Celebrating 150 years of birthdays!!

Posted on March 20, 2017 by liv2rv

Hello everyone! It’s me, Makena! For those new to the blog, I’m a Jack Russell Terrier who occasionally takes over my parents blog. It’s always good to get the dog’s perspective! My mom was going to post another blog about their visit to Kennedy Space Center, but today is a very special day….my 10th birthday! And even better, I get to celebrate it with Grandpa Stu (Dan’s dad), who turns a fit and fabulous 80 today! Tomorrow is Aunt Linda’s Birthday (Dan’s sister). Linda is the BIG 60!! So altogether, we are celebrating 150 years of birthdays! Whew, that’s a lot of candles. Hopefully the smoke detector won’t go off!

Keeping my peeps informed!

Now in human years, I am 56 years old (based on age and size of dog). Sorry Aunt Linda, you still are older than me!

Happy Birthday Linda!

Grandma and Grandpa came over to the RV park for a visit today! They took me over to the dog park to play football with me!

I love playing football!

And I had presents and birthday cake too!

Is this for me?

A new football from my grandparents!

More presents and a card!

Grandma baked a delicious cake for grandpa and me!

Happy Birthday to us!!

I know it was good, because I snuck in a quick lick!

DSC04373 (1)

I tried for more, but grandma and grandpa blocked my route!

DSC04376 (1)

Sadly, this will be our last day in warm and sunny Florida. Tomorrow my parents will be hitching up the fifth wheel and heading back to Wisconsin to help out their friends, Mike and Karlyn, finish up remodeling a new business. So I will be spending the next three days riding in my crate in the back seat of the truck. I don’t mind, because every 2 or 3 hours they stop and I get to walk around and pee about 15 times at a gas station or rest area. Sometimes my mom thinks I have two bladders!

Since it’s been a while since I have blogged, I will catch you up on a few other events. For Christmas, my parents bought me an orthopedic dog bed, to replace my old one that didn’t have much padding left. They also bought themselves new throw blankets. While the bed is nice and comfy, I decided they don’t need two blankets. They can share one, and I have claimed the other as my own!

New bed and blanket!

Although my parents didn’t bring me over, I did get to smell a pizza cooked over a campfire one night. Bob and Betty, our next door neighbors here in the RV park had a happy hour campfire and cooked a few pizza’s over their triangle grill. I’m told they were delicious. I did not get any…

Master chefs Bob and Betty

Bob, Betty, Dan & Roger

Ed, Sheila, Dori and Sue

Last night my parents went out to dinner in New Smyrna Beach with three couples from the campground that will not be coming back here next year. They will be traveling out West next winter. We wish them safe travels, and hope to see them sometime down the road!

Roger, Sheila, Paul, Diane, us, Betty and Bob

It has been another good year in Florida. Hopefully warm weather will be waiting for us in Wisconsin? As always, thanks for following along on our journey!

Quote for the day: “How old would you be if you didn’t know how old you are?” – Satchel Paige

The end of 2016, already?

Posted on December 31, 2016 by liv2rv

Wow, another year has ended. Time to finish up 2016, so I can start with a clean slate for 2017!

We are currently in Florida, for the next three months. Then we will make our way somewhere, before starting up work again in May at Luton’s Cabins in Wyoming. This is our ‘vacation’ time, and we always budget this in. It is our own reward for this lifestyle. But to be honest, I get really bored around mid-March. I don’t think I could ever be fully retired.

We enjoyed our time helping Mike with remodeling his new tavern and eatery in Wisconsin. While we made a lot of progress, there is still much work to be done before opening in February. We were able to fill five 30 yard dumpsters with demolition materials, get new window’s and doors installed, the metal ceiling in place, some of the electrical work done, and the bar built.

We did the frame of the bar, and then added in a step and two layers of plywood for the top. It will still need the final top, which will come from a bowling alley, as well as the sides and tile on the step. We did the same for the bar in the basement.

Mike and Dan had the ceremonial ‘first beer’ the day we completed all the framing.

Mike was able to obtain galvanized metal roofing pieces from a barn in Illinois that was used for the ceiling.

I was a bit skeptical at first of the ceiling material, but it turned out very well.

Doing the demolition and remodeling work was a nice change of pace from Amazon. And based on what I have been hearing from others who worked at the Campbellsville KY location this year, they were either not as busy, or hired too many Camperforce, because they got very little overtime this year. We do plan on going back to Amazon next fall, unless another new opportunity comes our way.

The nice weather in Wisconsin allowed us to stay much longer to help out. But once the temperature dropped, we new it was time to move on. We have a portable space heater in our bedroom, and an electric fireplace in the main living space of our fifth wheel. Just running both (on a 50 amp circuit) we can keep the inside temperature about 35 degrees above the exterior temperature. This is fine when it is above 30 degrees outside. But when the high for the day is 20, it gets a little chilly inside the RV unless we turn on the propane furnace.

