy sky. We had rain and thunderstorms in the forecast for tonight. After dark, Lynda and I went out in the parking lot to see how the lot looks from the out there. Pretty good, huh?



The lot will be open seven days a week from 9:00 a.m until 9:00 p.m. We'll be working most days, but Charlie and Lynda are living in their motorhome on the lot, so they will not be able to leave until the lot closes on Christmas Eve. We really had fun working today, but don't want the responsibility of managing the whole thing. I was secretly worried that I wouldn't be able to do the work, but even though the trees were huge, it wasn't more than I could do. Having that tree mover thingy was a big help. So, we go back and do it all again tomorrow.

I Am Finally Back Online!

We arrived here at the North Rim of the Grand Canyon on about April 26th, forgive me if I can't remember the exact date, it has been such a blur! I started training for my job two days later, and man, is it ever a lot to learn! We finally got our telephone and internet installed yesterday, so I have a connection to the world again.

I have AT&T for my cellphone service, but it only gets a signal at very specific spots, all of which are not in my trailer. One is at the helicopter pad at the edge of the canyon, another is in the campground at one certain picnic table, and the other is in the employee restroom. I found out about that one because I had my cellphone in my pocket, and while I was in there, uh, doing my stuff, the phone rang!! It was my Mom, so I answered it, but I doubt very seriously I would have invited anyone else in there with me.

Here is a peek at my morning commute. This is along the Transept Trail. You actually see a side canyon called Transept Canyon here.
I have run into these deer several times. They don't run away, just kind of look at me as if to say, "Oh, it's just you." Some mornings there are about 10 of them. I walk about 9/1o's of a mile each way to the office. Later, when the park opens, I'll drive about 12 miles from the office to the entrance station.

This pic is looking north from the entrance station down Hwy 67, towards the "town" of Jacob Lake, which is really only a gas station and a restaurant/lodge. It is 43 miles to Jacob Lake.

This one is looking south from the same spot, towards the canyon. It is another 13 miles or so to the edge of the North Rim from this spot. This is where I will be working this season. Boy, if ya have to work, this is the place to be! (Oh, did you notice the snow still on the ground? I took these photos on May 8, 2008. )