Where Did the Holidays Go?

Bob and I made it through our first time managing the See's Candies Kiosk in Texas. It was a lot of work, but a lot fun as well also. We look forward to doing it again next year. Texas is much different than we imagined it - lots and lots and lots of traffic. We were about 20 miles from Houston and the traffic and the way people drive was crazy. We were very fortunate that the RV Park we were at was only 5 miles from the mall we worked at. Even at that the traffic was pretty nutty. The Christmas decorations at the mall were beautiful and helped us keep the Holiday spirit even on the busiest of days. The weather even made it feel like Christmas. The first couple weeks we were in Texas the weather was great, then it just got consistently colder after that. We even had snow a couple days - certainly not weather we were looking for. Bob and I worked November and December and the 2 months went by so fast, that it seemed like they were over before we knew it. Hope everyone had wonderful Holidays and we kept everyone in our thoughts even though we weren't able to send out Holiday Cards. Maybe we can try and send out "Christmas in July" cards instead. Tomorrow we head out to Arizona to meet some friends, relax and hopefully enjoy some warm sunshine. Love, Bob, Sharon & Toby

Reflections of our RV Life and Friendships

One of the things that Bob and I have enjoyed upon embarking on our new lifestyle is something that we never anticipated: meeting people that we would form lasting friendships with. We certainly meet a lot of new people in our ventures, and the probability of staying in touch isn’t a lot as everyone is going in different directions and has their own itinerary they follow. That isn’t the case when we met Robert and Jane, last January (2009), in Quartzsite, AZ They were vendors there and I was helping out at another vendor booth. The four of us really hit it off and enjoyed spending time together and we agreed to stay in touch.

You might wonder where this story is going – while we were in South Dakota over the summer, they stopped to see us as they were traveling through on their way back home to California. Then when Bob and I were leaving San Francisco we thought we’d see if they lived near the route we were traveling on our way to Texas. As it turned out, they were leaving Houston, TX, which was where we were heading to, on their way back home to California. They didn’t live far from where we would be traveling and they would be home by the time we got there. It was great that we were able to stop and visit for a few days.

It is sad to think we would have missed out on the opportunity to meet such nice people if we hadn’t decided to workamp full-time. I guess the reason for my story is that, we are grateful and blessed to have been able to meet Robert and Jane, and know that we have a friendship that will last for the rest of our lives.

My other point is, that Bob and I have met so many nice people in our travels, that any skepticism of living in our RV full-time and workamping has cemented our decision that we made the right choice in what we are doing. It is hard to believe that we have been on the road for a year and a half already. God willing, we are looking for many more years and miles to go yet.

We will post again soon.

With Lots of Love,

Bob, Sharon & Toby

California Bound

With the hot air balloons and New Mexico behind us we are heading to South San Francisco, CA for training for our next work assignments.  We are going to See’s Candies for training in operating a kiosk, or a holiday gift center, in Texas for the holiday season.  Normally they like to fly you to San Francisco for training, but due to the fact we really didn’t have anyplace to park our RV or a babysitter for Toby, we decided to drive there.  We stayed at Candlestick RV Park, right across from Candlestick Stadium.  While the park itself was pretty safe, the neighborhood probably wasn’t the best, but it was our choice to drive there due to our limitations.

Unfortunately, we don’t have any photos of our time in San Francisco.  Our training was only for 3 days and our time was spent mostly on that without much time for site seeing.  See’s is a fantastic company to work for and they really were generous to everyone that attended the training.  We really didn’t know much about the company.  See’s is actually owned by the Berkshire-Hathaway company which is owned by Warren Buffet, but is still run the way the original family had operated it.  We must also personally endorse the candy.  Neither Bob or I had ever had See’s candy before, and we will both attest to how great it is.  They even have a variety of sugar-free candy also.

Bob and I definitely want to go back to San Francisco and be able spend some free time  farther north where we will be able to visit Alcatraz, see the Golden Gate Bridge and many other places San Francisco is known for.  We will be leaving San Francisco on 22nd then head towards Los Angeles where will stop and visit with friends before putting down roots in Texas for a couple months.

Love,

Bob, Sharon & Toby

Balloons Over Albuquerque!

We finished our summer work assignments and left South Dakota at the end of September.  Bob and I so much enjoyed our time in South Dakota.  As I have said before, it is such a beautiful area that we both love, and it is for that reason we agreed to go back for the summer of 2010 season.  From the Black Hills we headed to Albuquerque, New Mexico where we had the opportunity to attend the Hot Air Balloon Fiesta.  We met some really nice people, and neither of us had ever seen hot air balloons up close.  You were even able to go out on the launch fields as they were airing up and launching the balloons.  There were over 500 balloons launching almost every day.  The wind determined whether balloons could go up or not.  Launches were scheduled early sunrise and daytime.  They even did what they called a night glow, where the balloonists would light up their balloons at night.  There were also fireworks scheduled quite a few of the nights.  The colors of the balloons were so amazing, along with the many different shapes and sizes.  Given the time and opportunity we would definitely go again.  We have made a photo album of our favorites, we hope you enjoy them.

