Author: Lee and Tracy

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First Accident on the Road

(From Trace: As you can see from the title, my birthday did not end up so great.  After we left the sculpture garden we decided to go around downtown and see a bunch of other small things from the Roadside America app. We headed to the first one, and started to get hungry. Since we had the dog with us, our meal options were limited.  I love taking the puppy with us when we visit places, but lunch can be problematic, especially in a COVID environment. From this point, the writing is Lee)

As we were heading to our next site seeing location,  I noticed a McDonald’s right across the street and I made a left into the parking lot. 

As I  was pulling into the parking lot, there was a man in a Cadillac Escalade who was exiting.  Instead of stopping before he turned, he kept moving and turned directly into the left side of our truck, between the back half-door and the driver’s side rear wheel fender. He wasn’t going very fast, and neither were we, and we didn’t really feel the impact but more felt and heard the scraping.

 

This is the basic diagram I made for the insurance company to illustrate what happened.

 

We both stopped and separated the cars and then pulled into parking spaces to deal with it. (Initially I thought it was no big deal and wanted Lee to not make a big deal about it.  It is worth saying here that the gentleman was African-american and we were very close to the part of Minneapolis where the riots had occurred.  I kept thinking I didn’t want this simple accident to turn into anything else and kept feeling the need to apologize.  Luckily Lee told me quietly and firmly to be very careful about what I said.  It is common for people to say things and apologize after an accident that could be used as an admission of liability if there is a court case.  My major concern was not wanting to call the police.  I know it wasn’t very rational in that moment, but I just didn’t want to call them.- Trace

 It’s worth mentioning at this point that neither of us has ever been in an accident where there was an insurance claim. We weren’t really sure what to do so we were reading our insurance cards looking for directions.  While we were reading a young woman came up to us and said she witnessed what happened.  She gave us each her name and phone number and we both felt relieved there was an independent witness.  The driver of the other car was very polite, but obviously he was upset as well.  His paper insurance card was expired, but he said the policy was current and showed me on his phone that it was active and seemed very concerned that we would think he didn’t have active insurance. I understood completely, because I had both the most recent AND expired cards in my truck, and I almost NEVER have the current one.

Since we both have Progressive, Tracy called them and asked if we had to call the police.  They told us there was no need for a police report,  since there were no injuries and the cars were operable, but took some basic information.  I didn’t want to continue the claim in that moment (it was hot, we were in the handicap spots of a busy parking lot, and we were both hungry), but they reassured us I could finish the claim later.   We took some pictures of the damage to both cars, his license plate, driver’s license and insurance info.   I was worried about the fuel lines and brake lines, but they were well away from the outside panels, so we were fine to drive, it just looked terrible. 

This is the damage to his car. Not too bad, and you can see the points of impact and where it scraped along our truck.

 

This is the damage to our truck. Much worse.

 

Here are a few more pictures taken later in the day once we got home. In this first shot you can clearly see the dimple on the left, which is the point of impact, on the front left corner of the other car, and then in the other pictures you can see where it just slid back along the truck, pushing in as it went. 

 

 

 

After we got some McDonald’s, we went to our daughter’s house to calm down and file the claim on her computer.  Then we spent the rest of the afternoon and evening with her. We were actually supposed to leave the next day and spend two weeks touring the Upper Peninsula, but I  decided I  wanted to deal with the truck here instead of later in Columbus, our stop after the UP. That turned out to be a good idea!

The next day, Monday, there was some confusion because the claim was handed off to a Florida adjuster, which is where we are insured, but the accident happened in Minnesota.  The claim needed to be processed in Minnesota, and as it turns out, the repairs had to be done in Minnesota or Florida. If we had moved on Monday morning as scheduled, we would have eventually had to go back, or go on to Florida, which was not in our plans. The MN adjuster also wasn’t completely sure if they would have been willing to hold the claim open for several weeks,  so we really needed to stay.  Once I resubmitted the claim with her, she said she would let me know the next day who was at fault, which would determine whether or not it would go on our insurance record, and whether we would pay our deductible. I honestly didn’t give it a lot of thought at that point,  because basic geometry and physics more or less guaranteed it was not my fault, plus there was a witness.

