End of the Season

Posted on October 7, 2024 by liv2rv

As the leaves change color, and the nighttime temperatures hover in the 40’s, our summer job here in Riverton, Wyoming has come to an end. To prepare for winter, the irrigation pipes are flushed out, disassembled, and put away. The horses will take over the fields until Spring.

Each field of pipes has end caps. Those are removed, and the pipes are flushed out for several hours to remove mud and other debris.

The water that initially flows out is very muddy, but after a few hours, clears up. Then it’s on to the next set of pipes.

Sometimes we get an unwanted “surprise” when flushing out the pipes. We think this was a muskrat that came out of the pipes! I didn’t get too close to inspect it. It must have been swimming in the canal and got sucked into the pipes.

After several days of flushing out the pipes, it is time to disassemble them and let them air dry for a few days. Most of the pipes come apart easily, with the use of a hay hook. Sometimes I have to sit on one pipe, while Dan pulls on the other. A few times we had to tie a rope around the pipe and pull it apart with the ATV.

One field completed. Three more to go!

After a few days of drying, it’s time to pick up all the pipes and store them away for the winter. They are removed from the field and stored in an area the horses cannot access. Otherwise, the horses would spend the winter kicking and damaging the pipes! At this point, Brad comes back to Riverton to help us out. It takes about two days to pick everything up and store it away.

As in the Spring when the pipes are put out, I have the easy job of driving the tractor while Brad and Dan pick up the pipes and put them on the trailer. Here’s my view out the front window. You can see all the pipes ready to be picked up in one field.

And the view out the back window as Dan and Brad load the pipes on the trailer.

I have found that if I maintain a blazing speed of 0.91 mph, I don’t need to hit the brakes and they can just walk a steady pace as they pick up the pipes.

After each field, I have a full load of pipes on the trailer. And an empty field just waiting for the horses to arrive!

The pipes are stacked up in a storage area for the winter.

After the pipes are put away, we pick up all the tarps that are used to irrigate another field, clean them and store them for the winter.

Horses have arrived!

Some of the horses have arrived already for the winter. Twenty five horses were dropped off by a dude ranch that closed for their season. All the horses were kept in the corral until they had all arrived (it took several trips before they all arrived).

The horses were very excited once we opened the corral gate to the back pasture. They were very excited with their home for the winter!

The horses did have a “spa day” after they arrived. A local horse shoer came out to remove their shoes for the winter, and trim their nails. The horses really like having their shoes removed. In the picture below, you can see the leg on the right has had the shoe and nails removed. The leg on the left still has the shoe attached. You can tell by the nails in their foot. I’m not a horse person, so I may not have the correct terminology for this process. I’ll just keep it at “spa day”!

Same horse, both shoes removed and the nails are out.

The horse shoer removes the shoe, then pulls out the nails. It only takes a few minutes.

After the shoe and nails are removed, he takes a grinder and smooths out the foot.

The rest of the horses from other organizations will arrive after we leave for the season.

What’s next?

Although our work is done, we are going to stay here until at least the 15th of October. Then we will head down to Yuma, Arizona for our winter jobs at Westwind Golf and RV Resort. This year we do not start our work until November 1. Since it is still 100 plus degrees, we are in no hurry to arrive! There is no snow in the extended forecast here in Wyoming, so we are in no rush to leave.

Quote of the day: “One of the best pieces of advice I ever got was from a horse master. He told me to go slow to go fast. I think that applies to everything in life. We live as though there aren’t enough hours in the day but if we do each thing calmly and carefully we will get it done quicker and with much less stress.” – Viggo Mortensen

Odds and Ends

Posted on September 15, 2024 by liv2rv

As with the majority of the country, we have not been able to escape the heat here in Riverton. It makes watering the fields a bit more challenging. I think the water just soaks right in to the soil. We have only had about a half day of rain. But the grass is growing. Below are two photos from the same spot in the fields.

A little over a month later…

Brad and Joanne did come back to Riverton to cut the grass hay, and had a record number of bales. Not only did they fill up their hay barn, but they have an “overflow” area. The horses will be well fed this winter.

At the beginning of June, I bought two tomato plants (Early Girl variety) and planted them in large containers. They had been growing well, with many blossoms on the plants. They were getting a bit stressed with the hot weather, so I had been watering them twice a day.

Unfortunately, one morning I went to water my plants and noticed there was a bite taken out of every single tomato on both plants!

As we were walking out in the fields later that morning, we think we discovered the “tomato snatchers!”

I left the plants out, and by the next morning, the half eaten tomatoes were all gone.