It was also great to spend Thanksgiving with our families for the first time in three years. Although we both missed being able to walk 10 plus miles the next day (as we did at Amazon) to burn off all the delicious food.

We had a nice time catching up with everyone. First up, dinner with my family at my brother Brian’s house. I’m not sure what is up with my brothers hands on hips posing though!

Then it was off to Dan’s sister, Lindas house (aka Camp Meyer), for additional turkey dinners.

We continued our ‘food fest’ with dinners with good friends Dave and Angie, along with Angie’s family.

Since we were working in Menomonee Falls, Robin and Mary, friends since our college days, had us over for dinner as well. Mary also sent us off to Florida with a container of delicious homemade Christmas cookies! Cheers!

We had a nice time getting together with our former neighbors and their children. It was great catching up with Kyle and Jolie, and Brenda and Darren. Their kids are getting bigger and really doing well.

Our time in Wisconsin came to an end two weeks ago, when we got blasted with 10 inches of snow, followed by bitter cold temperatures. We put our slides in on the fifth wheel before the snow started. So we had several “cozy” days before we left.

I thought the days of scrapping the truck were over, but… The fifth wheel next to us is staying for the winter. They installed insulation around their fifth wheel.

We had a great time getting together with family and friends, and we are grateful for the opportunity to work for our friend Mike. There is still a lot of work to be done before the business opens. As such, Dan will be flying back to Wisconsin next week, and working for an additional two weeks. Makena and I will be staying with the fifth wheel in Florida. Dan will drive back down with his parents (if they can fit him in their car!) the last week of January. It is a win-win-win situation. Mike gets more help from Dan, Dan’s dad will not have to worry about driving, and I get several weeks to myself!

Before we left, we did pick up Makena. She was very happy to see us and get back on the road to warmer weather. We are very grateful that Dan’s parents kept her for the two months while we were working. She was in good hands!

We hope everyone has a safe and Happy New Year! Remember, 2017 is a clean slate. Put those fears aside, and make those goals happen! For those of you we didn’t get a chance to see this year, we hope 2017 will find a slice of time for us to spend with you…

Quote for the day: “What the New Year brings to you depends a great deal on what you bring to the New Year.” – Vern McLellan

Have sledgehammer, will demolish!

Posted on November 11, 2016 by liv2rv

We are currently back in Wisconsin, and have been very busy with a new work camping opportunity. As such, we will not be working at Amazon this fall. We will miss seeing all of our friends that we have worked with for the past three years, but we will be back there next fall. And even though the broken bone in my foot has healed, I was hesitant to walk 13 plus miles each day on concrete. For those interested in learning more about Amazon, just put ‘Amazon’ in the search box on our website, and you will see dozens of our prior blogs.

We are staying at State Fair RV Park, in West Allis, which is surprisingly busy for this time of the year. The manager said in 20 years, they have never had this many RV’s here this late in the year (it is open year round). It is nothing more than a very expensive parking lot with full hook-ups. At first we were told our water would be shut off on November 1, but with the large number of people, and the unseasonably warm weather, we should have water until at least November 25th. They do have one section with heated water pipes, but that is full until December.

We dropped Makena off at Dan’s parents, so she is not home alone all day and she gets to chase her football around in a big yard. This gives us more flexibility in our work schedule. Makena hinted that she is working on a blog, so stay tuned for her post!

WORK

This summer our friends Mike and Karlyn contacted us to see if we could help them out with some remodeling work.

Karlyn, Mike, Jonell & Dan

They currently run a successful bar and grill in New Berlin, The Varsity Club, and found a space to lease in Menomonee Falls to open a second tavern and eatery. Dan helped out with the remodeling for their first place, and they wanted us to help out again. We arrived back in WI on October 4th, and started work right away in the 5th. With the exception of going up to visit Makena and Dan’s parents, and seeing two Packer games, we have been working every day.

The building is old, but has great potential, so there is a lot of work to do. The local building inspector is excited with the changes. We are still in the deconstruction phase. Give me a sledgehammer and I’m a happy camper! Mike has two young guys that have been helping out, and they had done a lot of work before we arrived. So I do not have any ‘before’ photos. This is what the place currently looks like. Dan and I have started building the bar, which is shown in some of the photos.

That bar stool was left over from the prior occupant. There will be a full kitchen, and it will be walled back in. The guys had to open up the wall to get all the old equipment out.

When they were taking off the drywall, an old air conditioner was discovered (the wiring was still “live”). There are also old windows, that have been covered up and bricked over on the outside of the building. The guys spent a lot of time working on busting out the old air conditioner, which was quite heavy. And yes, the old ceiling was painted blue, yellow, red and green in various parts!