Tuesday, she called me back and wanted to start the process of getting the repair done, but told me I would have to pay the deductible and if I were found to be not at fault it would be returned to me. That made me a little nervous, because it can be very hard to get money back once it’s gone,  and our $1K deductible is not an insignificant amount of money.  I pushed back a little and asked what the hold up was with the determination. She said it was my word against his and she was waiting to hear back from the manager of McDonald’s to see the security camera footage. I asked her why they couldn’t just make a decision based on the pictures, and the statements of the two parties and the witness. She replied she didn’t have any pictures of the other car, and she didn’t know there was a witness.

At that point, I gave her the name and phone number of the witness again, and told her I would send her pictures of the other car. I had already sent  a bunch of my own car at her request.   I’m not sure why she didn’t ask the other guy to do the same. Later in the day she called back and said the witness statement supported the other party’s statement, so it was now my word against the word of two other people. I got pretty irritated and told her that she needed to get the security footage, or be willing to bring us all to an empty parking lot for a re-creation with an expert from the insurance company.  There was no way I was going to pay a $1000 deductible, plus have my rates skyrocket, as the result of a decision that weighted the statement of a person with a vested interest in the outcome over the laws of physics. I felt like kind of a jerk, but I also felt like I was being railroaded for being from out of town.  (At this point I just wanted the truck to go into the shop.  Since I wasn’t paying close attention when it happened, I honestly didn’t know whose fault it was, and thought maybe Lee was mistaken.  My one thought though was the witness didn’t necessarily have a good view and I was concerned with how haphazard the whole process was.  I encouraged Lee to just pay the deductible so we could get the process started but he was adamant and ultimately I just went with it.  UP was looking less and less probable as time passed and I mentally just let go of the idea we would get to go there.  – Trace)

Later that same say the adjuster called me back to tell me that she had seen the security camera footage. Lo and behold, the statements of the other party and the witness were, in her words, “less than accurate”. She said they determined I had no liability, and that my deductible would be waived and the incident would not be reflected in my rates in any way. Here’s the video, and it’s really, really bad. She shot it vertically with her phone on the monitor in the McDonald’s office, but you can pretty clearly see in the first pass that the red SUV turned left and never stopped or straightened his wheel, and just continued to turn right into me. It looks like I am also turning left, but that’s an optical illusion from the shadow of the truck. My wheels were straight the entire time, that’s how they determined I wasn’t at fault even partially. This is a concept I had never heard of, by the way, that they can assign a percentage of blame to each party.  If my wheels hadn’t been straight, she might have assigned as much as 50% of the blame to me.  I think maybe the witness was in the blue car, and if she was, it’s very possible that from her angle, with the truck being in the shadow, that it might have looked to her like the dually fender, which sticks out pretty far was my truck hitting the SUV. (Here’s my advice, if you are in an accident, BEFORE you leave the scene, look around for security cameras, and try to make arrangements then and there to obtain the footage later. Some systems only keep the footage for a certain period of time. It honestly didn’t even occur to me and this was totally critical to proving our case. – Trace

One of the first things the adjuster asked me was if I had a dashcam, and she mentioned several times that they were highly recommended in the insurance industry. After what I consider a “close call” with almost having to pay that deductible, or even half of it, I would have been better off having spent $100 on a dashcam and that would have been the end of it. I did some research and found a highly rated one so I am picking it up today, so I will write a post about it after I’ve used it for a few weeks.  (Our friend Bill bought one awhile ago and we should have followed his lead.  In general, Bill knows best 🙂 – Trace)

