Planning Our First Real Road Trip

We began our full-time RV adventure back in April by picking up our RV at the dealership and staying three nights at the Sycamore Lodge Resort in Jackson Springs, NC in order to settle in and get used to living in our new home,  But when it came to traveling up north to Marblehead, Ohio, we simply drove straight there, stopping overnight along the way just to break up the driving into two days.  But in anticipating our journey back down to NC for our next workamping job at the Lake Norman Motorcoach Resort, we wanted to actually stop and see some sights along the way.  Our love of travel is what prompted our workamping adventure in the first place.  It was time to start planning our first real road trip.

Our travels between NC and OH had traditionally taken us down I-77, so instead of using this familiar route, we decided to traverse I-75 instead.  Having grown up in Cleveland, I had never even been to Cincinnati, and since my niece, Karla is in school there, that seemed like the perfect place to start.

We'll actually make our first stop en route to Cincy in Wapakoneta, OH, to visit the childhood home of Neil Armstrong and the Armstrong Air and Space Center there.  We had passed it on the way to my cousin's wedding in Dayton, but didn't have the time to stop then.  But this is our new life.  We have time to stop.  The center opens at 10AM, and it will take roughly 2 hours to get there from Marblehead, so we'll plan to be on the road before 8.

And following the visit there, we'll drive down to Cincinnati, and the East Fork State Park, slightly SE of the city.  It looks like a nice campground.  We had planned to make reservations for a site with full hook-ups, but found out that this advance reservation would cost us an additional $8.25.  Since we'll be arriving mid-week during a non-peak travel season, we decided to take our chances and just show up.  If all they have are electric-only sites, we'll get along just fine.

Thursday, we plan to spend the day with my niece, Karla, who is a nursing student at the University of Cincinnati.  She doesn't have classes that day, and expects to be able to spend the whole day with us.  We don't want to spend a lot of money, so we've been doing research on the internet to find out cheap and free things to do, like spend time at the Findlay Market, and just walk along the river.  Karla said she'll give us a tour of the campus as well.  And, of course, we'll have to try some famous Cincinnati chili.  Skyline.  Or Blue Ash.  Maybe both!

We plan to leave Cincy on Friday morning and drive toward Lexington, KY.  We thought maybe we'd tour the Toyota factory there, with its test track.  And perhaps tour a bourbon distillery and visit a horse farm.  Then we're planning on dry-camping bivouac style at exit 77 off of I-75 in Kentucky.  This stop was recommended by my cousin.  I'll let you know how it goes.

Next, we're planning to see some sights in and around Knoxville, TN.  There's an Appalachian museum just north of Knoxville that we're hoping to visit.  And then we're planning to camp in or near Gatlinburg, just inside the Great Smokey Mountains National Park.  We expect the beauty of this area to be well worth a stay of a couple of days.

Finally, we plan to drive through Asheville on our final leg to Sherrills Ford, North Carolina, on the West side of Lake Norman.  We might stop in Asheville for lunch, but since we'll be living a mere hour and a half away, we didn't think we needed to spend much time there for now.  There will be plenty of opportunities to visit over the next couple of years.

So on this, our first real road trip pulling our RV, we thought it best to plan, but not over-plan the journey.  We've been doing our research regarding travel routes and things to see and do, but didn't want to try to schedule every minute of every day, leaving much to play by ear.  Our experience has taught us that, even in this information age in which we live, you often don't find out about the coolest places or choicest gems till you happen upon them, or hear of such from locals or fellow-travelers.  We're looking very much forward to this little vacation and journey to our next locale.  Stay tuned for the details....

Things About Full-Time RVing that We Didn't Expect

We're four months into this venture, so I thought this would be a good time to present a few things about full-time RVing that we didn't expect.  Some good things.  Some not so good things.  Nothing terrible, just surprising in some way.

First of all, one of the main things about full-time RVing that we didn't expect is just how much we would absolutely LOVE it.  Having never spent so much as even one night in an RV in our lives, we were guessing/hoping we would enjoy it.  But, truth be told, we absolutely LOVE it.  We both love the simplistic life we now live.  We love having very little in the way our household responsibilities -- no lawn to mow, no mortgage or utility bills to pay, no big house to clean (it takes me only 1 1/2 hours to clean my entire home, top to bottom, including windows!).   We love having fewer things, and more time to enjoy the things we do have, such as the very nice features which came in our very new RV, including our multi-media entertainment system and inordinately comfortable leather LazyBoy recliners.  We actually really enjoy living in our close quarters.

