Finally!!!

Well, it finally happened. Yep, I'm talking about this job being over! Today was my last day of work here. I did walk to work every day-I did get a ride part way to work one day and another day, a ride home. Even in the rain, snow, ice, wind, cold and darkness (4am) I would make the 15 minute trek, not missing a scheduled work day. And, yes, we did have some hot days, but with it so cold now, it is hard to remember wearing shorts. Now we will prepare for some travels and holidays. And in late January we will be off to our next adventure in a warmer area-I hope. We will prep for our holiday travels over the next couple of days, then head north for a few weeks, then south for a few months. I am tired today so will start packing and organizing and preparing for our departure tomorrow sometime-no hurry, no alarm-except Brandy if she needs to go out. We know that will take a couple of days in good weather, so it will be at least 2 days in the cold. We are now up to around half of the campers here that have had at least some frozen troubles of some sort, including us now too. Our sewer drain hose became brittle and broke. I will blow out the water lines tomorrow to eliminate any chance of more troubles freezing up. Need to catch up on some sleep too. That may have to wait for now, but soon. Well, the pillow is calling my name, so take care and Merry Christmas and Happy New Year and safe travels.

Brrrr

Well it is not hot here anymore. In the teens at night and wind chills near zero. Probably about 1/4 of the units here have had some water freezing troubles. So far we are lucky in that area. Hopefully they will release us early, like the 17th so we can get out of here. We had an enjoyable weekend and now we have to ride the time out until the 23rd or sooner. We will start rearranging and repacking this weekend in hopes of leaving the next weekend. At this time our plans are to head to Michigan for the holidays. Getting up at 3:30am to struggle working 11 hour days and coming home just before sunset in the cold is getting old. Need to get some exercise too. No energy left at the end of the day. Barely enough to walk Brandy a couple of times. Well, it is just about bedtime-morning comes in the middle of the night, so take care and happy holidays to all.

The Countdown Is On

With the leaves down for the most part, it sure looks different than a couple of weeks ago. We now have a newspaper stand at the campground office. I will try to get a paper next Thursday. Why Thursday you may ask? Well, around here not much happens, so one of the neighboring county's paper comes out on Mondays and this county's comes out on Thursdays. There is a paper still in the box if I want one, but it is old news now. Or is it, since the next one is still 4 days away before the next one comes out? Oh, and there is the Louisville paper everyday of course, but we don't have a box here, at least not yet.
Went to Elizabethtown yesterday after the flea market. Went to Barnes and Nobel and a couple of other stores for something to do.
Had a couple of bummer days at work this week, but it is over now. My knee is bothering me some more now and I got some stuff from work to put on it. Only 41 more days (23 work days-or less) until Christmas! Looking for a warm spot to stay until spring, the sooner, the better.
April and Brandy are doing ok, but are ready to move on. April has been helping out at the campground office some and working with kids too-she likes that stuff. We have a couple of "distractions" planned for the next couple of weeks on our days off, so that will give us a break.

Still Here

Well, we are still here, although we may not make it until Christmas and that would not be a bad thing. Anyway, we can say "been there, done that" and move on. Looking forward to the next adventure. We have done some backroad traveling and that's about all I will say about that. Remember that most of the big citys are about 85 miles away--that's because there is nothing out here between them. I did find out that ALL roads go East and West. I want to go watch the Breeders Cup-but not at Churchill Downs, at Keeneland Race Course in Lexington. It is only $5 $80++ for the live Breeders Cup seats. Just something to do away from here. I'd tell you about all the things going on around here, but that's about all I can say about that. Well, now you are up to date with all the happenings around here. I will post events if it happens-it might be awhile. Take Care and wish us luck.

First Full Week Down

Well, I made it through the first full work week. Not that it was a big deal, but the job is a bit of a struggle. Not sure if I made the goal of 65% of full rate, but don't really care. Next week, I need to be at 85%--or not.
We went to a flea market up near Louisville on Saturday. Later we went to the park's pot luck get-together for a little bit. On Sunday we fired up the grill and had burgers and brats. And even enjoyed them outside. Next weekend we may go to visit a cave. Not sure yet. Take Care.

Green River State Park

Well, since the state park is only a mile from the marina, we stopped here too. Brandy was so happy-until we told her she couldn't chase the boats! We saw one of the big house boats on the river too.

