TEXAS ROADRUNNER

We were bored this afternoon so we decided to take a ride on some of the back roads recommended by the "Texas Hill Country" post on Facebook. West on Hwy 39 along the Guadalupe River. Hwy 187 to Vanderpool and then 337 to Medina. This is some great scenery. Beautiful Hill Country. On the 337 stretch, this guy (really, his look alike) ran across the highway right in front of us. This was the first time we had seen a Roadrunner.




Another stop we made was west of Ingram, on the grounds of
the Hill Country Arts Foundation. Located here is a replica of
"Stonehenge" and Easter Island heads.

According to RoadsideAmerica.com, Stonehenge II is an art project of Al Shepperd and his friend and neighbor Doug Hill. "Shepperd bankrolled Hill to construct plaster and graphite-covered metal mesh and steel frameworks, replicating the mysterious stones of England. The finished product is 90% as wide as the original, and 60% the height".


Just an interesting attraction in the area and we didn't
want to leave the area and miss this one.


While we were there we weren't alone. We were accompanied by a group of "Harley" riders. Most of the time however, there is no one around. You must do a self tour.
                                                                                                 
We enjoyed our day and drove a hundred miles. Lots of hills (mini mountains) and deep valleys. Very scenic. There are several big game ranches where you pay to hunt. We did see several different animals there. Also, all throughout this area, are group camps and resorts. It really is a tourist area. RV Parks are "RV RESORTS".

Full Time RV Friends

Christa


                               Mike




Mike and Christa are from Wichita, KS. We met at Johnson Creek RV Resort and when we decided to leave, they came with us to Triple T Resort. They offered their support and friendship when we were deciding what to do about resigning at Johnson Creek. They are great friends and we have enjoyed them immensely. Christa is a retired Postmaster and Mike owns an Excavating Company. We have done a lot together and "Happy Hour" is at our place or theirs almost every evening. They are also primarily responsible for our Sophie Rose, from San Antonio. Mike and Christa have accepted a workamper position for this summer in Buena Vista, CO. We are planning to stay in touch and hopefully meet again next fall.

Beth




                        Lee







Beth and Lee are also friends we met at JCRV. They wanted to move and came out here to check it out. They liked what they saw and moved here right after we did. They have a dog named "Obie" who is Sophie's best friend and playmate. Beth recently took Sharon a ride in her convertible on one of our warm January days. Lee is retired from the U.S. Army and Beth from the USDA. They have accepted a workamper position at a Bed & Breakfast in Keystone, S.D. near Mount Rushmore for summer 2012. Yesterday, they went to Corpus Christi to check out the facilities for RV's at a military base there. They also plan on returning to TX next fall.

Jim & Joanne
(Cody on Joanne's lap, Brandy on Jim's lap)


Jim & Joanne are from upstate New York and have been full time RVer's for five years. They have had several workamper jobs and their first one was in Alaska. Joanne is a workamper at Johnson Creek RV Resort. We were next door neighbors there.
Jim is battling liver cancer. He is a tough guy and never complains. Joanne is a breast cancer survivor. We have stayed in touch and they come here for visits. They are very loving people and we wish them the best.

Of course, we have met lots of other RVers. Just last night a couple from San Angelo, TX stopped overnite on there way home from McAllen. They stopped to visit and went back to their coach and returned with a dozen grapefruit. Pat, a full timer at this park, had a triple bypass in San Antonio, Tuesday of this week. He will return to his RV to recuperate.  Lee watched his dog while his wife and daughter went to the hospital for his surgery.

Christa was gone for a week to Fl, to visit her 90 year old mother. Beth and Sharon fixed meals for Mike while she was gone. It seems that is how it works. You meet people, make friends, and help each other with whatever the crisis or inconvenience might be. Of course, we are relatively new at this but we are enjoying it and the people we are meeting from every part of the country. RVers are mostly very good people. BEWARE though, most do carry. Don't plan on taking advantage of them.

Thanks to all of these guys for being such great people and sharing their stories and the lifestyle with us. They have made it a fun first season as "Winter Texans". We look forward to doing this for a while and meeting a lot more great people.

"HITCH ITCH" COMING SOON

                                                           

                                                         ON THE ROAD AGAIN??
                                                      This is a "Hill Country" Highway
It has been almost four months since we left Missouri. We have started looking at the calendar and are thinking ahead to make plans for returning. Friends and family are asking what our plans are for this spring.

OK! Here is a "TENTATIVE" Schedule of our plan for this spring and summer. I know it is early, but for those of you who are interested, this is it.

March 26------Depart Kerrville, Texas

March 28------Arrive Marshfield, MO (Brenda & Paul's)

April 02--------Depart Marshfield and Arrive, Lake Village, Paris, MO

**Plans are to use Paris as a base. We will visit Mark, Kevin, & David and other family and friends during April and May. If you have events during that time, we will make an effort to attend. Please let us know so we can get things on the calendar.

April 16, 17, 25 Doctor Appointments in Columbia

May 25-28----The Landing ??

June 04--------Depart Missouri  for Alaska

June 22--------Meet @ Dawson Creek, BC (Mile "0" Alaskan Hwy)

June  23-------Depart Dawson Creek (Begin 50 day adventure)

Aug 10--------Arrive Prince George, BC (End 50 day adventure)

Aug 11--------Depart Prince George, BC for Missouri

Aug 19--------Arrive Lee's Summit (David & Georgia's) **** Very Tentative Date
                    We will be staying with David's boys for a few days, at some point toward the end of Aug or
                    first part of September****Exact date To Be Determined

Aug 25??-----Arrive at Lake Village, Paris                                                                                         Again, we will use Paris as a base. We will travel from there to visit Kevin, Mark, & David,                                         & other family & friends.
-
Sept-------Doctor Appointments (Exact Dates To Be Determined)

****------DATE YET TO BE DETERMINED-- We will probably head for southern Texas sometime during the fall of 2012. At this time, we are thinking Mission, TX but no specific plans have been made.

