A quick trip to San Diego

Posted on January 15, 2019 by liv2rv

Happy New Year! I made one of my New Year’s Resolutions to blog on a more frequent basis, but I’m not off to a good start! (I have until December, right?!)

Just before the start of the year, we made a quick trip to San Diego, about 180 miles West of Yuma, to visit with Dan’s brother Gary and his family. Julia was turning the big 60, so she booked a dog-friendly house just a block from the beach in San Diego, for her birthday/Christmas/New Year’s celebration. We had a nice time catching up with Gary/Julia and their daughters, Brooke, Jasmine and Carmen (front row, with grandson Simon). Chris, Gary, Luke, me and Dan in the back row.

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We were very close to the famous San Diego Zoo, and spent the day checking out the animals. p1030357 (1)

The Meerkats were a lot of fun to watch.

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A male Nubian Ibex

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For the bird-nerds, a White-fronted Bee-eater…

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…and two female Yellow-crowned Bishop (one hanging upside down!)

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The zoo has dozens of African Penguins, which are fun to watch.

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They have one Andean Bear, which is the only bear that lives in the Southern Hemisphere.

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The Shingleback Skink looks like a two-headed lizard

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This Cuban Iguana was playing ‘hard to get’ when the zoo keeper was trying to get it back into its cage.

The Gharial, a crocodile, with a very narrow snout.

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The zoo has an abundance of flamingos.

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The Schmidt’s Red-tailed Monkey, which is also known as the black-cheeked white-nosed monkey.

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The San Diego Zoo has a Giant Panda Bear exhibit, but the line to see them was over an hour wait. With so much to see, we did not want to spend an hour in line. There is a bridge that crosses over from one side of the zoo to the other, and if you lean over the bridge, you may be able to spot a panda or two. This is the best photo I could get, as it was a long distance down from the bridge.

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If you have been reading the blog for a while, you know I have been in search of a porcupine. There appeared to be two of them sleeping in this cage, but it was hard to see. I’m going to continue my search to see them in the “wild!”

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Simon enjoyed watching the two hippopotamus that were swimming in a giant pool of murky water.

My favorite animal of the day was the Koala. The zoo has several of them, and they are known to spend 20 hours a day sleeping, so it was exciting to see one of them awake.

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We thank Gary and Julia for letting us spend a few days with them. San Diego looks like a fun city to explore, and we plan on going back sometime in the next few years to check out more of the sites.

Quote for the Day: “I hope that in this year to come, you make mistakes. Because if you are making mistakes, then you are making new things, trying new things, learning, living, pushing yourself, changing yourself, changing your world. You’re doing things you’ve never done before, and more importantly, you’re doing something.” – Neil Gaiman

Spending A Sunny December In Yuma

Posted on December 13, 2018 by liv2rv

We’ve been watching the weather around the country, and now we understand why people come to Yuma, Arizona for the winter. While everyone else has had miserable weather, it’s hard to complain when the temperature “only” gets into the 60’s, and there is a cloud or two in the sky, and no humidity. The weather is truly the reason to come to this area!

Work continues, with a few minor changes. One of the gals in the office has left for medical reasons, so now there is just two of us on Thursday – Saturday. Our office manager has come in to help on busy days. My coworker and I have commented that we like it now, because it is busier with just two of us, and the work seems to flow better. We’re not tripping over each other, and the days fly by. And, bonus, the Arizona minimum wage goes up in January, to $11.00/hour, so we will get a 50 cent an hour pay increase! We also received holiday pay for Thanksgiving, even though the office was closed. That was a pleasant surprise!

We are trying to get into the Christmas spirit here, and put up a few decorations in the fifth wheel. Growing up in Wisconsin, I still have a hard time getting into the spirit when there is no snow on the ground. We were briefly watching Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer the other night, and Makena wanted nothing to do with Rudolph and barked at the television for several minutes. I guess she was making fun of Rudolph too?

But all was “calm” once the stockings were hung by the fireplace! It was too warm to have the fireplace on.

Besides work, we have been busy with golfing here at Westwind RV and Golf Resort, and getting together with our friends Dave and Marilyn.

