Wekiva Falls RV Resort and New Smyrna

I will have to be honest when I say that I was a little leery about pulling into this camp ground. 835 RV sites. That is by far the largest RV resort that we have ever been to. I thought it was going to be loud with people running and driving all over the place. A free for all kind of place. But I will say that I was wrong.

There is a sulphur spring in the middle of the campground which they have turned into a pretty nice swimming hole. You do get the smell of sulphur when the wind is from the right direction. It is a good thing we spent the summer in Yellowstone because we have gotten used to the smell. Actually if you are sly enough you can get away with ripping one every once in awhile. Lisa told me that.

100 yds further downstream it joins the Wekiva River.

The spring flowing out. Too shallow for manatees.

Swimming area

We are in the yellow area of the resort. On this side of the resort are the premium sites. Boy are we glad that we splurged for one of those. They are about 75-80 feet long and about 30 feet wide. We go for our morning walks to the otherside. They would be okay but they are quite a bit smaller in size and it is more crowded.

Our site

Premium sites along the main road.

Down at this end they have a Tiki Bar that they open for the weekend.

Tiki Bar

There is also a nice camp store that sells everything from beer, camp supplies, ice cream and beer. Since it is a RV resort, there are other activities planned throughout the week. Bingo, breakfasts, hamburgers and hotdogs Friday night, pickleball lessons, pickle ball court and shuffleboard, several laundry facilities pool and of course the swimming area. All-in-all it would be a nice place to spend the winter. We are only here for a month so that we can enjoy other areas of Florida.

Wednesday found us heading to the beach. Not Daytona though. We went to New Smyrna. Lisa and I have and argument on how it is pronounced. I like New Ssshhhmearna versus her New Smirna. You can drive on the beach for a small fee which is so worth it. That way you don't have to schlep your chairs, umbrella and cooler miles to the beach all the while listening to your spouse say"Gosh it is hot! Can you hold my stuff too?" The water was a little cool, 65 degrees. But then it is January.

It was not that busy today so we had plenty of beach of our own.

This beach is on the Atlantic side. So we sunned, waded and walked the beach for awhile. Then we drove to both ends as far as they would let you drive.

Lil' Blue playing in the sand.

At the far northern end there was a natural area in the dunes. We walked that a little bit and found some tortoises living amongst the dunes.

Not sure what light house this is.

That is it for today. The weather has been very nice. We think we will stay awhile.

Foxy Knoxy-ville

We left the bitter cold temperatures behind us and headed to Campbellsville KY. to pick up our fifthwheel. We left it there because the owners were nice enough not to charge us and also we didn't want to drag it all the way up to Minnesota and then turn around and then drive it to Florida. We got in early enough to de-winterize it. The temps weren't too bad. In the 50's so we didn't have to worry about frozen water lines and sewer lines. The warm weather brought some pretty strong winds causing us to stay in C-ville  for an added day.(That's what they call it. There is also E-town. They shorten it when the name is too long. E-town is Elizabethtown.)

We left C-ville and made the short drive to Knoxville TN. We pulled into the KOA and figured that a KOA would be pretty nice. After all they have a reputation. This one was not. The sites where narrow, muddy. and over priced. Our awning would have touched our neighbor if we would have put it out. So we only paid for 2 days and then went on a campground recon mission. We checked out the Good Sam park, Escapees and a Passport America park. The Escapees was the best and it was eleven dollars a night cheaper. You don't have to be a member to stay here so we packed up and moved. In summer you have to have a reservation because they fill up. So if you are a snowbird passing through this area, skip the KOA and go 5 miles farther south to the Raccoon Valley Escapees park.

KOA

Escapees

We are in the area for 6 days for an appointment to get our sewer valves replaced. So what to do, what to do? There are a few sights to see. So the first thing we did was to go to Dandridge, TN to the Bush's Baked Beans factory. They have a nice small museum that relates the history of the Bush family. There are no factory tours but they have a very informative film that shows you the whole process. It is a highly automated and modern factory for being family owned. What stuck out for me is that they have a machine that will label bean cans at a rate of 1000 per minute. Amazing that there is that many cans of beans being consumed. Stop by if you are in this area. The price is right. It was free.

