July 8, 2013. Slow to get back into here for updates, mainly because Tremont's WiFi has not been working good. The wire was replaced, then the router was moved, but neither of these have made a big difference in improving the connection we get. So I have been trying to use my Jetpack, but that does not give us good internet service either. Plus, with all the rain we have been having, that also does not help with the service.
Jim's mom's birthday was June 22 - she turned 95, and he went down to Atlanta to surprise her. Jacklyn also went up to Jack's house for a little while so she had a very nice birthday. She just survives day to day and wonders why she is still here, even though it seems like she just wants to "go home." My Dad says the same thing - being in their 90's, they are both ready.
Today is our weekly trip into Maryville for our grocery shopping. Last week we had to buy a new sewer hose and it even looks like we will have a sunny day.
Walking the dogs up the switchback daily but only saw a bear once. Another time they treed a cub while we were on our way down. I heard it's baby voice and freaked out, but luckily they came to me right away and Momma bear was not around. As soon as I got them tied up the cub came down the tree and ran back into the woods. Some of the guests say they have seen the bear wandering in the campground and they have gotten into the dumpters as well.
July 20, 2013. How time flies when you're having fun (haha). The girls woke us up the other night about midnight barking madly; Jim was still up and went outside to discover a bear up in the tree next to our camper - AGAIN! He came in and woke me up so I could go outside and take a picture of it. The girls were going crazy at the bottom of the tree, smelling and looking up it to see the bear. I think Hayley was kind of freaked out by it as she was skittish and went back in the trailer. A few days later and the girls still go outside to the tree and smell around it.
Just counting the days when we can leave here. Workamping is OK but working 40 hours a week is getting very tiring. I retired to NOT work so much and here I am working a whole week again. Jim is having a harder time because his work is so physical and he gets tired being out in the heat and humidity all day long. His left shoulder is bothering him again, which I need to massage.
August 10, 2013. Not much happening around here. Have encountered some bears here and there but none have bothered us. Also have encountered a lone wolf up the mountain and do not like that one bit. I was able to video it one morning because I thought it was the hound dog that I found caught inside the campground one morning, but I found out that it was a wolf - tan with longish hair. Sounded like a dog, or a wild dog, but who knows. I have heard it on and off during the past few weeks, but I don't like it. I just hope the girls stay away from it. Every morning when we go walk they sniff and pull along the trail and I wonder what they smell and want to go after.
We have not been sightseeing at all as the price of gas is so high (plus it seems to always rain on our days off). Our first day off takes up our trip to Maryville for supplies and by the time we get back home it's lunch time and close to the girls' afternoon walk.
Judi asked me if we wanted to stay here through the winter, but I declined saying that we were probably going to go to Amazon for November and December and then on our way to Texas to be close to the grandchildren. I have applied for a position at a park north of Houston for an "activity couple" position. Something different besides office work and maintenance would be nice - get some other experience under our belts. That does not start until March or April 2014, so we would take a couple of months off and relax.
Applied for social security. Thought I was going to have to wait until September but after talking with the SS administration found out that I was able to apply now, so I did. First check will come in January.
Have not done much geocaching as there are not many in this area. I did one on July 14 which gave us a souvenir for "Geocaching Get Outdoors Day." I picked up a trackable at another geocache which called Eat, Sleep, Cache called Northkings Minor Oak from Nottingham, UK. I would like to take it to Georgia and drop it off at Stone Mountain Park as there are a lot of people from all over that go there and will take it along.
August 29, 2013. Almost the whole month of August has passed and I have not written about what we are doing, which is not much, so there is not a whole lot to talk about. We do not go out and travel the area as it costs money in gas and I am trying to pay off credit card bills, the gas bill being one of them. We work close to 40 hours a week and with Sunday & Monday off, we chill on Sunday and on Monday travel into town for our weekly shopping.
