Lessons to Learn and Re-Learn

When it feels like you're trying too hard to make something happen, maybe it's time to just hold still and see what shows up. 

That's the lesson I have to learn and re-learn.

Without going into a lot of minutia, we have found ourselves at loose ends for a few weeks. We have campgrounds to work for Southeast Publications but they won't really be ready for us to be there until June or after.

We decided to spend a couple weeks at the Kentucky Horse Park to get caught up on work and decide what we're going to do. Earlier this week Chris spent several hours trying to figure out where we could go to find a job to work, even if it wasn't profitable, we'd at least have free camping. We requested information from the office, but got no response.

Should we call? Should we send an email with the red ! of high priority? Plus, every mile we drive costs us money, so if we have to drive 300 miles for free camping, is it worth it?

We decided to just let it be and see what happened.

On Thursday morning, Ryan, the campground manager came knocking on our door looking for someone who could drive a large Motor Home like ours. A couple had arrived at the campground (which is part of a very large complex which includes a race track, but more on that in another post.) gotten lost and then the husband had to be taken to the hospital before they got their MH parked, so it was sort of abandoned on one of the roads here at the Kentucky Horse Park.

Chris, being the awesome man he is, helped out and got the MH where it needed to be.

Ryan was so impressed with Chris's awesomeness and good attitude, he offered him a position as a camp host here at the campground and is fine with only a month long commitment (most places want you to commit for at least 3 months, preferably longer).

When Chris asked Ryan why he'd come to our site he said, "I had already stopped at several other campsites, you were the first one who actually opened the door."

Not only does that solve our problem of where to go, but we get to stay at a place we really like. And, there's a big event coming up this weekend---The Rolex Kentucky Three Day Event.

P.S. Residents of the Buckeye State---we'll be there a little later than we had thought, though we might make a 2-3 day visit between now and then. And of course, you're always welcome to visit us here.

Wise Buys----Meet Richard

I thought I'd write a few posts about things we've purchased that have turned out to be well worth the money.

First up----Richard the Motion Detecting Light

One dark and stormy night, our friend Richard nearly took a header when he missed one of the steps going out our Motor Home. 

The next day, we purchased this motion sensor light at Lowe's or Home Depot for about $15 and dubbed it Richard in honor of the man who showed us how desperately we needed it. 

Now, we are not prone to naming appliances or other items, but somehow the name Richard has stuck so that we have conversations like:

"Hey, did you remember to remove Richard?" (Because we don't want Richard to come loose and fly off while we are driving down the road)

 "Looks like Richard needs new batteries." 

"I can't find Richard, do you know where he is?" 

For being good at doing what he's supposed to do, reasonably priced and providing a touch of humor, Richard is a Wise Buy. 

Update

Greetings from Lexington, Kentucky. We're currently at the Kentucky Horse Park, which is a very nice state park with lots of grass (which is nice and green due to rain and warm temps) and large sites.

I have had many ideas for blog posts but then I don't write them, so instead of some fancy theme, I'm going to just do my best to give you some updates on what we've been up to since my last post.

New jobs with Southeast Publications---going okay. Not great, but challenging. The jury is still out on whether this is a keeper. The good things are that it allows us complete freedom over our time and location. The down side is that the availability of profitable places to work makes starting out a little rough financially. And then there is the sales aspect which can be brutal at times.

We attended the national sales meeting for the company at Guntersville State Park in Guntersville, AL, which was a very nice state park. The meetings were interesting and we learned a lot and met some nice people.

Travels---we've put in a few more miles over the last few weeks. The last post was done when we were in Sallisaw, OK, on the OK/AR border. Since then we traveled to Guntersville, AL which is in northeast AL, then up to Clinton, TN, just north of Knoxville. Now we are in Lexington, KY taking a little time off to regroup (and still need to get our taxes done).

Berea, Kentucky---on the way to Lexington, we stopped in Berea, KY, one of my favorite places. Berea is home to Berea College. Here's what Wikipedia has to say:
Founded in 1855, Berea College is distinctive among post-secondary institutions for providing free education to students and for having been the first college in the Southern United States to be coeducational and racially integrated.^[3] Berea College charges no tuition; every admitted student is provided the equivalent of a four-year, full-tuition scholarship (currently worth $97,200; $24,300 per year).^[3]

Berea offers Bachelor's degrees in 32 majors.^[3] It has a full-participation work-study program in which students are required to work at least 10 hours per week in campus and service jobs in over 130 departments. 

Students at Berea make furniture, pottery, brooms, weavings and even run a store where they sell meat and produce from their farm. The Boone Tavern is run by the college and is staffed by students and the furniture in the rooms has been made by students over the years.

As a result of all the student artisans, the town of Berea has become a mecca for artists with numerous studios ranging from glass blowing to dulcimer making around the town.

Due to limited space and the fact that our house moves and therefore isn't conducive to fragile objects, we didn't make any purchases, other than some goodies at the Farm Store and a fab lunch at the Boone Tavern.

Wishing you all a wonderful spring! More news as it happens.