Arriving in Texas...Nov. 2009

Arriving In Texas….

ROCKPORT,TX.

 We were so excited to be off and heading for our first REAL adventure… we had spent months in South Dakota looking at pictures of the Coastal Bend Area and now we were finally on our way. The trip went great. For the first time since we could remember we were able to be a family, so the trip actually went pretty quick as we spent most of it talking and playing catch up. If others would have heard us, one would have thought we had all been in different places far away from each other than actually all under one roof.

The late afternoon that we pulled into our destination (October 28th, 2009) was amazing, the water, the sand, the palm trees…Breathtaking!!!  As we turn on the road to take us to our campground that we had reservations at for the time we were going to spend there, we were more than surprised when we pulled in….NOT what it looked line online. It looked like something you would see shown on “My Redneck Vacation”, or better yet a great resort gone bad after a hurricane…barely put back together to operate, the bathrooms were nasty, the laundry room was anything but adequate and our site (which was suppose to have a patio) was small and had a pallet or two thrown on the ground for the patio so you wouldn’t walk through the mud that surrounded the site. We were simply amazed!!!

So as we sat there thinking ” What Next?” We did what any sane person would do…we went to the Hampton Inn and Suites for 2 nights to find a plan B. Next we were directed to the best Mexican food restaurant, and later followed it all by a few drinks and the hot tub. We ended up finding a spot right on one of the bays, It was an end site with a huge concrete patio. We would spend the evenings outside watching our favorite friends down on the boat ramp and fishing pier.

PELICANS

SNOW EGRET

BLUE HERON

ROSEATE SPOONBILL

Alot of the days would be spent at the beach (Pictured Above) just walking ankle deep in the water or laying in the sand watching the waves, it was so relaxing. During this time we decided since we had time off that it would be perfect for all of us to take a trip to Florida and to take the kids to Disney World.

So we left shortly after deciding this and headed to Florida for 12 days. We loved it…all of us had so much fun together as a family, we had a great Hotel room, it really was the best time we had together  for quite some time. We all went on almost every ride, visited 4 of the Parks ( Magic Kingdom, Epcot, Animal Kingdom, and Disney’s Hollywood Studios) the kids got autographs from a bunch of the characters, and pictures taken with them, and of course we bought the Mouse Ears and T-Shirts.

We were gone around the Thanksgiving Holiday so we ended up eating Thanksgiving Dinner at a restaurant in Alabama on our way back home to Texas. We also stopped in Pensacola, Fl., ahhh the beaches were so georgous, the sand was so clean and white. We found a ton of shells there, that added to the kids collection. By the time we made it back home we were ready to do nothing for awhile and that is what we did! 

We had been keeping an an eye on the work camping jobs that would come available to try and find our next assignment. It seemed difficult at times because we would see something that would peak our interests and we would call, then when they found out we had 2 children it would all go downhill. But we kept looking, finally one day we found a job to manage a KOA campground and it wasn’t to far from where we were staying. Jim called and they set up an interview and we went to try to get the job.

The interview went excellent and they were more than happy to accept us and the kids. Later that night the owner called and told us they would love to have us on board with them, so we started planning a date to get moved out there. We were introduced at the Christmas Dinner for the Park as the new Managers…some took it very well (long-term Residents) others not so well (Workampers that were already there), so getting trained and learning everything was a challenge at times. After a 3 month commitment was completed we were given the privilege to have living quarters other than our camper.

There were 2 houses on the property, The Owners & The Managers. It was a double wide, 3 bedroom, 2 bath. It had a laundry room and a formal dining room plus the normal dining room, it also had a breakfast nook. But most important it had a “Garden Tub”, something that one does miss when they live in a camper and as everyone knows, a candlelit shower is just not as relaxing!!! 

Along with learning all the new things with the job and such I also quickly learned that Texas has some HUGE bugs…I was introduced to “The Palmetto Bug”, one can call it what they want but it is a roach and they are the size of a house cat…nasty things that love, love, love to be anywhere near water. Even the cleanest person and house seems to have a few of them visit periodically. Now anyone that really knows me and my fear of roaches should know I did not take this lightly and I may as well have just had a whole house of them considering that is how I acted when I would see one in the bathroom every now and then..YUCK!!!!!!!

Some of the advantages of living in a camper is they normally do not come for a visit to an R.V., they are more houseguest bugs, than camping bugs!!! As we got fully settled into our job position and our house we were asked if we would be willing to fly to Montana to the KOA University for a week to go to school to learn every aspect of running a KOA, normally this is a schooling that owners and some managers take.

Although hesitant to leave my children with our bosses while we were gone, we figured this was agreat opportunity to learn the ins and out of running a campground. Considering our campground we were running was huge (47 Acres, and 46 cabins, and over 120 RV sites, plus a pool, boat dock, rec hall, and activities we figured we could stand to learn a few things. Our whole trip was paid for …plane tickets, Hotel Room, Meals. So it was kind of a vacation, at least in the evenings anyway since all day we were in classes.