There is a big bear that has been coming around getting into the dumpsters and hitting the trash of the cabins up Parkline Drive. There is also a lone coyote that we hear occasionally, and that is freaky making me not want to go up the mountain in the mornings. I need to take the girls out before 7:00 am as we have to be at work at 8:30 am and it is starting to stay a bit dark before 7:00 am and I am reluctant to trek up the mountain at that time of day. On the days I start work at 11 or 12, I will take them out for another walk before going to work.
We have a guest staying with us for a few weeks, Malia Lane (http://www.maliasmiles.com), who writes articles for Motor Home and will be doing an article on our campground. While talking with her in the office I discovered she is from Austin, Texas and was a paralegal before starting out on her journey in 2001. As a supplement to her income, she is a "virtual assistant" meaning that she has attorney clients around the country and does work for them as she travels. This is right up my alley and we talked about it some; she gave me her card and I looked up her website to see what she offers and how she set it up. I am going to get together with her and she is going to show me her setup and give me some pointers as to how I can set up my own company. Quite interesting. I am looking forward to talking with her about it.
Jim & I also interviewed with an RV park in Texas to set up a job for next summer, and it looks like we are going to be working for a Yogi Bear park right outside of Houston in their activities program. This will be different than what we are doing now and we are looking forward to doing something different. We will also help out in the office and maintenance during slow times.
One of our workampers has left to help her sister after undergoing an operation, and a new workamper couple has come to work. Dianna is working in the office and her husband in maintenance. They will be staying through the winter and probably next summer; there will also be another couple coming in November to help out, as Jim & I and Lee & Sandy will be leaving the end of October.
As it stands now, we will be heading to Amazon for November and December, then a short visit to Atlanta. I am hoping to head south to Florida and talk Bill & Julie into coming up and visit with us for a week in mid-January before heading to Texas.
Also, another big event for us is the birth of our grandson, Jason Loyer Kerch, on August 25, 2013. I am looking forward to seeing him, but he will be about 5 months old before we get to see him. And we are really looking forward to seeing Ellie again as well. Now that we will be working so close to Houston for the summer we will be able to go down and visit while we are working in the area. I think we will camp close to them in February before heading to our new job at the end of February.
Back to Daily Journal 2013
Jim's mom's birthday was June 22 - she turned 95, and he went down to Atlanta to surprise her. Jacklyn also went up to Jack's house for a little while so she had a very nice birthday. She just survives day to day and wonders why she is still here, even though it seems like she just wants to "go home." My Dad says the same thing - being in their 90's, they are both ready.
Today is our weekly trip into Maryville for our grocery shopping. Last week we had to buy a new sewer hose and it even looks like we will have a sunny day.
Walking the dogs up the switchback daily but only saw a bear once. Another time they treed a cub while we were on our way down. I heard it's baby voice and freaked out, but luckily they came to me right away and Momma bear was not around. As soon as I got them tied up the cub came down the tree and ran back into the woods. Some of the guests say they have seen the bear wandering in the campground and they have gotten into the dumpters as well.
July 20, 2013. How time flies when you're having fun (haha). The girls woke us up the other night about midnight barking madly; Jim was still up and went outside to discover a bear up in the tree next to our camper - AGAIN! He came in and woke me up so I could go outside and take a picture of it. The girls were going crazy at the bottom of the tree, smelling and looking up it to see the bear. I think Hayley was kind of freaked out by it as she was skittish and went back in the trailer. A few days later and the girls still go outside to the tree and smell around it.
Just counting the days when we can leave here. Workamping is OK but working 40 hours a week is getting very tiring. I retired to NOT work so much and here I am working a whole week again. Jim is having a harder time because his work is so physical and he gets tired being out in the heat and humidity all day long. His left shoulder is bothering him again, which I need to massage.
