After an ENTIRE day of rain yesterday and being confined to the bus, we were ready to DO something! So off we went to Tulsa, Oklahoma, just 70 miles south of us. We had a bright sunshiney day starting out and a great day in the city.
Tulsa is pretty easy to get around in. Especially with Bertha, our on board GPS. We don't know what took us so long to get around to buying one of these GPSs. We bought it in Branson on our way here and it has been great.
Since we were going to Tulsa anyway, we wanted to go to the BLM office and pick up our America The Beautiful pass(Old Age Pass) now that Terry has turned 62 years old and is elgible. We just 'told' Bertha the address and she took us right there! The ladies there were so friendly and helpful they felt like old friends by the time we left the office!
We pretty much just spent the day looking around, checking out some malls, eating, and grocery shopping.( we are VERY easily entertained!) Groceries and gas are cheaper there than in Kansas. We paid $2.29/gallon for gas and that is much lower than in Coffeyville. So, while we were there we just filled up with gas and loaded up on groceries. By the time we started for home it was well after dark and sprinkling rain. We will most likely make a few more trips to Tulsa while we are here.
Friday, October 24, 2008
Wednesday, October 22, 2008
Just hanging out in Coffeyville
Our work date got moved back due to the downturn in the economy. All the workampers due to start work 10/19/08 will now start 11/2/08. The orders for Amazon.com aren't coming in like they have in years past. They expect it to pick up soon and have assured us we will start work 11/2/08.
In the mean time we are having fun meeting folks and seeing the area. The weather has been nice so we can't complain.
A 'social' was held on Saturday and probably 75 people attended. All workampers. We are scattered in 4 different areas but managed to get together for friendship and networking. All the people already working tell us the best thing we can do while we wait to start work is to walk...A LOT. They tell us we will be better prepared for all the walking that goes with the job. So, that is what we have been doing.
We drove about 25 miles to Little House On The Prairie to a homestead where Laura Ingalls and family lived from 1869 to 1871. There we saw a log house that was a replica of the one the Ingalls lived in while here in Kansas. We also took a walk through the prairie grass to Walnut Creek that Laura mentioned in her books. It was pretty neat to walkwhere the pioneers did 150 years ago while they made their journey west. It was so quiet there we could almost feel like we were there back then. We hope to visit DeSmet, South Dakota where the Ingalls family settled in 1879 and was the inspiration for many of the books Laura Ingalls wrote.
If we hadn't accepted this workamping job we would probably never have had seen this area which is what we have found many times with other assignments. It is a pretty nifty way to see the USA.
In the mean time we are having fun meeting folks and seeing the area. The weather has been nice so we can't complain.
A 'social' was held on Saturday and probably 75 people attended. All workampers. We are scattered in 4 different areas but managed to get together for friendship and networking. All the people already working tell us the best thing we can do while we wait to start work is to walk...A LOT. They tell us we will be better prepared for all the walking that goes with the job. So, that is what we have been doing.
We drove about 25 miles to Little House On The Prairie to a homestead where Laura Ingalls and family lived from 1869 to 1871. There we saw a log house that was a replica of the one the Ingalls lived in while here in Kansas. We also took a walk through the prairie grass to Walnut Creek that Laura mentioned in her books. It was pretty neat to walkwhere the pioneers did 150 years ago while they made their journey west. It was so quiet there we could almost feel like we were there back then. We hope to visit DeSmet, South Dakota where the Ingalls family settled in 1879 and was the inspiration for many of the books Laura Ingalls wrote.
If we hadn't accepted this workamping job we would probably never have had seen this area which is what we have found many times with other assignments. It is a pretty nifty way to see the USA.
Wednesday, October 15, 2008
Coffeyville,Kansas
Well! Here we are in Coffeyvile, Kansas getting ready to start a new workamping adventure.
Coffeyville is in the southeast corner of Kansas just 5 miles north of the Oklahoma line. It has a population of 11,000 people and believe it or not some industry. It is the home of Amazon.com's largest fulfillment center in the world which is what brings us here to this little corner of the world. Other industry includes a John Deer plant, a refinery and nitrogen fertilizer plant, American Craftsman, and several others.
This little town also has a lively history, the Dalton Gang robbed the Conder bank in 1892 and the bank has been preserved and is very interesting to tour. The old jail is standing too with the dead gang members laid out on the floor! We will tour it all again on a day when we have more time.