Secondly, we have loved the huge amounts of time we've spent outdoors, which has more to do with the fact that we're in the comfortable summer-on-Lake Erie climate than simply RVing.  I had fond memories of wonderful summers growing up in Cleveland, but having not lived in this region for 29 years, I had forgotten just how delightful the weather could be this time of year.  I have made a point of praising God for this amazing weather every single day that we've been up here.  Even John has had to admit how stunning the weather has been the past 3 months.

But before it got warm and beautiful, we had some very chilly nights and mornings, which gave us a chance to marvel at another aspect of our RV -- the amount of heat that our little electric fireplace kicks out!  We were a bit curious as to whether or not we would enjoy this not-so-usual feature of our particular RV, but I can honestly say that we've loved it as well.  We'll be especially thankful for it whenever we're in a colder climate.

But some of the other aspects regarding the weather have surprised us as well.  Like how much the RV shakes in a strong wind.  And how noisy it is when it is hailing  (we had 2 hailstorms early in our season here, and we could barely hear ourselves talk!  It was LOUD!).

And speaking of noise, another of the things about full-time RVing we didn't expect, at least in our particular camper, is how noisy the air conditioner is when it's running.  Thankfully we haven't needed it very often this summer, but when we do have it on, we have to turn up the music or TV several levels to hear it over the noise.  In the future, we'll definitely research this aspect of any RV purchase more adequately.

And speaking of noises, we've heard many, many more sirens this summer than we ever would have expected up in this quiet little town of Marblehead, Ohio.  To tell the truth, I think they've mostly been firetrucks, rather than police cars.  Just yesterday we heard quite a few firetrucks screaming past us, in the direction of Bay Point.  I have no idea what was going on.   Department of Homeland Security Border Patrol agents have also provided their share of screaming sensory input.

And I would be remiss if I failed to mention another surprise -- skunks!  I can honestly say that I think I've smelled more skunks during the summer up here than in all the combined past years of my life.  Or at least in the past 20 or 30 years.  I haven't seen very many -- just smelled them.  And we smell them all.the.time.  Sometimes a couple times a day.  We drove home from south of Cleveland one day and smelled five!  I'm not complaining.  Just saying.  It has definitely surprised us.

But we've also been delighted to see bald eagles!  Four times so far this summer!  Having never seen a bald eagle in the wild before coming up to Marblehead, such sightings will never grow old!

And finally, though we expected to enjoy our days off together, we didn't really appreciate how wonderful these times would be until we started doing things together on those days off.  Things like walking, biking, and kayaking.  Things like exploring this wonderful region and learning about its history and some of the famous people who have called this area home (people like Thomas Edison and Rutherford B Hayes).  Things like going into Cleveland and spending time with my Mom, helping her in the yard, etc.  And, of course, Cedar Point.  I used to measure my summers by the number of times I got to go to Cedar Point.  By that standard, my five visits make this the best.summer.ever!

Counting our Blessings -- The Summer in Numbers

Thinking back on all the things John and I have done since coming to Marblehead, it seemed best to try to portray the summer in numbers.  I'm sure I'm forgetting a few things, but here's our summer in a nutshell:

-- 5 months in Marblehead, 4 swim cards purchased (10 swims each = 40 swims in Danbury HS pool for Gayle), 3 Historic sites (Edison birthplace, Rutherford B Hayes Presidential Center, and Johnson's Island Confederate Cemetery),  2 Festivals (Marblehead Summerfest and Halupki Festival), and 1 fishing trip (Thank you, Marc Cassaro!)

-- 5 trips to Cedar Point, 4 Wineries (Firelands, Hermes, Heineman's and Chateau Tebeau), 3 Kayak trips, 2 Islands (South Bass and Kelley's), and 1 lighthouse (Marblehead).