There is also a basement that we are fixing up as well, for party rentals. the guys spent 3 days breaking up the concrete and hauling it out. This will allow the plumbers to bring all the plumbing up to code, and we will be adding a bathroom in the basement. It was a lot of hard work, but the prior tenants had pipes running all over the place.

This is a better shot of the basement, and the area we are building for a bathroom. We will drywall the ceiling, and use knotty pine on the walls. The tile floor is in good shape, one of the few things in this old building.

As of right now, we are planning on staying here until December 6th. They are planning on opening up the bar, called The Alumni Club Tavern and Eatery in late January. Mike and Karlyn want us to stay longer, and our fifth wheel is designed for ‘four season’ living, but we are hesitant stay in the snow. So far, temperatures have been above normal. So we will see how things go. Our Florida reservations start 12/28.

For the time being, it is just eat, sleep, work! Similar to Amazon! Hopefully we will be able to have some time to see some of our friends, relatives and former co-workers before we leave the state.

PACKER GAMES

We have been Green Bay Packer season ticket holders for many years, and try to get to at least one game each season. This year, we made it to two, both in the same week. The Dallas Cowboys game was not a good game for the Packers. Prior to the game, we attended the Jack Link’s Protein Snacks party. Good food, great people, and perfect weather all combined to make for a good time, despite the poor performance of the Packers.

Lambeau Field

Ellen, Mary Jo (Mrs. Jack Link) and I. We have sat together for over 20 years! It is always good to get together with everyone!

dsc04041-1

We even ran into Sasquatch at the party!

dsc04047-1

The game against the Chicago Bears on Thursday night was much better, although the weather was about 40 degrees colder!

Lambeau at night

We had some ‘spiritual’ fans stop by our tailgate party!

img_0310-1

Quote for the day: “Hope is being able to see that there is light despite all the darkness.” – Desmond Tutu

From Wyoming to Wisconsin

Posted on October 31, 2016 by liv2rv

Shortly after we finished our last day of work at Luton’s Teton Cabins, we finished our packing, hitched up and headed to the Wind River Casino in Riverton, Wyoming, about a 2 hour drive. The casino allows RV’s to overnight for free in their parking lot. (I like free!) The main reason for our fast departure was to get over the Togwotee Pas during the afternoon. At 9600 feet, it is not unusual for it to have snow or fog early in the morning, so we wanted to get ahead of the weather. We drove through snow in May, and we did not want to repeat that on our way out.

On our last day, we received another $10 in tip money, so we decided to use that as our “play money” at the casino. I enjoy playing the video poker machines, and put the $10 in a machine, and happily cashed out $200.16 after getting 4 aces! It was a nice casino, and the only one we have been to that does not serve alcohol (which was probably why it was so quiet in the casino!).

Winner, winner, chicken dinner!

Unfortunately, we had a dead battery after just a few hours of being parked. We had put the refrigerator on propane, and that is all we were running. We think the cooling fans must draw a lot of power, because we also ended up with a high temperature alarm on the refrigerator. We were hitched up and our front hydraulic levelers were down, so we couldn’t detactch to jump start our battery. We decided to call Coach Net (the RV roadside assistance that we subscribe too) and waited for them to send a service technician. After a 90 minute wait, the technician arrived and jump-started our battery, and we were on our way. This was all free (remember, I like free!) under their service. We highly recommend that anyone with an RV, get an appropriate roadside assistance program. We use Coach Net, but have also heard good things about the Good Sam’s Roadside Assistance as well.

Once we were back on the road, we headed to Custer, South Dakota for two nights. Dan was able to reset the error code on the Norcold refrigerator, using a magnet on the back side of the refrigerator. A service technician showed him this trick when we had this error code once before.

We stopped in Custer to visit with our friends and former co-workers at Crazy Horse Memorial. We met Rudee and Margaret for dinner on Saturday night, and spent a very enjoyable 2 hours getting caught up on their lives. Rudee’s husband Phil, had to work late, so he was not able to join us. We missed seeing several other couples, who had already departed for the season. Hopefully we can catch up with them in Florida!

