Tuesday, December 29, 2009
Kansas to Texas
We started out Saturday in search of our next adventure. We decided to stop at the Downstream Casino Resort in Quapaw OK. The casino is actually in three states. The parking lot is in Missouri, hotel is in Kansas, and the casino floor is in Oklahoma. Darla won $56.30. Airaday donated money. They have an awesome buffet for $18.95. We would recommend it to anyone who comes through the area. They have RV electric and water hook ups in the truck/RV parking lot. Well, with the weather as cold as it is, it was really only electric hook up.
We decided to spend the night and get an early start on Sunday. We then headed to Texas to visit Airaday’s cousin, to spend New Years with them and go to Six Flags.
As we traveled through Oklahoma City area we saw much less snow. Things were looking better and warmer the further we went. Along the way we ran into a little electrical problem, the chaise battery was not starting the camper. We had to use the coach batteries to start the vehicle; it appears to be a loose wire. We looked, but found no loose wires. We found a nice gentleman, who is going to come to our camp site in Texas to look at the problem for us.
In Davis Oklahoma (exit 51 on I-35) we found the home of the Original Fried Pies. The have 30 flavors, all the fillings are fresh and folded into Nancy’s famous fried pie crust. They have 10 other locations, but we were at the original location. The family tradition of fried pies started in 1893 when grandma made them for ranch hands. They are delicious and a definite must have if in the area. They have fruit filled and ones that are more like a meal. We got a dozen since they have a deal of buy a dozen and get 40 cents of each one. We got chicken and beef that were like fried pot pies, spinach and mushroom, comfort (polish sausage, potatoes, and cheese), pizza, bacon-egg and cheese, apricot, pecan, coconut, blackberry, pineapple, and peach.
When we stopped at a gas station along the way, we found a local candy peanut patty. It looked like peanuts in a red colored candy made by Dickies. We gave it a try, it was a little sweeter then we would have liked, but still tasty.
We are staying at Texan RV Ranch; it is a very nice place. They have a laundry facility, showers, pool (open all year..brrrr), dog run area (which the dogs really enjoy), little store, and full hook ups. The best thing about the park is….It is in Mansfield TX, Airaday is from Mansfield OH. We found that to be very funny. There is no snow here and the temps run around 50 during the day and 30 at night. They are predicting snow for today (about an inch) but also temp of 40, not sure how it can snow with temps that high, so we will see what we get.
We are about 18 miles from the cousins, and 15 miles from Six Flags. We are going today to get season passes and plan on going 3 times while here. They are running a Holiday in the Park event. There will be fireworks on New Years Eve, so we plan on going then for sure. Roller Coasters here we come!!!!
We decided to spend the night and get an early start on Sunday. We then headed to Texas to visit Airaday’s cousin, to spend New Years with them and go to Six Flags.
As we traveled through Oklahoma City area we saw much less snow. Things were looking better and warmer the further we went. Along the way we ran into a little electrical problem, the chaise battery was not starting the camper. We had to use the coach batteries to start the vehicle; it appears to be a loose wire. We looked, but found no loose wires. We found a nice gentleman, who is going to come to our camp site in Texas to look at the problem for us.
In Davis Oklahoma (exit 51 on I-35) we found the home of the Original Fried Pies. The have 30 flavors, all the fillings are fresh and folded into Nancy’s famous fried pie crust. They have 10 other locations, but we were at the original location. The family tradition of fried pies started in 1893 when grandma made them for ranch hands. They are delicious and a definite must have if in the area. They have fruit filled and ones that are more like a meal. We got a dozen since they have a deal of buy a dozen and get 40 cents of each one. We got chicken and beef that were like fried pot pies, spinach and mushroom, comfort (polish sausage, potatoes, and cheese), pizza, bacon-egg and cheese, apricot, pecan, coconut, blackberry, pineapple, and peach.
When we stopped at a gas station along the way, we found a local candy peanut patty. It looked like peanuts in a red colored candy made by Dickies. We gave it a try, it was a little sweeter then we would have liked, but still tasty.
We are staying at Texan RV Ranch; it is a very nice place. They have a laundry facility, showers, pool (open all year..brrrr), dog run area (which the dogs really enjoy), little store, and full hook ups. The best thing about the park is….It is in Mansfield TX, Airaday is from Mansfield OH. We found that to be very funny. There is no snow here and the temps run around 50 during the day and 30 at night. They are predicting snow for today (about an inch) but also temp of 40, not sure how it can snow with temps that high, so we will see what we get.