We spent our week there and flew back home only to find out that the owners would be leaving soon to go to their summer home up North, and during this time that Jim’s Mom was in the hospital in Arizona and had been diagnosed with Cancer in the brain. All of our workampers had reached their commitment time and left, so we were running this property on a string, there was 1 office person, 1 outside person, 1 lawn person (That would only show up if he wasn’t drunk) and us. Very stressful and we were being ran ragged.

One day shortly after all of this we get a phone call from Mom’s new husband telling us that we should try to make plans to get to Arizona as soon as possible as they were pretty sure Mom wasn’t going to make it very much longer. We told our bosses and packed and left almost immediately. We drove all night to get to Casa Grande, Az.

We were there for a week with Mom still hanging in there, she was still coherent when we got there and knew something was going on when we showed up, considering we were so far away and there since she was sick. We had a good visit with her, and said our goodbyes figuring they were going to be our last, and she went to sleep and was basically in a coma for the rest of the time, fading in and out some, but asleep most of the time. We had no choice but to pray for a miracle and head back home.

The day we got home after only having 4 hours of sleep our bosses call demanding that we come run the office for the evening shift. Both mentally and physically exhausted, and very frustrated we went to work. The next day or so as we are standing outside the office door, they drive by and honk…we of course are assuming they are going to lunch…NOPE, they call the next day and inform us they are up North at their house and will be back in a couple months, that we can call them if needed, but otherwise run the place and do what is needed. WOW…did this all really just happen??? Sure did. By this time Jim and I are exhaused, understaffed, and overworked.

Also we have decided that if either one of us EVER had the idea to manage anything other than getting up in the morning, that each of us fully had permission to slap the other one silly. With coming to this conclusion, and making this around the third mistake as far as work camping jobs go, and determined to travel and be a family that sees each other, we put in our 1 month notice, and closed not only the chapter but the book on management jobs from there on out. 

Still wanting to work and travel we took a job in New Mexico, that was a short commitment, but was just a normal job at a campground. Simple duties such as registering guests, yardwork, and some light cleaning….most important of all, we were not on call after our shift was done. We were actually going to have some time to spend sightseeing!!!

~ Gourmet Gypsy  A.K.A: Tanya

The First Chapter...Oct. 2009

The First Chapter

So…. We head to our next job. (Near the Badlands in South Dakota) The few hours we had spent at the truck stop didn’t seem long enough to feel rested and the roads were very snowy and the wind was blowing like crazy but considering we had already turned this job down once and really had no other options we knew we couldn’t call and try to get a different day to arrive. So slow but sure we headed for the Badlands.

By the time we got there our truck and camper were covered in snow and all the yuck from the roads. I can only imagine what we must of looked like pulling in there with all of them watching us…A family of 4, pulling a 25ft Cub Thor Hybrid camper…Snow and dirt all over it, showing up for our second chance at this and trying to pull it all together in a matter of a few hours to look and act professional enough after just having the biggest nightmare of our life just finish (resort in Custer, SD)

As soon as we get parked and walk in the door the owner is standing there, we introduce ourselves and he says “Is that what you are planning to stay and sleep in?” as he points out towards our dirt and snow covered camper. We quietly and slightly embarrassed say “Yes”. Immediately they start making arrangements for us to stay in one of the cabins on the property. We start moving our stuff from the camper to the cabin and getting all set up as the next day was when we were going to start working for them. The cabin was georgeous.



MASTER BEDROOM



BATHROOM



LIVINGROOM AREA



ENTRANCE TO KITCHEN
AND LIVINGROOM



It was a 2 room cabin. There was a kitchen, livingroom area with a hide-a-bed, bathroom, and a bedroom with 2 queen beds. We ended up staying in this cabin the whole time we were there.

The next morning we started at 8am and had no idea what was in store for us. We started by laying down the weed guard sheets and then shoveling rock by hand. I couldn’t help but think “I hope this is not all workcamping jobs.” It was harder work than I had done in a long time. After the landscaping was complete, we then started staining cabins by hand…33 of them. The money was good we made $100.00 per cabin that we stained, but by the end of the day we were sore and exhausted.

As the Cabin staining was coming to the end the owner had asked us if we would be interested in going to open up and manage a property he had in Wyoming. (Fireworks Store) Knowing that it had to be easier than what we were doing, we gladly accepted. It was about 15-20 minutes outside of a big city and came with housing (3 bedroom trailer house).

 So once again we packed up our belongings in a U-Haul trailer and left our camper at the property in South Dakota and headed for Wyoming. Once we arrived in Wyoming there were 2 guys waiting there to help us unload the U-Haul and then to take inventory in the store and help get it ready and cleaned.