View Full Album

Until next time, we send our Love

Bob, Sharon & Toby

Where Did Summer Go?

Time has gone by so quickly this summer and it is hard to believe we will be leaving South Dakota in a couple weeks.

Bob and I have really enjoyed our jobs, and we have decided to come back again next year. It is hard to describe how much we love this area of the Black Hills.

There is so much here that we want to explore yet. We are in area that we can drive to so many places within a short time. One of the towns we visited is Deadwood. In Deadwood is Mt. Moriah Cemetery where Wild Bill Hickok and Calamity Jane are buried. Wild Bill has quite a decorative monument for a headstone, but Calamity Jane doesn’t.

We’ve also enjoyed watching the baby mountain goats growing up this year. Here are the babies in June.

This is one of the babies in August

I’ve also attached another album of our photos from the summer.

View Full Album

All and all we’ve had a wonderful summer. We will be leaving South Dakota Sept. 28th and heading towards new adventures for the winter. Hope everyone is well and we will post again.

Love,

Bob, Sharon & Toby

South Dakota Update

We are back in South Dakota for the summer. Bob and I really enjoy being back here - it is such a beautiful area. When we first arrived at the end of April there was still a little snow on the ground and we had snow squalls on and off for a couple weeks.

Bob is working the front desk at the lodge and I am a concierge at the campground. Our managers are very nice and we’re enjoying working here.

We’ve been to visit the buffalo and the wild burros at Custer State Park. Have also made another trip to Bear Country. I just love the wildlife here and being able to photograph them. So I’ve posted some of our favorite photos that I have taken so far. You’ll notice since the weather is getting warmer the animals are losing their winter coats making way for the summer coats.

This was at a Ranger’s home at Custer Park. How would you like to find these guys sitting on your lawn?

Also – there are NO VEHICLES allowed next to this guy!

The wild Burrows at Custer State Park

Below are some of the wildlife at Bear Country

Reindeer napping – guess

he doesn’t mind the bird

on his back. Below – Mom

with her baby.

Below I’ve made an album of more photos. Just click on the “View Full Album” to see the rest.

View Full Album

We have quite a few more photos to post from our travels from New Mexico to when we arrived in South Dakota. I am just learning how to make the photo albums for our blogs, so I’ll try to make another album soon with those photos.

Hope everyone is doing well -

All Our Love,

Bob, Sharon and Toby

Advice From a Wolf

Advice from a Wolf: Trust your instincts, Be at home in nature, Keep your den clean, Stand "fur" what you believe, Stay on track, Howl with your friends, Be a Leader and Pack Life with Good Memories. Monday we left Meteor Crater RV Park and headed east towards New Mexico. We reached our destination of Ramah, NM late in the afternoon. The area we decided to stay in is not very populated and is off the beaten path, therefore, we’ve had no cell phone or internet service for the last couple days. We chose this area because as some of my friends know, I love wolves and there is a wolf sanctuary here that we wanted to visit. It is called Wild Spirit Wolf Sanctuary. The sanctuary is a non-profit and I believe, privately owned organization that cares for approximately 54 abused and abandoned wolves and wolf dogs. Since the wolves never lived in their own natural environment they cannot be rehabilitated and released back in the wild. They once belonged to people who either neglected or abused them or bought them as pets and could no longer care of them. The sanctuary is a safe place they will live for the rest of their days. Bob and I visited Wild Spirit Sanctuary on Tuesday and had a great time. To be able to see wolves so close was just awesome. They are so large and powerful, yet beautiful. It is so wonderful that the sanctuary is taking such great care of these wolves not only giving them the medical care they need, but also provide a place they can live and play for the rest of their lives without fear of abuse or neglect. Bob and I hope to come back maybe in October and stay at the campground they have at the sanctuary and possibly even volunteer there for a week or two. It was definitely a great day and we enjoyed our visit with the wolves.