We are about 18 miles from the cousins, and 15 miles from Six Flags. We are going today to get season passes and plan on going 3 times while here. They are running a Holiday in the Park event. There will be fireworks on New Years Eve, so we plan on going then for sure. Roller Coasters here we come!!!!
Friday, December 25, 2009
Merry Christmas and Happy HO HO HO to All
Joker and Lefty enjoyed the Christmas, Kansas snow. Since the storm is over we are enjoying the snow (from inside). It looks like we will be heading out for our next adventure tomorow. The roads are looking clear, but there is no sense in taking chances by leaving today. The forecast for the next few days is looking good.
Thursday, December 24, 2009
I see white stuff
We have been here for a little over a month now and our time is over. Our last day was on Wednesday the 23rd. It is good to be done because the hours were long, yet sad at the same time, we made some friends that we will only get to see if we come back next year and some we may see down the road at another time. Amazon and Express had a little Thank You party for us and wished us safe journeys and a speedy return to help next year if we wished.
We had planned to take Thursday to get last minute things done then take off for Texas to see family and go to Six Flags Over Texas, before heading to Quartzsite, AZ. Mother Nature has decided we should spend a few more days here. We are in the middle of a snow and ice storm, plus it rained all day yesterday. We are going to hunker down, relax and wait for nicer weather before we leave. We are still at Walter Johnson RV Park and are staying warm and toasty. It is looking somewhat deserted because there is only six or seven of us left. Some are staying until mid January, others are hunkered down with us waiting for the weather to break, but most people left last week or earlier this week to avoid the bad weather. They tell us here that the snow usually does not appear until January, so I guess this is an early Christmas present. Not sure why Mother Nature thinks we wanted snow for Christmas. We went on the road and west to avoid snow and the colder weather. It is 19 degrees out and we probably have 3 inches of snow and blowing like mad. We hope everyone we left behind are staying warm and having a wonderful holiday season. We miss you all. HUGS XOXO
We had planned to take Thursday to get last minute things done then take off for Texas to see family and go to Six Flags Over Texas, before heading to Quartzsite, AZ. Mother Nature has decided we should spend a few more days here. We are in the middle of a snow and ice storm, plus it rained all day yesterday. We are going to hunker down, relax and wait for nicer weather before we leave. We are still at Walter Johnson RV Park and are staying warm and toasty. It is looking somewhat deserted because there is only six or seven of us left. Some are staying until mid January, others are hunkered down with us waiting for the weather to break, but most people left last week or earlier this week to avoid the bad weather. They tell us here that the snow usually does not appear until January, so I guess this is an early Christmas present. Not sure why Mother Nature thinks we wanted snow for Christmas. We went on the road and west to avoid snow and the colder weather. It is 19 degrees out and we probably have 3 inches of snow and blowing like mad. We hope everyone we left behind are staying warm and having a wonderful holiday season. We miss you all. HUGS XOXO
Monday, December 7, 2009
Working long hours
We have been working 11 hour days 5 days a week. It has kept us very busy, and very tired. We have met all kinds of interesting people, including fellow workampers. We have been packing single orders and also getting to help out in several other areas. Amazon hosts free meals ocassionally to thank the hard working employees. The food was been wonderful. We get Wed and Sat off, so we try to get some sight seeing and chores done then. We went to the Christmas parade in Coffeyville on Friday then went to Osage Million Dollar Casino in Bartlesville Oklahoma on Saturday. The time seems to be flying by, on Wednesday we need to work on confirming our next destination. We are thinking about heading to Quartzsite Arizona mid January. There is a huge rv show and we heard that there is interesting work there, and it is a good place to meet people looking for workampers to fill jobs at their facilities. Disney will be there so maybe we can start work at Disney in Feb so we can enjoy ourselves at the rv show first.
