Life, what a ride for a dime!

February 16, 2024 / Rich / Leave a comment

This blog was originally started as a living record of our life and travels for our children to follow along as we moved around the United States. In hindsight my problem with WordPress changing format’s years ago as outlined in my final post, had more to do with my unwillingness to change my life then it had to do with WordPress format. If I could have recognized this back than I could have saved myself a lot of pain and misery. The one thing that I have proven to myself is that when I take control of my life and run around acting like I know everything, shooting from the hip when making decisions, that destruction is not far behind. You’ll see as the story unfolds it was almost total destruction!

So what is the blog now?

Well that’s complicated, but I suppose it comes down to having a place my kids can go to learn about their father after I’m gone, should they every want too. When I hung out with the ” friends of Bill W.” they taught me I can only keep what I have by giving it away. This is the story of one man’s journey from birth to nomadic recluse.

Disclaimer;

This is my story and I’m sharing it, if something helps you that’s great, if it does not help than discard it. The only education and degrees I have are from the school of hard knocks. They were not an accredited place of education, although I think they should be. In the story I am just telling the story the way I lived it and I hold no ill feelings or hatred for the people in the story including myself, we’re just people trying to figure out the mystery at is life.

About the author

I have come believe that I was created in the image of my Creator. If I surrender my will and my life to the care of my Creator as I understand him, my life gets a lot better.

I have come to believe every human being can operate out of good behavior or bad behavior the choice is ours.

I have come to believe that the cornerstones for a solid relationship with anyone is Honesty, Trust, and Communication. without these a relationship will collapse.

I have learned to search for what I don’t know instead of relaying on my own understanding.

I have come to believe that life is nothing more than a series of choices and the better we know ourselves the better we can make choices that make us happy.

Finally I have come to believe that we are all influenced initially by Genetics, environment, and life experiences, until we reach an age of accountability we have very little control over our influences.

Thanks for stopping bye and look for the next post ” What it was like”

Lets spend our time with a positive attitude searching for opportunity like a child searches for hidden treasure.

The RV community needs your support.

May 13, 2020 / Rich / Leave a comment

In these crazy times we hear a lot about the travel industry hurting from the virus, but usually their talking about airlines and cruise lines, but for the RV community our small business in a lot of case are the mom and pop RV parks. As a community we need to support them so as we travel we will have safe places to park and enjoy the local sights.

If your in the Twin Falls ID area please support The Oregon Trails campground. http://oregontrailcampground.com/ A new generation has taken over the campground and they due an awesome job caring for their customer to ensure that they have a great stay in the area. The campground is clean, quiet, and close to local attractions.

If your in the Baker City OR area please support Mt. View RV http://www.mtviewrv.com/ this is a family owned and operated campground. This is a clean and quiet place and they are currently experiencing a large number of cancellations due the virus and peoples fear of traveling. We have found the owner to be friendly, helpful, and we’re totally enjoying our stay so much we extended our stay by 5 days.

Please support the mom and pop RV parks along your travels so we will continue to have safe places along our travels.

Thank you in advances for helping our community.

Lake Havasu City 2020 Balloon Festival.

March 23, 2020 / Rich / 2 Comments

We’ve been talking about going to the balloon festival for as long as we’ve been wintering in Western Arizona and this is the year. The wind as been an issue in previous years, but this year the weather is on our side. We get to Lake Havasu City and the Moon is still in the sky and it’s about thirty-eight degrees.

2001 Balloon Festival-

The crowd is growing and so is the anticipation and off in the distance you can see character balloons being inflated.

2001 Balloon Festival--2 2001 Balloon Festival--4

The moment of truth the Mass Ascension, or not. I guess a lot of the people fill their balloons but they don’t take them up. In the sky at one time, there was probably five or six balloons that launched from all over the city.