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I’ll have more “fun” things to blog about in future posts, but we did take some time to help them put in a new patio at their house. It’s projects like these that make us happy to not own a house anymore! Fortunately, we did this on one of the “cold” days down here. Work, work, work…

Everything turned out great, and they cooked us a delicious steak dinner (we will work for food!!)

We spent a day in Quartzsite, Arizona, about 70 miles north of Yuma, to visit with friends Terry and Wendy. We worked with them 3 years ago at Luton’s Teton Cabins in Wyoming. They have spent the last two summers working at a campground right near the ocean in California, and will go back for another summer in April. Fortunately, they were not affected by the wildfires this year in California.

It was great catching up with them, and we made plans to get together again in January. They are in Lake Havasu, Arizona for the winter.

We spent a little bit of time looking at some of the “flea markets” at Quartzsite. The big RV show will be in January, and we plan on going back to check that out. At this time of the year, there is not much going on in the town, and the flea markets are mainly rusty junk and rocks. Lots of rocks for sale!

Buckets and buckets of rocks for sale!

We were watching the funeral service for President George H.W. Bush, and they were showing highlights of life, including footage of his parachute jump at age 90. After the jump he was interviewed, and I thought that his advice was perfect…

Quote for the Day: “Get out and do something. Get out and enjoy life.” – President George H.W. Bush

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

Welcome to Yuma!

Posted on October 15, 2018 by liv2rv

We have arrived in Yuma, Arizona for the winter, after an uneventful drive down south from Moran, Wyoming. Uneventful, that is, after we got the brake lights and turn signals working on the 5th wheel trailer. We were all hitched up, ready to leave Luton’s Teton Cabins, our summer job, when I went behind the 5th wheel to check the lights. I waited and waited for Dan to turn on the blinkers and hit the brakes, and he was waiting for me to raise my arms to left him know everything was working. The lights would turn on, and the trailer brakes worked, but that was it. Ugh…..

Al and Karen were hitched up and ready to leave, and came over to help us out, but they had a long drive and we encouraged them to get moving. Brad, our boss came over to help us out. He went home to get his pick-up truck, and came back and we plugged the 5th wheel into hs 7 pin hitch. Everything worked, which made us very happy, because we now knew the issue was with our truck, and not with the 5th wheel. After doing some ‘google’ searches (what did we do before ‘google’?!), we narrowed the problem down to two 25 amp fuses in the engine compartment. It was hard to get at, but we swapped one good fuse with one of the bad ones, and that took care of the brake lights/turn signal issue.

We are not really sure what caused both fuses to blow. Dan did help out another couple working here that was having problems with their travel trailer, and had plugged their trailer into our truck. We think that whatever problems they were having with their wiring, caused the fuses to blow.

So we were happy, and got on the road….and then the ‘check engine’ light came on! The good fuse that we pulled was for the urea heater, which has to do with the DEF fluid. We figured that was why the light came on, so we didn’t worry about it, as we were only planning on driving about 200 miles that day to Fort Hall, Idaho.

We had no additional issues with the truck or trailer on our drive, and opted for the more scenic US Highway 93 down through Nevada, instead of I-15 through Utah. We were surprised by all the snow on top of the mountains in Nevada.

We spent several nights in small little towns in Nevada, and then decided to stop in Needles, California for two nights, as we finally hit some warmer weather and sunshine. Needles contains some of the old Route 66 roads that you can still drive on.

Fortunately, we did not need to stop for gas during our brief stay in California!

Laughlin, Nevada is about 25 miles north of Needles, so we drove up to check out the casinos for a few hours. Many of the casinos will allow you to boondock in their parking lots for several nights. No big wins for us 😦

We continued on to Yuma, and are all set up for the winter at Westwind RV and Golf Resort. We start our jobs this Thursday, and will be working Thursday, Friday and Saturdays. I’ll have more on our jobs after we start, and have more details of what things are like here. So far the weather has been excellent!! Warm, but not humid.

There is a US Marine air base nearby, and we frequently get fly overs by an assortment of planes and helicopters.