There are all sorts of birds around the property. One that we have to watch out for are the Killdeer birds. They are decreasing in population, which is not surprising since they lay their eggs on ground in gravel. Since the driveway is gravel, we have to be on the lookout for nests. The telltale sign is they really start squawking and ruffle their feathers when you get near their nest. I was able to find two nests, thanks to their ear piercing squawking! I blocked off their nest areas, so we would not accidentally run them over. I was cutting the grass when I realized there was a nest nearby. Here is my bird sanctuary blockade!

This is the nest inside this safe space. There are four speckled eggs right in the middle.

We discovered another nest right near an area that we drive the ATV on. Again, if it wasn’t for the squawking, we would not have noticed it.

Here’s the nest for this one. It had two eggs.

I’m happy to report that all the birds have hatched. The nest with two eggs, actually had 4 birds, so there must have been 2 eggs somewhere else in the area that I blocked off. We were unable to get pictures of the baby birds. The parents were not happy that we were around, so we just left them alone. After two days, they started flying around, and left the area of their nests.

Speaking of birds, we were eating dinner and we noticed something odd walking around our RV. It looked like a chicken with a long tail. I took some photos out the window, and sent them to Brad. He replied it’s a pheasant chicken. I have seen pheasants, and I have seen chickens, but not a combo. We didn’t have any idea there was such a thing!

My photo is not the best as it was taken out the RV window. The pheasant chickens went on to have babies, and now there are about eight little ones roaming around. I have been trying to get pictures, but they are very elusive.

And speaking of oddities, there are lots of pickup trucks in Wyoming. But I did a triple take when we were at the grocery store in town, and I saw a Tesla Cybertruck. I was not expecting to see one of these here in Wyoming. It had Wyoming plates, so it was not just someone passing through the area. It is very “unique” looking. If you look closely, there is one giant windshield wiper on the front window. I don’t think the local WarMart will have a replacement blade! I’m not sure how this will do in the winter.

Even though it’s mid-September, we are still having temperatures in the upper 80’s here in Riverton. Hard to believe the season will be winding down soon. The company that regulates the water canal will be shutting off access to the water at the end of the month. At that point, we will begin flushing out the pipes, taking them apart and storing them for the winter. We hope everyone is doing well and staying safe from all this crazy weather.

Quote for the day:

“You are never too old to set another goal or to dream a new dream.” – Les Brown

Our Summer Job

Posted on June 30, 2024 by liv2rv

We have a unique summer job here in Wyoming, watering about 200 acres for grass hay. The hay is used to feed the horses that Brad and Joanne board over the winter for several different companies. Here’s a few photos of their “customers” before they all leave for their summer homes.

The most labor intensive part of our job is right at the beginning of the season when we put the water pipes out in the field. Brad and Joanne help us with this part, as it takes 4 people to complete this process. There are four fields that are watered with the pipes. Each field is about a quarter mile wide, so there are a lot of pipes to install each spring. And in the fall, we will disassemble them and put them back in a storage area.

The reason the pipes are not kept in the fields year round, is the horses would kick and damage the pipes. The pipes are stored away from the horses during the winter. Although the horses like to look over the fence at them! It’s an expensive play toy for them!

I get the “easy” job, driving the tractor with a trailer full of pipes out to the field.

Let me tell you, this is not your grandfathers tractor! Driving the tractor is more like a big video game, with all the buttons and joysticks.

When the tractor first starts up, all kinds of symbols light up on the control panel.

It’s very comfortable to drive.

Dan, Brad and Joanne lead the way out in the fields in the ATV.

Brad, Joanne and Dan install pipe starting at the gate valves in the fields.

My job is to drive the tractor at a slow pace, while Brad and Dan pick up the pipes and install them along the fields. Here’s a shot from the rear view mirror of the tractor showing the 30′ long 12″ diameter pipes..

Here’s a view out the back window of the tractor.

Below we are crossing over from one field to the next.

The pipes have gate valves on them, that open and close to let the water flow out and irrigate the fields.

When the pipes are all connected, and the water has been turned on, we will irrigate one field at a time. We open the gate valves on 3-4 pipes in the morning, and then close those pipe valves in the evening. Then we open another 4-5 pipes in the evening, and let them run overnight. We repeat the process every day.

Here’s a view from behind the pipes, as the water flows out into the fields.

The fifth field that we water uses an “old school” method of watering. There is a trench around that field, and we install a tarp in the ditch to catch the water, and let it flow out on to the field. We move the tarp once a day to a new position on that field.

WHERE DOES THE WATER COME FROM?

