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| "From Darrell's Chair" Archives |
| This page will be used to share my thoughts
with you as I sit in my chair and contemplate the daily events that take place during our fulltiming journey.
Hopefully
you will enjoy the entries, learn a thing or two, and have some
chuckles along the way as Judy and I continue "Wandering America". |
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Friday, September 5, 2008
I've said it before and I'll say it again. You have to be flexible to live this lifestyle. We were going to leave Seven Maples Campground this morning and go to the Cape but with the remnants of Hannah heading up the Atlantic Seaboard we are going to stay put. Today, however, we will drive down to the Cape to see my aunt Marge and uncle Clyde. It will be almost a three hour drive and we will most likely stay for at least four hours making it a ten hour day. Probably we'll get caught up in the traffic exiting Boston at quiting time on a Friday afternoon - oh the joy of that!!!! But it is very important that we visit with them this year as Clyde is my mother's brother and my favorite uncle and he has been very sick; we just can't be this close to the Cape and not visit. Yesterday we went shopping in one of our favorite grocery stores - the Market Basket. Among our regular groceries we got some fresh sea scallops which is absolutely my favorite seafood. I sauteed them in a little butter and garlic and we just chowed down on them - Yum, Yum. They were "oh soooo good" that I just might have to go back and buy some more. Other than that excursion we just relaxed for the rest of the afternoon with a nap sneaking in (I am just amazed at how tired we are after a summer of workamping). Then it was off to Marc and Amie's for another grand daughter fix last evening and that was it for our day. I had hoped to get in a bike ride on the bike trail between Hancock and Peterborough but that was trumped by the nap - maybe Saturday or Sunday. Well, that's the way it is until next time. Thursday, September 4, 2008 Wow, what a difference twenty four hours makes. We went from the hustle bustle of a H-U-G-E RV Resort with over 2000 people to the solitude of a small campground with just a hand full of people. Our site at Lake George Escape was on the main through fare for the campground. Even though the speed limit was posted at 5 MPH those city drivers thought nothing of flying pass our site at 25, 30, or even 40 MPH. Well, we are on the main through fare here at Seven Maples as well (actually it's the only through fare) and we hardly see any cars go by at all - Ahhh, the peace, the tranquility, and the solitude. I could even hear the stars as they came out last night. Now, this is how life should be!!!! Yesterday was Christmas in September. If you remember last year we did our Christmas shopping for the New Hampshire kids; well we did it again this year. With no sales tax and saving of shipping costs it just makes sense. We will still need to get more presents for Briana when we get to Tennessee because we couldn't find what we wanted for her here. I saw my Christmas gift when we passed by Dick's Sporting Goods but unfortunately it wouldn't fit into the budget bag. They have Perception Sit-on-Kayaks on sale for $200 under the regular price and with no sales tax would add another $50 savings - Man!!!! I gotta get a bigger bag!!! After shopping we when to the Keene Buffet for lunch. This is a Chinese Buffet and was decent - we got out of there for just under twenty bucks. We needed new pillows so we found a couple at Penney's. What a difference a good pillow makes. We paid more for the pillows than we had anticipated but it was worth it. They are Iso-Cool pillows by Isotonic with Outlast Adaptive Comfort materials that help to balance changing body temperatures. The pillows are very comfortable and hold our heads in alignment with our bodies (we sleep on our sides) reducing back pain. Between them, the memory foam topper, and fleece sheets that we use in the cooler temperature we should sleep like a baby - wait a minute, don't babies get up every couple of hours? Wednesday, September 3, 2008 We got underway at 10:30 and drove all the state roads from Lake George Village, NY to Hancock, NH arriving at our destination at 2:15. The speed limit was generally between 40 to 50 MPH which was entirely to my liking. I just wasn't in a 60 to 70 MPH mood. It was a beautiful day with clear skies, temperatures in the high 70's and light traffic. The scenery in New England is just beautiful especially with the bright blue skies as a back drop to the dark green topped mountains. We stopped once a long the way at a turn out after about two hours for a potty break and walk about. Katie slept while Alex chatted away - at least he wasn't howling which he sometimes