This might be our Christmas card

They also have a scale that will tell you how much you weigh in beans.

I don't know what I weigh in gold but my worth in beans is 195,072.

113,664 for Lisa. I have more worth, finally.

On the way back to Knoxville we drove by Douglas Lake created by Douglas Dam. Like Lake Mead out in Nevada, the water is very low. It looks like it is 30-50 feet below the high water mark. Signs of the ongoing drought.

Knoxville was the host to a World's Fair back in 1982. So we drove downtown to the World's Fair park. Lisa was pretty impressed by the Sunsphere. (I wonder why?)

Sunsphere from the 1982 World's Fair

Inside the sphere

You can go inside it for a nice panoramic view of Knoxville. That is also free. Also downtown is the Market District. A revitalized area with many restaurants and stores.

The day finally came to get our sewer valves replaced. Let me tell you that that is not an easy job on this particular model. The technician was pretty frustrated by the end of the day. So much so that he never had time to finish it. So we will be here another day. 

While we were gone today, we drove to Gatlinburg TN. Unfortunately there were just too many tourists so we turned around and drove back to Knoxville. We couldn't get to our rig yet so we found a park with ducks and geese in it. Once you start feeding one, the word spreads fast. Soon there are waterfowl everywhere.

Duck and goose party

It was getting late in the afternoon so we drove back to where the RV was getting worked on.  Lisa found a friend.

So hopefully it will be fixed in the morning and then we will start to head to Florida and the warmth and also the sun. We have not seen the sun in over a week now.

Uff Da!!! It is Cold Outside.

As I write this, it is -17 degrees Fahrenheit (-27 Celsius) with a whopping high of -9 F. (-22 C.). That is f@#$ing cold by any means. I saw a picture of some college kids in Alaska in their underpants standing next to a temperature sign that said -45 F. I can understand that being Alaska and everything, but this is the lower 48.

The interesting thing about this part of the country is it's geography. There is the Red River that flows north all the way to Hudson Bay. So Arctic air just settles into the Red River valley and can linger for days at a time. The people that settled this area were very hardy folks. Mostly Scandinavian coming from very cold parts of the world. You can probably tell from our accents that we come from this area, dontcha know. They found that the farmland was nearly the best in the world and so that is why they stayed.

My truck is a diesel so it always needs to be plugged in or else you are not going anywhere. Auto starts are worth their weight in gold up here. If you fuel up your truck you have to make sure you have a winter blend, otherwise it will gel up and not run. They use a blend of 50% #1 and 50% #2. Plus, I add a fuel supplement just in case. Too go any where you have to start the truck 15-20 minutes ahead of time. Hopefully the day before you left the heater on high. You get in and the seats are frozen. I can't grab and hold onto the steering wheel without gloves on. Once you start to roll down the street the shocks are so stiff they don't do anything. You can't go over 40 mph because the transmission fluid is so thick. You have to drive it a little to get it to warm up.

I am surprised that there aren't more auto thefts here. Everywhere you go, people leave their cars running. Nobody shuts them off. It is against the law to leave your keys in your car but apparently it isn't enforced here in the winter. Maybe the punishment for stealing someones car doubles in the winter.

We dress in many, many layers to keep warm. Sometimes that doesn't even help. Then when you step into a store , you are sweating because it is so hot.

There are winter activities you can enjoy here. Don't get me wrong. I used to have snowmobiles, ATV's, snow skis, warm winter clothing and have even done some ice fishing. So there are opportunities to get out and enjoy the cold if a person wanted too. But we got rid of all of that to pursue this lifestyle. I enjoyed snowmobiling so much one time that I frostbit my cheek. Not severe enough to wreck my well chiselled features, just enough that when I put my hand on it to warm it. It was frozen solid. It was weird feeling that and knowing it could have been worse.