In 1921, the LeClair Irrigation District was formed in Riverton, to provide water to 15,000 acres of land in the community. The water comes from the Wind River in Riverton, and has channels throughout the community that distribute the water to various landowners. Over a mile from Brad and Joanne’s property is their main gate off the canal. This gate is shared by another neighbor. The gate is controlled by a “ditch rider” employed by the District. In the Spring, the ditch rider will unlock all the gates for the landowners to use for the summer.

Once all the pipes are installed, we will open up the main gate.

That water flows about 1/2 mile to a box with two gate valves. One is to divert water to Brad’s property, and the other flows to Brad’s neighbor.

Once the water is flowing, we will open up the pipe to Brad’s property, and then another 1/2 mile down the road is his water box/gate. The two valves control the water to four fields on the east and one field on the west side of his property (the one with the drainage ditch).

This is a view down in to the box. You can see the two gate valves that can be opened up to divert the water to the fields.

Brad’s neighbor has one big field that he waters, and he uses a pivot for his watering system. The pivots are more water efficient than the flood irrigation.

By the end of May, it was time for all the horses to leave. Hope they have a good time!

We have learned more than we ever thought about water on this job! It’s amazing all the engineering that went in to creating the water district over 100 years ago. Some smart, forward thinking people!

Quote of the Day: “We forget that the water cycle and the life cycle are one.” — Jacques Yves Cousteau

We interrupt this vacation…

Posted on August 29, 2022 by liv2rv

We are back to work! In Alaska! When we were planning this trip, Dan and I had always talked about getting an end of season job while we were in Alaska. We have been full-time RVing for 9 years now, and this was the first summer that we were “taking off.” Around mid-July, we started discussing what we were going to do after visiting Fairbanks, our last stop in Alaska.

I contacted our friends Tom and Ellen that are working in Skagway, and they put us in contact with the general manager of the company that they are working for. (You may remember we did a quick side trip to Skagway to see them, the town and the stores they work at.) We spoke with the general manager of the five family owned stores about the possibility of finishing out the season, and she was thrilled to have us come and work for them, as they had high school and college students that would be leaving in August.

So we are now working full-time for the Corrington Ivory Company. They have five gift stores in Skagway. Every day up to three cruise ships come in to port in the morning, and depart early evening. Passenger totals for the three ships can be up to 9,000 people. So we are keeping busy!

I was hoping to have more time to get caught up on the blogs, but there is only one cell tower in town for Verizon, and it gets heavy use when the ships are in port. Some days it feels like we are back to “dial up” service! I will keep plugging away though.

We will go back to “tourist mode” after September 22, and travel back down through Canada. This winter we will again be in Yuma, Arizona, so we still have another 3,000 miles to travel when we leave Skagway.

If you are considering traveling to Alaska, but are concerned about the costs, getting an end of season job is a great way to offset the expense. And there are plenty of jobs. Everyone is looking for help, especially end of season when school starts back up. We saw plenty of openings in all the cities we traveled through.

We will be paid $13.00 an hour, with a $2.00 per hour end of season bonus. Plus, we receive a free campsite, with full hook-ups, including 50 amp service. It will be nice to have money coming in, instead of going out for a change! Alaska does not have a state income tax, so we will not need to file a state tax form in the spring.

Karen and Al came down to visit Skagway for the day, and then we said our good-byes. They are making their way back to Florida (another 5,000 miles!) with stops along the way. We had a wonderful summer traveling with them, as you will see in my future blog posts.

Quote of the day: “If you don’t want to work you have to work to earn enough money so that you won’t have to work.” – Ogden Nash

A busy start to the new year

Posted on February 16, 2020 by liv2rv

Happy belated New Year and New Decade!!

You would think with working just two days a week, we would be living the life of leisure, and having a lot of free time on our hands, but we have just been busy, busy, busy. This is turning out to a year of change for us, and it has been both exciting and stressful. So let’s get caught up…

On Christmas Eve, we picked Dan’s parents up at the Mesa Airport, about a three hour drive from Yuma. Dan’s brother and sister-in-law, Gary and Julia, rented a house in Tempe, Arizona, for the week of Christmas. Their three daughters were also able to fly in for Christmas. It was nice to spend the holidays with family! Thank you Gary and Julia for inviting us over for Christmas, as well as the matching “Minnesota Go Jump in the Lake” t-shirts that we all received!

On New Year’s Eve, we drove Dan’s parents, Joan and Stu, back with us to Westwind RV and Golf Resort in Yuma, as they were able to rent a park model for the month of January. We didn’t have to worry too much about them, as they had a busy month of activities, with golf, dances, block parties, and cards. We enjoyed spending time with them, during their “free” time!

