Conversation

Not much to talk about today, but I don’t like to go too many days without posting to our blog.

I sure do like being here in Highway Springs Campground because we have much better reception on our cell phones and on the aircard.  This morning I actually had three bars on the aircard!!! Boy, is that enjoyable. All the websites download so much faster. I told Jim after the two weeks is up to complete the renovations on Park Creek, we may just decide to stay here and not move back there!!!

The view is very nice here also.  Here is a photo of my breakfast yesterday and the view I had sitting outside to enjoy it.

This last winter many of our friends were stopping off at Elk’s Lodge Campgrounds at low costs. Jim use to be an Elk, so when we got back to Alamosa Jim got reinstated into his lodge. Subsequently I ordered the four volume complete set of Elkdom Travel Guides and they arrived yesterday.

Jim and I had fun perusing the different guides to see which of their campgrounds would fit into the routes we plan to take this fall.  We were happy to find we’ll be able to use several of them in our travels. We found that there was a really nice one in Rapid City, SD where we will be going in September to become legal residents of that state.  They even have a full service restaurant at the campground.

Today we are meeting with camphosts from another district who want to work during the winter and we are going to talk to them about working at amazon.com    We are looking forward to going to Campbellsville, Kentucky, this year to work.  There they went from having 50 workampers last year to employing 600 workampers this year in just the Kentucky location alone! They are employing 400-500 workampers in Kansas and 100 in Fernley, NV also.

Oh, what’s a workamper you ask? It’s a trademarked word by Workampers News, which is a magazine put out every two months, describing folks who live in their RV and work on the road. The magazine lists work available by state. But we all use the word as a generic description of what we do.  Otherwise, we are called seasonal camp workers by amazon.com

Jim and I are looking forward to seeing returning co-workers who are going to work in Kentucky this year.  We sure will miss our dear friends, Bill and Lesle, who will be returning to Coffeyville, Kansas. But there will be 8 couples we know going to Kentucky, so we have a built-in social network already.

The Campbellsville, KY area will provide us with new sightseeing opportunities with Bowling Green, Louisville, Lexington and Nashville all within easy driving distances.  There is a Bourbon Trail I want to do going to eight bourbon distilleries and Jim wants to do the Barbecue Trail, as you all know how Jim likes to bbq.

I’ve begun to do exercises daily to strengthen my core and upper back muscles as those are the ones we use the most at amazon.com.  Too bad there isn’t any exercise to get in shape for being on our feet 10-12 hours a day without sitting down, except for breaks and lunch.  I am walking, but not for any length of time.

Yesterday I received an email from the campground we will be staying at in Campbellsville giving us our site number. Sure is nice that amazon.com pays for our full hookup campsites besides giving us $10.50 per hour for working nights.  We can bank quite a bit of money that carries us through the winter months of traveling. 

There’s a lot of talk going on the Workerampers News discussion forum about amazon.com requiring proof of education – high school diploma or transcript. With us older workers who have been out of high school for some 50 years, and being fulltime RVers, trying to FIND your diploma can be a challenge.  But it is a requirement of all amazon.com employees, so we have to comply. 

Amazon.com really likes having us “seasonal camp workers” because of our old-fashioned work ethics…we come to work every day, we don’t steal, we’re not on drugs…well, not on THOSE kind of drugs anyway…and we give them a honest day’s worth of work.  Their productive rate increase with us there. So it is a win-win situation for all concerned. Each year they have expanded the program and increased the number of us that they employ. We’re hoping they will put the seasonal camp workers in the Goodyear, Arizona, sometime because of the winter weather. 

Well, Jim is off to “swishing toilets” and I am going to do some paperwork, so we’re off for today.  I’ll take some photos of this campground today and post them tomorrow, so come on back and check them out.

Remember, you are loved.