50 Shades of Grey

Posted on December 2, 2014 by liv2rv

Week #1 of our new adventure at Amazon in Jeffersonville, Indiana is under our belts (or should I say clear plastic fanny packs, as that is what security will allow you to wear?!). Three more weeks left to get your shopping done, and we will be off to warm (hopefully) and sunny Florida. This first week has flown by, and went relatively well for the 40 of us sent to Picking. The 60 folks sent to the Packing department had a few bumpy days, until the management figured out what to do with all of them. Part of the problem was due to having 1400 people start in 10 days. Just too many bodies for the staff to keep track of.

Picking apparel has been both easy and challenging. The easy part is not having to lift anything heavy, with the exception of some giant Ivanka Trump handbags that must have been a Black Friday special. You could knock a person out with one of those!

The challenging part comes from trying to figure out all the different words the manufacturers use to describe a specific color. Out is blue, red, green, purple. In is viridian, amaranth, harlequin and eminence. So when my scanner is telling me to pick a women’s sweater, medium, in cinereous, I just stare at the different grey sweaters for a while, looking for a medium. Each item has a bar code on it, and if it is the wrong shade of grey, the scanner will beep at you to let you know you are wrong.

When it comes to fashion, I would describe myself as “fashion illiterate”. I am a jeans and t-shirt person, but even t-shirts are not just “t-shirts”. There are ruched long sleeve shirts, princess shirts, popper hem shirts, open shoulder, off shoulder, etc. And then there are the purses! Clutches, shoulder bags, cross body bags, top-handle bags, etc. Fortunately, there are usually only two styles in one bin, so I can figure that one out pretty quickly. One of our fellow Camperforce associates, an older gentleman, stopped me to say he thought he had a missing item in the bin. His scanner told him to pick a “clutch”, and he did not see any automobile parts in the bin. So he started to scan all items, as required if you think the item is missing, and discovered a purse is also a clutch! He said he never heard that term used before.

This year, all Camperforce associates in all four facilities were given a purple t-shirt, which we have all been wearing at SDF-8.

2014 Camperforce shirt

I have been stopped multiple times by the regular full-time employees at SDF-8. They are very thankful we are here to help, and ask if we have any questions. Many are curious about our lifestyle, and think it is great that we are able to do this. One gal said this has been the worst she has ever seen it since the plant opened in 2012. She said it is not normally so chaotic, but they just cannot keep up with the demand, and have to hire anyone that comes through the door.

We have been enjoying picking at this facility. It is very well-organized, but huge. The pick mods start at aisle 100, and go up to 250. The bins (start of the row) begin at 20 and end at 980. Each floor is divided into three sections. To put that into perspective at Campbellsville, the biggest section (Q) would start at row 1 up to row 102. Each row would have bins 1 – 95.

Starting with Black Friday, we are now on 11 hour days. It is not mandatory for the Camperforce to do 11 hours, but we decided to try it, and was pleasantly surprised at how fast the time went by. We are just not as tired at this facility. The floors are not plywood, so the feet do not get as tired. And since the pick areas are so big, we do not have to walk up and down the stairs as often. Most of the people who have pedometers said they are walking about the same or less as they did in Campbellsville. We were laughing on break that if we don’t walk more than 10 miles in a day, it just doesn’t feel like we have been working very hard! Your body really does adapt to the walking after a few weeks.

so true!

Makena has been doing well. Her dog walker likes to jog, so she has been jogging in the park across the street with her. Every day we get a report card on how she is doing, and we really look forward to that. So far, she is “exceeding expectations”!!

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

Day One (Round 2) at Amazon

Posted on November 25, 2014 by liv2rv

Today was our first day at Amazon SDF-8 in Jeffersonville, Indiana. Each fulfillment center is identified by the closest airport, which is SDF in Louisville. There are 8 centers associated with this airport, including the original, SDF-1, in Campbellsville, KY. This facility is so big, I was unable to get it all in the photo.

SDF-8

This center was opened in 2012, and is the first facility dedicated to apparel. According to the General Manager that spoke to our group today, apparel is Amazon’s fastest growing segment in their company. This facility has doubled production every year, which is one reason they are short-staffed. They simply have not been able to keep up with customer demand as they process 4 million items per week. SDF-8 has over 2,000 regular full-time employees, and is expected to have close to 5,000 employees during these next 4 weeks. In just the last 10 days, they have added 1400 new seasonal workers.

When Amazon requested 100 Camperforce associates from Campbellsville, it was expected that 90 would be assigned to Picking, and 10 to Packing. That changed this morning, when they announced only 40 of us would be going to picking, and the rest to packing. That brought a few cheers, and a few ‘other words’ from our group! They only wanted those of us that have been picking, to work in that area. The management at SDF-8 stated, with only four weeks to go, there would not be enough time to properly train anyone in Picking.

After our orientation meeting, we divided into groups of 5 and went out into the two picking areas. They are separated on the east side of the building, and the west side. And the picking mods are very simple, compared to SDF-1. Since this is a brand new building, everything goes in alphabetical and numeric order. The east side has pick mod A, and the west side has pick mod B, C, D. The mods cover four floors, just like we are used to. But, according to our trainer, we won’t be bounced around from pick mod to pick mod, like we did in Campbellsville.