Fridays and Saturdays have been busy with work, as well as volunteering at the Friday night dances, and attending the Saturday night concerts in the ballroom with Tom, Ellen and Bob. Dan and I are both involved in several golf leagues on our off days. I have played more golf in the last three months, then I have in ten years. We sell tickets for the 50/50 raffle at the dances, to raise money for Shriner’s Children’s Hospital. Last year they raised close to $5000 from the raffle, and this year we should exceed $5,000.00. Here we are with Henry and Terry, the Golf Shop Managers (and former co-workers of ours at Crazy Horse Memorial in South Dakota).

We have seen several excellent concerts, including a tribute to John Denver (which my sister LuAnn would have loved)…

as well as an excellent tribute to Linda Ronstadt.

We did manage a few trips up to Quartzsite, one for the annual RV show, and another to meet up with friends Wendy and Terry (met them work camping at Luton’s Teton Cabins). And Wendy and I managed to find another “big chair” to sit in.

Today we had a ‘Mardi Gras’ parade in the park. We decorated one golf cart, to represent the golf course. Since we were in the parade, I only have a few pictures from the staging area of some of the other decorated carts. In addition to candy, we threw (gently) golf balls to crowd gathered in the park to watch all the decorated golf carts. Here we are, ready to go!

Some of the other floats…

CHANGE IS COMING!

As I have previously mentioned, we will not be working this summer (our first time in 6 years). We will spend the entire summer in Alaska traveling with friends Karen and Al, as well as two other couples (one of which we just met this week in Yuma).

We have spent the past month or two seriously looking at various RV’s, as we don’t plan on taking our 5th wheel to Alaska. We have looked, and talked with dealers in Oregon, Michigan, Las Vegas and several in Arizona, regarding Class A’s, Class C/B’s and truck campers. Ultimately, we decided to go with our original plan of getting a truck camper. It will make it easier for us to get into many of the smaller campgrounds, allow us to boondock (camping without hookups) more often, and make us much more mobile.

This year, Westwind RV enforced the rule of no truck campers allowed in the park. So we spoke with management regarding our plans of picking up our camper in March. They advised that we would not be allowed to stay in the park. Our friends Dave and Marilyn, who have a house in Yuma with a 30 amp hook-up, were kind enough to allow us to park at their place, for the month of March, and then we would leave. We told our managers in the golf shop that we would only work through the end of March, and skip the two weekends in April that we were scheduled to work. We had also advised them that we would not return next year, as we would not be allowed to stay in this park with a truck camper. And, we did not want to rush to purchase something else after our Alaska trip. They were fine with all of this.

Well, three days after we got all the details squared away with everyone, the corporate owner of Westwind (he owns several RV and mobile home parks), fired the managers here. And the next day, among many rule changes, they changed the rule regarding truck campers. Any type of RV is now welcome at Westwind RV.

So now we can stay at the park and finish out our commitment for this season. Our last day will be April 11. We are still leaning towards not coming back next year, as we need to see what happens with all these management and rule changes.

We have been super busy going through our 5th wheel and making piles of “stuff going to Alaska” and “stuff to keep, but not going to Alaska.” Downsizing from 400 square feet to 80 square feet has been challenging, and a bit overwhelming. Sometimes I just have to sit down and stare at all of our crap…I mean stuff! Fortunately, Dave and Marilyn will let us store some stuff at their house. They are such wonderful friends! (we promise that someday we will return and pick it up!). Of course we still have stuff at my sister Margie’s, brother Brian’s, and Dan’s parents to sort through as well…someday!

Here’s a quick peak at what we have put an offer on, and will pick up next month. A 2008 Host Truck Camper. Once we pick it up, I will have a blog with more pictures, as well as an update on the downsizing!

We hope all is well with everyone! Until next time!

Quote of the Day: “In any given moment we have two options: to step forward into growth or step back into safety.” – Abraham Maslow

Back to work for the Winter

Posted on November 24, 2019 by liv2rv

Life is pretty good in Yuma, Arizona, the sunniest place in the United States! The park we are working at, Westwind RV and Golf Resort, is slowly filling up, as the Canadian and American snowbirds make their way south. We are about half full, and should be close to capacity in January. It has been a lot of fun catching up with the many friends and co-workers we met last year, that have returned again for another season. In addition, our friends Tom, Ellen and Bob have joined us this year at Westwind to work. They all seem to be enjoying their jobs, and the warm, but not humid, weather.