Dan Jonell Rudee & Margaret

On Sunday, we got up early to do the 10K Volksmarch at Crazy Horse. This was my second time doing this very popular hike, and Dan’s first time. It is the only time that you can walk to the top of the mountain carving. This is a bucket list item for many people, and it is definitely worth it. It was a beautiful day, and they had over 4400 people doing the hike. Admission to Crazy Horse is waived if you bring in three cans of food for the local food pantry, and the cost of the hike itself is just $3.00. There are port-a-potties, snacks for sale and water refill stations along the route. Wouldn’t it be nice if all hikes had this along the way?!

dsc04006-1 dsc04008-1 dsc04029-2 dsc04030-1

On the way down, we ran into Adam, one of the son’s of Korczak Ziolkowski, the original sculptor of Crazy Horse. He was guarding “the armpit” as he put it. We were impressed by the progress since our last visit in 2013.

dsc04035-1

Both Phil and Rudee were working that day, so we met them later at the restaurant for dinner. We also saw Monique, one of Korczak’s daughters, and talked briefly with her about the progress over the last 3 years. It was a wonderful visit, and it was great to see many of our friends and co-workers that were still there. Monday morning we hitched up and continued on our trip back to Wisconsin.

We stopped for the night in Blue Earth, MN. The town has a nice fairground with a campground. And the cost for one night? Free! (are you detecting a theme here?). Blue Earth is a nice small town, that is home to a famous roadside attraction. The Jolly Green Giant Statue! The town is home to the Green Giant/Seneca Company. The statue is 47.5 feet, and sits on an 8 foot base. His feet are 6 feet in length, which equates to a shoe size of 78!

Ho, Ho, Ho….Green Giant!

I am not sure why they put the viewing platform right under his legs, but we will leave the comment at that!!

img_1364-1

But Blue Earth has a few other pieces of history. In 1917, a local man applied for a patent for his “Chocolate Dream Bar”, which was a square of ice cream, dipped in chocolate, wrapped in foil and frozen. Two men from Iowa, however, also had similar patents filed and everything ended up in litigation. After several years, the MN man sold his company to the two other men. One of the men changed the name of the bar to the “Eskimo Pie”, and the other man, Russell Stover, used his proceeds to start his own candy company. Seems both men from Iowa did very well!

Blue Earth is also the mid-point of America’s longest highway, I-90. When the interstate was completed, the East and West portions were joined together at Blue Earth. At one point, the road was paved in gold, to commemorate the occasion. These little towns hold a lot of our history!

We are currently in Wisconsin, at a surprisingly busy State Fair Park Campground. I will have a post soon (I promise it won’t take a month!) on what we are currently up to. Note: it does not involve Amazon this year!

Quote for the Day: “Nothing is a waste of time if you use the experience wisely.” – Auguste Rodin

Summer work wrap-up

Posted on October 12, 2016 by liv2rv

Our summer work camping job at Luton’s Teton Cabins has officially come to an end, and I will do a brief wrap-up for those readers interested in work camping. For those who just like pictures, I put a few of those in as well! Our view when we arrived in May.

Grand Teton Range

Of the 9 work campers (4 couples, one single) we were the last couple left, so we had some very busy days. I was working both in the office, and housekeeping. We ended up working 8 days in a row (our choice). Brad was excited when he found out Dan had done commercial steam carpet cleaning before we were married. The carpeting in the cabins are cleaned every fall, as the cabins start to open up after the guests depart. Dan was able to get 12 of the 14 cabins done before we left. Two were still occupied into October, so Brad will take care of those after the guests depart. The cabins officially closed for the season on October 7.

At 4 1/2 months, this was the longest we have stayed at a work camping job. The time went by very quickly though, and we never had that “how many weeks to go” count down that we have at Amazon! Because of the length of our stay, it was also the most profitable job we have had. Our total combined gross for the summer was $19,159.25. This includes an unexpected bonus at the end of $500.00 each. Our pay agreement did not include an end of season bonus, so we were pleasantly surprised when we opened up our envelope and discovered 4 paychecks!

ADDITIONAL PERKS

We had a free 50 amp full-hookup site, excellent high speed internet, a few hundred dollars in tip money (tips are split 9 ways), a great location for exploring (5 miles East of the entrance to Grand Teton National Park), free laundry including the use of a large commercial washer/dryer, and probably my favorite perk was the food lottery.

When guest leave food behind (usually those that are flying), all the food is put into a refrigerator in the housekeeping garage. The work campers rotate in picking items each day from the refrigerator. We had items ranging from eggs, ketchup, mustard, beer, bottled water, salad dressing, wine, butter, coffee, olive oil and ice cream. I think we have 4 bottles of olive oil in our pantry! During the busy summer season, we had a lot of leftover items from the families. In September, when it was mostly couples, we had very little food, as most of the couples went out to dinner.

NEXT SUMMER

Our original goal when we started our full-time RV life was to always work in a new location every summer. We have decided to return to Luton’s Teton Cabins next summer, however, for several reasons. We have had a wonderful summer, and Brad and Joanne are two wonderful people to work for. They gave us a nice bump in pay for next year, as an incentive to return.