August 10, 2013. Not much happening around here. Have encountered some bears here and there but none have bothered us. Also have encountered a lone wolf up the mountain and do not like that one bit. I was able to video it one morning because I thought it was the hound dog that I found caught inside the campground one morning, but I found out that it was a wolf - tan with longish hair. Sounded like a dog, or a wild dog, but who knows. I have heard it on and off during the past few weeks, but I don't like it. I just hope the girls stay away from it. Every morning when we go walk they sniff and pull along the trail and I wonder what they smell and want to go after.
We have not been sightseeing at all as the price of gas is so high (plus it seems to always rain on our days off). Our first day off takes up our trip to Maryville for supplies and by the time we get back home it's lunch time and close to the girls' afternoon walk.
Judi asked me if we wanted to stay here through the winter, but I declined saying that we were probably going to go to Amazon for November and December and then on our way to Texas to be close to the grandchildren. I have applied for a position at a park north of Houston for an "activity couple" position. Something different besides office work and maintenance would be nice - get some other experience under our belts. That does not start until March or April 2014, so we would take a couple of months off and relax.
Applied for social security. Thought I was going to have to wait until September but after talking with the SS administration found out that I was able to apply now, so I did. First check will come in January.
Have not done much geocaching as there are not many in this area. I did one on July 14 which gave us a souvenir for "Geocaching Get Outdoors Day." I picked up a trackable at another geocache which called Eat, Sleep, Cache called Northkings Minor Oak from Nottingham, UK. I would like to take it to Georgia and drop it off at Stone Mountain Park as there are a lot of people from all over that go there and will take it along.
August 29, 2013. Almost the whole month of August has passed and I have not written about what we are doing, which is not much, so there is not a whole lot to talk about. We do not go out and travel the area as it costs money in gas and I am trying to pay off credit card bills, the gas bill being one of them. We work close to 40 hours a week and with Sunday & Monday off, we chill on Sunday and on Monday travel into town for our weekly shopping.
There is a big bear that has been coming around getting into the dumpsters and hitting the trash of the cabins up Parkline Drive. There is also a lone coyote that we hear occasionally, and that is freaky making me not want to go up the mountain in the mornings. I need to take the girls out before 7:00 am as we have to be at work at 8:30 am and it is starting to stay a bit dark before 7:00 am and I am reluctant to trek up the mountain at that time of day. On the days I start work at 11 or 12, I will take them out for another walk before going to work.
We have a guest staying with us for a few weeks, Malia Lane (http://www.maliasmiles.com), who writes articles for Motor Home and will be doing an article on our campground. While talking with her in the office I discovered she is from Austin, Texas and was a paralegal before starting out on her journey in 2001. As a supplement to her income, she is a "virtual assistant" meaning that she has attorney clients around the country and does work for them as she travels. This is right up my alley and we talked about it some; she gave me her card and I looked up her website to see what she offers and how she set it up. I am going to get together with her and she is going to show me her setup and give me some pointers as to how I can set up my own company. Quite interesting. I am looking forward to talking with her about it.
Jim & I also interviewed with an RV park in Texas to set up a job for next summer, and it looks like we are going to be working for a Yogi Bear park right outside of Houston in their activities program. This will be different than what we are doing now and we are looking forward to doing something different. We will also help out in the office and maintenance during slow times.
One of our workampers has left to help her sister after undergoing an operation, and a new workamper couple has come to work. Dianna is working in the office and her husband in maintenance. They will be staying through the winter and probably next summer; there will also be another couple coming in November to help out, as Jim & I and Lee & Sandy will be leaving the end of October.
As it stands now, we will be heading to Amazon for November and December, then a short visit to Atlanta. I am hoping to head south to Florida and talk Bill & Julie into coming up and visit with us for a week in mid-January before heading to Texas.
Also, another big event for us is the birth of our grandson, Jason Loyer Kerch, on August 25, 2013. I am looking forward to seeing him, but he will be about 5 months old before we get to see him. And we are really looking forward to seeing Ellie again as well. Now that we will be working so close to Houston for the summer we will be able to go down and visit while we are working in the area. I think we will camp close to them in February before heading to our new job at the end of February.
Back to Daily Journal 2013