Also, the expectations are lower here. The trainer stated a full-time associate should be picking 50 units per hour. In Campbellsville, they were expected to average at least 120 UPH. In some areas, it was 180 UPH. As Camperforce associates, we are expected to do 85% of what the full-time employees do. At first we were surprised by the low numbers needed, but you do spend a great deal of time digging through cardboard “drawers” to find the right item! They can have a drawer full of black t-shirts, for instance, and you need to pick through all the sizes to get the correct one. And these bins are over stuffed. (just like Campbellsville)!

The warehouse is clean, well light, and has windows. It is also climate controlled, although it did get pretty warm when we were up on the 3rd floor, so we will probably continue wearing shorts at work.

Tomorrow we will have our first 10 hour day, so it will give us a good sense of how the next 4 weeks will pan out. They are hoping to have a Camperforce program at this facility next year, if our ‘trial’ group works out. They are also having a Thanksgiving meal for us as well. We do have to work on Thanksgiving, but only from 7:30am to 3:00pm, and it will be time and a half!! Starting Black Friday, we have the option of working 11 hour days, which we will try.

Last night we had an impromptu ‘meet and greet’ dinner at a nearby hotel, and got to meet many other workcampers that we had never seen before (they were either on nights, or in different departments).

Our campground is small (or shall I say “cozy”), but has free cable television, and decent wi-fi, which is unusual for campgrounds. And we did find a dog sitter for Makena. Today was her first day, and we received a good report card!

Quote for the day: “Your life does not get better by chance, it gets better by change.” – Jim Rohn

Taking the last train to Clarksville…..

Posted on November 19, 2014 by liv2rv

…..Indiana, that is. Yes we are heading north. No, we are not quitting Amazon. I have held off posting a blog for awhile, as Amazon made an unexpected offer to the Camperforce team here in Campbellsville, KY.

Original Offer

About 2 weeks ago, all 400 plus Camperforce associates (what Amazon calls their workcampers, separate from the hundreds of seasonal/temporary employees they hire as well) here received an e-mail with an offer to help out the Amazon facility in Jeffersonville, Indiana. It is located about 90 miles north of Campbellsville right across the bridge from Louisville. The facility opened in 2012 and it is one of only a few centers that specialize in apparel. The facility has been overwhelmed with orders, and needs more people to help out during peak season. They have been transferring a lot of clothing (socks, underwear, shirts, jackets) to our facility to help fulfill orders. We have seen more than our fair share of “ugly sweaters” which are apparently quite popular…not sure why!

They needed 100 campers to join their team during peak, in Picking and Packing only. The offer stated everyone would be on the same shift, with the same benefits we currently receive (full paid campsite and end of season completion bonus). The difference was a higher hourly pay ($10.75 vs. $10.00 per hour) and an additional bonus of $500.00 per person, after taxes.

The “campground” they chose was the Kentucky Expo Center in Louisville, which is basically a parking lot with hook-ups. It is located about 17 miles from the new Amazon facility.

We talked about it, weighed the pros and cons, but decided an additional $1000.00 in our pocket was not enough of an incentive to move for 4 weeks especially with the extra cost in daily gas and a long commute. Because we work the weekend shift, we already receive an additional 60 cents per hour, so we would only be making 15 cents more in Indiana, and we would have to file income taxes in two states. We like it here in Campbellsville, and this year has been going very well for us.

In addition, having to drive through road construction and rush hour every day was a big turn off for us. We have enjoyed walking to work and since we arrived seven weeks ago we have not needed to add any extra diesel fuel.

Revised Offer

About 2 days after the original offer, Amazon amended their offer to include other campgrounds in the area (that were still open, as some had shut their water off for winter). In addition, they would provide a shuttle bus to and from the Expo Center, so people did not have to drive. This new offer was enough incentive for 31 people to sign up. Most of those folks cited wanting to see what it was like at a new facility as their main incentive to go.

The Sparkly Carrot

Since they only had 31 folks signed up, Amazon upped the ante again. This time they increased the bonus to $1,000.00 per person, if nineteen more people would sign up. Now they wanted 50 total (so it was the same original budgeted pool of bonus money). They would gross up the bonus so you would net the $1,000.00, after taxes. Next thing you know, everyone seemed to be jumping on board. Between the addition of campgrounds in Indiana only 5 – 8 miles away (and not having to cross the I-65 bridge every day during rush hour and road construction), and the increased bonus, we decided to put our names on the list as well.

We were also intrigued by working in a new facility, that was specifically designed and built for the Amazon apparel division. And, since we would only be there for 4 weeks, we figured it was time to throw caution to the wind again. After all, that is what this lifestyle is all about. We called one of the campgrounds, and told the owner we signed up, but have not received official word if we were selected. She told us to call back. Later that day we noticed on the Amazon Camperforce Facebook account, that many people were signing up at the various campgrounds. So we called back, only to find all the campgrounds booked already (except the Expo Center). We did not want to stay there, so we figured “oh well, it was not meant to be.”