With my broken foot this summer, there were many things that we did not do, such as bicycling in the park, and hikes longer than 4 miles. So we have many things to do next summer. And Dan and Al (yes, Karen and Al are coming back for their 4th summer) can keep catching dinner, as they were quite successful fishing this summer. This picture shows six nice sized cut-throat trout which are native to this area.

We managed to eat at one of the restaurants featured on Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives, Nora’s Fish Creek Inn for breakfast, with Karen and Al. I had the recommended banana bread French toast, which was excellent. We did not get to try Pinky G’s Pizza, the other featured restaurant in the area, so that is on our list for next summer.

Makena has also given her approval for returning, as she enjoyed the acres of land for her to play on.

img_0878-1 Our view at the end of summer, with the moon over Mount Moran.

So if any of our readers has plans to visit Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks for next summer, let us know! Just don’t try coming on or around August 21, 2017. Everything is booked solid due to a solar eclipse!

Quote for the day: “The brain is a wonderful organ; it starts working the moment you get up in the morning and does not stop until you get into the office.” – Robert Frost

Fire update, tourist time and graduation!

Posted on September 5, 2016 by liv2rv

The road to Yellowstone National Park (South Entrance) from Grand Teton National Park has re-opened, thanks to the brave efforts of over two hundred fire fighters. They spent a week battling the Berry Creek fire that had jumped over Jackson Lake and Highway 191/89. The fire is still burning, but has been contained enough to keep the highway open.

We had a brief scare last week when a new fire started just 3 miles East of Luton’s Teton Cabins, on US Forest land. It is believed someone had an illegal campfire which quickly grew out of control. Because this fire was so close to homes and businesses, they worked to quickly extinguish this fire. We watched several helicopters dump water on the fire, and they had it out in a few hours. It made a few of our cabin guests very nervous though! You can see the smoke and one of the helicopters in the photo below.

Just 3 miles away

BOAT/DINNER CRUISE TRIP

Brad and Joanne, the owners of the cabins, surprised all of us with tickets on the Jackson Lake Dinner Cruise. We only had a week to book the dinner though, as they were shutting down the cruise for the season. The State of Idaho actually owns the water rights to Jackson Lake. With it being so dry, the potato farmers have been requesting a lot of water this summer. Apparently it was the farmers that paid for the dam on the lake many years ago, and in return they received the water rights. They have been drawing down the lake at a rate of 1 foot every 5 days. So we booked a Wednesday night cruise with Karen, Al and Jane. If you look at the far left on the photo below, the water level is normally up to the trees.

Jackson Lake marina

The boat leaves the marina and docks on an island close to Mount Moran. The buffet dinner consisted of steak and trout. The salad bar is served out of the canoe!

a beautiful setting

We all enjoyed the boat ride over, as well as dinner. I think Dan was still chewing in this photo!

Jane, Karen, Al and Dan

After dinner we did a short hike up a steep hill and ha a great view of Mount Moran and the boat ramp on the island below.

Mount Moran

FLOAT TRIP

A very popular “touristy to-do” in Grand Teton National Park is a float trip down the Snake River. There are many companies that offer trips. Barker-Ewing is the company that we recommend to our guests, as they will give them a discounted trip. To reciprocate, Barker-Ewing gives all of the work campers a free trip. We finally made time to book an evening float trip, and had a great time. We would definitely recommend a float trip to anyone coming to the area. Unlike whitewater rafting, this is more of a “lazy float” down an 8 mile stretch of the river.

the boat launched ahead of ours

having a good time!

We had good views of the evening sky over the Grand Tetons.

Grand Tetons

And beautiful views down the Snake River.

Snake River

We were fortunate to see plenty of wildlife along the way as well.

a giant beaver home

Along with several beavers in the area.

DSC_0428 (1)

This beaver was busy carrying a tree branch!

busy, busy, busy!

We saw quite a few bald eagles, and I was able to get a photo of one of them.

a majestic bird

The highlight of our trip was seeing a mama and two baby moose. Unfortunately, I was only able to capture a photo of one of the babies. Mama and the other baby were too hidden from my view.

Hello!

GRADUATION!

Back in June, when I was still wearing the boot on my foot, we were looking for things to do in the park that did not involve a lot of walking. Karen suggested a ranger led talk on Menor’s Ferry. During the talk, Ranger Casey mentioned the Junior Ranger program that they offer in the park (almost all of the national parks have programs). When the Ranger mentioned the program was not just for young kids, but anyone “young at heart”, well that caught my attention! One of the requirements of the program is to attend a Ranger led program in the park. Check!

Ranger Casey

The booklet that you have to complete has various activities, geared to different age groups. All Junior Rangers have to complete various activities, from a hike in the park, to viewing some of the historical structures. For the older kids (and the “young at heart”) there are additional math and science related activities. (it’s always about math!)