-- 5 visits by my Mom, 4 parties, 3 birthdays, 2 overnight visits from Sean, and a 1 month stay by Jake while he worked here.

-- Then there were the 10+ live music shows, 4 Bald Eagle sightings, 1 wedding, several visits with good friends, lots of good food, innumerable walks, runs (John),  and bike rides, uncountable acquaintances, unquantifiable fun with Lisa and Carlton, Kevin and Ginny, Barb and Dennis, Marcie and Marc and many other family members, and immeasurable enjoyment.  All thanks to our all-knowing, omnipresent, infinitely merciful and gracious God.  To Him be all the glory!

Securing the Next Workamping Job

In mid-July, as our wonderful summer season at Surf seemed to be racing toward its end, we decided we needed to begin diligently working on our next task -- securing the next workamping job.

We were thankful to have a few options available to us.  We had originally agreed to stay at our first job, Surf Motel and Campground, until mid-October.  But in a conversation early in the season with our employers, they informed us that we really wouldn't be needed much after Labor Day.  That fact changed things quite a bit.

One job which we had heard about, and for which we even took part in a Workamper News Webinar,  was working the sugar beet harvest in the Red River Valley, up along the border of North Dakota and Minnesota.  Having never been in this area of the country, and learning of the money we could make in just a short period of time prompted us to apply, and subsequently get hired, for these positions.  We even started planning our departure and week-long trip up there, hoping to see as much along the way as we could.

But this job would have only been for about 3 weeks in October, and we began looking at securing the next workamping job beyond that time.  With two of our sons in college in North Carolina, our heart's desire was to find a position somewhere in the middle of that state, between Chapel Hill and Charlotte where the two boys were in school.   As had been our experience in looking for work in one specific location, namely NW Ohio, we didn't see anything pop up for the Fall/Winter season in NC.  So I got on the www.visitnc.com website and began looking for campgrounds between Chapel Hill and Charlotte, and I contacted each one, sending an e-mail and resume as I had when we were looking for work in Marblehead.  But the typical response was that NC campgrounds don't hire extra workers in the off-season, because there isn't enough business to warrant doing so.

And then we saw a job pop up on the workampernews.com Jobs Hotline.   Full-Time managers wanted for the Lake Norman Motorcoach Resort in Sherrills Ford, NC.  We applied right away, and heard from the owner, Jim soon after that, letting us know that he'd love to have us join him as "volunteer" workampers -- receiving only our site and hook-ups as compensation.  We politely told him that we were only interested in the full-time paid position which we had seen advertised.  Well, squeezing a long story into a pea pod, he ended up hiring us for the job!  Jim believes, and we are confident, that we'll be  well-suited for this position.  Once again, we give God the glory and are so thankful that He found an ideal place for us to be -- about 40 minutes from Sean, and roughly 2 hrs from Jake.  God is so good!

Jim wanted us to come down the Lake Norman as early as mid-August.  We had committed to our present employers, Mark and Julie, that we'd stay through Labor Day.  If it meant costing us this new job, so be it -- we weren't going to renege on our promise to them.   But when Jim called us to offer the job, his question was "How soon after Labor Day could we be there?"

"Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding.  In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will direct your paths." (Prov 3 :5-6)

This verse has meant a lot to John and me during our entire marriage, but especially during this past year as we've made so many big life changes and embarked on this Workamping venture.  And as we see His hand guiding and directing our own paths, and the paths of our sons, so clearly, our faith has been strengthened all the more.  Our first summer as workampers has been filled with innumerable blessings, and we look forward to seeing what He has in store for us in the future!  Sherrills Ford, here we come!

Working at Surf

I can't even begin to express our thanks to the Lord for bringing us up to Marblehead, Ohio right on the shore of Lake Erie, to work for Mark and Julie Walker in our first "workamping" jobs, at Surf Motel and Campground.  We're glad to be up here for many, many reasons.

First of all, we love Mark and Julie.  What wonderful people they are to work for!  Actually, we really feel more that we're working with them rather than for them.  They have several other campgrounds in the area, but had purchased Surf only recently, back in the Fall.  A big part of the work we've been doing is to help them clean-up and transform this place from something good into something fabulous.