This year, we have new jobs, which we are both enjoying. Last season I had a paid (minimum wage) job in the office, three days a week, and Dan worked three days on the golf course, which covered our site rent, and all utilities. This year, we are working in the Golf Pro Shop, two 10-hour days a week. We really enjoy working just two days, Friday and Saturday. Here’s a few pictures the inside of the Pro Shop.

It’s small, but we have a great view of the first hole out the window that you see above on the right.

Our view

We have seen many “interesting” shots off the first tee!! Here are some views of the course, which is a nine-hole Par 3.

This is the first hole straight ahead, with #3 on the left, and #9 fairway on the right. One of Dan’s duties is to fish out all the balls in the pond (and there are many!).

In exchange for our two 10-hour days, we receive our site for free, all utilities, and a $640 voucher each month which can be used at the onsite restaurant, golf shop, and concert tickets. Our duties are taking tee times, selling merchandise (clothing, hats, gloves, golf balls), and keeping the patio area outside the Pro Shop clean. It’s as easy as it sounds! I don’t miss working in the office, but I do miss working with Lori and Roy. We were able to get together for dinner, and talk about future work camping opportunities and places to explore. We both have a lot more travel adventures in our future!

Another bonus of coming back to Yuma is getting together with friends Dave and Marilyn, that own a house here. We have had several get togethers, and met up for the Howling at the Moon on November 12. It was Tom, Ellen and Bob’s first experience, and they all seemed to enjoy the strange little gathering in the desert.

Howling at the Moon

Bob, Jim, Carol, Marilyn (Dave behind in blue shirt)

Ellen, Tom and Dan as sun was setting behind

The sunsets in Arizona are always full of color

And then it was time to start “howling!” If you are ever in the Yuma area, and it’s a full-moon, you need to partake in this free festival!

We hope everyone has a Happy Thanksgiving. It looks like most of the country is going to be hit with some storms, so stay safe!

Quote for the Day: “Of all possessions a friend is the most precious.” – Herodotus

On the road again!

Posted on October 9, 2019 by liv2rv

Hello everyone, it’s your favorite dog blogger, Makena!

Keeping my peeps informed!

We are on the road again!!! While my parents are busy driving from Wyoming to Yuma, Arizona, I’ll get you all caught up. We have finished up with our fourth and final summer at Luton’s Teton Cabins, just five miles east of Grand Teton National Park. Once again, we were the last work camper couple to leave. My dad steam cleans all the carpets, so it takes a while to get thru all 14 cabins and the lodge. I have enjoyed my time here, because I can run around off-leash on the property.

The one problem, for me, with being the last to leave is the weather. It always snows before we leave, and it gets cold. It was 17 degrees when we pulled out this year. But it sure is pretty! This was our view from Luton’s on Saturday, October 5, when we left. It had snowed the day before.

I think I caught a cold or something, because I’ve gotten sick the last two mornings before we left. My parents had to wash my favorite blankets two days in a row, and I’ve been sneezing a lot. But now that we are on the road again, I am doing better. I spend all day in my crate in the truck, so I have been getting a lot of rest. It’s my “safe place.” My parents say I’m an excellent traveler.

We are going back to Westwind RV and Golf Resort in Yuma, Arizona. I’m looking forward to the warm weather and sunshine! My parents told me they will have new jobs this year, and will only be working two days a week. Yay! That means more time for me! They will have an orientation day on October 15th, so I’m sure my mom will get back to blogging and have more information on their new jobs after that time. And their friends Tom and Ellen will be working at Westwind this year. They stopped over at our house a month ago, and brought their new puppy, Duffy, with them. He promptly sniffed my butt and ate all of my food. I don’t like him….

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Before I go, I’m going to post some more photos of the Tetons that my mom took in May, and September. The Tetons are a beautiful place, and I hope all of my readers can someday visit the park. Good-bye Tetons, looking forward to new adventures next summer in Alaska! Here’s a view from Oxbow Bend at the beginning and end of our season.

May 2019

September 2019

Jenny Lake is a popular area in the park for hiking. This is a view from an overlook. In May, the lake was still frozen.

May 2019

September 2019

Quote for the day: “Once the travel bug bites there is no known antidote, and I know that I shall be happily infected until the end of my life.” – Michael Palin

Back to work (2 months ago…)

Posted on July 17, 2019 by liv2rv

I admire the people that blog consistently. I am not one of them! We are back to work for our fourth, and final, summer here at Luton’s Teton Cabins. I think part of my delay in writing is due to the fact we have been in this area of Wyoming for 5 years now (4 here, and 1 summer in West Yellowstone.) There are days that I feel I’m in a rut. As beautiful as this area is, I’m overdue for a change in scenery.