We are actually employed by Express Professionals, a staffing agency located in Independance, Kansas. Express has hired 600 RV workampers made up mostly of retired fulltime RVers. Our campground is paid for by them and we get a salary! Cool! Express trialed a few workampers last year and were very pleased with the work ethic and have kicked it up several notches this year. We have met people here that we have run into(not literally) on the road. In fact, the people we parked next to turns out to be people who helped us put on an RV rally last Feb. in Casa Grande, AZ. We also had lunch with a couple we met while we all were helping out with the hurricaine Katrina disaster. It is so much fun running into old friends and making new ones. It will hopefully be a fun as well as a busy 9 weeks.
Today we will do more exploring and will go to a Senior Health Fair and probably get a flu shot.
Coffeyville is in the southeast corner of Kansas just 5 miles north of the Oklahoma line. It has a population of 11,000 people and believe it or not some industry. It is the home of Amazon.com's largest fulfillment center in the world which is what brings us here to this little corner of the world. Other industry includes a John Deer plant, a refinery and nitrogen fertilizer plant, American Craftsman, and several others.
This little town also has a lively history, the Dalton Gang robbed the Conder bank in 1892 and the bank has been preserved and is very interesting to tour. The old jail is standing too with the dead gang members laid out on the floor! We will tour it all again on a day when we have more time.
We are actually employed by Express Professionals, a staffing agency located in Independance, Kansas. Express has hired 600 RV workampers made up mostly of retired fulltime RVers. Our campground is paid for by them and we get a salary! Cool! Express trialed a few workampers last year and were very pleased with the work ethic and have kicked it up several notches this year. We have met people here that we have run into(not literally) on the road. In fact, the people we parked next to turns out to be people who helped us put on an RV rally last Feb. in Casa Grande, AZ. We also had lunch with a couple we met while we all were helping out with the hurricaine Katrina disaster. It is so much fun running into old friends and making new ones. It will hopefully be a fun as well as a busy 9 weeks.
Today we will do more exploring and will go to a Senior Health Fair and probably get a flu shot.
Saturday, October 11, 2008
Thursday, October 9, 2008
Calm and Serene near Branson, MO
We really are enjoying Branson after not being here for 6 years. Our site here at the SKP park, Turkey Creek Village is right on the creek and very relaxing. A nice place to return to after a day of being in town with all the excitement and chaos it provides.
We started one of our days off with breakfast at Mels Diner, home of the singing servers and it was a great time for all! For $5.99 we had a complete fresh buffet breakfast and the servers sang to us. They were very talented and friendly and we could have sat there all day. The two servers working the day we were there were Jason and Tammy who visited at each table sharing info about themselves all the while never missing a beat with getting the food delivered. As you will notice Tammy was quite pregnant (37 1/2 weeks) but it never slowed her down and she could belt out the songs. Reluctantly we gave up our table and went out to completely wear ourselves out walking and exploring.
We started one of our days off with breakfast at Mels Diner, home of the singing servers and it was a great time for all! For $5.99 we had a complete fresh buffet breakfast and the servers sang to us. They were very talented and friendly and we could have sat there all day. The two servers working the day we were there were Jason and Tammy who visited at each table sharing info about themselves all the while never missing a beat with getting the food delivered. As you will notice Tammy was quite pregnant (37 1/2 weeks) but it never slowed her down and she could belt out the songs. Reluctantly we gave up our table and went out to completely wear ourselves out walking and exploring.
Saturday, October 4, 2008
ON The Road Again!
Well! After a long dry spell we are on the road again. Yippee!
We left Indiana after going to an annual Pancake fest with our daughter and family. The bus was ready to go with the fuel tank being filled yesterday to the tune of $548.00!! We traveled 400 plus miles to Branson, Missouri. Actually we are in Hollister, MO at the Escapees RV park. Hollister is just across the lake from Branson. Within walking distance if you like walking a mile or so.
It feels like home here, just like Raccoon Valley does in Eastern Tennessee. Several people are here that we know and it is fun meeting up again with old friends. The park is pretty full but there are a few open spaces. We are parked near the creek in a very nice space. Did I mention that if feels sooooooo good to be on the road again??!!!
We left Indiana after going to an annual Pancake fest with our daughter and family. The bus was ready to go with the fuel tank being filled yesterday to the tune of $548.00!! We traveled 400 plus miles to Branson, Missouri. Actually we are in Hollister, MO at the Escapees RV park. Hollister is just across the lake from Branson. Within walking distance if you like walking a mile or so.
It feels like home here, just like Raccoon Valley does in Eastern Tennessee. Several people are here that we know and it is fun meeting up again with old friends. The park is pretty full but there are a few open spaces. We are parked near the creek in a very nice space. Did I mention that if feels sooooooo good to be on the road again??!!!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