I selected a local body shop based on the fact that they were “in network” with Progressive, which would mean the work would be warrantied for the life of the vehicle, and they were very highly rated locally. They also have a dedicated location just for Progressive work, which really impressed me. I dropped it off and Progressive had a rental vehicle delivered to the shop so it was ready when I got there. I was really happy that it worked out that I was able to get a pickup truck, because the campground we are staying at doesn’t have sewer hookups, so I am using the Blue Boy and macerator pump  to manage the tanks. I wasn’t really interested in using a little subcompact car to do that. Our policy includes a rental for up to $50 per day for up to 30 days, and that pickup was under the $50 limit. (It’s worth mentioning here that a few months ago I was toying with dropping our premium coverage and going with liability only.  Lee was 100% against that because the truck is our only vehicle and was I glad I hadn’t done it.  Yes, it would have been covered under the other guy’s insurance but the whole situation would have been so much more stressful if we hadn’t had full coverage as a backup.  Plus knowing we had a rental car for 30 days really made the whole thing OK in my mind. It occurs to me at this point that I was wrong a whole bunch in this series of events, but hey, no one is perfect! – Trace) 

Personally I don’t think Trace was wrong on all these counts, we just have different points of focus, and we compliment each other. There are lots of times her advice covers gaps in my view as well. My particular mindset just happened to be useful here.

I dropped the truck off and they told me that the job was pretty extensive. They would need to remove the entire pickup box, and disassemble it, replace the entire left side (inner and outer and fender) and then put it back on and paint the left side of the vehicle. They also needed to replace the left running board and pull the dent from the column behind the door. They didn’t know how long it would take because they needed to find out how far away the body panels were, but they estimated 80 hours (!!!!!) of labor, all in. 

This was on Friday the 21st, and they had told me to check with them on Wednesday the 26th to get a better idea when it would be done. We were both pretty bummed about that, and we had to cancel all of our UP plans and rearrange our plans for arriving in Columbus, because we didn’t want to be traveling without reservations Labor Day weekend. We consoled ourselves with the fact that we were in a campground that we could extend and we didn’t have to worry about having to leave because someone had a reservation after us.   And while we lost our “vacation” time, we didn’t lose any money, and nobody was injured. Not as bad as it could have been overall. 

When Weds rolled around there was a few things that I needed to get out of the truck so I just drove over to check on the status instead of calling. When I got there the truck was nowhere to be seen, but the old left side was leaning against a dumpster with all the instructions written on it. I looked everywhere and could not find my truck anywhere inside or outside.

 

I started to really get upset when a guy came out and said he was really sorry someone had called me to tell me to pick it up because it wasn’t ready yet. It was close, but not quite. I told him I didn’t understand what he was talking about, my truck wasn’t even there. He took me over to a big garage door inside the garage, and showed me my truck, which was almost completely covered in plastic. It was a painting “booth”! And in the next “booth” was the bed, and the fender.

 

So it was finished, it just needed to be reassembled. He thought I had been mistakenly called to come get it, and I was completely floored that it was more or less done. I was fully expecting to hear that the parts were on their way and it would be two more weeks once the parts arrived. So the next day I was able to go pick it up and it looked great. 

 

For those who would be interested in such things, I did ask what the cost would have been if I had just brought it in and paid for the work to be done, and it was $8000. Really glad it all turned out the way it did.  As a side note,  I also asked them when I dropped it off what it would cost to repair the damage to the other side where the 5th wheel fell off the hitch and hit it way back in March 2015, and he said because of the type of damage around $2300.  Yikes!  I elected to leave it the way it was and it continues to be a reminder of why it’s important to do a bump test with the brakes.  (I had reservations about fixing it anyway because I like the reminder. -Trace)

(I was going to add some thoughts about how these type of incidents seem to continually happen and how they interrupt travel plans, but I have decided to do a separate post on that.  I am working on that now and it will be the next one we post.  -Trace)

Supporting our Blog

We very much appreciate your support of our blog.