Several days later, Amazon decided to take 100 Camperforce associates, and keep the increased bonus of $1,000.00 per person. And we were one of those chosen, although we still had no campsite. So we had to wait, and wait, until people who did not make the list, started cancelling their reservations. Then Amazon announced that 90% of the positions would be in Picking, and the remaining in Packing. A lot of people dropped out after that, because they did not want to go into Picking, even though Amazon made it clear this was going to happen. So finally, after a week of trying to get a campsite, we did get a call back that enough people had cancelled their reservations, that they could provide a spot for us at a campground about 8 miles from the facility. The KOA campground we will be staying at is in Clarksville, IN.

What’s Next?

We just finished a 5 day/50 hour week (overtime, yea!) and will spend the next 3 days resting, cleaning and getting our stuff put away. I checked the Walmart, Target and Kroger apps, and we will have all that and more, right near us in Clarksville.

Saturday will be our final day of work here in Campbellsville. Sunday we will hitch up the truck to the 5th wheel, and join the caravan of others heading north. We start work on Tuesday, with a half day of orientation. Then our regular workdays will be Wednesday thru Saturday, with Sunday as our mandatory overtime day. They have been working overtime for over 12 weeks at that facility, so I am sure the workers will be happy to have some more help.

Last night we had a final dinner together with two couples that we met last year. Tom and Ellen, along with Ruth Ann were all working with us in Picking. They took us under their wing and helped us “newbies” learn the ropes. Ruth Ann’s husband Jack was doing his rotation last year in the IT department. This year, Ruth Ann and Jack are on a different shift and a different department, and Tom and Ellen are also on a different shift, so we don’t get to see them as much. Tom and Ellen will also be headed north, so we will be working with them. We had a nice last supper at Brother’s Restaurant in Campbellsville.

Tom, Jack, Ruth Ann, me, Dan and Ellen

Sorry this turned out to be so long! It has been a crazy couple of weeks, but stay tuned for more on our new adventure.

Quote for the day: “Change is not merely necessary to life, it is life.” – Alvin Toffler

Amazon – has it been 4 weeks already??!!

Posted on October 24, 2014 by liv2rv

Wow, we can’t believe we have just finished our fourth week at Amazon. What a difference a year makes!

Last year, our first at Amazon, was so frustrating at the beginning. The physical part of walking all day was not so much a problem. But the confusion of learning where everything was in the building, as well as the mind-numbing tedious nature to our jobs made for a difficult first month. This year was truly a ‘piece of cake’!

The two hardest parts of Picking is learning the buildings, as you will be all over the place, and you must do so in a very timely manner. The second part is just accepting the fact that Picking is a very, very boring job. You will spend most of the day talking to yourself, as that is who you will be working with! Breaks and lunch are the only time you really have to talk with anyone, other than a quick ‘hi’ when you are passing people in the building.

You can prepare for the physical nature of the job, but the mental part was truly an adjustment. This year, knowing full well what we were getting into, made for a much easier transition. You have to give yourself 4 weeks to not only condition your body, but your mind as well. Most of the folks who quit, usually do so before their fourth week. But if you can stick it out, you will meet a lot of nice people, learn about good/bad places to work, and get in shape as well.

Heartland Campground

This year we decided to stay at the campground that is technically across the street from Amazon in Campbellsville, KY, Heartland Campground. Most people here refer to it as the ‘rockpile’, as it is really nothing more than a gravel parking lot, with white paint outlining your site. But it has 50 amp, water and sewer, and Amazon pays 100% of the cost. Although the Green River State Park where we stayed last year is beautiful, we decided to save time and gas money by walking to work. The parking lot at Amazon gets very congested after Thanksgiving, and we spent a lot of time waiting in long lines.

Heartland Campground

If you look closely at the right center of the picture, you can see Amazon. Not exactly ‘across the street’. From our door to Amazon, it takes us 8 minutes to walk (a little quicker on those 45 degree mornings!)

Amazon in the distance

Here is a zoomed in photograph of Amazon from the roof of our fifth wheel.

Amazon

This campground has space for 100 RV’s, of all sizes and shapes. We opted for the farthest row from Amazon, as it overlooks some green space. We chose our spot so Makena would be looking into trees, and not other people. It also is a good area to walk Makena and play some football (it’s always about the pets, you know!)

view out back window

Amazon Updates

This week we attended the ‘all hands on deck’ meeting for the month of October. It is the last all staff meeting for the year. The first thing the general manager emphasized, was that this facility was not going to close. Last month, it was announced the center in Coffeysville, Kansas will be closing in February. (this is one of four sites they hire workcampers at). All the employees at that location can transfer to any facility of their choosing. Apparently since that announcement, the rumors were flying that this location would be next. The GM emphasized they have just signed a new long-term lease here, and they were making many improvements to the facility, including the repaving of the parking lot, which has already begun. That seemed to make a lot of people happy.

They also talked about the projections for peak season, as well as overtime. It looks like we will be able to get the same amount of overtime as last year, for outbound (picking and packing). Inbound (stowing and receiving), will have even more overtime opportunities. They will be hiring another 1500 people for the peak season, so the building will be getting pretty full, as it was last year.

The employees celebrating their 15 years at this location were also announced to the group. The GM said this location has the most employees with the longest tenure at Amazon. In addition to receiving an additional grant of $2000.00 in stock options, they received a $100 Visa gift card, and a nice jacket. One of the gals wore an orange shirt with the words “15 years of hard time” on the back! That got a laugh out of the group. She said in 4 years she will be ‘paroled’!

