'11#36 Time For Us

Well we survived Dollywood Nights & are now looking forward to some time off. On Friday friends came to visit from GA. This was a good friend of Mary's from work 30 years ago. We spent the day catching up, swapping lies, & just having a good time. We went out for lunch at a restaurant that we had been wanting to try & added a great meal to the day. Linda & John left with promises that we would get together again.

Saturday was my first day at wood carving school. The weather was beautiful so I took the motorcycle to Townsend & left the truck for Mary. Now if you'll remember we have a new grandson on the way so this was Mary's opportunity to do some baby shopping. She has shown remarkable self control but it was time to shop while I tried not to lose any fingers. At the end of the day I could still count to ten & Mary had scored some incredible bargains.

Sunday the weather took a turn for the worse. The motorcycle was not an option so I took the truck for the second day of wood carving. Mary planned on spending the day cleaning the trailer. Again no digits were lost & I did learn some beginning wood carving techniques. I have a new hobby & I've got the Santa figurine to show for my efforts. Mary spent the day going through the trailer collecting stuff to get rid of. Every time some thing new comes in something has to go. Mary buys new & gets rid of my old stuff. I guess that works. Contrary to all my kidding Mary did not get rid of my stuff to make room for her stuff. The rule "one in one out" applies to both of us & we try to stick to it.

We are trying to find a place of honor for my Santa carving & I guess I'll have to get rid of something. Maybe if I give it to Mary she'll have to get rid of something. Hmmmm. Well we will figure it out in our home here in Tennessee because....

Home is where we park it,

Frank & Mary

'11/#35 Finding Balance & An Old Man In My Mirror

Things are starting to change & my eyes are also opening up to ugly truths. Our hours are starting to get cut back & we aren't dreading going to work so much. I thought it was just the hours but realized something else. I finally figured out who that old man in my mirror is. It's ME! I don't know when it happened, but not only am I not 25 years old any more I am just OLD. I can't just jump into a new job & run with it like I used to. Remember when we could always rely on youth & enthusiasm to get us through that new job period until we actually had learned the ropes & could work smarter & not harder? Well I still have the enthusiasm but the youth part has passed me by. I will have to look at everything differently from recreational activities to new jobs. Pacing ones self is necessary & no longer a euphemism for slacking off. We will not stop working these seasonal jobs because we do not want to become retired rocking chair vegetables. They say that a body at rest stays at rest & a body in motion remains in motion. Well we are going to keep on moving because there is too much to see & do. Beside a moving target is much harder to hit. HA HA!

Anyway we are taking time out for ourselves again & plan on going back to enjoying our stay here in the Smoky Mountains. Mary has a list of shows we are going to see (at discounted DW employee rates), we are going to just ride up into the mountains because we can, & may start a hobby or two. I am taking a wood carving class this week so I will be either cranking out cigar store indians or toothpicks, depending on how well I take to it. Hopefully I will fall somewhere in between. There are a couple of other things we are trying & if they work out we will share later on. Most likely when we get back to Florida. Dollywood nights is this week & we will be working but after that starts Bluegrass & Barbecue. We will be taking some time off to see some of the entertainment & listen to the music. This the home of bluegrass so we expect to hear some of the best.

Let's back up a bit. Last week very dear friends from Indiana came to see us & we treated them to the Dollywood experience. We saw shows, Dolly's museum, & of course the Dixie Stampede. This is the third time to the "Stampede" & we are getting to know all the parts of the show pretty well. We still enjoy the food & especially enjoy seeing our friends & family enjoy themselves also. We will be going again over the next few months but like I said it is the sharing of good times with those we care about that makes it fun. It's also fun to be the "big shot" with the all access passes. So we will be hangin' in the Wood & Stampedin' until we leave.

Well this our one day off before Dollywood Nights & it is dinner time so we are treating ourselves to dinner out. So good night to all from our home in the Smokies because.....

Home is where we park it,
Frank & Mary

"11/#36 It's Getting To Be Like A real Job!

I know. It's been a while since I blogged but like I've said before some times there isn't much to blog about. We've always said that we would work as long as we were having a good time. Well the good times are getting fewer & fewer. Red's is starting to feel like a real job so we are going to do something about it. The hours are getting to us so we will be cutting back. Dollywood Nights is coming up & we committed ourselves to working through this time. We will cut our hours drastically after that & if that doesn't help.... Well we've always said that our plans are written in jello & our house is on wheels, so we will decide what to do when we come to that bridge.