The park is a mix of park models and RV spots for rent by the day, week, month or season. Right now, things are quiet, and the park, which has 1057 spaces, is mostly empty. Last year they were at 94% capacity throughout January, February and March. We are looking forward to a very busy season!

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Yuma is known for clear skies, but we have had several cloudy days, which resulted in a spectacular sunset, as seen from our spot.

We have no idea what our time here will bring, but we are really looking forward to our new adventures. Take care!

Quote for the day: “Go for it now. The future is promised to no one.” – Wayne Dyer

Wildlife in the Tetons

Posted on October 8, 2018 by liv2rv

As we continue on our journey to our winter job, I thought I would share some final photos from the Tetons, of our animal sightings this summer.

We have had good success this summer in seeing many birds and animals in Grand Teton National Park. I wasn’t able to get pictures of everything, as I did not always have my camera with me.

Our first trip into the park, May 14, resulted in success when we spotted a black bear, and then saw two very small cubs running several yards behind her. The cubs were hard to see, as they kept darting in and out of the woods. One was brown in color, and one was black in color.

Mama Bear

Wait for me, mama!

Another cub

Brad and Joanne, the owners of Luton’s Teton Cabins, own several horses. One day on my walk around the property, I sensed something behind me, and turned around to see the horses sneaking up behind me. Maybe they thought I had carrots or something in my pocket. Sorry guys, no food!

I’m not a ‘bird nerd’ so I’m not sure what these birds are. I call this one a ‘yellow bird’

And ‘purple/green bird’

I tried all summer to get a picture of the Mountain Bluebird. They are very jittery birds, and this was the best I could get.

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On an outing with Erin, one of our fantastic coworkers, we spotted a grizzly roaming around the side of the highway. I only had my cell phone with me, so it’s not a good picture.

Elk, pronghorn and buffalo roam about five miles down the road from the cabins. Some days there are just one or two, other days, a large herd of them.

Elk in foreground, Buffalo in background

Hello, Mr Buffalo!

In the spring, you will see a lot of “red dogs,” which are the baby buffalo. They like to run around and play.

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Thanks for posing for me in front of the Tetons

We always warn our guests not to stand near the fence to take pictures of the buffalo. People don’t realize that the buffalo can easily jump over fences. They may not look graceful, but stay out of their way!

Our biggest highlight, was “Moose-a-Palooza” when we found 10 moose in the Gros Ventre Campground when our friends Mike and Sue were with us.

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We were surprised to find two bull moose together.

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The one laying down on the left, had a “lady friend” hiding in the tall grass behind him.

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Eventually the one on the right laid down and started “chatting” with us.

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You’ve seen those “share the road with cyclists” signs…in Yellowstone, you have to share the road with buffalo!

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Unfortunately, the one animal that I have been specifically trying to find, continues to elude me….the porcupine! Karen and Al must have felt sorry for me, as they surprised me at our last employee potluck meal with my very own porcupine! I guess this will have to do for now. I wonder if they have them in Arizona?

Thanks Karen and Al!

Quote for the day: “I’ve never met an animal I didn’t like, and I can’t say the same thing about people.” – Doris Day

The ever changing Tetons

Posted on October 4, 2018 by liv2rv

The advantage of spending the summer in one area, is getting to watch the seasons changing. This year, I made a point of taking a picture of Mount Moran from Oxbow Bend, every few weeks while we were here in Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming. It’s interesting to see how the mountain changes. I took these photos with the same camera, and did not edit them. Our first view this year was on May 14, 2018. The mountains are still snow-covered and the Aspen trees are starting to bloom.

May 14, 2018

By June 6, the mountains still have snow, but everything has greened up nicely.

June 6, 2018

By the end of June, the snow has continued to melt, and the wildflowers are starting to bloom. The trees seemed to have turned a darker shade of green.

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By the end of July, a small amount of snow remains on the peaks. The skillet glacier on Mount Moran is more in view. The locals refer to it as the Jimmy Hendrix guitar.