The GM also talked about the bonus for the regular employees for October. Apparently, every month that you have perfect attendance at Amazon, you get a 4% bonus. During the months of October thru December, it is doubled. And if the facility meets their production goal, there is a 6% bonus for the employees. The GM said they are on track to meeting the production bonus, which means the employees with perfect attendance will receive a bonus of 14% for the month, based on their base pay. That made a lot of people happy.

We haven’t been doing too much on our days off. Just resting and getting caught up on some things we neglected this summer.

Quote for the day: “All things are difficult, before they are easy.” – Thomas Fuller

Amazon, our 12 week fitness program

Posted on October 14, 2014 by liv2rv

We started our fall work camping job, at Amazon, in Campbellsville, KY on September 30. This is our 2nd year at Amazon (you can search through our September – December 2013 blogs if you want to read more on our first year, or on the Kentucky Bourbon Trail). This year they changed the first week format a little, as we started on a Tuesday, with orientation and safety school. We worked 5 hour shifts Wednesday thru Friday, in your assigned department. Saturday was an off day for everyone that started that week. Week two you go to your regular work days, but only 5 hour shifts again, for “work hardening”.

We are group number 6 (they start a new group each week, until November 14th) and had about 35 people in our group, only 3 of us assigned to first shift picking. Here is a photo of our group:

Group #6

We asked for, and received, the same shift/department as last year. “A” shift, which is Saturday, Sunday, Monday and Tuesday, from 6:30am – 5:00pm, with a 30 minute lunch break. We will be Pickers again.

A little history about Amazon and Campbellsville, KY

The warehouse, or Fulfillment Facility as Amazon calls the building, is one of the 5 oldest facilities. It was originally a Fruit of the Loom factory, and when they relocated to another country, it caused massive unemployment in this small community. Amazon bought the facility in 1999, and just celebrated 15 years in this location. Many of the employees that started with them, are still here.

And if you think back to 1999, how many of you were ordering items from Amazon? They were mostly selling books back then, and now they sell just about everything. As Amazon has grown, they have used all the space in this building, which makes for some challenges when picking items. Things do not go in alphabetical or numeric order, like they would in a newer facility. And even this year, they have added even more shelves in some areas.

Work camper positions at Amazon

Amazon divides up their positions into Inbound and Outbound areas. Inbound is Receiving and Stowing, outbound is Picking and Packing. There is also ICQA, which is the quality control department. There are other jobs in these areas that they may transfer you to when needed. Dan and I both did ICQA a few days last year (very hard on the knees), and Dan was in transship in the mornings a few times, which he enjoyed. I was in gift wrap for one afternoon, which was horrible! Amazon has very high standards for how a package should be wrapped, and no matter how hard I tried, my packages looked rumpled. No matter where you are, the jobs are physical. They run two shifts, 10 hours each.

In simple terms, Receiving unloads trucks and puts the merchandise on carts. Stowers take the carts of merchandise and put it on the shelves. There is no pattern to where the items go.

Pickers have a cart and a scanner, and go pick the items off the shelf, put them in a tote, and on to a conveyor belt. The totes go to the various Packing departments, where they are sorted, boxed up, and sent on to be loaded on to the trucks. Everything is bar-coded, and no customer information is ever displayed.

When you interview with Amazon, they make no secret of how strenuous the positions are. Many workcampers have said this is the hardest job they have ever done. We both agree with that, and add that Picking is also the most boring job we have ever had. But here we are for our 2nd year! Why?

As the title of our blog implies, this is our 12 week fitness program. Last year Dan lost 28 pounds and I lost 8 pounds, in 12 weeks, even with greatly increasing the amount of food we consumed. Some people pay to join a gym, we have Amazon pay us to walk, and walk, and walk.

We enjoy Picking because you are left on your own to work. It’s just you and your scanner (which we occasionally yell at!). On average, you can walk about 10 miles plus a day in Picking. There are 4 floors (Pick mods) in three buildings so you will be walking up and down the stairs as well. Items are in bins, and your scanner will tell you where to go, what item is needed, and the quantity. Some days you will spend an hour or two in the same area (pick mod), and other times you will be moving all over between the buildings.

All workcampers have to meet production standards. They expect the workcampers to perform at 85% of what the regular full time employees do. In Picking, this means if an employee should be picking 100 items per hour, we need to be picking 85 items. All workcampers are expected to be at 100% for quality. If a customer orders a red, medium shirt, you need to pick a red, medium shirt. If you don’t, your scanner will beep at you. Quality is very important, as every customer service is very important to Amazon.

Quote of the day: “There’ll always be serendipity involved in discovery.” – Jeff Bezos (founder of Amazon.com)

Having a “blast” and Sturgis too!

Posted on August 8, 2014 by liv2rv

We have spent the past week listening to the roar of motorcycles, all over the Black Hills. The 74th annual Sturgis Motorcycle Rally is in full swing this week, and we have enjoyed meeting riders from around the world who are visiting Crazy Horse during their stay. We also decided to take a few hours on our day off and visit the city of Sturgis. They say attendance is down this year, estimating 200,000 – 450,000 riders are attending this years rally. Since 2015 will be the 75th anniversary of the rally, they believe many riders are waiting until next year to attend. And if you are planning on bringing your family to the Black Hills next summer, you may want to avoid the first two weeks in August, as they are expecting one million riders next year!