2001 balloon festival- 2001 balloon festival--2 2001 Balloon Festival--3

But the best was yet to come. We had been talking about rescuing a little dog to travel with us. So while we were in Lake Havasu City we dropped by the shelter and found this little guy.

2003 Chill'n-3171-2

It’s been so much fun watching him come out of his shell. The funny thing is I’m more of a cat person and Darla is more of a dog person. When we had talked about pets we thought it would be a cat and a dog. Chill’n is the best of both worlds. He likes to hang out in your lap, loves the dog park, and rides in the truck.

Scenic Byway 12 The All-American Highway.

August 6, 2018 / Rich / 2 Comments

The All-American highway runs about 130 miles between Highway 24 near Torrey Utah and Highway 89 near Panguitch Utah. With all the wildfires in the west the valleys and skies were pretty smokey which doesn’t make for great photography but you can get the idea. Starting from the North we traveled through The Henry Mountains and Grand-Staircase Escalante.

untitled-1 Scenic Hwy 12-1 Scenic Hwy 12-1-3 Scenic byway 12-1 Scenic byway 12-1-2 Scenic Hwy 12-1-2

Workamping, What is it? Why we do it?

April 10, 2018 / Rich / Leave a comment

What is it?

Workamping takes on many different faces but generally its seasonal positions that employers want to fill with temporary employees for a season. There are generally two seasons, winter and summer. We look for our winter work in the summer and our summer work in the winter. There are different types of positions but mostly in hospitality industry in some form or another. Some examples would be Hotel, Campground, Restaurant, camp counselor, ATV guide, ski guide, ski resorts to name a few. This is the work part of workamping. Although some of these employers ask for a resume it’s not your traditional resume where continuous employment is important. It’s more about your skill sets and will you honor your commitment to work whatever length of time you agree to.

The kamping part of Workamping has to do with the compensation the employer is willing to give in exchange for your labor. Again this takes on many different faces but generally the components are housing, meals, RV space, and pay for hours worked, no pay just an RV space, solely Voluntary positions. That’s why it’s important to read the Workamping ad carefully and ask a lot of questions before you accept a workamping position. Below are some resources we use to find workamping jobs:

If you want to have some fun go to coolworks.com and let yourself dream, click through the categories and look at the jobs people are willing to compensate you to do, you’ll be amazed I know I was.

Coolworks.com coolworks.com/

Workers on wheels newsletter work-for-rvers-and-campers.com/help-wanted.html ,

HappyVagabonds.com happyvagabonds.com/Main-Menu.htm

Why we do it?

The simple answer is that it allows us to visit places we want to see, experience, and explore without spending our own money and so far we’ve put money in the bank doing it. But really the benefits are much more than financial. The RV lifestyle can easily become very sedentary and that can lead to sore muscles, stiff joints, weight gain, and fatigue. So as workampers we’re doing something good for our health, our finances, and the bonus is we meet some really nice people from all over the world.

If you would like to see more photos of some of the places we’ve been, please click on link below

https://stock.adobe.com/contributor/206867295/Richard

Hello from Southeastern Utah.

April 7, 2018April 7, 2018 / Rich / 2 Comments

We pulled into the employee campground Sunday afternoon April 1. It’s a very nice campground very level and it made for an easy setup.

Here are pictures of our first Sunset.

The next morning we were greeted by this Sunrise.

Ruby's Inn Employee Campground Sunrise-1

Ruby's Inn Employee Campground Sunrise-2

The campground is at 7700 ft elevation so were acclimating to the elevation and working full time. The people we work with are very nice and we’re enjoying ourselves. Today was our day off so we went exploring. We went less than 5 miles east of our campground and found the Mossy Cave Trail Head.

If your interested in Workamping at Ruby’s Inn they are still looking for Workampers. Click link below and see what positions are available.

Ruby’s Inn, Bryce, Utah

Webpage: www.rubysinn.com/employment.html If you plan to bring a trailer or RV with you, please specify the exact length of your vehicle/s. These are full hook-ups with access to TV and phone service. We charge a minimal fee for space rental.