  • You can purchase the ebook telling the story of how we became full-time RVers.
  • You can purchase our recipe book filled with 80 recipes we have cooked in our RV and taste tested by Lee himself. You can purchase the kindle or paperback version on Amazonor buy the Apple version on iTunes.
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Minneapolis Sculpture Garden

Since my birthday fell on a Sunday this year, Lee and I decided to explore downtown a little.  Early Sunday mornings are generally a great time to see a downtown area of a major city, and I was particularly excited about seeing the sculpture garden. Lee had taken a look at our Roadside America app and saw some cool little places to stop and see along the way.  Yes, Roadside America isn’t just for highways, it also has some cool treasures in big cities as well.  Today’s few stops were particularly special.

First up was the Washburn Park Water Tower. We weren’t sure what we would find, but this turned out to be the coolest part of the day.  Here’s the blurb from a plaque at the site:

“The history of the water tower, and of an earlier tower on this site, is closely linked to the Washburn brothers, Cadwallader and William, who initiated the development of the Washburn Park known also as Tangletown. The original tower was built 1893 to supply water for the Memorial Orphan Asylum by the Washburn brothers, Cadwallder and William. Water was pumped from nearby Minnehaha Creek to the tower and then piped to the orphanage at the site where Ramsey Middle school stands today at 50th and Nicollet. The tower was then purchased by the city of Minneapolis and connected to the city water supply in 1915. The tower you see, built in 1932 by the City of Minneapolis, was designed by these professionals, who lived in the neighborhood. This 110-foot-high tower can hold 1,350,000 gallons, nearly eight times the capacity of the old tower. It is drained in the fall and filled in the spring to provide a local head for water pressure throughout south Minneapolis during the summer. Since 1983, the Washburn Water Tower has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places, in recognition of its unique design and monumental sculptures of eagles and the Guardians of Health.”

The water tower has beautiful statues surrounding it and the neighborhood it was a part of was beautiful.  

Although this is not a water source it is used to maintain pressure in the overall water system which allows the city to continue to fund its preservation

 







The only disappointing thing was the faces were the same all the way around. It would have been amazing if each face was different.

 

Loved the older neighborhood with some beautiful house

 

After this park we stopped at a very small statue in a persons yard.  It’s really important that places to visit on private property we are respectful, but in this case since it was close to the road Lee was able to get up close and personal. (I had also seen numerous notes online from other people recently who had said that the owner’s did not mind people walking up the walkway to take pictures, as long as they didn’t come to or around the house. – Lee)  It is a beautiful wooden statue of the Lorax which is Lee’s absolute favorite Dr. Seuss character.  Makes sense we are fans, because he does speak for the trees 🙂 (

 

The detail was absolutely beautiful

 

 

After visiting these two out of the way locations, we excitedly headed towards the Minneapolis Sculpture Garden.  Unfortunately as it was later in the day the gardens were pretty crowded, but we hoped that we would maintain social distancing because it was such a large area.  

 

And you could see the city scape behind the gardens which was nice

 

 

People went into this area one at a time

 

 

When you looked up this is what you saw.

 

 

This wind chime tree is only available to be seen in the summer. As much as I love wind chimes to be honest I was only moderately impressed.

 

Actually the deeper we went in the less impressed I was.  People were not even trying to social distance, and I really wasn’t that impressed by the art.  We have seen lots of sculpture gardens throughout the US and despite the beauty of the grounds the sculptures themselves really didn’t speak to me.  Of course, art is subjective, but it all felt very “flat” and the crowds certainly did not help. 

 

 

 

 

 

My two favorite sculptures were a large LOVE sculpture and of course the giant spoon.  That was totally amazing and since it was a fountain, it was somewhat interactive which I liked. 

 

 

 

 

The water shoots out of the stem and the mist was nice and cooling

 

There was a bridge you could walk to go across the main road to another park.