During the week of the Sturgis Rally, Crazy Horse had several additional blasts on the mountain for our guests. You can view the blast from Monday, August 4th, by clicking HERE. The video clip will show just how small 750 tons of granite is, compared to the overall size of the mountain. We had thousands of visitors attending the blast on Monday. I work in the Indian Room gift shop, which sells items such as jewelry, pottery, paintings, and craft items hand-made by Native Americans. This week our visitors have been mostly male, and I have really come to appreciate how quick and efficient men are as shoppers!

I had one male guest try on one ring, and he said “I’ll take it”. I was explaining to him that women usually need to look through all the ring trays, then ask their family/friends what they think. It can take 15-30 minutes for women to shop for a ring. He laughed, turned to his friend and asked “Does this ring make me look fat?!!!”

We also had a visit last week from our good friends Mike and Sue, whom we have known since college. Their daughter Jordan had a cheerleading camp on the Eastern side of the state, so they ventured west for a few days. It was a lot of fun catching up with them. Hopefully we can see them more often on our travels! Go Jackrabbits!

Sue, Dan and Mike

I did have another unusual visitor this week. It is not everyday that a couple comes in with their pet parrot, “Miss Bubba”!

Many of the “hard-core” bikers, are busy shopping for gifts for their grandchildren! It has really been a fun week of work. A lot of our visitors have commented that they never heard about our place, and were so thankful they stopped by. They were also thankful that Crazy Horse didn’t raise their prices like many of the other attractions have done during the rally. It is only $5.00 per rider, and many have been so overwhelmed during their visit, that they have made additional donations to the foundation.

I have told many of the riders the best thing they can do is tell others about Crazy Horse Memorial, because about 25-30% of the people who come to the ticket booth, refuse to pay and turn around. They don’t want to pay for something they can see from the road, or something that is “not finished”. They don’t understand all that there is to see and do, and think they are getting ripped off by having to pay. Trust me, you will get your money’s worth. So many people are so thankful for the memorial.

But enough about work, on to the fun and craziness at Sturgis! We drove up scenic Highway 385, which goes into Deadwood, and then on to Sturgis. It is about an hour drive taking this route, and we passed thousands of motorcyclists on the way. It was a blast seeing so many riders on the road.

Hwy 385

on the way to Sturgis

This wayside was a popular stop-off for the riders.

gotta go!

Downtown Sturgis had bikes lined up for blocks and blocks.

downtown Sturgis

blocks full of bikes

These were some of our favorites.

very patriotic

This one can sure hold a lot of stuff!

Motorcycle RV?

Always travel with your pets!

Shilo

There were many food vendors, selling all kinds of food (this is for you Mary Y!!!)

yummy!

We also took some time to visit the Sturgis Motorcycle Museum, but since this blog is already long and full of photos, I will do a separate post on that. Sturgis has a reputation for “anything goes”, and even though we were only there a few hours, during the afternoon, we did manage to see a few “unique” fashion accessories, as well as interesting apparel choices (note: these are a little more “R” rated photos, so proceed at your own risk!)

not the food pasties

supporting Breast Cancer!

Full body tattoos is very popular:

Many bikers wear chaps when they are riding, and there are certainly many looks with the chaps:

We had a great time visiting Sturgis during the rally. We pray that all the riders have safe travels home.

Quote for the day: “You do not need a therapist if you own a motorcycle, any kind of motorcycle!” – Dan Aykryod

A year of reflection

Posted on July 25, 2014 by liv2rv

“To never take that first leap is the biggest failure many of us make”

It was one year ago today that I left my job as a CT Technologist at a Level One Trauma Center. Working at a hospital helps to really put life in perspective. Many people have plans to do things when they retire, but sadly, not everyone lives to see that day. This was one of the reasons we decided to throw caution to the wind, and live our dream now.

I have spent the morning pondering all the changes we have made in the last year, and trying to come up with a list of things we would have done differently.

Instead of getting both cell phones through Verizon, we would have had one from Verizon, and one from AT&T. That way we would have better coverage and internet options. We will probably make that change next year when our contract is up with Verizon.

Other than the cell phone, we would not have done anything else differently. Then I started to come up with a list of things that I don’t like about our new lifestyle.

Going to a new person/place every time I get a haircut is the only thing that I really do not like. As Dan has told me a few times, “Don’t worry, your hair will grow back”!

We have been asked many times over the past year if we had any regrets, and we have none. We have met so many wonderful people in the past year, and have seen and experienced many wonderful things. It is hard to believe that only one year has passed since I stopped working a regular job, and started working seasonal work-camping jobs.