Green River Marina

We went to the Green River Marina today to get some pictures. Note that the house boats all have slides on the backs from the second level. Looks like fun. Most are three levels, but there are a few bigger ones here. Fall colors are looking good too.

Churchill Downs!

Yesterday, we went to Louisville and visited the Churchill Downs Kentucky Derby Museum and got a tour of Chruchill Downs too. We got to stand in the winners circle where each of the winners from all the races-except the Kentucky Derby winner-goes when the race is official. This area is adjacent to the Finish Line. The Kentucky Derby winners circle is by the building here that says Derby 2010 to receive the roses. Both of these are directly in front of the twin spires here at Churchill Downs. We walked through the tunnel that the horses take to get to the track. It was a beautiful day-about 90. They start their fall meet on October 31 and we will probably go back on a day that they are racing there. It is about 85 miles away.

I will start 10 hour days this week. The park is filling up and will be full by November 1st. The next group starts next Sunday. Other than that, we just been touring the Walmart and Family Video-two of the best attractions in the area! Here are some of the pictures we took while at Churchill Downs. We haven't taken any pictures yet to show you the Walmart or Family Video, so you will just have to imagine it for yourselves. Take care.

Getting On Our Feet

Well, we have had 2 days here at work. The first day was not much, just tours and safety training and some required paperwork. Today we had job training and a short time on the line working. We are on 5 hour days the rest of this week and probably next week too due to the current low volume of incoming shipments. But by the end of October, we can start to expect to be asked to work overtime. April will probably stay on 5 hour days until the 10 hour days are required. She is adjusting ok so far. I think it will be good once I get more time doing the receiving. Tomorrow we will be doing more. Today I just did a couple of items and the rest of the day I was helping a lady learn how to do it. I am ready to get going with it. The weather has worked out good too, finally. Last week upper 90's and one day 100, and now in the 70's. Much better, but cool for our morning walk to work, but better that being hot to start out the day. They put a sign-up for hay bales in the campground office today, so I guess I will have to figure that out. The campground is on a hill with little to block the wind. We got to see a couple of the other campgrounds that we could have ended up at and we are happy we are here. We will be walking or standing at our stations for the entire shift. It takes us about 10 minutes to walk through the plant-once we get in it- to get to the break room where our locker will be. And about 10 minutes or a little more to get into the building from our site. So we will be getting in our walking every day. It appears that there is not anything to really do here on our days off unless we drive an hour or so to get to a bigger city, such as Louisville, Lexington or Cave City areas-all about an hour or hour-and-a-half away. Not too far, but not close either. I will be ready to do something, especially with these short days and nice weather. This will be alot different than the last location.

Our New Place To Call Home

Well, here we are. This will be our home until Christmas. We will walk to work-most of the time-as it is close and we were told it is hard to get out of the parking lot and across the street-it takes longer to drive than walk. Here you will see our walk to work from the entrance to the park. It is about twice as far as it looks due to the hill. Also what we see on the way back after we cross the road. Then there is a picture from the corner by the road to our site-not too many rigs here yet or we wouldn't be able to see our site from here. And, of course, the rig from both sides. We went to Lowes today to get a rug and some flowers. It is about 100 degrees here today and all across the state they are breaking high temp records. You can only be out a few minutes at a time or you will be covered with sweat. I take the dog across the street from the campground entrance to find some grass, as that is where she likes to go. Supposed to only be 80 this weekend, hopefully.

Hot Tennessee Days and Nights

With near record temps at my brothers ranch, it was hard to find the energy to do just about anything. We were just sitting on a bench watching the Alpacas and sweating doing it(didn't do it for long)! Even the animals took it easy. Dennis had to rewire his garage for me to plug into so we could have air conditioning! Thanks! We needed it! We visited the unclaimed baggage store and found a couple of items. We also went to a "scratch and dent" store close to his house-gotta go there if you get a chance. I got to help (not much, mainly watch) move some Alpacas yesterday morning. Brandy wanted to help too, but only got to go back and forth in the bus watching us go by. Thanks Hidden Gem Ranch (www.hiddengemranch.com) for letting us enjoy your ranch and home. Here are a couple of photos we took.

My Old Kentucky Home?

