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. 

Shopping Assistance

One of the perks of our new job is that we get to meet some interesting business owners and get the inside scoop (hmmm, which reminds me that we haven't met any ice cream makers yet) on what they are doing, so I thought I'd share. All these businesses have online stores, so feel free to do some shopping.

We spent an afternoon at Zena Suri Alpacas where we got to hang out with the Alpacas as well as the owner, Kathleen. They have beautiful Alpaca yarn for sale as well as other Alpaca items, including Alpaca socks, which Kathleen says are the best. We may give the socks a try and see if her claims measure up. Click here for their site.


You'd think I'd know better than to let Chris go to a pecan business by himself, but in the end, I can hardly complain. After a trip to Miller Pecan he came home with a square of maple pecan fudge (holy cow, it was good) as well as as couple different types of their flavored pecans. The company is only about three years old and is run by brothers Justin and Jared. Most of their business is online but they do have a retail store. Ironically, many of their non-pecan items like jams and Amish noodles were from Ohio. If you need some pecans for yourself or as a gift, we highly recommend them (get some fudge too). Click here.

If you're into leather (and I know you are), then you'll want to know about Ethos Custom Brands. Wow. We met Chad Little, the owner/president. An extremely interesting man with a passion for what he's doing and a vision for expanding to include a music venue and large retail store in little ol' Sallisaw, OK. The guitar straps were so beautiful, I was tempted to get a guitar just to have a strap. Be sure to check out their Celtic designs too in guitar straps and cuffs. Oh...and the boots. Some were a little flashy for me, but still beautiful craftsmanship. Go get your credit card and then click here.

Food Porn

We haven't been doing much that's particularly exciting, but we do eat. There seems to be a trend involving a lot of bread.

 This is the Cranky Turkey sandwich from Chickanella's in Grove, OK. Pretty tasty. Turkey, cranberry sauce, raisins and walnuts. Those bagged veggie fries weren't much of a treat.

 We like to find community events to attend so we went to the Sallisaw, OK Fish Fry. The fish was nice and fresh and there were cupcakes.

The Rib Room in Ft. Smith, AR 

This was an excellent and reasonably priced lunch. Chris had BBQ Bologna and ribs (we shared the ribs). I had the chicken quarter and slaw. Despite looking like Shane N Bake, the chicken was also very good. We'd go back there for sure. 

For my birthday, KC sent a gift certificate for Burga Box. We were very excited when our treats arrived. This is the Green Monstah...burger, cheddar jack cheese, guac and pico de gallo. The guac and pico de gallo were particularly fresh and delicious. 

Also from Burga Box, the All American (this is the low carb version). Cheddar cheese, bacon, blue cheese dressing and bbq sauce. WOW!Thanks, KC!

Ch-ch-changes

What's new with us?


Well, we've quit our jobs as utility surveyors and have started a new job with Southeast Publications.
That's a big change.

There are a number of reasons why we left our job with the utility survey company and there's no point in rehashing all of that. Our last day with them was a week ago and we've had no regrets.
Since no one has called to beg us to return, apparently the feeling is mutual.

Our job with Southeast Publications will be very different from anything we've done so far and we're excited and a little nervous, as most people are with new situations. Of course, we seem to have a high tolerance for change and plunge forward feeling pretty confident.

Southeast Publications provides guides/maps for campgrounds and our job is to sell ads that will appear in the guides. We'll be moving much more frequently....every two weeks...moving from campground to campground to do our jobs. We'll be in charge of our own time and decide where we're going---two things which are very important to us.

We have our route planned out for the next few months. We'll be moving fewer miles between stops. Currently we're in Grove, OK which is in the NE corner of OK and we'll be here for two weeks. Our campground is on Grand Lake and has a nice view. It also has decent wifi, something we've missed for the last couple months.

From here, we'll be going to Sallisaw, OK/Ft. Smith, AR, then northern Alabama for Southeast Publications' annual meeting After that we'll work our way through Tennessee, Kentucky and on to Ohio probably in late April, then up into Michigan where we'll spend most of the summer.

We're excited to see where this new adventure leads.

2016 Wrap Up

We've been in Oklahoma City about a month. Chris has been here many times during his time driving bus and the two of us spent a week here together a few years ago and there's not a whole lot that we're eager to explore in the area. That, plus the work conditions are strange and the weather hasn't been great (though a few days have been nice) have caused us to ask to be moved. We're still waiting for an answer on that. Fingers crossed.

Although we are currently less than enthusiastic about our location, looking back on 2016 has given us reason to be grateful.

Here are some of the highlights (and a couple low lights).

We've spent at least one night in 12 different states. 2016 seemed to be the year of the casino since we spent four months staying in casino campgrounds (one in MN and one in ND) as well as one night stops at casinos in North Carolina, MN, and South Dakota. We didn't do a lot of gambling, but all in all, we probably came out slightly ahead.