July 25, 2018

The fires from California started to bring a haze over the mountains in August. The view is not as “sharp” as July, as a result of the haze.

August 14, 2018

We had our first winter storm watch of the season on August 28, at altitudes above 9,000 feet. So the next day, we ventured into the park to see the tops of the mountains with a fresh coat of snow! The snow cleared out a lot of the haze, which brought the mountains back into focus.

August 29, 2018 after our first snowfall of the season

On September 8, the leaves were starting to change in the park, but not yet in the Oxbow Bend area. The bushes on the right have started to turn, however. It was a late afternoon photo, with haze over the mountains, from a new fire 60 miles south of the park.

September 8, 2018

By September 19, the leaves on the Aspen trees were turning yellow, and the haze was not too visible.

September 19, 2018

Fall has arrived in the Tetons, and the park is bursting with visitors for the wildlife and colors. On September 25, the color in the bushes on the right has faded, but more trees are showing color, and with the cool nights, the mountains are clear.

September 25, 2018

On our last day of work, October 3, we made one last quick trip through the park. The final “green” trees, have turned yellow and orange. The leaves on the trees to the right, have mostly fallen off. The ducks and geese are migrating through on the way south.

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Good-bye Wyoming! See you next year….

Quote for the Day: “You are not in the mountains. The mountains are in you.” – John Muir

Another week to go in Wyoming

Posted on September 28, 2018 by liv2rv

I would like to say that it’s hard to believe the summer season here at Luton’s Teton Cabins is almost over but when you wake and it is a brisk 17 degrees outside, it just slaps you in the face and reminds you to start packing up the 5th wheel! This has been a very busy month, as the cabins are full of guests, enjoying the active wildlife and fall colors in the park.

We have also had our own visitors as well, which we always enjoy. Mike and Sue, our good friends from college, drove out from Wisconsin for a short visit. Makena enjoyed showing them her favorite off-leash walking trail!

Gary and Julia, Dan’s brother and sister-in-law, also flew in for a few days to visit. It was Gary’s 60th birthday! He informed us that we have to stop referring to this time of the year as the “newlyweds and nearly-deads” and add in the “empty nesters” as well! We scheduled a float trip down the Snake River in Grand Teton National Park, and they both enjoyed the relaxing 8-mile evening float.

60 and still going strong!!

With both Mike and Sue, and Gary and Julia, we did our best to play tour guides of both Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Park. With only limited time to explore, we did hit the high points.

Jenny Lake at GTNP

Grand Prismatic Hot Spring at YNP

Lower Falls and the Grand Canyon at Yellowstone

Old Faithful at YNP

Of course, it is Wyoming, and late September, so it’s not unusual to encounter a quick snow storm at Yellowstone!

Both Mike and Sue, as well as Gary and Julia, took some time to enjoy the beautiful sunsets that we get to watch right here at Luton’s Cabins. With the cooler nights, we have been getting a lot of colorful ones.

We always enjoy having visitors, and are more than happy to show off “our parks” to others. We have already committed to coming back to Luton’s next year, as well as everyone else that works here. Brad and Joanne said this is the first time that all their employees will be returning the following season. They are such wonderful people to work for. So if you will be out in Wyoming next summer, let us know!!

Dan and Al have been busy fishing this summer, and have caught their limit many times. We have had two potluck meals with everyone where they grilled the fish. These are native cutthroat trout – they look like a rainbow trout with the exception of an orange line under their mouth.

I had a bit of an adventure with a wasp nest. Makena was out on her leash and got stuck under one of the jacks on the fifth wheel. When I crawled under to get her unstuck, I came face to face with this bowling ball sized nest!! Dan has had an allergic reaction to bees in the past, so it was my job to get rid of this thing. I waited until the morning when it was in the 30’s, so the wasps were less active, and used an entire can of wasp spray, plus I had a shovel to scoop up the nest and throw it into the creek behind our 5th wheel. Now we look under the slides every week to make sure they don’t rebuild! It’s one of the disadvantages of being in the same place for a long period of time.