"Take It Easy"

Yesterday, Saturday, April 11, we left Surprise, AZ and headed north through Arizona. The further north we drove the colder it got. We drove through Flagstaff which was very windy and having snow showers. Of all things – snow, we had never driven the RV through snow, but thank goodness it didn’t stick to the roads or get very slick. After driving through Flagstaff we stopped about 35 miles outside of town and stopped in Winslow. Do you remember the Eagles song “Take It Easy”? It had the line: “standing on a corner in Winslow, AZ”, well that is where we ended up. Not actually on the “corner”, but at an RV park 20 miles from town. The weather is different than what we have been used to. It was very windy and the temperature dropped down in the 30’s last night, compared to the 80 and 90 degree weather we had been used to. We did drive into Winslow and stood on the corner. There are also parts of Route 66 that you can still drive on today. So there is lots of memorabilia around that is reminiscent of the days when the main road was Route 66. Today, Sunday we drove about 5 miles past the RV Park and visited a meteor crater. Approximately 50,000 years ago a meteor fell from the sky and made a whole so large in the ground that it is now a National Monument Site. No wonder “Henny Penny” thought the sky was falling. Bob and I did a 1 hour walking tour around just a part of the top of the crater. I should mention that we were at an elevation of 6,000 feet, which is much higher than we are used to. We did notice the difference when walking, let alone being so windy at the higher altitude. Bob had to take his hat off as he almost lost it a couple times. When we got back from our sight-seeing today, Bob cooked our Easter ham, and we had baked potatoes and apple jack for dessert. Tomorrow, Monday, we are back on the road again to our next destination. I’ll fill you in where we end up. Enjoy the photos and we’ll post some facts and history about the “Corner” and the Meteor in our next post. Oh, if at any time you want to see the photos in a larger format, just click on them and they will enlarge for you. Hope everyone had a Blessed Easter. Lots of Love, Bob, Sharon and Toby

HAPPY EASTER!!

Bob and I have finished working at baseball spring training. As I had mentioned earlier, we worked in the concession stands as cashiers. It was quite busy at times but fun. We did get to see some of the endings of the games if our work shift ended early. It was pretty cool watching a real baseball game. The Surprise Stadium is the home stadium for the Kansas City Royals and the Texas Rangers. The teams that they played against were the Colorado Rockies, San Francisco Giants, San Diego Padres, LA Dodgers, Oakland Athletics, LA Angels, Cleveland Indians, Milwaukee Brewers, Seattle Mariners, Arizona Diamondbacks and the Chicago Cubs. One day we were watching the end of a game and one of the players from the Colorado Rockies was at bat, and when he hit the ball the bat broke in several pieces. It’s a good thing the Rangers pitcher was fast at ducking because he would have most certainly been hit in the face as the piece of bat flew over his head. Then it was neat to see some of the players hit home runs and listen to crowds in the stadium cheer and people chase the ball trying to catch it. I have attached some photos of the baseball field and some other attractions around the stadium. I took the photos on the day Bob and I had orientation and training, so sorry you’ll see an empty field. There was really no place to put my camera on a work day - I’ll have to try and think about doing something different next year. Bob and I really enjoyed our time there and we would like to go back again next February. If our plans go well the manager at the stadium said we were welcome to come back next year.

I know I don't update our blog as often as I should, and I'll try to do better in the future. Today we hit the road again to start another new adventure. Tomorrow I'll post and let you know where we are - I promise. Bob, Toby and I wish everyone a very blessed Easter.

Quick Update

It is hard to believe that we are in March already - where did February go? We are doing well and our jobs at the baseball stadium are going great. We're having a good time and the weather in Arizona has been wonderful. The temperatures have been fluctuating in the mid 70's to low 80's the last couple weeks. We will post photos in the next couple weeks so you can see where we've been and what the stadium looks like. Until next time, Sharon, Bob & Toby

Just thought we'd bring everyone up to date on what we've been doing since the holidays. Bob, Toby and I are doing great. After leaving the Phoenix/Goodyear area we went to Quartzsite, AZ for 2 months. Quartzsite is a very small town where there is a major RV show in January and the town just overflows with people and RV's. Our friends from South Dakota arrived the beginning of January and they stayed in the same park as us. The four of us worked miscellaneous jobs on and off until we left Tuesday, Feb. 10 to head back to the Phoenix area to work at the baseball spring training camp until the beginning of April. All four of us are working the baseball spring training camp. We are going to be working in the concession stands as cashiers. I've nevery been to a real baseball game before, so we hope to be able to see part of the games and take photographs. While we have not endured the snow storms and cold as some of you are, our weather has not been great either. The weather has been unusual from what we're told that it should be warmer than it has been. We've had many nights in the low 30's and days in the high 60's. While that sounds like a heatwave to some, for us it is cold. We are defintely looking forward to warmer weather soon. It is hard to believe that it will be a year in April since we started our traveling/workamping adventure. We have not regretted our decision and have had so much fun seeing so many parts of the country. Bob and I look forward to many more years traveling and exploring. We've been so fortunate to meet a lot of nice people along the way and we look forward to meeting more as our adventures continue. Until next time, we hope everyone is well and we'll post again when we are able. All our Love, Bob, Sharon & Toby