Part of their purchase includes what formerly had been a bait and tackle shop.  In the Spring we transformed this store into the "Surf House of Jerks," which is more of a gourmet snacks (including exotic jerky -- hence the name) and gift shop kind of place.  We even brought a bit of our former life up here in the form of offering iced and frozen lattes through CrimsonCup coffee , our former roasters/suppliers down in Columbus, OH!  We've truly enjoyed delighting customers with delicious drinks all summer long!  For our first "workamping" jobs, we sure are having fun, working at Surf!

One of the things we like best is all the great people we come into contact with every day, including some of the folks we work with, like our fellow workampers,Craig and Penny Sweeney.   They're both really hard-working people who make Surf a better place.  I'm really going to miss Penny's sarcasm and zany sense of humor!  And their adorable puppy, Yoder!

But while it's been fun getting to know Mark and Julie and Craig and Penny and working at Surf with them, John and I have really enjoyed working together, in an environment less stressful than we'd experienced the past couple of years running the coffeeshop together.  And our time off has actually been spent together!  This concept was almost unheard of before, but is a common occurrence up here.  God is so good, and we are grateful!

Another great aspect of being up here working at Surf is the varied and frequent contact that we've had with members of my family.  This is actually the main reason we sought to come to Marblehead in the first place, as my sister, Lisa, and two cousins own property up here, and it's less than an hour and a half's drive from my mom.  I'm very thankful that I've had a lot of nice visits with both cousins and my sister so far, and have entertained my Mom and her friend Trudy here for dinner, as well as having the opportunity to spend Easter and Mother's Day with my Mom and the rest of the family in Cleveland.  Our son Sean even came by for a couple of overnight visits, and our middle son Jake actually spent an entire month up here working for Julie and Mark and their family!  We are very grateful to them for allowing him this opportunity!

On our days off,  John and I have gone for walks, ridden our bikes, kayaked, and just enjoyed being together.  We ventured into Cleveland several times to help Mom with yard work.  While we had some cold and wet weather early on in the season, this summer's weather has been every bit as delightful as I'd hoped it would be -- sunny, breezy (but not too windy), usually in the 70's.  I sit out at the picnic table as I write this, thoroughly enjoying another fabulous day.

Oh, and did I mention the view from our deck?  Lake Erie is just across the road, and we enjoy watching the Kelly's Island Ferry come and go, as well as seeing the various wildlife.  We even saw a bald eagle last week, flying right over us in the campground!  This was the first time I'd ever seen a bald eagle in the wild, and it surely made my day!  We believe there's actually a nest in some trees just behind our campground, so you can be sure I'll be watching for them (and reporting right here!) all summer long!

We Have Our First Workamping Jobs!

There are lots of resources available to Workampers.  If you're considering embarking on a workamping lifestyle, I highly recommend that you subscribe to Workamper News (www.workamper.com) for lots of valuable information, including daily "Hot Jobs" postings sent directly to your own e-mail address.  It really gives you a good idea of the possibilities that exist out there.

But as valuable as this resource has been for us, and as many RV parks list job openings in this venue, it has it limitations, the most poignant of which is that there are many, many more RV Parks and Campgrounds and job opportunities that do not list with Workamper News than ones that do.

For a variety of reasons, we had decided to try to secure workamping jobs in NW Ohio, somewhere near Marblehead, for the first summer.  My sister had recently purchased a cottage in Marblehead, and it's only 75 minutes from my Mom in the Cleveland area, and 25 minutes from Cedar Point, the best amusement park in the world!  But while we didn't see many Ohio jobs listed with Workamper News, we literally saw none in the NW Ohio area.  So, we took the advice of Howard and Linda Payne of RV-Dreams.com and started contacting campgrounds directly.

Using the Ohio Campground Association website, we found two in the area we were interested in, and sent them both e-mails with our resume attached.  It didn't take long to get a response from Julie Walker of camplakeerie.com.  Julie and her husband Mark had recently purchased a new facility -- Surf Motel and Campground --http://surfmotelandcampground.com -- right in Marblehead!  Once again, God has answered our prayers far beyond what we had hoped or even asked for!  He is so good!