We love you all and thank you for following us on our journey
We love you all and thank you for following us on our journey
Thursday, November 26, 2009
Happy Thanksgive from the Dogs
The dogs wanted to dress up and send out a Happy Thanksgiving to all, so we let them....lol
Monday, November 23, 2009
First day at Amazon.com
Today was our first day working for Amazon.com. We had orientation the first half the day, then worked our assigned jobs the second half the day. Both of us work in single shipping, which means we pack single orders. So we only have to worry about packing one item at a time. Bins come down the line and we take the things out one at a time, scan them, pack them in the size box that the scanner tells us it needs, then scan the package, and send them on their way down the line to get their shipping labels. It was fun seeing all the different items that come down in bins. It is alot of standing, but we do get to move around while picking up the boxes to pack items in. At the beginning of the day, and again after lunch, we have department meetings and do stretching exercises. We might be working on Thanksgiving, we will find out tomorrow. We both hope we can work Thanksgiving. We will be working four 11 hour days a week starting on Friday. Not as much overtime, but any overtime is very welcome.
Sunday, November 22, 2009
End of our first leg of our jouney pictures
The blown tire on the camper, that was a chore to change, and pecans from the trees at our campsite.
pictures from our journey
Meramec Caverns, Turtles at Bass Pro Store and the waterfall at Bass Pro Store
First leg of our journey is complete
We went to St. Louis on Thursday. We visited the Budweiser plant. After that we stopped on our way to Springfield at Meramec Caverns. And at Springfield we visited the Bass Pro Store.
Budweiser plant tour was informative, and we got to see some of the Clydesdale horses they use in parades. We were given the chance to get two free drinks at the end of the tour. I had one of my own and then drank the last fourth of Airaday’s. What drinkers we were..lol.
At the caverns we checked out the gift shop and a few of the displays on the history of the caverns. They had a tour of the caverns, but we thought the price of $18 per person was a little steep. Most of the attractions at the caverns were closed due to the end of the season, and we could see why, almost the entire camping area was flooded. It was funny seeing camping site signs and charcoal grills in the middle of what appeared to be the river.
The Bass Pro Store was very vast, with indoor waterfall, numerous large aquariums, and ponds with turtles and an alligator. There were stuffed and mounted animals everywhere and the decorations gave you the illusion that you were outdoors. It is a must see to really appreciate the grandeur.
On Friday we blew a tire in the morning, so we stopped at a Flying J and changed the tire. Thank you to the gentleman named Uwe an employee there for his insight and help, also a big thank you to the two gentlemen who loosened our lug bolts and helped jack up the camper.
We entered Kansas at about 1 pm, we went to Independence Kansas to do our pre employment tests and paperwork. We then drove to Coffeyville to find a camping spot. We are located at Walter Johnson Park. It is a city owned park and fairgrounds. The spots are very close together, but everyone seems friendly enough, and we have hot showers. There are also pecan trees around the sites and we have seen people picking them up, we found a few, but they seamed to be old and not the best. On Monday we start work, we are in shipping shift 4 and are scheduled to work Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday 6:30am-5pm. We heard a rumor from another camper that Amazon.com is working five days and 11 hour shifts, so it looks like we will possibly be working 55 hour weeks. Yeah for overtime.
Look for more posts once we start work, to see how well we like the work.
Budweiser plant tour was informative, and we got to see some of the Clydesdale horses they use in parades. We were given the chance to get two free drinks at the end of the tour. I had one of my own and then drank the last fourth of Airaday’s. What drinkers we were..lol.
At the caverns we checked out the gift shop and a few of the displays on the history of the caverns. They had a tour of the caverns, but we thought the price of $18 per person was a little steep. Most of the attractions at the caverns were closed due to the end of the season, and we could see why, almost the entire camping area was flooded. It was funny seeing camping site signs and charcoal grills in the middle of what appeared to be the river.
The Bass Pro Store was very vast, with indoor waterfall, numerous large aquariums, and ponds with turtles and an alligator. There were stuffed and mounted animals everywhere and the decorations gave you the illusion that you were outdoors. It is a must see to really appreciate the grandeur.
On Friday we blew a tire in the morning, so we stopped at a Flying J and changed the tire. Thank you to the gentleman named Uwe an employee there for his insight and help, also a big thank you to the two gentlemen who loosened our lug bolts and helped jack up the camper.
We entered Kansas at about 1 pm, we went to Independence Kansas to do our pre employment tests and paperwork. We then drove to Coffeyville to find a camping spot. We are located at Walter Johnson Park. It is a city owned park and fairgrounds. The spots are very close together, but everyone seems friendly enough, and we have hot showers. There are also pecan trees around the sites and we have seen people picking them up, we found a few, but they seamed to be old and not the best. On Monday we start work, we are in shipping shift 4 and are scheduled to work Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday 6:30am-5pm. We heard a rumor from another camper that Amazon.com is working five days and 11 hour shifts, so it looks like we will possibly be working 55 hour weeks. Yeah for overtime.