We are ready for new adventures, and look forward to hitching up and heading south next week. We will have about 10 days to get to Yuma, Arizona, where we will be working at Westwind RV and Golf Resort. It will be our first time working at a campground. With all new adventures, I will have more to blog about.

The other morning, the moon was setting West behind the Tetons, as the sun was rising in East. It made for a colorful morning photo.

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Quote for the Day: “Perfect happiness is a beautiful sunset, the giggle of a grandchild, the first snowfall. It’s the little things that make happy moments, not the grand events. Joy comes in sips, not gulps.” – Sharon Draper

Exploring the national forests

Posted on August 15, 2018 by liv2rv

While Grand Teton National Park offers many excellent hiking trails for all levels of abilities, we have decided this summer to spend more time away from the crowds on the trails of the US Forest Service. The trails, while still being well-maintained and most have vault toilets near the trail head (something that I prefer), are seldom used by the tourists. If you only have a limited amount of time in the park, most visitors will do the “popular” park trails. But if you have more time in an area, or want a more “serene” experience, then check out the forest service trails.

Our first hike, with our co-workers Shawn and Erin, was a trailhead behind Togwotee Mountain Lodge, at an elevation of 8654 feet. Brad, our boss and life-long resident in this area, recommended this trail to us, and said it’s “about 6 miles,” and “all downhill.” Since this was going to be a one-way, downhill hike, we left one vehicle down near Turpin Meadows, and took the other car up to Togwotee.

The wildflowers were in full bloom, which made the hike extra special. Even the vault toilet at the trailhead was surrounded by flowers.

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The Grand Tetons, about 45 miles away, are peeking out over the forest, with wildflowers covering the hills.

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Erin, Shawn and Dan, on our “downhill” hike…

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We made it down to the river. You can see where we started, by the red X in the photo. Dan checked his elevation app that he has on his phone, and it said we were down to 6800 feet, from the 8600 feet when we started.

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But once we made it down to the river, we realized the trail did not follow along the river, but instead went straight up a hill. Brad and Joanne don’t go hiking, they take their horses and go riding in the forest. That should have been our clue when he said it was all downhill…..!

So off we went up a steep hill, only to realize once we were at the top, there was another one we had to climb as well! It was a bit of a struggle, as I checked my Fitbit, and we had already hiked over 6 miles. Once we made it to the top of the second hill, Dan’s app read 7800 feet. But we could finally see the end in sight. In the photo below, our car is where the red mark is. Only a few more miles…

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All together, the “6 mile, all downhill” hike that Brad recommended, was 8 1/4 miles, with 1800 feet downhill, followed by 1000 feet uphill and another 1000 feet downhill. When we mentioned to Brad about the uphill portion, he said “oh yeah, but it’s only 20 minutes,” to which we replied “if you’re on a horse!” But the spectacular views, and seeing the wildflowers in full bloom, was well worth it. And we were the only ones on this hike. We had the forest to ourselves!

BROOKS LAKE/JADE LAKE HIKE

Dan and I spent another one of our off days taking advantage of another forest service hike, at Brooks Lake, which is part of the Continental Divide Trail.

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The loop trail starts at an elevation of 9100 feet, and is relatively flat for the first 1/2 mile. Then you climb 700 feet in one mile, which may not sound like much, but when you are starting out at such a high elevation to begin with, it really gets your heart rate elevated. We had to go up and over the tree line in the photo below.

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We took it slow, and stopped several times. Dan asked if I wanted to turn around, but this time we knew that once we made it to the top, the remaining five miles would be relatively easy. After 40 minutes, we finally made it to the top. Then it was just a another mile until we got our first view of Upper Jade Lake, which was spectacular.

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The trail gradually descended down to the lake. The wildflowers were just past their peak, but still pretty.

We had to cross over the river between upper and lower Jade Lake, and the trail wound around lower Jade Lake.

The trail crossed over the river two more times, before going out into a meadow for the last mile of the trail. I managed to make three of the four river crossings without a problem. On the last crossing, one of the rocks that I stepped on moved, and down I went into the river! The water was cold, but it was so hot out, it was actually refreshing. And on a positive note, I discovered the hiking “fanny pack” that I use, is waterproof, as everything inside the bag was dry.