So we began our summer jobs on April 15th.  The campground opened for the season on May1st, and we spent many hours preparing the motel/campground/house for the summer season.  Since then, Gayle has been minding the store, "Surf House of Jerks," checking customers in and out, and spending lots of time on the phone taking reservations.  John's primary responsibility has been lawn maintenance and light repairs.

We're winding down our season here at Surf Motel and Campground, and we hope to return to Surf sometime in the future.  We've been told that we would be welcomed back!  For now, however, we have our sights set on returning to North Carolina and our new jobs at the Lake Norman Motorcoach Resort.

On the Road

                                                     

At last!  It was time to pick up our RV from Camptown RV in Clayton NC (they've recently moved to Benson NC) and to finally start living on the road as full-time RVers.  We had "won" a temporary membership to Travel Resorts of America, and decided to take advantage of a free three-night stay at their beautiful Sycamore Lodge campground in Jackson Springs, NC.  This turned out to be a great decision, as it enabled us to settle into our new home and start getting used to the way everything worked in an environment where we found LOTS of helpful people ready to assist and offer advice.

We haven't been RVers very long, but already we've sensed a community of experienced travelers who are willing to help one another out.  Most people we've met are extraordinarily friendly.  One kind gentleman even helped John "dump" for the first time, showing him how to hook up the hoses to flush out our black water and gray water tanks.  We learned quickly that he needed tougher gloves than the flimsy disposable ones we had bought, and he thankfully avoided a surprise bath from the gray water tank!  We were rapidly learning some very important lessons!

On  the road from NC to OH, we decided to stop mid-route and try bivouac camping along the way.  We found the book, The Next Exit, to be inordinately helpful en route, as this valuable resource informs drivers what amenities are available at each exit on America's Interstates, including what businesses (most frequently WalMart, Cracker Barrel, and some truck stops) that are willing to  allow RVers to "camp out" overnight in their parking lots.  Very helpful information indeed.  We stayed in a parking lot behind a Cracker Barrel near Parkersburg, WV, checking with the manager to be certain that it was OK to do so.  We showed our appreciation by enjoying both dinner and breakfast at their hospitable establishment.

Pulling a fifth-wheel camper for the first time was interesting, to say the least!  Every bump in the road seemed to be magnified a hundred fold!  Unfamiliar jerks, creaks, and tugs made us a little uneasy at times.  Not to mention what a strange feeling it was to be pulling our very home down the road behind us!  Would everything go all right?  Would we have any problems along the way?  We had prayed long and hard for this day, and we trusted the Lord's will to be done as we traveled along.  And we thank Him for the safe, uneventful trip we had on the road to Ohio.  The weather was fabulous, and again, we give God thanks and all the glory for His kind mercies.

Driving along the narrow roads in Marblehead, OH, we wondered more than a couple of times whether the electric wires hanging over the road were high enough for our RV to clear them.  Once again, we're thankful that we had no problems.  And once we pulled into the Surf Campground, we immediately saw owner Julie Walker walk our of the store/office to meet us.  But this is fodder for the next post:)

Purging!

I knew from the very beginning  of this Full-Time RVing decision that the hardest part would be purging and getting rid of all the stuff.  STUFF!  We had so much stuff! I had so much stuff in the walk-in attic that I couldn't even walk into the attic.  The upstairs rooms were full of stuff --boys' stuff, memorable stuff, family stuff -- clothes, shoes, pictures, stuff!  Stuff nobody was using.  Furniture that had been my parents' in the fifties, bedroom furniture that we had purchased as newlyweds, stuff, stuff, and more stuff!  The closets in every room were packed full of stuff that nobody needed or used anymore.  I can blame my family heritage and claim that I came from a family of "savers," because you just didn't know when you might need something.  But the truth is, I had been lazy to get rid of the things over the years that we didn't need -- that someone else might have need of.  I was a sinful hoarder -- sinful not only because we didn't need the things I tenaciously held onto -- but because I was also unsubmissive to my husband, who often reminded me that we didn't need half the things I was holding onto.  How does such a person begin this "purging" process?  By the grace of God alone.

