'22/#18 "Oh Give Me A Home With Wheels To Roam....

...and Buffalo is so far away!" That's Buffalo, NY if you didn't get it.  I'll have to work on the rest of the lyrics!

Yes the RV has been on the road and we are in our old home at our new home in Bar Harbor Maine. On the way from Corfu to Bar Harbor we made a point of stopping in and seeing an old friend of mine. I'm not going to say how old we are but we've known each other since we were two years old! It is always good to see friends along the way when we can and especially long time friends. That's another perk of the nomad lifestyle. We never know when we may be passing near and having the opportunity to visit friends or family. That wouldn't be possible without the traveling we do as full time Rvers.

Now Bar Harbor is our home for the next three months. We have jobs at the Hampton Inn in Bar Harbor and are looking forward to making new friends, seeing the area, and of course eating "lobstah"! I've fallen down on he job. We were here for 24 hours before I got  Mary her first lobster roll and I'm sure it will be the first of many. Most of the menus we have seen serve a variety of food but can almost always be ordered with a side of lobster. Who would have thought of lobster as a "side"?

Right now our job at the hotel is in the laundry. Bedding in the washer then in the dryer then fold and send out to the room staff..... aaaand repeat. Not difficult or exciting but it is never ending. It will be easier when we get our own rhythm as the laundry comes and goes. Everyone we have met is very friendly and we will get to know them better as time goes on. There are a number of exchange students from a variety of countries but we have worked with these types of young people before and always enjoyed their company.

We only have one day off this week as they blend us into the schedule so we took advantage of this day off to do our own laundry. Not that we had a problem before, but we look at folding our own bedding with a different point of view. At least ours has a design on it to look at instead of white, white , and more white.

Well we are now in Bar Harbor and I will keep posting from our home here in Maine because....

Home is where we park it,

Frank and Mary

'22/#17 I Hear The Road Calling

 ..... and Mary hears it in a lobster voice! Wink, wink? Today is our last day in Darien Lakes. The past week we have been getting the RV cleaned up, things stowed away, and plans made. Today we put all our hoses away and are living off our holding tanks. Tomorrow can't get here quick enough.

Well, yes and no. We do want to get on the road and we also don't want to work here anymore but we still made some good friends that we will miss. Apparently they will miss us also. There was a cake and a card, and that was with us leaving in mid-season. They all understand. Even the big supervisor understands and appreciates that we gave them notice instead of leaving in the middle of the night like some workcampers will do. We are not built that way. Besides, you know what they say about burning your bridges behind you.

Well it was a busy morning so we will rest for a couple of hours before we start our last shift. This is goodbye for the last time from our home in Darien Lakes because.....

Home is where we park it,

Frank and Mary

'22/#16 Jello Shots? No, Jello Melts!

 As much as we like it here in Darien Lakes it is time to move on. Yes it is the middle of the season and we like to finish our commitment but the Jello strikes again! There are several reasons for us picking up and leaving. Some is our doing while some fall in the laps of others.

First let me say that our decision to return here was not the best idea. We tell all of our employers that we are a "one and done" workcamping couple. We almost never come back to the same place twice. Once we have seen the area we like to move on to new adventures. We also feel that coming back to the same place is too much like having a regular job. We are retired and this is not a regular job, but a means to an end. That being said the shine of a new experience was not there and the job just became the routine, daily grind, hum drum life we retired from. Our bad!

Second let me say that working for Six Flags Amusement is like working for any other large corporation. The bottomline is that it is all about the bottom line. Where we worked the A/C has not worked all season. With temperatures outside reaching the mid 90's and having to keep the doors to the store shut because of food prep the inside temeratures were getting close to 100 degrees. The Hershey bars all turned to Hershey syrup in an envelope! On top of being miserable the heat was aggravating some of our health issues. Does the company care? NO! The A/C is not in the budget this year. The A/C didn't work very much last year! Oh did I say we shouldn't have come back for a second season? Now of course the A/C is working somewhat (???) but who knows for how long? I am starting to sound like a career employee instead of a workcamper. It is time to move on.

While all this was going on we put out some feelers to see if anyone was looking for mid season workcampers. An opportunity came up in Maine and all Mary heard was "LOBSTER"! The weather is cooler and we will be working at a hotel that will assuredly keep the A/C working for their guests so we accepted the positions. 

We leave in just over a week. Like any job we always try to give at least a weeks notice. No sense burning bridges that may be of use later on. There will be an overnight stop to see a good friend or two along the way. We should arrive and have a little time to scout out the area before we start working. And I am sure Mary will mark all the lobster "pounds" on the map.

Well, we still have work to do here so I will close this blog from our home in Corfu, New York because.....

Home is where we park it,

Frank and Mary