After our ranger led program, I was reading the booklet and commented to Karen, Al and Dan that one of my activities is to pick up litter in the park. So they all obliged and threw trash down on the ground for me to pick up! (ummm….thanks?!) So I studied up on the booklet, and worked on it over the summer.

Enter a caption

Once I got my boot off and was able to do more in the park, I continued on the program. Last Wednesday I finally “graduated” and went back to the visitors center for my Junior Ranger oath and badge ceremony! Al played the ‘pomp and circumstance’ graduation march on his Apple watch!

an official Junior Ranger

taking the oath

my “official” badges

I would highly recommend this program to anyone. It really forces you to take the time to learn a lot more about the park that you are visiting.

Quote for the day: “You don’t stop laughing when you grow old, you grow old when you stop laughing.” – George Bernard Shaw

Visitors and Fires

Posted on August 23, 2016 by liv2rv

For the past 6 weeks, fires have been burning all around us, but have not had much impact on us. Things changed yesterday, after 20-25 mph winds started in the afternoon. A small fire that was burning in a remote area of Grand Teton National Park jumped across Jackson Lake and spread over 5 miles. The main highway from GTNP to Yellowstone National Park is now closed. They had an emergency evacuation of Flagg Ranch and Lizard Creek Campground this morning. The fire is about 20 miles from our location, and it is not headed our way. However, with another afternoon of high winds expected, who knows what will happen. I think the most popular website in the state of Wyoming right now is Incident Information. You can click on that if you want to keep up with the fires in the area.

Work continues, but at a little slower pace this week. This is a “transition time”, as we switch over from families with school-age children, to couples and families with toddlers. By September 1st, we are back to full occupancy, for almost the entire month. So we are enjoying our ‘calm before the storm’ which hopefully won’t involve any fire related issues!

FAMILY VISITS!

Our door is always open for visits from friends and family, and we have had two visits this month. Our nieces, Carmen and Jasmine, were passing through on the way to Tacoma, Washington, and stayed overnight. Jasmine, who graduated from Pharmacy School in May, has accepted a pharmacy position in Tacoma, Washington, and they were moving her stuff out west. Makena was excited to have visitors!

Carmen and Jasmine

After they left, Dan’s sister and brother-in-law, Linda and Doug drove out from Wisconsin to visit with us for a few days. On their way out, they stopped in Custer, SD and met up with our friends Phil and Rudee at Crazy Horse, as well as visiting Mount Rushmore. We were able to switch days with another couple at work, so we had three full days to play tourist. We forgot how exhausting it is to be a tourist! We were able to cram as much as we could in a very limited time. There is just too much to see and do in three days.

Can you see Yellowstone in one day? No, but you can see a few of the highlights if you pack a lunch and plan on a long day visiting. We discovered an Elk happily licking the salty grass right inside the West Thumb geyser basin. It is always fun to see wildlife up close.

We have heard there has been an unusually high number of broken toilet seats in the park this year, due to visitors from countries not familiar with our bathroom protocol. So I was a bit amused to find this diagram in a porta-pottie in the park.

After our stop at the West Thumb Geyser Basin, we headed towards the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone, to see the Upper and Lower Falls.

Upper Falls of Yellowstone

The Lower Falls were just as spectacular!

Dan, Linda and Doug at Lower Falls

After a quick picnic lunch, we headed over to the Midway Geyser Basin, home to the most beautiful geyser in the world, (in my opinion), the Grand Prismatic Geyser.

DSC03836 (2)

DSC_0851 (1)

And no visit would be complete without a stop at Old Faithful!

Old Faithful

We spent another day touring the Grand Tetons, seeing wildlife, and then we drove down to Jackson. We walked around the town square and stopped in at the Famous Cowboy Bar for a cold beverage.

DSC03822 (1) Since all the barstools are saddles, Doug opted to recreate the cowboy on the bar’s roof!

ride’em Doug!

Doug and Linda discovered when you are out West, anything goes for a vehicle. You never know what will be parked outside on the street.

DSC03825 (1)

Although the time went by way to fast, we did enjoy having Carmen and Jasmine, as well as Doug and Linda stop in for a visit. Our door, wherever it may be parked, is always open!

Quote for the day: “Isn’t it amazing how much stuff we get done the day before vacation?” – Zig Ziglar

Road Trip!

Posted on July 20, 2016 by liv2rv

Another couple asked to switch one of our off days, which resulted in us having 3 consecutive days off one week. So we took advantage of the extended time off to go visit our friends Tom and Ellen in West Yellowstone, Montana. We had an excellent time (despite not being able to do too much with my foot) and were able to get together with our former co-workers at Madison Crossing from last summer.