So this goes on and on for 3-4 months at a time. At least it is too cold to snow. Yes, that does happen here. So if anyone wonders why we really are not fond of the snow and cold, that is part of it. I could go on about what it does to you mentally, ( Lisa is really crabby!) but I don't want to be long winded. If you ask us if we like the snow, please don't feel offended if we blurt out some obscenities before we catch ourselves and politely say "No".

Our new friend is called alcohol. It is also called anti-freeze up here. So stay frosty my friends. We start heading south in a few days.

And Yet Another Year End Review

This post is not mandatory for ya'll to read (Still talking Kentuckian). There will not be a test at the end of it. It is really for me because as I sit here and think about the last year, I feel that it has gone by too fast and I feel like we haven't really done a whole lot of stuff that we feel is exciting. Some people may look at Facebook as a nuisance. The younger generation may even look at it like MySpace. Old technology and what not. I think it is perfect for what we do and it is a great record of what has gone on in our lives over the last year and longer. I also think that it is the best way to keep track of all of the people we have met since taking this little journey. To reconnect with friends since so many of us are all nomads. So without further adue:

January-One year ago found us back in Minnesota for Christmas. Spending time with family. Our travels take us away from family and to get back and spend some quality time with our family is special. We have said that when we had a house there, we didn't spend a lot of time with family and friends. Now when we come back we know that time is short and the time we do spend with people is better. We also purchased Lil Blue.

Lil' Blue

We then headed back to Kentucky, picked up our fifth wheel and went south to the gulf to find warmer weather. We stopped in the Waveland Mississippi area. In Pass Christian actually. I really like this area. Hit hard by Katrina and never has it fully recovered. The beaches are beautiful and it gives me the opportunity to do some metal detecting. I don't get rich by any means but it is relaxing and there is always the chance to score big. Like finding a quarter.

Palm trees in Pass Christian

After a few days there we started making our way out west to meet up with friends in Quartzsite AZ. But before that we stopped for a few days in San Antonio. I have always wanted to see the Alamo. The history is amazing.

TheAlamo

February-We made it to Quartzsite to meet up with our friends Jim and Barb. We spent the month boondocking in the Sonoran desert with them and other people we met. We explored the area in our Jeeps, did some geocaching and hiking. We even day tripped to Alagadonas Mexico.

Quartzsite AZ.

Jim, Barb and Lisa geo-caching

March-We left our friends and parted ways and we then headed to Las Vegas. It has been many years since we have been there and since we were close we wanted to visit. We camped in Las Vegas at Sam's Town which was cheap and entertaining. Vegas however was not what we remembered, so after a few days we left.

Las Vegas strip

As luck would have it we met up with Jim and Barb outside of Las Vegas in the Lake Mead area. They were boondocking out by the lake so we found them and spent a couple more magical days with them. Steve and Joan were working in the Lake Mead area so we also did some things with them. We Jeeped, hiked and played some cards.

Lake Mead with Jim and Barb

Barb declaring her love for Tater Tots

Jeeping with Steve, Joan, Jim and Barb

We again parted ways. Jim and Barb were headed to Alaska for the summer. We moved down around the lake farther.

Stewart's landing on Lake Meade

April to May-We headed over to Moab Utah because we were working a camp host job. We did this one last year and liked the campground and the people. We love the Moab area. It is one of our favorites. If you have never been there, you need to go. You will be amazed.

Snow in the La Salle mountains

Lisa 1500 feet above the valley floor

Island in the Sky

June to July-We did our little 2 month stint and started to make our way North to Yellowstone. We stopped in Grand Junction Colorado for a few days. Exploring wineries and we climbed to the top of Mt. Garfield. Very strenuous but worth it.

Mt. Garfield summit

We got a job in Yellowstone working as cashiers in a gift store. We were excited to do this because it was something new for us and a place that we would like to really explore. We were going to be there for 3 months. This place is amazing and we feel so lucky to be able to have lived inside a national park for 3 months. We got to explore the park much more thoroughly than most people ever get to. Once again our friends Jim and Barb were able to meet us in the park after their Alaska trip. (Either we are stalking them or they are stalking us.)