Well, we're off again. This time to check out the new home in Kentucky and then on to Tennessee to visit my brother. We are staying at the park we will be living at starting next week. We picked out the spot tonight that we will be staying in, not much choice, but at least we had one. Good to be here early before all the "good" spots are gone. The internet works good. It is hot here and not much shade here in the open. We will run the air alot I guess while we are here. It is about 1/4 mile to work, so it will be easier to walk than drive as the parking lot is quite busy and will be faster to walk home. Good exercise too. Tennessee early tomorrow. I am sure my brother has big plans for us. Back here on Wednesday night as my brother has to leave wednesday afternoon to go to work. If it goes as planned, we will be in site #11. That is the one we picked out. See ya.

We Made It To Michigan!

We didn't have any troubles on the way to Michigan and made good time. We are in the process of downsizing our stuff we thought we might have needed and didn't. And of course, planning out what we need or will need for colder weather. We will go to Tennessee the end of this week and start work in Kentucky next week. April is doing alot of visiting while we are here. The next post should be the start of our fall 2010 adventures and a new chapter in our lives. At this time, we plan on being back in the Black Hills again next year. There is so much to do there and we have things we want to do yet. Summer is over and so is this first adventure. See you soon.

On The Road Again!

Well, we are loaded up and ready to hit the road in the morning. The weather is supposed to be nice, so we are going to leave the resort and head East a day early. Hopefully the new car dolly straps work. Went to lunch with the owners today and spent most of the afternoon getting road ready. Need to wash windows and mirrors tomorrow and check all lights and we will be off. Not sure how far we will travel. Depends on how things are going. I am sure it will be somewhere in Iowa, but not sure where. We will lose 2 hours on the way to Michigan. I bought some brats that the owner has here for bike week-they are good. When I get to Dad's, we will have a cook-out. Take care and see some of you soon! May the winds all be favorable for the trip.

More Oldies

Here is a couple more oldies.

We have started to gather and do some sorting and rearranging in preparation for travels to stop in Michigan, Tennessee and finally Kentucky. April will spend some time with friends from school and we will both spend time with family. We are ready to go especially since it is soooo slow now. Too much time on our hands. Our last day to work here will be Labor Day. That night we will go to the night blast at the Crazy Horse Memorial. Then Tuesday will be our last trip to Rapid City for any necessary items. When we get back, we will fill the LP tank, move to a spot where we can get the tow dolly and car attached and final items away for the trip. Wednesday morning we will hit the road--East bound! I hope we don't encounter the windy conditions we had on the way here. Starting to say good-byes too. We have plenty of items we want to do next time we are in this area that we didn't get to this time. Our new adventures will start as we get off this mountain and head east and south. We are both excited and nervous too, not knowing what to expect or what will come up on the way. But we are ready! Take care and see some of you soon. Tomorrow morning is the first day to have a chance of frost! It is cold and windy today with clouds that look like they have snow in them!

Rolling Oldies

Last weekend we had some of the rolling oldies stay at the resort. I got some of them before they went for a ride. It is really slow now and not much work. Not working nights at least during the week, maybe this holiday weekend. And only a few hours during the days.

More From Today's Tour

We also saw some young sheep too and a baby one too. And of course the mighty buffalo.

Finally-Big Horn Sheep!

I didn't have to work tonight, so we went to Custer State Park for dinner and we finally got to see Big Horn Sheep! 100 degrees today. Whew!

Driveway Pics and More

Hi. Here is what our driveway entrance looks like here. If you look close, by the white van, you can see our air-conditioner by the split rail fence. Also the moon was out early that day. On Thursday we drove to deadwood. We stopped at a place called the sugar shack for some good burgers. Next door was this rocking chair. It is Huge! You can climb up the steps and carry your beer up and sit on the deck (seat) of the chair.

Friday we went to the Central States Fair in Rapid City. We had a good time and April got a bear prize from both our efforts on the token-push machines. It was in the mid 90's. Today it got to 98 and tomorrow it is forcast to be 102! I thought it was supposed to be fall. Mount Rushmore changed to their fall hours on August 15! It was 46 this morning at 7. As soon as the sun comes up it really heats up, likewise when it goes behind the mountain, temps drop.

Hot Springs?

We found a spring and waterfall/pool south of Hot Springs. Several people enjoying the water. Not sure if it was warm water or not. Nice park and view. Even stopped to smell the flowers, or at least look at them (ah-choo!).

The bike rally is over and we are only about 75% full and only about 10% in our tenting areas. Back to somewhat normal now. The cherrys are finally getting ripe. My peppers are not going to make it, but hopefully the tomatos ripen up soon. It gets down to the low 50's at night. Only a couple of weeks left here. Good thing, it will probably snow soon here. Average first freeze is in early September.