Celebrate Your Stories - ROO on the Road

Oh, My Goodness!

3/26/2018

It's hard to believe our 6-month stay here in Alamogordo is almost over!   In less than two weeks we will be heading back to Pueblo then on to Omaha NE for 6 months.

We have tried many new restaurants and developed some favorites. We had done quite a bit of sightseeing and enjoyed it all.   We had spent time here in the coach, just taking it easy: sometimes working on our hobbies, sometimes reading or napping (a lot of that!), and sometimes taking care of paperwork.

Yesterday we went up about a half hour north of town to Three Rivers. There is a shop there that we assumed was a bit of a convenience store. But no, it was much more than that. Yes there was an aisle of things you might expect at a c-store, but the majority of the building contained southwest artwork, pottery, jewelry, rugs, etc.   We picked up a few postcards and then headed out east about 5 miles to the Three Rivers Petroglyph Site. It was awesome!   I haven't seen petroglyphs like that since I was a child and we visited northern New Mexico.   I didn't hike all the way to the top of the site - there were about a dozen marked petroglyphs. I only made it up to site 3, but I was very happy to have made it that far. A year or two ago I wouldn't have even been able to do that!   I was so appreciative that Roger was along and that I had my beautiful cane my cousin Barry made me. It was rough going for me - up was easier than down.   I have some pictures to share from that experience.   The volunteer in the visitor center was great as well - we chatted with him about his experiences "workamping" with BLM.   Their space there looked pretty good. A bit in the middle of nowhere, but still a great spot.

Still more to do and see here in Alamogordo!

Now in Alamogordo, NM

11/7/2017

Well I seem to be having a heck of a time remembering to write a blog post twice a month!   Lately it seems a lot has been happening. We arrived in Alamogordo NM about 10 days ago now and have begun to settle in.

We started our workamping job here and love it! It's a great KOA and the owners, Kelly and Sandy Rodwick, seem to have a lot of respect for workampers and they do enjoy their campground. There are four workamping couples here now - one couple strictly as the cleaning crew. Three of us couples share the inside/outside duties quite well, at least so far!   Our own work shift is Thursday/Friday from 1-5pm and Saturday from 9-11am. The rest of our time is free for us to do as we choose - for us, that includes working on our hobbies and sightseeing.

We have started a list of restaurants we'd like to try during our approximate 6 months here, as well as a list of sightseeing opportunities.

Today we took our first day-trip for sightseeing! We visited the Tularosa Basis Museum of History. You can see some photos I posted with a review on Trip Advisor. It was a lot of fun. This museum occupies a relatively small corner in town, yet goes on forever once you are inside! It is filled with a ton of historical information and exhibits. Clearly a great deal of effort has been made to display a lot of information without overwhelming the visitor. I can see that we could easily go back for another visit, to read the detailed exhibits we didn't get to today. I had filled my head with so much incredible information, I couldn't absorb more - from the Trinity Site, to the railroad's influence in area, scouting "back in the day", the missions in the area, the school for the blind/visually impaired that is in town, the military presence in the area, shuttle landings, and so much more!

It was only $3 admission per person!   You can't beat that these days.

I have to say, since having retired, we do take a lot more naps.....including one when we got back to the coach today!

Until next time,
Ola

Summer?? Where did it go?

9/14/2017

What has Happened to Summer 2017?

Our time as workampers at the Pueblo KOA is nearing an end. As we wind down here and prepare for our next adventure, I think it's time to reflect on this summer.

Some thoughts I have right now:

- I have been remiss at posting updates on our blog - on either page.
So going forward, I intend to write two posts each month, one page or the other. This blog is important for Roger and I and for those of you that want to keep track of us as we move around the country.

-Pueblo KOA has been a wonderful place for our first workamping adventure! The owners are super, the campground is a smallish, good-sized campground to start with, learning Kampsite has been fun and also a small challenge. Blending personalities of all the workampers has been an interesting experience for us both. This campground has been completely full nearly every night since Mother's Day up until Labor Day weekend. It's also been a wet year, so the landscaping has been very green and with that, lots of blooming wildflowers, shrubs and natural grasses. With that, I have had allergies for what I believe is the first time since we have lived in Pueblo!