We talked about walking across the bridge, but I decided to call it. The dog wasn’t behaving that well, it was very hot and humid, and the crowds were aggressively not maintaining their distance.  What I mean by that is people had all the space they needed to keep their distance but instead kept walking straight into our space, over and over again. And like I said with a couple of exceptions we just didn’t like the art.  Lee and I decided to go find some lunch and go back to some of the smaller funkier sites in the hopes that we could avoid the crowds.  

What happened next set the day on its head, but I am going to stop here and share that story with you next time.  

 

Supporting our Blog

We very much appreciate your support of our blog.

  • You can purchase the ebook telling the story of how we became full-time RVers.
  • You can purchase our recipe book filled with 80 recipes we have cooked in our RV and taste tested by Lee himself. You can purchase the kindle or paperback version on Amazonor buy the Apple version on iTunes.
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Visiting the George Floyd Memorial

I wanted to start by stating this is not a political post.  Many of us have strong feelings about what happened, but my intent here is to show you the memorial and talk about how it impacted me.  A few weeks ago my daughter was affected by what happened because she lives a few blocks away from the police station that was burned and closed.  She and her partner Adrian stayed up all night to guard their home on more than one occasion, and they participated in some of the protests.  Needless to say I was extremely concerned while all of that was happening for her safety and I wanted to see for myself, where it had happened.

Also, every since we arrived we have been seeing signs and listening to accounts on the local radio. Conversations about defunding the police are ongoing and there are still places in the city where the police are refusing to go. The police station that was burned has been walled off with concrete barriers and barbed wire and continues to be unmanned.   Everywhere in the city you go there are signs and many houses have signs in front of them. There is also a small section of town where buildings were burned.  What surprised me about this area was it was so small.  From watching the news it appeared half the city was on fire, but it really was just a couple of blocks.  Not that this was OK, but I thought there would be more. Perhaps it just looks like less because it’s not concentrated, and is sort of spread out. It’s hard to say, not being residents. 

 

This target was looted and partially burned

 

A couple of buildings like this one were completely burned down

 

One of the most surprising things (for me) about his death was that it occurred at a major intersection.  It isn’t a terrible neighborhood by any standards and I would imagine it would be crowded most times of the day or night. Because the area has been closed to automobile traffic, we parked a block away and walked in.  The crowd was a mix of white and black people and they were all ages.  While we were there everyone was respectful and many people were obviously deeply impacted. 

 

The memorial space was beautifully done

 

 

 

Many visiting black people took pictures in front of this painting

 

There were also numerous signs on many of the buildings. A friend of my daughter helped paint this one

By far the most impactful thing though was the lists of names of all of the black people who have been killed by police officers.  It was written in permanent chalk along the street and the list was so long I couldn’t get a picture of the entire thing.  Walking along those names was very sobering. 

Around the corner in a lovely little park the protesters also added another memorial.  There is a headstone for every black person killed by a police officer and again this was very impactful. 

As of this writing the space is still shut down but the city is talking about reopening the road.  They are in contact with the protesters who have a list of things they would like and the family is trying to decide what to do with all of the artwork that was created.  I don’t envy any of the people who are working on this at all, because it still a very tense situation.  People are peaceful but obviously still emotionally invested and in order to maintain the peace, this needs to be done carefully. 

Minneapolis has largely mixed race neighborhoods, and white, black, Hispanic, Asian, and Native American people all live in the same communities.  Kat did say that she has met more of her neighbors since this happened and their community banded together in the face of adversity.  I, like many others, hope that something positive comes from his death and I hope that the people in the city find a way to live together peacefully. 

I welcome your comments, but any comments that are not in keeping with the spirit of this post will be deleted. 

Supporting our Blog

We very much appreciate your support of our blog.