We arrived here on May 4, and took a quick drive through Grand Teton National Park. Many areas were still covered in snow, and the ice on the lakes was just starting to melt.

P1060049 (3)

After getting acclimated to the altitude, we started spring cleaning the cabins a few days later. All nine of us work campers came back this year. Brad and Joanne are wonderful people to work for. Spring cleaning consists of a deep clean of each cabin, including wiping down all the woodwork with a damp rag, and then oiling each log with wood oil. It’s a tedious process, but it keeps the cabins looking “new.” Many guests are surprised that the cabins are 25 years old. Dan works on the ceilings, as he’s the tallest!

The bedroom is ready for the season!

After working 3 days per week in our winter jobs, it’s back to 5 days a week, and a split shift on my office days. Karen and I split the office – 3 days office/2 days housekeeping one week, and 4 days office/1 housekeeping day the next week. Office hours are 8 – 12 pm and 3 – 7 pm. Between 12 and 3, we are still available to answer phones and help guests with any issues/early check-ins. Because of the long office schedule, we are paid a daily rate. Dan refers to me as “the bread winner.” Housekeeping generally starts at 9 am, and we can be done between noon and 3 pm, depending on how busy the cabins are. Usually there are 4-5 housekeepers, and we can get through a cabin fairly quickly. Dan does 4 days of housekeeping, and 1 day in laundry, washing all the linens, towels, rugs and rags. He enjoys the variety.

As long as office duties are done (checking in guests, answering the phone, cleaning the lodge, watering plants, cleaning grills and helping the housekeepers on busy days) we can sit and read in the office. I’ve caught up on a lot of magazines that I can get for free through Flipster on my local library’s website. It’s a great app to use to read magazines offline. Here’s a screen shot of my “bookshelf” on the Flipster app.

We took a day trip up to Yellowstone with Karen and Al. The overlook to the upper and lower falls at Canyon Village are now open. It’s always pretty to see, especially with snow. I’d like to visit Yellowstone in the winter someday.

Upper Falls

Lower Falls

We also stopped to watch Old Faithful. I’ve seen it dozens of times, and was a bit amused when this couple in front of me immediately stood up to take selfies! They spent the entire time taking pictures of themselves, and not even bothering watching the eruption! P1060272

Dan and Al have had several successful fishing outings. Soon we will be having an employee fish fry pot luck.

And speaking of pot lucks, we just had an excellent lobster dinner, courtesy of Brad and Joanne. They had lobsters, clams and mussels flown in from Maine. Al did an excellent job cooking everything, and even gave the ‘newbies’ tips on how to crack open and eat lobster. It was an excellent feast!

And speaking of food, my goal for the summer is to clean out our pantry. I look like a food hoarder, and I need to work on that! Since we arrived on May 4, I have not bought anything new for the pantry. This is what our pantry looks like today (and this is after 2 months of eating…still a long way to go!)

Over the winter we accomplished the goal of eating everything in our freezer before buying new food. So nothing in the freezer is older than 3 months. We replenished the freezer again when we arrived in Wyoming, and will work on emptying that out again over the summer. It’s a great way to try out new recipes. But it’s also made me wonder “what was I thinking in the first place when I bought this?”

We are going to Alaska next summer, and have considered getting a truck camper. It would be an exciting challenge to downsize even more. We may even consider selling our beloved 5th wheel. But we are not coming off the road, just changing things up. And downsizing more will give us more flexibility. Variety is the spice of life? We’ll keep you posted on what we decide. Just starting to look at what’s available right now.

We had some visitors already (we like visitors!!). Dean and Jeannie stopped by on their way to Oregon, and we played tour guides for a day. Our door is always open!

Jonell, Jeannie and Dean

And we finally saw our first moose of the season (no porcupine yet!)

Until next time, please stay safe!

Quote for the day: “You never change your life until you step out of your comfort zone; change begins at the end of your comfort zone.” – Roy T Bennett

Winter work camping is done!!

Posted on April 27, 2019 by liv2rv

We have finished up our 6 months of work camping at Westwind RV and Golf Resort in Yuma, Arizona! It was our longest work camping job that we have done since we started our journey in 2013. And we’re going to do it again (for 1 more year) this fall! This season, Dan and I both worked 3 days a week, Thursday – Saturday. Dan worked 24 hours each week, on the golf course. In exchange, we received our full hook-up site, including all utilities, for free. I worked in the office, for minimum wage (currently $11.00/hour in Arizona) averaging about 28 hours/week.