More thoughts next time...
Ola

Lessons Learned.....well, A Lesson Learned

4/25/2017

A little bit ago, I wrote a blog post for today. And, then we had a bit of a blip with our internet connection. So, there went my blog post.

From now on, I will type it "outside" of this format and paste it in!

As I am writing this post, it's pouring rain outside. For now, no view of Pike's Peak.

So, moving on. Today starts a new adventure for Roger and I. We are excited. We have started workamping at the Pueblo KOA, in Pueblo, CO. It's not the same campground that is our "home" campground - that is in South Pueblo/Colorado City. Our mailing address does remain the same though.

Workamping is where we will stay at a campground, "for free", and in return we will work a certain number of hours at the campground. Here, at this campground, the first 8 hours we each work each week will be deducted from our total hours, to go for our site fee. All remaining hours are paid to us. At this point, we will be working three days, then off four. For now, we will work Sunday, Monday and Tuesday and be off Wed through Saturday. And the shifts are each 6 1/2 hours, so not full days, which is very nice.

Today was our first day - full of training. The rest of this week I expect to be training as well. Roger will be working "outside" and I will be "inside". He will be escorting campers to their site, filling propane, getting water in the truck and bringing it to the campground (no well here). I will be registering campers, selling items from the store (souvenirs, a few groceries, ice) and more.

A Follow-Up Friday

4/14/2017

Today I want to share our past week with you. At my last post, we were at The Archway in Kearney, NE. That was a phenomenal exhibit. It really characterized the growing of American, from the wagon trains and their hardships, to the building of the transcontinental railroad. We truly enjoyed that 2 1/2 hour self-guided tour with audio headsets. Something I think almost all ages would enjoy.

From there we drove just a short way to Gothenburg, NE - another fabulous stop for us. This small town truly has community pride - from the folks at the Chamber of Commerce to the folks in the financial offices across the street to the campground at Lake Lafayette. We particularly enjoyed the driving tour of the historic homes and buildings as well as the Three Swedish Crosses. It was another great stop for us.

From there, we came on home, with a lunch stop in Southlands Mall in Aurora, CO for lunch with my brother and sister-in-law.

We pulled back into our home campground and our home campsite on Saturday, April 8. A wonderful trip, but good to be home. We found SPRING had arrived - trees were leafing out and bulbs were blooming.

On Tuesday, April 11, we drove up to the Pueblo KOA, for the purpose of meeting with the owners, Mike and Carolyn Stowe. In just a little over a week, we will be embarking on a new adventure - something we are looking forward to but have a little anxiety about, to be honest. Workamping! If you are not familiar with it, Workamping is where a couple (or a single) stay at a campground and, depending on the needs of the campground, you work for your site. Then hours worked beyond that are paid at a nominal rate (at or near minimum wage). Work duties vary - from taking reservations, selling items from a (usually) small store, selling propane, filling propane, escorting campers to their site, making sure sites are clean before the next camper arrives, etc. The number of hours worked depends entirely on the individual campgrounds. We can hardly wait to start this new chapter. We are going to maintain our current campground as "home", and keep our existing mailing address. No changes there.

I will add some photos from our sightseeing on our trip home from Omaha and will post again soon.

Blessings, and Happy Easter.

Ola

Top row - The Archway
Middle - Gothenburg Public Library, started with Carnegie Library; Swedish Crosses; Historic Home
Bottom row: Historic Home, our coach parked at Lafayette Lake.

Catching up with US

4/5/2017

It's been a long time since I have posted anything here. For those of you wondering what has been happening in our world, it has been a crazy and difficult year-and-a-half for Roger and I. We are on our way now, however, and look forward to much more frequent posting here so you can tell where we are and what we are up to.