The “perks” of work camping:

Crazy Horse Memorial

Taking time to relax and play is also important:

Learning new skills:

learning pottery

hmm, a potential workamping job?

learning to Poi dance

For several years, I have been following a number of blogs related to the RV lifestyle, and it has been fun getting to meet many of the wonderful folks who have been so helpful in sharing their experiences. Our fellow Crazy Horse co-workers, Phil and Rudee of Workin RVers, and Steve and Joan of FOSJ, fellow Amazon co-workers Karen and Al of Wish Upon an RV Star, Chris and Cherie of Technomadia, whom we met in Cedar Key, Florida. Someday we hope to meet up with Nick and Terry of The Gypsy Journal, as well as Howard and Linda of RV-Dreams. All of these great folks have the same thing in common, they are earning a living on the road, and enjoying their life to the fullest.

We have also learned to take time to watch the sunset..

Cedar Key Sunset

and appreciate it when you are around for the next day’s sunrise…

Quote for the Day: “Don’t live the same year 75 times and call it a life.” – Robin Sharma

A little history of Crazy Horse Memorial

Posted on May 20, 2014 by liv2rv

Kachina

As promised in my last blog, I would provide some history on Crazy Horse Memorial, where we will be working this summer. Korczak Ziolkowski was born in Boston, and resided in Connecticut. In 1939 he came out to the Black Hills to work as an assistant to Gutzon Borglum, who was in charge of carving Mount Rushmore National Memorial. Korczak was fired from the job, and the letter from Borglum is on display at Crazy Horse Memorial.

Korczak went back home and worked on a sculpture, Paderewski: Study of an Immortal, which won first prize for sculpture at the New York World’s Fair in 1939. Lakota Chief Henry Standing Bear invited Korczak to carve Crazy Horse Memorial, and wrote “My fellow chiefs and I would like the white man to know the red man has great heroes, also.” Korczak did meet with the Chiefs in 1940, and began studying Crazy Horse and the Native American culture.

There is a photo of Korczak meeting with Chief Standing Bear in the museum.

Korczak and the Chief

From 1943 – 1945, Korczak volunteered for service in WWII, and accepted the Indians invitation after the war ended. He used his own money to purchase the land in the Black Hills and he starts building a log home on the property in 1947. He had several volunteers helping, among them Ruth Ross, who came from his home state of Connecticut.

June 3, 1948 the first blast occurred on the mountain. Korczak promised the memorial would be a non-profit project, and he would never take a salary or government funding. This is a photograph of what the mountain looked like in 1948.

1948 before 1st blast

And some photos over the years:

By 1982, the tunnel is visible, the top of the mountain was blasted off for the arm, and the right side of the mountain was blasted off, as they are beginning to go down the mountain to block out the head of the horse.

1982

By 1993, work had switched to focus on the head of Crazy Horse, which is partially completed. The tunnel under the arm now goes through to the other side.

1993

By 2005, the face was complete, and a substantial portion of the right side of the mountain has been removed, as they continue going deeper to carve out the head.

2005

This is a photo how it looks today:

May 15, 2014 view

Korczak worked alone on the mountain for several years, and suffered multiple injuries and several heart attacks over the years. He married Ruth in 1950, and they had 10 children. Korczak passed away in 1982 at the age of 74. His wife took charge of all activities at the memorial. In 1987 the focus shifted from carving the horse’s head, to the face of Crazy Horse, at the direction of Ruth.

In 1998, the face was completed, in time for the 50^th anniversary of the first blast on the mountain. Due to some substantial donations in recent years, work has accelerated and continues on the head of the horse and the hand of the outstretched arm. They have been blasting down the mountain, and are around 340 feet down, to block out the head. It may, at times, look like nothing is being done, but there are photos in the visitor’s area that show the progress over the years, and it is quite dramatic. Since the memorial is carved in the round (3-dimensional), some of the work is not visible from the viewing deck, as it is on the back side of the mountain.

There is so much history involved in the memorial, and I simply cannot do justice to the story in this short blog. Both of us have talked to many visitors over the last several days of work that were amazed at the story behind the memorial, how big the place is, and how difficult a task it is to blast and carve out a mountain into Crazy Horse. If you want to learn more, please visit their website at Crazyhorsememorial.org

WHAT ELSE IS THERE TO DO?

When you arrive at the memorial, we recommend you visit the excellent movie playing in the theatres that documents the history of the memorial. Then you can browse through The Indian Museum of North America and look at many Native American exhibits. There are two gift shops, one displaying items all hand crafted by Native American Indians, and the other with your standard souvenirs. The memorial has made a special effort to try to purchase items made in the United States, whenever possible.

museum

Here are two of our co-workers, hard at work in the gift shop!

Ruth and Rudee

lot’s of t-shirts

The original 1:34^th scale model made by Korczak is on display on the large viewing deck, and is a popular spot for photos.

1/34th scale model

There is a covered porch area that has a scale model of what the entire complex will look like in the future, along with a large bin of rocks that have come from the mountain blasting’s. The rocks are free (donations accepted), and reminded me of Lucy’s rock collection in the movie “The Long, Long Trailer.” You can then enter into part of the original log home of the Ziolkowski’s, which has many antique items on display. There is also a two-story Native American Educational and Cultural Center and Korczak’s artist studio.

Mrs. Ziolkowski is a huge sports fan, and has many sports memorabilia on display, including a size 24 shoe from Shaquille O’Neal. They also made a tracing of the shoe on the ground, and I put my foot in the outline for comparison.