Positions Available:Lodging Services•Front Desk/Guest Service Agent • Telephone Operator•Housekeeping • Laundry Services • General Maintenance•Grounds Keeper,Retail•Cashier•Sales Clerk•Indian Arts & Crafts Specialist,Car Care Center•Mechanic•Cashier,Food Services•Lead Cook/Cook/Prep Cook•Kitchen Utility•Fast Food Services•Server•Host/Hostess•Dining Room Utility•Cashier Campground•Campground Office•Maintenance/Cleaning,Recreation•ATV Tour Guide,

Benefits of Working at Ruby’s Inn •Live and work in one of the most beautiful places on earth•Discounts in restaurants and general store•Two days off together for sight-seeing and outdoor activities•Use of swimming pool, hot tub and other facilities•Year-end bonuses (restrictions apply)•Flexible scheduling•Competitive starting wages•Employee campground•Employee meal plan.

Summer 2018

March 31, 2018March 31, 2018 / Rich / Leave a comment

Hello all,

This Summer we decided to Workamp near Bryce Canyon in Southern Utah.

We are leaving Arizona this morning and heading to our Summer gig. We’re very excited this a beautiful place to work and explore.

Calling all Workampers still looking for a Summer gig.

Rubys Inn, Bryce, Utah

We will be posting our adventure…… so more to come….

This is really old school.

September 22, 2017 / Rich / Leave a comment

On our last visit to the Great Smokey Mountains we found this old school house which had a fenced area we thought might be a play area, but much to our surprise it was a cemetery. Also there is one random waterfall photo from this trip. Tennessee Great Smokey Mountains NP-1-2

Adventure has many faces!

September 22, 2017 / Rich / 2 Comments

When traveling with a 5th wheel trailer many things can cause your heart to race. We were on our way to our next RV campground in Rock Island Tennessee when we saw the two road signs that make you think, not good “Road work ahead” and “Narrow bridge” as we came around the corner we saw the narrow bridge which we knew we would fit on, but we also notice that half of the narrow lane on the bridge was 8″ – 10″ lower than the other half so we held our breath and slowly made our way across the bridge successful. We arrived at the road for the campground and turned right onto the road and the road just disappeared, the road is to narrow to turn around so we slowly continue forward wondering what happen to the road and than we saw it, around a fairly sharp right hand turn and down about 12 feet at 8 percent grade hill. We made it down the hill (still no place to turn around) the road is a wonderful mix of dirt and gravel and narrow. Our next obstacle was a sharp left hand turn followed by a hill that is 25 or 30 feet long, with an 8 percent grade, we took a deep breath and started around the corner and up the hill we get about 1/3 of the way up and the tires on the truck start losing traction but we get to the top and realize we are on one of the roads where whats ahead is worse than what you just went through. One more steep down hill followed by a steep up hill and we arrived at the campground and than it hits us we have to do this again to get out of here.

The reviews on this campground were good but nobody mentioned the road into the campground. We did make it out ok and now I know what it feels like to have a 10,000 pound trailer push our truck down a steep hill into a sharp right-hand turn.

Rock Island Tennessee -1-4 Rock Island Tennessee -1-3 Rock Island Tennessee -1-2

Tennessee

September 5, 2017 / Rich / 2 Comments

We stopped at the Tennessee Welcome Center when we crossed the State line and across the freeway was this giant guitar and it brought to mind my big brother Mike, he is a very accomplished guitarist and has played for as long as I can remember.

We stayed 1 night at the Around the Pond RV campground. The owner is very laid back and the ambiance is relaxing, its the kind of place you want to stay for awhile but unfortunately it wasn’t close enough to the Great Smokey Mountains National Park for us to do that. If you find yourself in North-Eastern Tennessee and need a quite relaxation place check out Around the Pond in Baileyton TN.