Over the next few months I plan to post a weekly post that will gradually fill you in on the time since we picked up our motorhome in October of 2015. What a wild ride it has been.

In a nutshell, Roger has (finally) retired from 45 years with Bechtel. Ola has had two back surgeries, including the implant of a Spinal Cord Stimulator. Ola has also undergone radiation for breast cancer (now in remission so all is well on that front). Roger has had a brief stint in the hospital as well -- giving Ola the chance to see things from the other side of the room - the visitor vs the patient. Yep, we still have our senses of humor.

As I write this, we are heading back home to Pueblo after a 12 day stay in Omaha Nebraska. Ola's daughter, Kimberly, was traveling on business and we had the blessed opportunity to help with her children (Dylan, now 12, and Shelby, now 8) while she was gone.

We are currently parked in Kearney, NE, at The Great River Road Archway. I'm watching this lovely sunset right now. When The Archway opens in the morning, we will do some sightseeing before heading out again on I-80 towards home.

Feeling blessed that we live in a motorhome and can travel to see this great country of ours!!

Until my next post. Ola

~ More Great Camping ~

7/31/2016

We spent last night at another beautiful, wooded campground, the Quechee/Pine Valley KOA. Sure wish we could have spent more time there. For the first time on this trip, instead of taking off in the tow car and doing some sightseeing, we decided to sit out on the camp site's patio, under the trees and just enjoy! We ended up enjoying the sounds of the leaves blowing slightly in the wind. Even our 3 dogs enjoyed the time outside on longer leashes, all the sniffs they had!! At one point, Roger said something about maid serving up some appetizers. We joked about that, relaxing with each other. A little later, I needed to go back the coach for something, I don't remember now what. I thought, what an idea...and I got the small platter of cut up fruit out of the refrigerator that we had purchased earlier that day at the grocery store. I also pulled out a tray and added some cheese and crackers....out I went! No, not the maid, but it was a great idea. So we sat at our picnic table and enjoyed some snacks under the trees.

I spent a good majority of the day making plans - looking up campgrounds both for this week and for this coming weekend. Not sure yet our direction for this week itself, but for the weekend, we'll be just north of New York City, where we plan to meet my son and his family for some weekend fun! Sure looking forward to that!!

Meanwhile, today, we are traveling through some gorgeous countryside in Vermont, primarily on Highway 4, and now we have turned onto Hwy 7.

Pictures to follow.

2016 Escapade !

7/26/2016

We are attending our first ever Escapade! It is in Essex Junction, VT. What a big group of people! Before the actual Escapade started, we attended 3 days of Boot Camp - learning "all-there-is-to-know" (NOT) about RV-ing. I tell you, we were overwhelmed with sooo much valuable information, I think I'd come again just to learn more to pick up on the things I didn't really understand this time around, even though we have been full-timing since November. More real is the fact that since Roger retired in January of this year, we have both been living in the RV full-time, no going off to work each day.

Back to the Escapade - it's a gathering of approx. 2400 RV'ers, with a total of about 54 children, 750 rv's, who have gathered for fellowship, food, seminars, door prizes, etc. It's for sure we'll attend again - 2017's will be in Tucson, AZ in March, 2017. I think that will be a great time to visit AZ!

One of our seminar presenters: Geeks on Tour. Terrific class and fun presentation! (GeeksOnTour.com)

Just about 1/3 of the attendees in this class on blogging!

Simply one Stop on our Journey of Learning

3/3/2016

Today we are sitting in the good-sized waiting room at our RV Dealership - TransWest Truck Trailer RV in Frederick, CO. We were here about a month ago for some warranty work and they needed to order some parts for us. The parts arrived, so....so did we! Came in last night about 9 pm. We had wanted to leave home before noon yesterday, and were ready, but it was SOOO windy, that we decided to wait a couple of hours for the wind to slow down a bit. We ended up leaving about 3-3:30, made a great dinner stop in Colorado Springs by one of the Costco's. BJ's was really great. Superb service, excellent environment/acoustics, and delicious food. Definitely a place we'll go back to.