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



St. Louis and Budweiser







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.

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.

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.

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.