There is also the Laughing Waters restaurant and snack bar, which has an extensive menu, including gluten-free and vegetarian selections. In the summer, they have various Native American artists perform concerts and dances on the viewing deck. And thanks to a generous donation from the Ray and Joan Kroc Foundation, (founder of McDonalds), they have a very popular nightly laser light show on the mountain. We are looking forward to seeing that when it starts up at the end of this month.

Quote for the day: “When the legends die, the dreams end. When the dreams end, there is no more greatness.” – Korczak Ziolkowski

Orientation day at Crazy Horse

Posted on May 16, 2014 by liv2rv

Wednesday, May 14 was “back to work” day!! We were both excited to start our new adventure for the summer, and it will be nice to have money coming “in”, instead of always going “out”. The first day is just orientation, filling out tax forms (only Federal since South Dakota has no state income tax), along with going over the basic rules that you have with any job.

Dan’s mom always took a ‘first day of school’ photo, so I thought I should get a ‘first day of work’ photo to continue the tradition!

Back to work!

We watched an excellent film on the history of Crazy Horse in one of the 2 theatre’s in the Visitor’s Center of the Memorial. If you ever come to Crazy Horse, we highly recommend viewing the movie as the first thing to do in the complex. It goes over the history of the Memorial, and has interviews with the sculptor, Korczak Ziolkowski (pronounced ‘jewel-cuf-ski’), who passed away in 1982, as well as his wife Ruth.

Then we took a tour of the many buildings in the complex, and then headed back to our meeting room for more orientation. We had an excellent complimentary lunch in the Laughing Waters Restaurant, followed by the highlight of the day, a van tour to the top of the monument.

I plan on a separate post about the history of Crazy Horse, as well as what is all available to see and do on-site. There simply is too much to cover in one post.

A FEW FACTS ABOUT THE MONUMENT

The first blast on the mountain was June 3, 1948, with 10 tons removed. When completed, the memorial will be 563 feet high, and 641 feet long in the round. The face of Crazy Horse is 87 feet, 6 inches. In perspective, the heads on Mt. Rushmore are 60 feet tall.

Korczak refused to take any money from the state and federal government. This policy remains in effect today, and the family has turned down several grants from the government. He did not want the memorial to remain unfinished, like Mt. Rushmore, after they accepted money from the government. The original plan for Mt. Rushmore were for more complete profiles, at a height of 285 feet. Another difference between the two, is Mt. Rushmore was carved on a mountain and Crazy Horse is blasting a mountain into a monument.

The memorial is supported entirely through admission fees, gift shop sales and private donations.

THE RIDE TO THE TOP

Our orientation group was able to take a van tour to the top of the memorial. For the general public, there are two ways you can get to the top. Twice a year, they have a Volksmarch, where the public is invited to walk to the top for a small donation of $3.00. It is 6.2 miles (10K) round trip. The other way to the top is with a private van tour, which costs $120.00, with $100.00 going as a tax-deductible donation to the non-profit foundation.

The roads are all crushed gravel, made from the rock blasted off the mountain. There is a ‘graveyard’ of old equipment, that they use for parts to repair current machinery.

The graveyard

There are deer and mountain goats that live up in the hills around the memorial. We saw some deer, along with this little critter. It is called a Marmot, which is similar to a woodchuck. The animals don’t seem to be bothered by the regular blasts.

Marmot

They are working on the hand, and the nose of the horse. This view of the outline of the hand is not visible to the general public, as it is on the back side of the monument.

working on the hand

This picture is directly on top of the hand, and shows the red lines where they will be blasting out for the hand.

markings for future blast

The face of Crazy Horse.

standing on arm

We had to wear hard hats, as they were working below.

This is an old shark tank which was donated to the memorial. When they are blasting on top, the workers will stay inside this to avoid getting struck by flying debris.

sharks?!

The view from the top….spectacular!

view from the top

To put the size of the memorial in perspective, this is the view from our campground…

view from our campground

And this is the view of our campground from the top of Crazy Horse.

CG from Crazy Horse

This is the view of the visitors complex.

Visitors Complex

The rock formation below is where Korczak is buried, as well as his daughter Ann, who passed away in 2011.

burial site

We did make time at the end of the day to stop back into the restaurant to sample Kuchen, the state dessert of South Dakota, as well as some Indian Flat Bread. Both were delicious.

SD State Dessert!

Indian Flat Bread

Dan commented that it was the best 1^st day orientation that he has been a part of!

Quote for the Day: “Choose a job you love, and you will never have to work a day in your life.” – Confucius

Initial impressions of the Black Hills

Posted on May 13, 2014 by liv2rv

After 2 long days of driving (to stay ahead of the Winter Storm Watch), we arrived at Heritage Campground in Custer, SD in very heavy fog. Phil came over and welcomed us and we caught up on things since we last saw them at Amazon. Late Wednesday night it began snowing, and we were thankful we did not have to drive in the snow with the fifth wheel.

Heritage Village CG

view from CG

We can see Crazy Horse from the campground, even on a winter morning.

Crazy Horse from CG

view from CG

Makena and I were up early Thursday, taking pictures of the area from our campground, as well as scraping off a few snow-covered vehicles in the campground (I missed doing that all winter!). It was a beautiful and peaceful morning, and we are very happy we decided to come to the Black Hills for the summer. We have made a long ‘to do’ list of the area’s attractions that we plan on accomplishing this summer.