Improvements to the Motor Home:

• a second new TV (yes, that's a lot of TVs for a small space, but now we can lay in bed and watch too)
•  new furniture
•  a magnashield screen for the windshield (it keeps the heat out and also provides privacy even when the curtains are open
•  a new mattress
•  new tires (a hefty but necessary expense)
•  tire covers (to protect the tires from sun and heat damage while we are sitting in one location)
•  new shower head (ahhh, so much better after a long day)
•  a wifi ranger to extend the wifi and strengthen the signal we get (we're still undecided about whether it's been worthwhile, but over time, I'm sure it will be)
• heated hose so our water doesn't freeze in cold weather
• a couple of vintage print curtains 
  

Highlights from our travels

• The Badlands
• Devil's Tower
• FDR's Little White House
• Wall Drug
• Corn Palace
• Ft. Bragg Infantry Museum
• Fagan Flyers Museum
• Mt. Rushmore
• Crazy Horse
• Winnebago Factory
• RV Hall of Fame
• Pipestone National Monument
• Split Rock Lighthouse

Unique Experiences

• Attended a Wacipi (PowWow) at the Upper Sioux Community in MN
• Escape Room in Sioux Falls, SD
• Visiting Duluth to see our favorite scientist and get a tour of her research vessel
• Jolly Green Giant Statue (and other giant sized statues throughout MN including an otter, coffee cup, loon and walleye)
• Eating waffles in an airplane hangar 
• Watching the sugar beet harvest (and having our own sugar beet, Sherm, for a few days)
• Seeing eagles and coyotes in the wild
• Experiencing 70+ mph winds while in our MH
• Chris got to put on a haz-mat suit and go into a chicken farm to survey their gas meter (remember, this is unique experiences, not highlights. LOL)
• Watching the sunrise and sunset over Devil's Lake, ND
• On our tour of the Winnebago factory someone asked the tour guide the difference between Winnebago and Itasca (also made by the same company). The guide held up both hands with one slightly higher than the other and said "Itasca used to be up here and Winnebago was down here." Then he lowered his upper hand and said "but now Itasca has come down a bit and they are about the same." We've been cracking up over that for months. 
• There actually are places in North Dakota with no cell service. 

Food highlights

Best meals---Ruth's Chris, Cherokee, NC

                     The Empire at 138, Tiffin, OH

                      

Best Pizza----Pies and Thighs, Columbus, GA

Best BBQ---The Whistling Pig, Pine Mountain, GA

Best dessert---South Dakota State University Ice Cream

                       Chocolate cake at Mad Mary's, Flandreau, SD

                       Betty's Pies, near Split Rock Lighthouse, MN

                       Pie and apple crisp I made with apples from my friend in ND

Food lowlights

"Shrimp burgers" that we both assumed would be like a shrimp po' boy but turned out to be shrimp that was compressed into a patty and then deep fried into oblivion. 

Most all restaurant food in MN (the shrimp burgers were in MN too). We took a month off from eating out, in part to save money and eat better, but also because we had so many bad experiences. The best place we found to eat in MN was at a Hy-Vee Grocery store. 

The applesauce bread I made and forgot to put the baking soda in. Who knew that it was so important? I ended up with four mini loaves with a hard crust and wall-paper paste like interior. They were thrown away.

Vehicle Highs and Lows

We bought a used truck with the intention of switching to a 5th wheel and also so that if we had two vehicles we could get paid twice as much for mileage when we worked. We thought we'd found a good deal, but a month after our purchase, the engine blew up. We had to sell the truck for salvage and used that money to buy a small car so we have a second one for work. The blown up truck engine and the significant financial setback it caused was the low point of the year. 

Unique Camping Experiences

• Getting our own mailbox in Fergus Falls, MN
• Spending the night in a rest area in Iowa and using the free wifi to stream movies. We were in a narrow space, so kept our slides in. It was an adventure.  
• The steam shower in Pine Mountain, GA
• Visiting Tom and Joni in WV
• Spending a night in a parking lot at ONU (thanks, Pat!)

Favorite Photos

 

Thanks for taking this stroll through 2016 with us. We really have had some adventures. Let's see what 2017 brings! 

Wishing you all peace, love and adventures in 2017. 

P.S. I'm not sure why some of the photos are giant sized. Sorry. 

                       

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas from Oklahoma City. 

Random Photos

The photos I promised last time arrived in my inbox after we left Whopper Wifi and haven't been hooked up to wifi long term since then. But, today we celebrate Veteran's Day with a morning of Wifi at Hardee's. If you follow me on Instagram, you've probably seen all of these, but isn't it fun to have them all in one place? The yummy dutch apple pie (my first) that I made from the apples we got from the nice man in Cavalier, ND. 

Sunrise over Devil's Lake. One of the highlights of being in this location is crossing over the lake every morning and afternoon. 

Honest to goodness, when I first saw this sign, I thought it was a hair salon...but if you look closer you'll see two brooms. It's curling, that weird olympic sport that fascinates and confuses us every four years. 

A fat prairie dog (different in appearance at least from his cousins down in the Badlands) from Sully's National Wildlife Preserve. 

View of Devil's Lake from Sully's. 

Bison (pronounced locally as bizzon) at Sully's. There was one right next to the road, but Chris wouldn't stop to let me take its picture. Probably wise, but as an intrepid blogger with at least ten subscribers, I felt obligated to try to get the shot. 

Another sunrise over Devil's Lake. Look at the colors on the water. Beautiful. 

Wild Turkeys in a convenience store parking lot. Do you suppose they stopped by for some turkey jerky? 

This is Sherm the Sugar Beet. The apple is there for perspective. We found Sherm in a field and brought him home. Imagine a parade of semi trucks loaded down with beets like Sherm and even bigger. And the parade lasts for a couple weeks. The next time you scoop up a cup of the white crystals for your cookies and cakes, you can thank Sherm. 

After a tough day of waiting for us to come home, Dooley is relaxing on Chris's lap (and getting dog hair on the afghan I made.)

We've thoroughly enjoyed our time in Devil's Lake. The weather has been unusually warm and sunny, particularly since we're only about 100 miles south of Canada. 

We'll be done here and on our way in about a week. Next stop...Oklahoma City. It was a bit of a surprise to us, but it should be interesting. The plan, as of now, is for us to be there about a month and then move further south after the first of the year. 

Rumor has it, they have wifi in Oklahoma City, so we're pretty excited about that.