 As we started moving stuff into the house I had noticed these “Black Specks” on the kitchen counter, thinking to myself that the cleaning team that was hired to clean the house before we got there must have obviously done a poor job and I would have to Re-clean, we continued to move stuff in.

The next morning as I am getting ready and digging through boxes on the kitchen counter trying to find stuff I notice these “Black Specks” are moving somewhat,They are everywhere…on the counters, in the cabinets, on the stovetop…EVERYWHERE  totally freaked out I call our boss and explain to him what I have found. He allows me to call an exterminator and for us to stay at the Hampton Inn until this is taken care of.

The bug guy came out fairly quickly and treated the house..assuring me that I may see more movement from our “Black Specks” but they should start to die off after 24 hours…NOT THE CASE! 3 more times the bug guy is out, and we have been off and on at the Hampton in town after working 7am to 10pm, then having to drive almost 20 minutes to get to the hotel and to get something to eat.

After finally looking deeper into the situation, the bug guy informs us that these “Black Specs” are actually the owners of the trailer house…the inside of the walls were infested with them and it would take tearing down walls and such to eliminate them. Well needless to say we were not going to continue to room with them, so back to the Hampton AGAIN that night and the next day Jim and Collin drove to South Dakota to go pick up our camper.

Cassie and I stayed and ran the store for the day. It was a long day for Jim and Collin because they drove all the way to South Dakota, picked up the camper, and then turned right back around and headed back for Wyoming. About 10 hours + of driving. Very excited to see them and to have a clean bug free place to stay we waited for them till that night.

Getting everything that had been in the house cleaned and sanitized and moved back into the camper was quite a process, but very well worth it in the end. So for the next few weeks we ran the store and endlessly stocked the shelves to get ready for the 4th of July. We hired 3 extra people to help out over the forth of July, I had never noticed before just how popular fireworks were.

The owner was hoping that the store would make at least $200,000 for that year. The store made that and then some in the 7 weeks we were there, he was excited as were we, our cut was 15%. So we nested about $30,000 for that job.

As we were going through the 4th of July time there the owner had called and told us there was some major issues with the manager couple he had in place at the cabin resort in South Dakota, and that he had a couple that could take over the Wyoming location and asked if we would consider coming back to South Dakota and managing the resort….We accepted, so once again packed up and were back off to South Dakota.

 When we arrived there it was instant learning…learning….learning. We needed to learn the reservations system, the ordering of supplies, the digital soap system for the washers, the nightly reports, the pricing of stuff in the store…..the list was endless. We had an apartment that was above the store, it was designed like the cabins and very nice. Everything was provided, furniture, flat screen .TV’s, dishwasher, deck, grill. You name it we were very comfortable. Not to mention that all utilities were paid, plus we had a decent wage. FINALLY…things were starting to look up.

Everything was pretty easy to learn for us since Jim and I had both been in management before, and from when Jim owned his own Motel. The cabin rentals were similar to the motel lifestyle and so was the job description ( Cleaning chemical orders, laundry, maintenance, room checks after cleaning was done by the housekeepers, and so on). Well after getting settled in and comfortable with our job…reality seemed to set in.

We had to open the office at 7 am, as we offered a continental breakfast to our guests, and responsible for the clean up afterwards, along with checking guests out from the night before, ringing up purchases from the gift shop, ringing up purchases from the separate jewelry counter, answering the phone, PLUS…getting started on home schooling, and that was just the start of the day. We had to keep the office open until 10 PM at night, or later if we had late reservations coming in, plus answer the phone and the night bell throughout the night. REMEMBER….It was just the two of us. (Jim and I)

We did this for 3 1/2 months, 16 hrs a day +, 7 days a week. The owner for some crazy reason felt we both needed to be there at all times, even though we had an assistant manager there that was more than capable of running the place while we were gone for a few hours….but we continued to be prisoners of the job and there always!

 

Every time we would try to mention some time off to our boss he would say ” well, once you get through the rest of this time, you get 5 months off. Most people would love to only work 7 months a year” Now this being true…7 months a year to only have to work with a guaranteed job when you came back from your time off is very rare, but another rare thing is having the time to watch your kids grow up and spend time with them, have dinner together, and go out and have fun…we were not doing any of this.

 There were times, even when I would think really hard about it that I cannot remember what the kids did to entertain themselves outside of the home schooling homework. We never had time to do anything, and by the time it was time to lock up the office at night, we were totally exhausted, and had to be up a few short hours later.

 Finally after a long thought process about the pros and cons of the job we decided that when the season was over we would not be returning. We would keep our stuff in storage and continue our winter plans to go to Texas. So our boss was told we would not be returning, the camper was packed, and we were ready for some much needed relaxation and time together. So back on the road to Texas.