First, a little facts about our new ‘home’ state of South Dakota (remember, one should never stop learning!!). The population of the state is 814,180. Pierre (pronounced “peer”) is the capital, and the nickname is The Mount Rushmore State. The highest point is Harney Peak. At 7,242 feet it is the highest point east of the Rockies. The state dessert is Kuchen, a coffee cake. South Dakota is home to the Dakota, Lakota and Nakota. There are nine tribes from these three dialect, representing about 62,000 Native Americans.

We are in the area referred to as the Black Hills, as it encompasses 1.2 million acres of the Black Hills National Forest. The hills are primarily Ponderosa pines, and the valleys have Black Hills spruce. Many visitors to the area inquire about the orange trees in the forest, and those are the ones killed off by the Mountain Pine Beetle epidemic. The population in the Black Hills area is around 250,000, with Rapid City being the ‘big city’ at 69,200 people.

Custer State Park, at 71,000 acres is also nearby, and is home to over 1300 bison, as well as elk, mountain goats, burros and pronghorn. It has lots of fishing, hiking, biking, canoe/kayaking and horseback riding available.

Thursday night we went out for dinner with Phil and Rudee, at a nice restaurant in Hill City, about 9 miles away. They drove us around the area, past Mt Rushmore (never gets old seeing that), and to check out the rock formations on the back side of the monument (since this is a PG blog, I probably should leave out those photos, but Dan put them on Makena’s Facebook page!!!). We stopped in for a brief tour at Crazy Horse, and met some wonderful co-workers. They really have a large complex with many interesting things to see and do. I will have much more on Crazy Horse after we start our jobs there.

Friday, once the snow started melting, we ventured out into the city of Custer, which is about 4 miles away, and checked out the area and did some grocery shopping at the local market. They will have a farmers market in town on Saturdays, starting in June, so we hope to check that out. Friday night we went out for a fish fry near Hill City, with two other couples that we will be working with, Dick and Cheryl, and Phil and Sandra. Phil and Sandra have been full-timing for 13 years!

Saturday we took a drive on 16A, which goes thru Custer State Park, and up to Iron Mountain Road, which is a very scenic 17 mile road, with 14 switchbacks, 3 tunnels and past the 4 Presidents. We basically had the road to ourselves, which made for a pleasant drive. We were able to stop and take pictures in the tunnels which is something that won’t happen once tourist season is in full bloom.

Custer is famous for their buffalo, but we only saw two on this drive.

There are several lakes in the park.

ready for fishing!

After leaving Custer State Park, you enter right into the National Forest. On 16A, when you see the first park sign, that is when you get your first glimpse at Mt. Rushmore, from a distance.

Custer, SD

Mt Rushmore is just above the hood of the truck.

Mt Rushmore in the distance

Here is a closer view.

1st glimpse of Mt Rushmore

Black Hills

Black Hills & Presidents

scenic views

There are also some fun tunnels to go through, with two of them giving a view of Mount Rushmore.

No problem with this tunnel

tunnel with a view

coming thru with Presidents in view

There is an overview/stop off where you can see Harney Peak in the distance. They have several hiking trails to the top. We are pondering the 6 mile round trip hike. ( I think it would be easy to do if we had a scanner and a cart to push and pretended we were at Amazon!)

Harney Peak

Iron Mountain Road (16A) is a must-do drive, but don’t bring your RV!

Not an RV friendly road!

After 16A, we turned West on Hwy 244, which goes right past Mt. Rushmore, so we took some more “drive-by” photos.

Mt Rushmore from Hwy 244

There is a turn-out down from the monument, where you can get a profile view of George Washington.

profile view

The scenery here is breathtaking and we look forward to exploring many parts of this majestic area. We would like to travel on the Needles Highway (Hwy 87), but there is one tunnel that has a width of 8’4”, and we did a rough measurement of our dually pickup, and we think it is 8’7”. So we will hold off on that drive for now!

Sunday was a cold, blustery day with constant winds around 25mph. So it was a perfect day to do laundry, and go through the many tourist brochures we had picked up. In the afternoon we visited with Steve and Joan and had a wonderful time getting to know them as well.

Monday we checked out the library in Custer, which not only has free wi-fi, but seems to be the social hub of the community, based on how chatty the librarians were with the patrons. It had the ambiance of a coffee shop, but no food or beverages allowed!

We took Makena on a long walk along the George S Mickelson Trail, and picked up annual passes at the visitors center in Custer. All user fees support the trail. The trail follows the old Deadwood to Edgemont Burlington Northern rail line, which was abandoned in 1983. The trail was originally called the Black Hills Burlington Northern Heritage Trail, but was renamed in 1993 after the death of Governor Mickelson, who supported the trail and dedicated the first 6 miles of it in 1991. All 108 miles of the trail were completed by 1998.

Tomorrow (Wednesday May 14) we have our orientation at Crazy Horse, and will find out what our schedule will be for the summer. We look forward to a fun summer getting to know our co-workers more, as well as visiting the many attractions in the area.

Quote for the Day: “Once a year, go someplace you have never been before.” – Dalai Lama

Liv2RV

Living and working around the country in a RV

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