In total, I made approximately $8,000 for the 6 months of work (I haven’t received my last paycheck yet, so I don’t have the exact gross pay figures). Our expenses were minimal, as we did not have to pay anything for 6 months of rent/utilities. Laundry was not included, and we spent $225.00 at the on-site laundry facility in the park. We probably could have found a cheaper laundromat, but the convenience of walking to the facility outweighed the expense. But the real benefits of being in one spot for so long is all the wonderful people that you meet. Dan enjoyed working with the full-time year round staff on the golf course and in the maintenance department. I had great co-workers that made the job fun (shout out to Lori and Roy!!), and a very patient office manager, Kathy. We never seemed to stop learning…

This fall, Dan will only be working 16 hours/week, 3 days a week. In exchange, we will receive our site for free, but will have to pay for electric/utilities. He requested this, because he often finished up his work by lunch, and had to spend the afternoon making “busy work.” Being a former math teacher, he ran the numbers, and it wasn’t worth working 32 extra hours per month to cover electric/utilities. It amounted to getting paid just over $4/hour. I will be back in the office, and the minimum wage in Arizona is set to increase to $12/hour next January. So that’s a nice perk, as most winter jobs do not pay.

In addition to having a positive experience at Westwind, we decided to come back for several other reasons. We are planning on going to Alaska in 2020, but not to work, just to play tourist. Having an income over the winter season will help to offset the loss of income in the summer. Also, we really enjoyed getting together with our friends Dave and Marilyn. It was a pleasant surprise when we found out they had moved to the Yuma area and next season our friends Tom and Ellen will be joining us as well. Tom will work in Guest Services (helping to park RV’s, read electric meters, and whatever else is needed) and Ellen will be in the mail room. In exchange for their hours, they will receive their site for free, including utilities, and a voucher which they can use at the onsite restaurant, golf shop, and concert tickets (only the office is a paid position).

It took 6 months, but I finally saw my first rattlesnake and roadrunner at the end of March, while playing golf with Dan, Roy and Lyle (who is from Canada and rented a park model a few doors from us).

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A zoomed in view, as it was much smaller (thankfully) than I expected!

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Needless to say, you must keep the ball in the fairway!

It was hard to get a photo of the roadrunner, so this is a bit blurry. They move fast, and are not as big as I imagined (must have been all those cartoon road runners I watched growing up….beep beep!) And yes, they can fly, but usually just run around.

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I’m not sure what I prefer, dealing with alligators while golfing in Florida, or rattlesnakes in Arizona. I think I’ll stick with the safest alternative, Max. He doesn’t bite!

What’s next?

We have a month to wander around until we start our summer job, back at Luton’s Teton Cabins. We spent a week near Phoenix at Peublo El Mirage Golf and RV resort (very nice), just relaxing, and are now near Sedona for a few days. We have met up with Tom and Ellen and Steve and Kathy who are all on their way to West Yellowstone for their summer work camping jobs. I will have a new post about the Sedona area in the not too distant future.

I’m not sure what the name of this cactus is, but it was in full bloom at the RV park in El Mirage. We were told it only blooms for one day each year. Since we were leaving the park the next morning, I was not able to go back and verify if the flowers were still in bloom. It was beautiful though!

Quote for the day: “Don’t cry because it’s over, smile because it happened.” – Dr. Seuss

Back to work and Howling at the Moon!

Posted on October 31, 2018 by liv2rv

We are all settled in sunny Yuma, Arizona for the winter, and have two weeks of work under our belt at Westwind RV and Golf Resort. They have about two dozen seasonal work campers here, in addition to a year-round full-time staff of locals. Various jobs are in the mail room (with 1057 sites, there’s a lot of mail), office, bar/restaurant, activities, guest services (escorting guests to their sites and helping back them in), maintenance, and housekeeping.

Dan is one of only two work campers assigned to the golf course, and works Thursday, Friday, Saturday, 6:30 – 3:00pm. The other work camper has Sunday, Tuesday and Wednesday. Dan works with three other guys, who work full-time, year round, on the course. He will be mowing greens, fairways, raking sand traps, and does some trash pick-up on Saturdays, when the regular maintenance workers are off. The golf course is currently closed for the month of October, due to overseeding. So he has been able to work on the course without having to dodge errant golf shots! But that will change November 1, when the par-3 course opens to play. He is curious to see how his duties will change, once the course opens up. He’s also looking forward to cooler temperatures next week. It has been in the 90’s for the last 10 days, but the humidity and dew point have been in the mid 30’s. So it’s been hot, but not oppressive, since there is no humidity.