On another note, a few months ago we found out we are expecting another grand child some time at the end of the year. We just recently found out it is going to be a little boy. Our grandson, who lives in a house with 3 sisters, was getting ready to move out if it was another girl. Needless to say he was happy & will not be moving into the trailer with us. Just 7 years old & he had a plan. We are so proud!

Well we have laundry to do so that we will have clean uniforms to get us through the week. I did get out of work early so I will relax a bit after the laundry is done & call it a night here in our home in Tennessee because...

Home is where we park it,
Frank & Mary

'11/#35 My Turn

After playing tourist it was back to work. Friday was just another day at Reds & we called at an early night so we could play tourist again on Saturday. The local craftsmen, or should I say craftspeople have a fair several times a year to sell their wares. Mostly they are trying to get the tourist dollars like everyone else. The artistry & ingenuity that goes into their products is interesting if not amazing. A lot of the crafts are either done the same way it was done by the locals for generations or has been made with more modern methods to recreate what was done in the past. For us it was a perfect opportunity to get some Christmas shopping done early.

The rest of the day was spent walking around Gatlinburg & doing some of the tourist things that we were able to do for free as Dollywood employees. There was the trip to the top of the Space Needle to take in the panoramic view of the Gatlinburg area. We also stopped in at Ripley's museum. Some interesting, some hokey but definitely something I wouldn't pay good money to see. We checked out the usual gift shops & managed to keep our wallets in our pockets. In fact the only thing we bought outside of the craft fair was a corn dog & some water.

It was along day & a lot of walking so I was ready to go home. It turns out I wasn't feeling well. Mary had been to the doctor twice over the past few weeks so I guess it was my turn to get sick. My throat was bothering me but not enough to go to the doctor. I went to work & made it through the day OK but told the boss tomorrow was up in the air if I didn't feel better. We went home & I self-medicated myself into a sound sleep.

The next morning I woke up feeling better so I guess it won't knock me on my butt like it did Mary. Work was OK but I didn't push myself too much & everyone I worked with was cool about taking some of the load off me until I felt better. It's nice to work with people who care.

We are working 4 days in a row this week but only have 3 uniforms. That means laundry will have to be done before our next day off. This is one of those times we miss having a washer/dryer in the trailer. So tonight we will do a quick load of laundry just to get us through the week. Well the dryers are just about done so we will fold our clothes, go home, put them away, & say goodnight from our home in Pigeon Forge because.....

Home is where we park it,
Frank & Mary

'11/#34 It's Not All Work

I looked back over some of my blogs & it seems like we do nothing but work most of the time. That's not really how it is. I do write a lot about it because we enjoy the work & the people we work with. Also we do relax a lot in between work because we can. I don't know which would be more boring to write about, work or doing nothing. It can be a challenge keeping it interesting. Anyway, here we go.

Saturday we went to work & Mary made it through the whole day. That meant she was feeling better. It was a busy & hectic day but that makes the day go by quickly. Sunday I worked & Mary had the day off. That doesn't mean that she didn't work. While I spent the day in the Wood Mary did the grocery shopping, laundry, & cleaning around the house. Again I come home to her complaining that she worked harder than if she had gone in to Reds all day.

Monday we slept in. Later that day we did a little shopping therapy. Mary is definitely feeling better when she shops. The weather has been brutal here. First there were the severe storms & now we have the heat. The temps have been in the mid to upper 90's & the heat index has reach as high as 111 degrees. After shopping we ran home to get back to the AC.

Tuesday we worked. Wednesday I woke up & decided that we would spend the day doing the tourist thing. I mean we get into so many things free as Dollywood employees we should take advantage of it. We started the day at the Deer Farm in Sevierville. The farm is a sanctuary for injured, abused, & abandoned animals of all kinds. Goats to emus, kangaroos to prairie dogs, reindeer to camels. We fed them, pet them, we photographed them. Check out Mary's FB soon. Take special note of Mary being attacked by the herd of goats & the terror in her eyes while feeding the Belgian draft horse. After getting pawed & slobbered on by assorted critters in the heat of the day we went down the road to a cooler venue.

Again free admission got us into the Forbidden Caverns Under the Smokys. We have been to numerous caverns & were not disappointed in these. We also enjoyed the constant 58 degrees at depths up to 650' below ground. It was refreshing & we didn't want to leave the free & natural AC provided by Mother Nature. It was a fun day but a long one so we headed home. Oh there was one more stop while we passed through Sevierville. We had to pass by city hall & check out the bronze statue to the local favorite daughter, none other than Dolly herself. The more we learn about the area the more we realize what she has done for her home town.