Tom and Ellen had everyone over for a nice dinner, and Makena was on her best behavior helping Tom in the kitchen of their 5th wheel!

The food was delicious, and it was great to catch up with everyone!

img_0794-1

Diane, our former co-worker, had everyone over for a campfire at her house. It was an enjoyable evening, meeting new friends, and catching up with our old friends. It’s one of the best things about this RV lifestyle!

img_0786-1

Of course, no visit to West Yellowstone would be complete without a visit to the local Packers bar, Bullwinkle’s (Packer fans are everywhere!)

giddy up!

It was a quick, but enjoyable 3 days, and we hope to do it again so we can get together and do some hiking in Yellowstone, Montana, or Idaho.

On our way back home, we decided to take the scenic route through Idaho, and come over the Teton Pass, across the mountains. Since Idaho is famous for potatoes, and potatoes are the main ingredient in vodka, it would only make sense to stop in at the Grand Teton Distillery in Driggs, Idaho on our way back! We did a short tour of their facility, and sampled a few of their spirits. We both agreed their regular vodka, was excellent. Probably the best we have ever tasted. Their other spirits were ‘okay’.

DSC03730 (1)

The finishing pot

fermenting pots

The Teton Pass through the mountains is a beautiful drive (as long as you are not towing a 5th wheel, which we were not!). It has 10% road grades, and many people that work in the city of Jackson, drive this pass everyday. Housing prices in Jackson are crazy expensive, so many folks live in Idaho, and have a long, but scenic, daily commute.

The city is officially called Jackson, but the area is called Jackson Hole, as the early settlers described the valley between the mountains, as the “hole”. The city is off in the distance in this photo:

DSC03740 (1)

I would not want to drive this every day. Many times, the pass closes in winter due to storms. It snowed here on July 11! The locals said that made summer officially 21 days this year!

Quote for the day: “There are no strangers here; only friends you haven’t yet met.” – William Butler Yates

I Like It Here!

Posted on June 16, 2016 by liv2rv

Hello Everyone! I’m back, your favorite blog posting full-time dog!

Keeping my peeps informed!

I am really enjoying my time here in Moran, WY just outside Grand Teton National Park. My parents have found a dog friendly work camping job. I am not allowed to go in or near the rental cabins, so I can’t go to work with them (I would be good at licking up all the crumbs on the kitchen floors in the cabins!), but having 100 acres to roam around, is doggie paradise! (even if there are 6 other big dogs on the property)

Before I talk about my current activities here, I will get you caught up on what I have been up to the last few months. After leaving Florida, we went back to my favorite “campground”, Camp Meyer. (Dan’s sister and brother in laws house). I have the full reign of the facilities, and they have several acres to roam around on. I was able to visit with my great nieces. They gave me lot’s of attention and snacks!

Teaching Ellie about treats!

Raya and Leia playing with me

I briefly visited with my doggie cousins Rudy and Reagan, who, after sniffing my butt, pretty much ignore me now. My kitty cousins were not happy I was eating their food, and Bandit hissed and pawed at me quite a bit. Callie was much nicer to me this time and Jonell’s sister Margie and her husband Greg always treat me well!

Veterinarian Visit

As many of you may recall, last year my doctor was concerned about my weight, and said I needed to lose 1/2 pound. This year I weighed in 3 ounces MORE than last year! But, the doctor noticed I was much leaner and more muscular, and had a low heart rate, so he was very happy with my appearance this year. I am a lean, mean, football playing machine!!

My parents were concerned about my scratching and licking my butt for the past couple of months. They thought it was fleas and fire ant bites from Florida. Turns out, my anal glands were full (sorry if this is grossing you out, but this can be an issue with us dogs!). In 9 years of living, I have never had that problem. The doctor was able to “express” them, and boy did that make me feel better!

The doctor recommended that I have some canned organic pumpkin to eat (a teaspoon or so with my food). I guess that helps keep things from clogging up!

After my doctors visit, I joined my mom for her annual patio beers with her friend Amy, and I made a new friend, Taco. Taco and I really got along, once he stopped poking around my rear end!

did you get your anal glands expressed?

My buddy Taco and I

And now back at the ranch…

There are miles of walking trails all over the property here. Just look at this view I have every day. You can see my path just goes on and on. It truly is doggie heaven!

A dog’s dream field

I have been marking my spots all over the field, as there are all kinds of wildlife that come through this field.

DSC03597 (1)

The owners have about 11 horses on the property. I was pretty scared of them at first, and when we went walking with my parents friends and co-workers Karen and Al, I stood behind Al while he pet the horses. But then I warmed up to them, and realized they had no interest in sniffing my but, despite their large noses. They are obviously civilized animals!