PLEASE REALIZE, MOST OF THIS IS FLEXIBLE, EXCEPT THE ALASKA TRIP
JUNE 22 THROUGH AUGUST 10.

WORKAMPER DISAPPOINTMENTS

Workamper jobs are much like any other. You may like your boss, you may NOT. You make like the people you work with, you may NOT. The work may be what you anticipated, it may NOT. Even doing all the research does not assure you of a great experience.

On her "Work for RVers and Campers" blog, Coleen Sykora, recently featured letters from RVers who were disappointed with their workamper poitions. I am going to copy them for those of you who may want to consider workamping.

Job Ended Before It Started (a work camper writes...) We arrived as agreed for our summer position. After we had been here four days, the owner met with us. His office manager had been training us. He said he was separating from his wife and moving into the park; he could not afford to pay us. He would give us our first month pay, which is $200.00 short of our travel cost. We can stay about another week, but today, he gave my husband the money in cash. I want to talk to him and let him know our travel costs are not covered and ask why he could not have made this decision, before I drove three days to get here. Any suggestions? Coleen, the RVing editor replies:  I so, so, hope that you followed my advice and did not travel to that location solely because of a job. I trust you went to that area because you want to be there.  So, on the bright side.... You are in an area where you want to spend time. You've worked four days and been paid for a month. You have a place to stay -- at no cost to you -- for another week while you scout the area for another position.  It is typically much easier to find work after you are already on location, or at least in the general area. Campgrounds and other businesses are hiring now for the season. Take a few hours time to study the articles on Work-for-RVers-and-Campers.com to get some ideas for finding jobs locally. Put those tips into action and you will come out of this ahead of the game. I wish you all the best! Workampers Are People, Too! by: Lyndsey I'm a little disappointed in Coleen's answer. Why not take the issues of CG owners disrespecting workampers? We have bills, some of us need to work for pay. What happened to honoring contracts, whether verbal or written? I think that issue needs addressed. The very same thing happened to us. We researched for a job in Wy. We are thrilled to be here and the job is great, except now the owner tells us his business is down some this year so he will not be paying us anymore! We can work for our site only. We have a contract with this owner. We did our homework, asked for a contract, and have been excellent employees. We budgeted to break even when we took this job; now we will operate at a loss. Coleen, the RVing editor replies:  Lyndsey, I'm sorry to hear that your experience isn't working out the way you planned. Thanks for sharing your story. Coming from you, a campground worker, it will probably have more impact than it does coming from me. Your story reinforces what we try to explain to RVers -- that no amount of research and no contract is going to assure you that a job you accept from across the country is going to turn out like you imagine it will.  Are you planning on taking action to enforce your contract? Our First Workamping Experience: (LonSharon) We had a contract dating March 2011 for a workamp job in which we would receive a free full hookup site. We drove from central Missouri to south central Texas in mid October for the job which we had looked forward to with much anticipation. We felt tense in the situation from the very beginning. We had four work schedules in two months. Then, after ending up with six workampers for a fifty site park, the owners had the manager ask all the workampers if they would volunteer to leave. "Business is down and we need someone to leave". No one volunteered to leave. Then, the manager is sent to tell us, you will have to pay a reduced rent and work a reduced schedule. Fair?? Maybe, maybe not! Certainly not what the "contract" called for. Our response was, No we don't have to accept this deal. We will move on. I agree with Coleen. You shouldn't travel to an area of the country just for the workamper job. If it doesn't work out at least you need to be somewhere you want to be. You can look for another job. As we have all learned, "Life is not fair". Campground owners, like workampers, are not all reliable and do not always honor the contract. It appears to me these contracts are not really worth very much. I doubt that retired workampers are going to want to go through the expense and stress of going to court to see if they can enforce the contract. I don't know if any of this will help any of my followers. If it does, it will be worth the time it has taken me to post it. If not, I needed something to do anyway on this cool, wet Texas Hill Country evening. Good Night! Lon

Day Trip to San Antonio Riverwalk

We got up this morning planning a trip to San Antonio to an RV Show. However, our neighbor that we were going with got up sick this morning.

He came over and told us he wasn't going to be able to go but we could go on ourselves. We talked about it a while and decided it was such a nice day we would just go to the Riverwalk.

At left and below are pictures of the Riverwalk that I took today. It was a beautiful day, in the low 70's and sunny. There definitely is a lot of traffic but a

 neighbor at Johnson Creek RV Park had given me directions on how he goes. My "Garmin" did not like the way we went but I just paid no attention to her. I guess she would have gotten me there "her way", but it didn't suit Lon!

There are lots of shops, restaurants, and hotels along the Riverwalk. The water seemed pretty murky. They usually drain the water this week in January. This year, they are not draining it. The powers that be think it can wait another year.

Just a couple blocks away is the Alamo. Not at all  like what I envisioned as a kid.

                                                                     THE ALAMO

We took "Sophie" our new puppy. The Riverwalk is pet friendly and several of the restaurant greeters out in front tried to get us to eat there saying, "Dogs are welcome". However, we didn't see but one other dog and it belonged to someone who lived in the area.  We had a good time and got back home in time for "Happy Hour". Sophie is finally taking a nap.