Today we worked at Reds. We work one more day & then we have another day off that coincides with the Gatlinburg Crafts Festival which we plan to enjoy. So there will be more to share from our home in Pigeon Forge TN because....

Home is where we park it,
Frank & Mary

'11/#33 Time Off From The Wood Is Good

Monday we got up all excited that our friends were coming to visit. While we waited a couple from Dollywood stopped by & we had a nice chat with them. They have workcamped for some time & gave us pointers & suggestions. Later on we met up with our friends at their hotel. We went to the Dixie Stampede dinner show. We've seen the show before but it was worth seeing again & we got to see it with friends. After dinner we came back to our RV park to watch the fireworks. We were told that this park was a great place to watch the fireworks from & they weren't lying. We drove them back to the hotel in bumper to bumper traffic. It was great to see them & we looked forward to the rest of their visit.

The next day our friends had some business to take care of so we said we would take their 13 year old & meet them at Dollywood. We told him that it was his day & we would do whatever he wanted. He had a great time & so did we since it was the first time that we actually went to the park as guests & participated in the activities there. We all met up later & had a fun time riding roller coasters, checking the craftsmen, & watching shows. After a long but fun day we went back to the hotel for dinner. Then it was home for a well earned nights sleep.

Wednesday morning Mary woke up with no voice, ear aches, & head congestion. Our plans for the day changed from Splash Country to walk-in clinic. Our friends were able to go out & enjoy the day while I stayed home & took care of Mary like a good husband should. Thursday she felt better even though her voice was still not really working. We did get together with our friends for breakfast before they headed home. Later we did a little shopping & it was back home for a nap.

Today was our first day back to work. Mary was feeling better still & wanted to try going to work. She did OK but did go home early when her voice started to give out. She went home, took a nap, & came back to pick me up when I got off from work. We will see how she does tomorrow. Well that is it for now so I will call it a night from our home in Pigeon Forge because....

Home is where we park it,
Fran k & Mary

'11/#32 Back So Soon?

Well here I am & it hasn't been a week yet. I looked back at my last few blogs & realized if I don't want people to fall asleep reading the it I will have to make the posts shorter. That means posting more than once a week. I also want to give a shout out to Patti. We just want you to know we are thinking positive thoughts about you & know you will fight the good fight. Hang in there & keep enjoying the blog. Also to those RVers looking into workcamping at Dollywood remember nothing is as good as it seems. I'm not saying it is bad. If it was we wouldn't still be here. We have met some great people & the work has been fun & we would recommend working here but do so with open eyes. Promises made by Human Resources can not always be kept by the different operations in the park. Be ready to go with the flow or be ready to be disappointed. This is advice for all workcamping opportunities, not just Dollywood.

Now back to Dollywood. Thursday was a crazy day at work. We had a new employee named Murphy at Reds. Yep, that Murphy. The one that seems to have everything go wrong around him. Short on help, insane crowds, broiler on fire, & next we are running out of food. At the same time we have even more people coming in with no sign of it letting up. The only good thing was that day was over before we knew it. Friday was our day off so I asked Mary what she wanted to do. Not surprisingly she wanted to sleep in before going to the P.O. to pick up our mail. On the other hand I was taken aback when she wanted to go to Dollywood. Seriously, Dollywood on our day off?!?!?!? We went & saw a bubble show.Yes a bubble show! Deni Yang does things with soap bubbles that no one with a kiddie bubble wand could ever dream about. We were hungry & decided that we could eat anything but the food at Reds. Cooking it all day makes it somewhat unappetizing.

Saturday was our last day of work before 5 glorious days off to spend with our guests. It's the last Saturday before the 4th of July & it was going to be crazy at Reds but knowing we had the time off, well...WOOHOO!!! Sunday we slept in before getting started on the day. We wanted to get the house cleaned up for the week ahead. There is laundry to be done & now I can't find Mary. Ooops! She's back in bed with a tummy ache & I didn't even do the cooking. She hasn't actually gotten sick so I will let her rest for now. She just may be all excited about seeing everyone tomorrow. I'm sure she will be fine.

So I will sign off & finish up around here & try to keep up with the blog from our home in Tennessee because....

Home is where we park it,

Frank & Mary