'17/#14 Feeling Competent

We have been traveling around the country for ten years now and feel confident handling our rig where ever we go. On the road we try to give the professional drivers the road. After all they are just trying to make a living. Our rig is the size of a small tractor-trailer so we often use truck stops to fuel our truck. When we do we try to get out of the way as soon as possible so as not to get in the way of the truckers.

After all that, I have to relate an incident that has happened a few times. While waiting out a storm at a truck stop I parked way back in the truck parking area. It took me two or three tries to get it exactly where I wanted it. Once settled in we watched a couple of truckers parking near us. After watching these professionals take five or six tries to park their rigs I started to feel real good about my driving abilities. Like I said this has happened a few times at different truck stops and every time it boosts my confidence just a little bit more.

Well we are settling down for the night in our home in Hermosa SD because......

Home is where we park it,
Frank and Mary

'17/#13 It's Good To Have Friends

I do not have as big an internet presence as many others but I am there to keep in touch while we are on the road. I do have this blog and am considered a "lurker" on facebook but that is not where I am going. What I want to talk about is the others out there keeping an eye on us as we travel. There was some severe weather we were passing through the past few days and we monitor several weather apps to keep our travels safe. During those weather events we were getting numerous phone calls, texts, emails, and other electronic messages from friends all around the country. It feels good to have friends who care.

Anyway, we survived all the weather and stopped for an overnight stay in a casino parking lot in Iowa. It got quite a bit colder during the night and it was still drizzling when we woke up. After a quick breakfast and a second cup of coffee we hit the road. By trying to out run some of the weather the day before we were able to make good time and had made it farther down the road than we planned. This will make the rest of our trip two short days. It's always nice to get to our destination early in the day to give us time to get settled in.

Well we are settling down for the night in our home here in Plankinton South Dakota because.....

Home is where we park it,
Frank and Mary

'17/#12 Jello, Jello, Everywhere

The only thing you can be sure of is that things will change. Like I've said before, our plans are written in jello. Our plans to work in Michigan didn't work out. The work ethic that has served us well for many years apparently created a conflict of personalities with another work camper couple. Since we were the "newbies" and not planning to return like the other couple we were asked to leave. To avoid any drama on a minimum wage job we took our pay for the time we worked and hit the road.

Many people have asked how we deal with the uncertainties of living on the road. Well we left Silver Lake and found a fair ground with camping facilities for the night. Fair grounds are famous for reasonable rates and this one was no different. While we relocated Mary put out feelers for another work camping job. Just 24 hours after being asked to leave we got offered jobs for $13 an hour near Mt Rushmore. It looks like the jello is starting to set again.

We went shopping and bought a few things. Tonight we are cooking our butts off to have some meals precooked for the road. If all goes as planned we might just hit the road tomorrow morning and be in South Dakota by the weekend.

I'll blog again soon but for now this is so long from our awesome smelling kitchen in our home in Mt Pleasant Michigan because.....

Home is where we park it,
Frank and Mary

'17/#11 We're Heeeere!

After our tire incident in Florida the rest of our trip was uneventful. A little bit of rain was the only detriment on our journey but it did not slow us down. We were able to stop and see a friend of ours in Indiana and made excellent time. This allowed us to get to Mears a day early.

The site we are on has perfect sight lines for our satellite and once leveled we got our home set up for the season. Our site is a little out of level so we will have to make a set of stairs to make up for the height of the bottom step. When we got here the temperature was 53 degrees but the wind made it feel like 41 degrees. I guess we aren't in Florida any more! The weather apps are putting out frost warnings for the next few days. This morning we woke up to 32 degree temps. Well I woke up, Mary stayed under the covers until it had risen to at least 40 degrees.

The park owner came over to meet us and give us some info before we start working later this week. He seems as nice in person as he was on the phone. We are looking forward to a good summer. Today we will build our steps and go meet some more of the workcampers.

Right now it is time to get to work around our home here in Mears Michigan because...

Home is where we park it,
Frank and Mary

'17/#10 Counting My Lucky Stars

We are in St Augustine now and are going to do some tourist stuff. If you know us or have been following here on the blog, you kow that St Augustine is special to us as it was the site of our honeymoon. Or as I like to call it, the scene of the crime. If all goes as planned (and we know how that goes) we will not be back in the area for quite some time.