~Gourmet Gypsy A.K.A. Tanya

So the Experience Begins...Apr. 2009

So….We took our first job;at a resort in Custer, South Dakota. Huge campground, swimming pool, game room, a cabin for our housing, and a manager position for us. Sounds like the perfect job, right? NOT. As we were taken on a tour of the place before accepting this position, we were shown some of the better cabins; they needed some work, but not too bad. We also met a few of the employees already working at the resort; they seemed like nice people- a little shady, but hey; they were able bodies and friendly to the public. What they did on their time was their business.

 As Jim and I were shown to the cabin that we were going to be living in, we were told at  the door that there had been a skunk that had gotten under the cabin and sprayed and that the house hadn’t been cleaned a whole lot, so there may still be some smell. HA! What an understatement; as the door was opened we were almost laid out flat by the smell of skunk as we stood in the house thinking “Okay….This is our house now, this is the decision we made, so try to make the best of it.”

Little did we know that this was only the start of things. We worked for days on the cabin, ripping out the carpet, painting the walls, painting the floor with "Kilz" to try to get rid of the skunk smell, taking bucket after bucket of dirt out from the crawl space, boiling White Distilled Vinegar on the stove to try to get rid of the smell of the skunk, only to walk in every day to a cabin that still smelled like skunk. Our stuff was still in storage and we were still living in a camper in April with snow on the ground.

We were starting to get concerned about the choice we had made. The next day we were suppose to start our new job, learn the reservation system, and the running of things, and the opening of the property since it had been closed all winter. Once again, it was a nightmare.


The desk help, that I once thought was normal, ended up being a complete whack job, treating me like I was the desk help, telling me how things would be done, what she would be doing, and so on-forgetting somewhere through this that Jim and I were going to be her bosses. We were then asked to go out and help with the opening of the cabins that had been closed all winter, washing laundry, and turning on the main water lines. This, too, was a nightmare. The cabins we opened were the ones  we had not seen, and they were old, ran-down, and very overpriced for what you were getting-they were downright nasty to be honest.

We would finish washing the laundry and it would be all spotted and rusty from the water; we were told that that was how they were going to be put back on the beds because the owner refused to use iron out,( would have made them white and presentable). When water mains were being turned on, toilet tanks were busting from the pressure, sinks weren’t working, and water pipes underground were breaking. Plus, it was snowing to beat crazy through all of this, as we were still being forced to live in our camper, since the skunk had claimed the cabin before us.

That night, as Jim and I sat in the camper with our pop-out bed now in and put away because of the snow, the table now down into a bed for us to sleep on , two heaters plus our furnace running, and two kids sleeping, we thought, “What did we do?” Almost positive that things weren’t going to get any better, we decided that the next morning we would go into town, where we had a strong phone signal, and make a call to another job we had turned down to see if they could still use us. ,So the next day we got up and all went into town,  we stopped for some much needed coffee (caffeine and warmth) and made the call.

There was some work that needed to be done at the new job, and were more than happy to take whatever it was. That night, we did something we never would have thought of doing: we packed up in the cold and snow at three in the morning, hooked up and left, promising to move forward and to never look back. We stopped at a truck stop to sleep for the next few hours in the cold and in our camper until it was light enough to see, and then continued driving to our next new job. I think most people would have called it all a learning experience and tried to go back to their comfy life from before….We may have been down, but we were not defeated.
~Gourmet Gypsy, A.K.A. Tanya

About Us: How it all Started...Apr. 2009

We are a fulltime family on the road to the unknown! Everyday is an adventure. We left our home in South Dakota in April of 2009. We had what most consider "The Normal” lifestyle. Jim working at Fed-Ex Ground and myself having my own daycare, both Cassie and Collin going to Public School, the house, the truck...even the dog.

 We tried to go camping every possible second we could, as soon as Friday would come around, Jim was home from work, kids home from school and the Daycare would close for the weekend, we were out the door for some much needed (Every weekend) relaxation. We have always had a passion for the outdoors, and at the time the Black Hills were our backyard, so we loved every minute of it. But as all good things must come to an end, Every Sunday afternoon was the low point of the weekend, knowing we had to pack up to go back to the same mundane Monday of work and life.

Living in South Dakota, the weather is crazy. We were camping for the weekend, packed up to go home Sunday afternoon in 80 degree weather, and were snowed in for 3 days from that evening. Jim could not go to work, the kids were out of school and the daycare was closed, due to the large amounts of snow.

 We sat with nothing to do and income dwindling away day by day. Jim decided to check out a few things he had heard about online (workcamping). We thought there has got to be more to life than "THIS". He sat on the computer and typed in "Jobs for couples" and our whole world changed. It was then time to start some serious planning and decision making.

Sooo...notices were given, things were sold, and a storage shed was filled. We were off to the unknown, and more than welcome to accept the changes to come!!!

~Gourmet Gypsy, A.K.A. Tanya