Yellowstone General Store, Tower Fall

Yellowstone's Grand Canyon

Grand Tetons

Grand Prismatic

We have so many pictures that it is hard to choose. July found us trading in the fifthwheel that we had started this journey with for a newer one. One that was of better quality. We had a 2011 Aztec made by Gulfstream for a 2014 Cardinal made by Forest River.

Old

New

September-We went from Yellowstone back to Minnesota. We moochdocked in Lisa's mother's driveway.

Moochdocking in Fergus Falls, MN.

Enjoyed more quality time with friends and family before moving on to Kentucky for our next gig at Amazon.

October to December- We travelled to Kentucky to work for Amazon again. We really wanted to explore Kentucky this time around. Which we did. Kentucky really  is a beautiful state.

Patton Museum

Cumberland Gap

Natural Bridge, KY.

Lil' Blue

So that is our little tale for the year. We put on many miles and visited many areas of the country. According to Facebook I got 51 new friends. That is one over my limit so I am sorry for one of you. (JK). Next year is really up in the air for us because we have no plans past March. Where will we go and what will we do. Only time will tell. Until the next time, Be Safe and Be Happy. When I was younger there was a TV show called "Hill Street Blues" and one of the lines I liked from that show was "Do it to them before they do it to you."

Till our paths cross again.

Lessons Learned on our Second Trip Down the River

The only lesson learned is that this J-O-B sucks. It sucks with a giant moist slurping sound. I don't want to elaborate anymore than I already have because everything I mentioned in previous blogs still holds true. That would be beating a dead stick with a horse. It's a love hate relationship. We love to hate it.

I am terrible with names. So I have given so many people here nicknames that only we know. (Affectionately) Such as:
Pockets, Bubba (there are quite a few Bubbas), Gangsta couple, Bitch Face, The Twins, Speedy (he actually likes that one), Spandex Granny, The Tool, The Lemon Ballers, Doofus, Bozo, Jabba the Hut, Nasty Hat and The Genie. Also there are just too many that are just called Dumb Ass. (Affectionately)

I will miss how much this company cares about our well being. They do, they offer free bottled water all day to stay hydrated. In fact there is a pee chart in every bathroom so that you can verify the color of your urine to the chart to see how hydrated you are. It's easier for men than women I assume.

We have learned that we are not big fans of camping in cold weather. No matter how well these things are built, they just are not made for it. Our water hose froze once because we worked a ten hour shift when it was below freezing. Just too long of time to not have water flowing through it and I had even wrapped pipe insulation around it. The sewer lines froze due to the fact that one of our tank valves doesn't work, leaving liquid in the pipe. It's a good thing that propane is cheap here because we are burning through a lot of it. Still can't get toasty warm though.

On a positive note. We will be leaving here with our Bonus's. Both of us. A dollar an hour for every hour worked. Cha-ching!

As you read this we will be traveling north to the frozen tundra. So, for all of you sitting on a beach reading this, I hope your little umbrella drink tips over.

It's Peak Season.........Or Not

We are still here in Kentucky working our J-O-B.

They call this time of year Peak season because of all the holiday shopping. That is why they hire all of us work campers and also all of the temps. They also schedule mandatory over time of 50-60 hours a week. They tell us that from Thanksgiving to Christmas* no one can take any vacation time. We must all be here as many hours as possible to full fill all of the Christmas* wishes. We were here last year for peak and this year it has a totally different feel.

For example, they are offering VOT (voluntary time off). Unheard off during a peak season. Example number two. They are starting to cancel the mandatory overtime. Again unheard of during past peak seasons. Example number three. They are asking workampers to voluntarily leave early and keep our bonus Unbelievable.

Rumors are running rampant. It appears that other fulfilment centers are taking our volume of orders. So we are just left twiddling our thumbs.

So here we sit.










*Yes I said Christmas because I am a Christian. Sorry if this offends anyone.