In exchange for his 24 hours of work, we receive our site for free, along with all utilities. This park charges $650/month October/November/December, and $800/month January – April. In addition, they have metered electric of 14 cents/kilowatt, and a $40/month utility fee for water/sewer/trash/recycling. Our neighbor, who just has one air conditioner on his fifth wheel, had an electric bill of $144 for October, so we know ours would be pretty high as well, given that we have been running both A/C’s non-stop. So it’s a pretty good deal. Dan will not receive a W-2 or 1099 form. His compensation is not taxed. There are some campgrounds that do give you a tax form, and it’s best to ask that so you don’t end up with a surprise during tax season, and have to pay taxes on the site that you received.

I work in the office, also on Thursday, Friday and Saturday, from 8:00 am – 5:00 pm. For my 24 hours, I am paid $10.50/hour, which is the Arizona minimum wage. It was a little perplexed filling out the Arizona wages tax form, as you do not go by the number of deductions, like the Federal form (most states do). They have seven different tax brackets, ranging from 0% to 6%, and you have to pick one. I just picked the middle, at 2.7%. We’ll see how that works out in April! Our summer job was in Wyoming, which has no state income tax, so we’ll still only have Federal and one state to file taxes in this coming tax season (Florida, our domicile state, also has no income tax).

There are seven total office workers, one works on Sunday, three work Monday – Wednesday, and three of us Thursday – Saturday. It has not been too busy, so we are literally tripping over each other. Hopefully things will be picking up after November 1, when most of the seasonals start to arrive.

Campground Manager is the computer software system that they use here (not to be confused with Campground Master, which is another brand). Personally, I find the system to be antiquated, as you have to hit the “tab” key to go through the database, instead of clicking a mouse. It just seems clunky to me. Once it gets busier, I should get more used to it. In addition to checking in guests, we also handle the utility bills, and hand out the packages that people receive that are delivered by the post office. (UPS and FedEx will deliver right to people’s site, so that cuts down on a lot of packages) I was surprised by the large number of QVC packages that are received. Apparently that home shopping channel is still doing well!

Here is our free site for the winter. We are against a wall, so no one behind us, which is nice. The sites here are big.

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HOWLING AT THE MOON!

When I posted this summer that we were coming to Yuma to work, I received an e-mail from Dave and Marilyn, a couple that we met working at Amazon. They had moved from Florida to Yuma, as they were tired of the humidity. Dave said the lack of humidity is much better for his arthritis. Plus, they work summers in Seattle, for the cruise ships, so it was an easier commute for them.

Marilyn mentioned getting together to “howl at the moon,” which is apparently a popular thing to do in Yuma, out in the desert. We met up with them, and their neighbors, Jim and Carol, and had a great time. Howling at the Moon is held every month when there is a full moon. A local band plays on a small stage, there are food trucks available if you want something to eat, or you can just bring your own food/beverages, plus a lawn chair. It starts around 3:30 pm, and ends when the moon has risen above the Fortuna Foothills, about 3 miles East of our campground.

Dan, Marilyn, Dave, Jim and Carol

The sun setting off to the West, at 5:55 pm (mountain standard time, or Arizona time, as most people call it)

The Fortuna Foothills, in the East, at the same time. Jeeps and other off-road vehicles are very, very popular in this area. The off-road vehicles have LED flag poles on them. The moon will rise over the foothills.

At 6:00 pm, the sun has gone down, making it easier to see the crowd and band from our vantage point.

By 6:30, the last light of the sun is fading, and the lights are on the stage. You can start to see the LED lights from the off-road vehicles.

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I started to notice everyone turning their chairs around, towards the East, to get ready for the moon to appear. Around 6:40 pm, a glow began to appear behind the foothills.

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As the moon started to rise, I realized that I have never watched a “moon-rise,” only sunrises and sunsets. It was just as beautiful. (although much harder to get a good picture of). As it started to peak out, people began to howl.

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And when it had fully risen above the foothills (took about 10 minutes), the band did a countdown, and all 500 plus people “howled” at the same time!

And that was the end of a wonderful evening! There is no charge for the event, but they do come around for donations, to help cover the cost of the band and port-a-potties. Any extra money goes to various charities. We had a lot of fun getting caught up with Dave and Marilyn, as well as meeting Jim and Carol. Hopefully we can get together again soon!

Next month when the moon is full, be sure to “howl” (or listen for us howling in Yuma!)

Quote for the Day: “Yeah we all shine on, like the moon, and the stars, and the sun.” – John Lennon

Liv2RV

Living and working around the country in a RV

Category Archives: workamping