Since the last mile was out in the open, I was able to dry out a little on the way back to the truck. We had a nice view of Brooks Lake on the way back. Our truck was parked on the other side of the lake. I usually bring a change of shoes/socks when we hike, but from now on, it will include a complete change of clothes!

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WORK UPDATE

We continue to be busy at Luton’s Teton Cabins, at least for another week. Then we enter the “change-over” of the summer, when kids are back to school, so the family vacations end, and the “newlyweds and nearly deads” begin their vacations. We will have about one week when our occupancy is light. It will be a much appreciated break, as our cabins are full for the month of September. The downtime will give us time to clean and prepare the truck and fifth wheel for our trip to Arizona for the winter.

Quote for the Day: “Of all the paths you take in life, make sure a few of them are dirt.” – John Muir

It’s been 5 years already?!

Posted on July 25, 2018 by liv2rv

Five years ago today, July 25, 2013, I hugged my co-workers in the CT Department at Froedtert Hospital, and swiped my badge on the timeclock for the very last time. It was the last thing on our “to-do” list to prepare for full-time living on the road.

Dan had already finished up in June with his job as a high school math teacher. Our house in Wisconsin had sold in April, along with most of our belongings, and we picked up our fifth wheel at the end of June and parked it at Doug and Linda’s (Dan’s sister) a/k/a “Camp Meyer.”

I remember walking out the doors of the hospital to my car with a lot of mixed emotions. Dan and I had always talked about RV’ing when we “retired,” but with working at a Level One trauma center, you see first hand how quickly life can change. It’s what prompted me to realize we need to do this sooner, rather than later. I had spent so much time researching the RV lifestyle and following blogs that I knew we were ready to try this. And it didn’t take much to convince Dan…he was all-in as well.

Our future was now a blank piece of paper and we could fill in the details as we went along. We have never looked back and not once have we regretted our decision about living a nomadic lifestyle. Yes, we have missed weddings, graduations, and other special events, but we just can’t imagine coming off the road any time soon. I feel like we haven’t even scratched the surface with the places we want to see and the experiences we want to share.

We have relied solely on work camping jobs for our income these past five years, and have not had to touch our savings at all. Our very first job after we quit our careers, was with Amazon, in Campbellsville, Kentucky. I remember thinking after two weeks of working as a Picker, what have we done? It’s a hard, and mind-numbingly boring job. However, the people we met and the places we were able to explore more than made up for the mundane job. If you want to read more about our Amazon experience, you can search our past blogs.

We spent our first full summer in the beautiful Black Hills of South Dakota working at Crazy Horse Memorial, and our second summer at Madison Crossings store in West Yellowstone, Montana. The past three summers we have worked here at Luton’s Teton Cabins in Moran, Wyoming. We have worked with great people and it is nice when we are able to meet up with them on the road and catch up on all of our latest travels. We also enjoy catching up with friends and relatives when we return to Wisconsin and when some of them are able to visit us somewhere along our path.

The social aspect of the RV lifestyle has been the biggest surprise for me. People become like family in RV parks. Everyone really looks out for each other. And if you don’t like your “neighbor” it’s easy to move to another spot! We have lived in neighborhoods for several years, and never really knew all all of our neighbors. Yet in an RV park, you can know most of the people in just a few days.

WHAT THE FUTURE HOLDS

Any time you have an anniversary, it gives you time to pause and reflect on the past, and think about future plans. We have decided to make some changes going forward. The past four winters, have been spent in Florida. We have accepted a position to work at Westwind Golf and RV Resort in Yuma, Arizona from mid-October to mid-April. Although it’s a six month commitment, (our longest work camping position so far), we are looking forward to exploring a new area for the fall/winter season. A couple that we worked with at Crazy Horse Memorial, Henry and Terry, contacted us about the job openings. Dan will be working three days a week doing golf course maintenance, and I will be in the office the same three days. My position will be paid, and Dan’s position will cover the site rental. In addition, we will have a $50/month credit towards electricity, and a $100/month credit to use at the RV park’s golf course, restaurant and concert tickets.