does. Yep, it was just a slow relaxing drive in the woods. Just knowing that we have at least three weeks before we have to go to w*rk again has been very therapeutic. I can just feel my body beginning to relax again and, boy, was I tired. After we set up "camp" I just sat down with my whole body just feeling like a . . . ???, well sort of like a . . . ???, I guess like a rung out dish rag - totally drained with little to no energy left. It was nap time, but not for too long - we also needed a grand daughter fix. Now, just what did I mean about three weeks before we have to go to w*rk again? Vicki, who is the assistant manager at KOA Nashville, called and offered us a short term J-O-B. They need someone to fill in from now until the end of November. We told them that the earliest we could be there would be the 19th of September. Well, she called back yesterday afternoon and said that would be fine. We'll only w*rk 30 hours a week and be in the area where our daughter, our son and his wife, and our two other grand daughters live. We did our first workamping assignment at KOA Nashville back in November and December of 2006, so we know what the J-O-B is plus it will help fill in the budget gap for all our investment losses this year - every little bit helps. We did get our grand daughter fix with a short visit to Marc and Amie's. On the way back home we witnessed the most beautiful sun set - a perfect ending to a perfect day. Ahhh, life is good!!!! Thanks Terry and Randy for your prayers - as you can see, they were answered. We certainly had traveling mercies. Thanks be to God for all our blessings. Tuesday, September 2, 2008 Our summer at Lake George Escape is now history and I can tell you that we are more than ready to move on. The ol' hitch has been itching for well over six weeks now. We are most definitely ready to "Hit the Road Again". The weather has been just perfect this past week and today is no exception. We will have a most fantastic beautiful good day to travel. It will only take us around four hours to get to Seven Maples Campground in Hancock, New Hampstir so we will be visiting with grand daughters this evening (and their parents). As I said before, Katie and Alex know that we are getting ready to roll. As the time approaches and more things get put away they know that the time is at hand and they begin to get "clingy". Every time we move they are right there, "Don't forget us, mom!". "Don't leave us behind, dad." They are just like two kids. Once they get in the truck Alex will start, "Are we almost there?" "How much longer?" "Are we there yet?" Our friend Thurman has a tee shirt that says, "NO, we are not there yet!" Maybe I should get one of those for travel days. We are not going to be in a hurry to get there as we will be traveling the back roads of New York, Vermont, and New Hampstir. With a nice summer day it should be a beautiful drive in the country. There isn't anything significant along the route but I supposed if one was to stop in each of the little New England towns along the way they could uncover a lot of history. But we are not going to go that slow either so it will just have to be a nice Sunday afternoon ride in the country. After all, now that we are footloose and fancy free once more - everyday is Sunday! Monday, September 1, 2008 Ta-Da, this is it!!!! Today is our final w*rk day here at Lake George Escape. It's finally here - boy it has been a long haul since May 11th. This year was certainly different from last year. With higher fuel prices and an unstable economy we have had a much different clientele this year than the year before and, to be honest with you, we don't like this type of people. They are a rowdy bunch with fights breaking out and their kids just plain raising hell and destroying property - we had to have the police in several times each week. They are selfish being very argumentative while caring less about others, the staff, or the campground rules. Keep in mind that this was only a small percentage of the people but when you have 2 to 3 thousand people that's more than enough to have to deal with. Oh well, enough of that, it's over now and we're looking forward to traveling again - doing the things that fulltimers were created to do. Today Miss Judy will be in Honey Bear's Store and I will be at Boats from 9:00 until 12:00 at which time Fun and Games Department closes for the year. After lunch we will assist in shutting things down and putting things away and we should be done by 3:00. After w*rk we will visit with some of our fellow workampers for hugs and to say our farewells. Then it will be home to start going through our checklist for "hitting the road", watch some TV, and "hit the hay". Exciting day, isn't it? I know, not really but things will start to get interesting tomorrow. |
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