Speaking of plans and plans gone awry, after last year's multiple tire failure episodes we checked the rest of our tires on the trailer and found one that was getting close to it's expiration date. Yes tires have a date on them as well as a life expectancy. Look up DOT tire codes on Google to read more. The plan was to get to Michigan and replace that tire sometime over the summer. Oh well, our plans are written in jello so....the tire let go on the way accross I-4. We got off the road and Mary and I had it changed and were back on the road in about 20 minutes. Best wife ever!

We got to St Augustine and again working as a team we got the rig all set up, situated, utilities attached, and inside set up for the few days we will be spending here. Mary found a tire locally and we went and got it, brought it back, and with my wonderful wife got it on the trailer and the spare stowed. A shower and a short rest and we treated ouselves to dinner at Harry's, one of our favorite restaurants here in St Augustine.

The more we travel and the more people we meet the more I count my lucky stars that I have a wife like Mary. I see way too many couples traveling where the wife either sits in the vehicle or at the picnic table while the husband does all the work. Watching it bothers Mary even more than it bothers me. What would happen if something happened to the husband? Wives need to know everything about their RV. They need to know how to drive it, hook it up, connect all the utilities. Being out on the road can leave one in a very vulnerable position and you need to be prepared. There are many wives out there that do know what to do and do their share as well as husbands that share the cooking, cleaning, and laundry duties. That is the way it should be! Marriage is a team effort and more so is marriage on the road. I have the best partner to travel throgh this life and on the road and I don't ever want to take her for granted.

Well into down town for more touristy stuff so I will sign off from our home here in St Augustine because....

Home is where we park it,
Frank and Mary

'17/#9 Almost Ready To Hit The Road

Only two more days until we embark on the next stage of our adventure. Over the years many people have had opinions and/or made comments about our chosen life style. I came across this poster a while back and I have to say that it sums up how we feel. Everyone has dreams about the future and things they would like to see or do. We are living our dream and that is the advice we give to so many people. If there is something you want to do, make plans, find a way, make it happen. I read on a marquee somewhere "A wish is just a dream without a plan". If you want something go out and get it. No one is going to just give it to you.

The next two days we will be finalizing our preparations. We will also see our kids and grandkids to say our goodbyes. Monday is D-Day. "D" is for departure. We will make a few stops and see a few friends on our trip to Michigan. It should take us just about a week. We are just looking forward to having the wheels rolling again.

Well it is time to relax a moment before we get back to our travel check list. So goodbye for now from our home in Zephyrhills because....

Home is where we park it,
Frank and Mary

'17/#8 Here Today, Gone Tomorrow?

It has been a long time since my last blog but it is time to bring it back to life. My last blog was about a death to someone close to us and all that that entails. Like many family deaths the aftermath turned ugly and someone we considered family turned out to be a lying, money hungry, back stabber. We were very disappointed and disillusioned afterward. Hence the absence of my blog. That is all I am going to say on the subject. From now on we are looking forward.

We have been back in Zephyrhills for over a month now and are ready to continue our adventure. Having worked here for 3 years and our proximity to Pinellas County meant that we would be spending a lot of time socializing with friends and family. After 6 weeks here we can count on our fingers the number of times we have eaten at home. It is nice to go out for dinner but we both like to cook and are looking forward to the meals we make in our RV kitchen. We have seen the kids and grandkids and are planning one more visit with them before we hit the road. There are one or two friends we will see to finish the list of people we wanted to see. Probably one or two last minute doctors visits and a final check on the truck and trailer will finish out our stay.

The adventure that is our life is taking us north to Michigan this year. We will stop in St Augustine and Indiana along the way to our destination in the Michigan Silver Lake Dunes Area. We have never spent any time in Michigan and are looking forward to seeing a new (to us) part of the country. Mary has lined up a workcamper position for us this summer that will cover most of our expenses and allow time to explore. We also have many friends who still summer in Michigan and would like to get together to show us their home state.

We are looking forward to our travels, but for now we are taking care of things to prepare for this next stage in our adventure. I will also try to blog more often, and please, if you are reading and enjoying the blog let me know with a comment. I get a lot more readers than commenters and would love to hear from you. As always Mary and I will put it out on facebook when I post.

Until the next post this is goodbye from our home in Zephyrhills because.....

Home is where we park it,
Frank and Mary