Six months later, I was still purging and getting rid of "stuff!"  I would be delighted if I could claim this page as "confessions of a former hoarder," but alas, some sins are hard to part with!  I still love my stuff!  But I love it less than I used to.  I'm beginning to love -- yes, LOVE -- the freedom that comes with owning LESS.  Having fewer things to fret about and take care of!  Once we actually started living in the RV, we found reasons and ways to rid ourselves of even more stuff, and I'm loving more and more the freedom that comes with owning less and less.  While the hardest part may have been purging, the greatest blessing may come from the purging!  Sweet irony!

Transition to Full-Time RVing

In a transition to full-time RVing and Workamping from a "normal" life (whatever that is), we've found that it's important to be flexible.  We had no idea how long it would take to sell our house, but we had several plans ready just in case.  Our son was able to graduate early, but didn't necessarily have to.  We are very thankful that our friends Deborah and Peter in Rocky Mount had graciously offered us their garage-attached apartment as a place to stay when we needed one.  We surely don't know what we would have done without them!  I'm thankful for Jacquelyn, Brook and Vickie at the Harrison Family YMCA for being infinitely flexible when it came to my unpredictable plans!  And we're thankful that we all had a place to stay with my Mom in Cleveland while we waited to start our first workamping job.  In fact, spending time with her and helping her through the Cleveland winter was a big part of why we chose this path in the first place.

Change takes both time and open minds, especially when the change involves something as major as a transition to full-time RVing.  We found that to plan is certainly a good thing, but to maintain some degree of flexibility in one's plans is vitally important.  When we had started planning all of this -- in July -- we had hoped to have our house on the market within a couple of months.  It took us till the middle of November to have it ready!  But that was all in God's perfect timing, because it sold in 54 hours!  We give Him all the glory, and will be ever thankful for this great blessing.

We're also thankful to have been gifted a lifetime membership to Workamper News as a very valuable tool in readying ourselves to this new nomadic lifestyle.  What about taxes?  Where will we get our mail?  Is it worth it to store furniture, or just get rid of it all?  What items will we really need after all?  Will there be room in the RV for my full-sized electronic keyboard?  Indeed, some questions can't be adequately answered until you've actually taken the plunge and begun living in an RV.  We brought many things with us that we're deciding we really don't need.  Some websites, like Workamper News, are very helpful, but some questions we've just had to answer ourselves.  Yes, there's room for the piano, and it stays!

How We Came to the Full-Time RVing Decision

Twelve years in business, an ever-declining economy, working longer and longer hours just to pay the bills -- this didn't seem to us to be what God had intended for us in our business.  We loved our coffeeshop -- the one God had ordained for us to own in Rocky Mount, NC -- but from the time of the first news of the bank failures in Sept '08 -- and subsequent economic decline -- we had a feeling that our business was in its declension period.   And over the following 5 years, that's exactly what we saw.  John started looking for work -- and even had a couple of jobs -- so that we could continue to put bread on the table and -- you guessed it -- pay the bills.  Then Gayle was blessed to have work at the YMCA (work which she loved, by the way), but it was ultimately so that they could continue to -- you guessed it -- pay the bills.  Which we did -- and we're thankful for that.  But the time we spent together was less and less, and all our time seemed to be working toward one purpose -- to pay the bills.

God is good, and has always provided for us.  But it seemed that we were missing so much more of life.  Life with one another as a married couple. Life with our boys, who were growing up and out of the house too fast. Life in general (when was the last time we took a vacation?).  It was time for some real changes.

The coffee business is what we knew -- it had been our business for nearly 12 years.  So we thought, "Let's have a mobile coffee truck or trailer, so that we can go where the business is, and live out of an RV, and see the country."  This seemed like a good idea, until we started researching this idea, and found that it would be far more trouble than we were willing to commit to in this stage of our lives.  I give credit to my cousin-in-law, Barb, who had recently spent 3 years full-time RVing.  She asked, "Have you ever heard of 'Workapming'?" Of course we hadn't, but Barb sent us some links to workamping websites, and we immediately changed our course of action (Thank you, Barb!).  Our course was set for full-time RVing!

These revelations and conversations took place in July 2013, when we decided that we would "go for it," and set our minds and plans toward Full-Time RVing, to work seasonal jobs as "workampers" while we travel about the country.