Al is protecting me!

you have a big nose Mr. Horse

There were cows on the property for a few weeks, but they have been moved to higher elevations for the summer. I was reprimanded for going under the fence to get a better view of them!

My parents have started allowing me to go off-leash on the property for part of our walks. But, after a few drop and rolls in some big horse poop, I have been warned I may lose my off leash privileges.

I have to stay out of the piles to keep my freedom!

I’m glad that I took agility class, because I have to be careful crossing over the cattle guards when I am carrying my football out to the playing field.

walking a straight line

Unfortunately, my mom broke a bone in her foot last week. She was carrying their laundry basket down the steps inside the 5th wheel, and didn’t see her shoes at the bottom of the steps, stepped on them and fell. So she is in a walking boot for the next 6 weeks, which means we won’t be doing this for a while.

Mom and I. Cabins in the background.

But my dad is still taking me out to play, and hopefully he will take me out for some long walks. I miss those. It’s such a pretty area for us dogs and being off leash to bound around the ranch is awesome!

Take care everyone, and thanks for following along with me!

Quote for the day: “I have a simple philosophy. Fill what’s empty. Empty what’s full. Scratch where it itches.” – Alice Roosevelt Longworth

Work Camping at Luton’s Cabins

Posted on June 1, 2016 by liv2rv

Two weeks of work have flown by, which is always a good thing! I must admit, it is nice to be back to work, and our bank account and my Fitbit are happy as well. For the next four months, we will be working at Luton’s Teton Cabins, located just east of Grand Teton National Park. This is the view we see every day from work!

Grand Teton Range

Our job for the summer is cleaning and maintaining the 14 cabins on the property. There are 3 other couples, and one single that we are working with. We have a nice group of work campers for the summer. Now cleaning cabins may not sound like the most glamorous job, but these cabins are so well maintained, that cleaning them is a breeze. Brad and JoAnn Luton, the owners, have done an excellent job of maintaining these cabins over the years. They actually built each cabin back in the early 1990’s, and have a tried and true method of keeping them looking brand new. It’s easy to clean something that is already clean.

With our job, we work as a 4-5 person crew in cleaning each cabin. There are three levels of service that we do: Makeup, sheet change and check out. Everyone rotates through the various jobs on each cabin: bathroom, vanity, supplies, makeup beds or sheet changes, dusting/oiling, windows, vacuum, floor and final check. The first two weeks, we have not been at 100% occupancy, which has helped as everyone is still learning the jobs, and what is expected. By this weekend, we should be full (schools are letting out!), and we will get into a good routine.

We start work at 9:00am, so we need to leave our RV by 8:59am, as we have a 1 minute walk to the time clock! Although it’s been in the 30’s in the morning, most guests have left for the day, so we can get started on the cabins right away. Because we have not been at full capacity, we have only been working 4-6 hours each day. Since this is a very physical job, we are happy to have the shorter days to start with. But that will change by this weekend!

Here are a few photos of the cabins.

DSC03590 (1)

DSC03587 (1)

PERKS

In addition to getting paid for all hours worked (and Wyoming has no state income tax), we have a 50 amp full hook-up site for free. There are five sites behind the cabins, strictly for the work campers. This is our site.

And the view out the back of the site is very nice as well. It is a very peaceful, serene place (and it’s all free!)

view behind our site

Other perks include free use of the on-site laundry room, including the use of the industrial washer/dryer, which is great for super large loads and comforters. We generally average about $30/month on laundry, so this is a nice little savings.

Since the closest major city with a grocery store, Jackson, is 30 miles away, the Luton’s have also provided a freezer and an extra refrigerator for use by the work campers to store extra food. There are a couple of convenience stores that are within a few miles, but they only carry a limited supply of groceries.

All of the cabins have full kitchens, and many guest will leave food behind when they leave (since many people fly to this area). All that food gets put into another refrigerator, and we all take turns picking over the leftover items. So far there has been bacon, ice cream, pizza, butter, cheese, yogurt, bread and more to pick from. And, some of our guests have left tips as well. The money goes into a tip jar to be evenly split up among the nine of us throughout the summer.

We were also told we would have free, fast Wi-Fi this summer as well. We were very surprised at just how fast it has been. This was a speed test that Dan did the other day. It was the fastest we have ever registered.

There are several walking trails on the 100 acre property (Makena will have more to say about them in a future blog). We have also been into the park a few times, and plan to spend a lot more time exploring the park this summer. The Tetons, unlike Yellowstone, is a bicycle friendly park, so we plan on exploring by foot and bicycle this summer.

Quote for the day: “Opportunities are usually disguised as hard work, so most people don’t recognize them.” – Ann Landers

Liv2RV

Living and working around the country in a RV

Category Archives: Full time RVing