After we finish our jobs here around October 1, we will slowly make our way south to Yuma. We are leaning towards coming back here for one more summer in 2019, and are just beginning plans to go to Alaska in 2020. Our friends Karen and Al also want to go, and we hope to have a few other couples join us as well. We don’t plan on working that summer, just exploring, so we have already begun saving for that trip.

After that, we would like to start exploring the eastern part of the United States. That’s our plan for now, but we know things can always change.

Another change we are considering is down-sizing to a smaller RV, either a small class A (but still diesel), or a class C. We’ve been looking, but not very serious yet.

And so the journey continues…..stay tuned!

Quote for the Day: “Go for it now. The future is promised to no one.” – Wayne Dyer

Back to work and a little fun in the Tetons

Posted on July 6, 2018 by liv2rv

First off, I just want everyone to know that Makena did gain some “freedom” on the Fourth of July! We took her out, off leash, for a walk on the 100 acre ranch where we are working for the summer, Luton’s Teton Cabins. She was ecstatic, and did very well running around. Then she spent the rest of the day napping! The next day she was walking just fine, no pain from her running around. So that is a good sign, although we do keep her in the kennel a/k/a “jail” when we go to work. Hopefully the vertebrate in her back are fusing together and she will continue to improve!!

Woo-Hoo!!!

We have been working at Luton’s Teton Cabins since mid-May. This is our third summer at the cabins. As we watch the rest of the country suffer with the high heat and humidity, we are happy to be running a space heater at night, when it dips into the upper 30’s, only to warm up into the 70’s during the day. Although this week it has been in the 80’s for three days now. We had to turn the air conditioner on for the first time yesterday!

I continue to split my time between the office and cleaning the cabins. Dan has added the job as “laundry guy” on to his cleaning duties. One day a week he is in charge of doing all the cabin laundry. He enjoys the variety, and has mastered the art of folding fitted sheets – Grandma Joan will be proud!

Our friends Karen and Al are back for their fifth season, and Shawn and Erin returned for their second season. We have two new couples this year and all together, we have a great, hard-working, drama-free crew. It makes for a pleasant working environment!

Since this is our third summer, I don’t plan on spending much time talking about our jobs. You can do a search on our blog, under Luton’s Teton Cabins if you want to learn more about what we do. Or you can always write a comment or send an e-mail. The owners, Brad and Joanne, are wonderful people who reward their employees for doing a good job. It makes it easy to keep coming back. (and the weather and view is nice too!)

View from the cabins

We have been trying to get out on our off days to do a little bit of hiking and sightseeing. Last fall, the park service in Yellowstone added a new overlook to the Grand Prismatic Spring, one of the prettiest and largest hot springs in the United States. We made an early trip up to Yellowstone to check it out, before the park became overrun with tourists for the summer. It was spectacular.

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We also hiked over to nearby Fairy Falls, about a four mile round trip hike from the Grand Prismatic. When we arrived, there were eight people already at the Falls. When we left, there were over three dozen people arriving, so we time it perfectly!

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We did some hiking with Karen and Al on another one of our off days. It’s hard to take “bad photos” when you are in the Tetons. Al was quite jealous of the people on the boat! The rivers are a little murky and very fast right now, so Dan and Al have only tried fishing once and they had no luck – although they say the conditions should be improving very soon.

It’s hard to believe it’s July already. This summer is going by fast.

ONE PIECE OF ADVICE

I do have a very simple piece of advice for anyone staying at a hotel/cabin/B & B, or any place where there will be housekeeping done. Do not leave your toothbrush right next to the sink! No matter how careful we are, the odds are pretty good that your toothbrush could end up with a small amount of overspray from a cleaning chemical, if you leave it uncovered near the vanity/bathroom sink. Just something to think about next time you are traveling…..!

Quote for the day: “Summer is the annual permission slip to be lazy. To do nothing and have it count for something. To lie in the grass and count the stars. To sit on a branch and study the clouds.” – Regina Brett

Liv2RV

Living and working around the country in a RV