Look for more posts once we start work, to see how well we like the work.
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
Ready for another good night's sleep
Went to Tom Raper RV today. Found a class A to dream about. Will have to wait a few more years til it is no longer new...lol It is a 2010 Allegro Bus by Tiffin.
We are enjoying our travels so far. Tried to stop at Blue Springs resaurant for a mile high pie, but they closed 10 minutes before we got there. Maybe we will be there on time on our way back through in the spring.
We are in Troy Illinois at a truck stop for the night. We have 373 miles, and 6 hours 5 minutes to go til Coffeyville Kansas and our first destination. We have traveled 726.1 miles, so we are more then half way there. We are going to do a little site seeing in St. Lois tomorrow, so it will take us more then the 6 hours Lippy, ( the name we gave our gps) say it will take to reach Coffeyville.
Airaday is cooking up some steaks for dinner, then we can get settled in for the night.
We are enjoying our travels so far. Tried to stop at Blue Springs resaurant for a mile high pie, but they closed 10 minutes before we got there. Maybe we will be there on time on our way back through in the spring.
We are in Troy Illinois at a truck stop for the night. We have 373 miles, and 6 hours 5 minutes to go til Coffeyville Kansas and our first destination. We have traveled 726.1 miles, so we are more then half way there. We are going to do a little site seeing in St. Lois tomorrow, so it will take us more then the 6 hours Lippy, ( the name we gave our gps) say it will take to reach Coffeyville.
Airaday is cooking up some steaks for dinner, then we can get settled in for the night.
Finally on our journey
We finally got everything packed and stored on Monday evening. We drove all night and stopped to see family (and take a short nap) in Mansfield Ohio Tuesday afternoon. We then stopped in Columbus Ohio to see Darla's daughter Tuesday evening. We stopped for the night, and a much needed sleep at a truck stop in London Ohio. Now we are heading back on the road to cotinue our journey west. We have traveled 346.6 miles so far and have 749.07miles to go til reaching Coffeyville Kansas, our first destination. The dogs are handling the trip well. I think they are loving seeing all the new people and soaking up all the new attention.
Saturday, November 14, 2009
Getting closer to leaving on our journey
We moved most of our stuff into storage today. Took alot of things to Salvation Army, who would think two people could collect so much. Darla is doing very good at letting go and donating things, Airaday is still practicing. Yet she is getting better, with gentle nudging from Darla. We will be storing our vechicles at camp tomorrow.
We are starting our journey toadless, ( no tow behind). Our new home on the road is a 28ft. class C Fleetwood Tioga motorhome. Took the dogs out yesterday to practice camping, they did very well. The dogs are a 2 year old Pug/Boston mix, named Lefty, and a 4 year old smooth coated Fox Terrier, named Joker. As it looks now we will be heading out on Monday to begin our journey. First stop will be Ohio to say goodbye to both our families. Then head to Kansas to do our pre-employment test on the 20th. We will start working at Amazon.com on November 22nd. We will keep everyone updated as our journey progresses.
We are starting our journey toadless, ( no tow behind). Our new home on the road is a 28ft. class C Fleetwood Tioga motorhome. Took the dogs out yesterday to practice camping, they did very well. The dogs are a 2 year old Pug/Boston mix, named Lefty, and a 4 year old smooth coated Fox Terrier, named Joker. As it looks now we will be heading out on Monday to begin our journey. First stop will be Ohio to say goodbye to both our families. Then head to Kansas to do our pre-employment test on the 20th. We will start working at Amazon.com on November 22nd. We will keep everyone updated as our journey progresses.
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
Getting ready to begin our Soaring Journey
Sorting through things in the house. Finding what things need stored, and what things can be taken with us on our journey. Going out tonight with friends to celebrate this new phase in our lives. Darla is through with her work and Airaday's last day is on Friday. Looking forward to becoming full time RVers, as well as full time seasonals at camp next year.
To all those left behind we love you and thank you for your support. To all those we have yet to meet, we look forward to making friends along the way. Hope this will keep you all updated on what we are up to.
To all those left behind we love you and thank you for your support. To all those we have yet to meet, we look forward to making friends along the way. Hope this will keep you all updated on what we are up to.
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