  • You can purchase the ebook telling the story of how we became full-time RVers.
  • You can purchase our recipe book filled with 80 recipes we have cooked in our RV and taste tested by Lee himself. You can purchase the kindle or paperback version on Amazonor buy the Apple version on iTunes.
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First Time at Minnehaha Regional Park

One of the most impressive things about Minneapolis is their city park system.  Every neighborhood has at least a small park, and there are several really nice parks within walking distance of my daughter’s house.  By far the most special though is Minnehaha Regional Park which contains a spectacular waterfall, access to the river, and the most amazing dog park (by far) we have ever seen.  We took a wonderful walk with Jack and our daughter one day and this oasis of peace within a big city was amazing.  I’ll let the pictures speak for themselves. 

 

 

Ms. Kat

 

There is a handicap friendly path to see the falls but if you are looking to see more there are steps up and down to the water.

 

 

 

There was a long path along the stream which ultimately leads to the Mississippi river.  Despite the urban setting I wish I would have worn my hiking shoes as the path was a bit rough.

 

 

Along the way there were a couple of large swimming areas

 

Although there wasn’t much trash we did see lots of clothing in different spots which was a bummer. It’s obvious this area sees lots of use.

 

We have been lucky enough to see the Mississippi in several states and I was excited to see it near the beginning.  Unfortunately because of the dam it was just OK, but the walk was pleasant. 

 

The Mississippi

 

Jack had his first drink of it

 

It was deeper than it looked as this boat showed.

 

After going to the Mississippi we walked up some steps and went down to the dog park section.  It was already a longer walk than I was prepared for, but we wanted to see it and I am so glad we did.  This park was the most amazing dog park I have ever seen.  It was 7 acres with lots of fencing and access to a large riverfront area.  Seriously amazing and Jack did so great with all of the other dogs.  If you are ever in the area I HIGHLY recommend taking your dog here.  Simply spectacular. 

 

The entrance

 

I love when dog parks do stuff like this. There was also a basket of tennis balls

 

This path was fenced in on both sides and loong

 

 

It led down to the river, beachy area

 

 

Jack was a fan

 

So many dogs but all well behaved.  There was plenty of space for everyone.

 

Jack didn’t go into the water with the big ones

 

But he made friends with this little guy.

 

After playing in the park and walking back we were all hungry out so we went to Parkway pizza.  Jack has never eaten outside with us before but he did great and the server brought him ice water in a bowl and pepperoni.  Plus Lee had what he considers the best pizza of his life.  Seriously he loved it so much we went back two days later and he got it again.  

 

Look at Jack being a good boy. Minneapolis is a VERY pet friendly city

 

The pizza! The sausage, sauce, and dough are all made onsite.

 

I even treated myself to a craft beer. Minneapolis has some pretty spectacular local breweries

 

Loved the day with our daughter and the weather was fantastic.  We have certainly had our fair share of hot and humid but this particular day was absolutely perfect. 

Supporting our Blog

We very much appreciate your support of our blog.

  • You can purchase the ebook telling the story of how we became full-time RVers.
  • You can purchase our recipe book filled with 80 recipes we have cooked in our RV and taste tested by Lee himself. You can purchase the kindle or paperback version on Amazonor buy the Apple version on iTunes.
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Finally Seeing my Daughter Kat

Over the last several years we have had plans to see my daughter Kat in Minneapolis quite a few times, but other things kept getting in the way.  Finally we were headed towards her and because Lee had left the job early we had an extra week to spend with her.  Part of the problem with Minneapolis is the campgrounds are very few, and fill up quick.  So I had trouble finding anything that had weekend openings for the extra time until I stumbled across the Dakota County Fairgrounds in Farmington, MN.  In a normal year this would not have been an option since the week we needed was the same week as the fair, but due to COVID there is no fair this year, and there were plenty of openings. For us, fairground camping has been a mixed bag, but we were both thrilled that there was tons of grass (they are often just gravel or dirt of even concrete parking lots) and there was a very clean dump station onsite. Fairgrounds typically have just electric, or electric and water, but no sewer. We settled in and got Jack acclimated, which took a little time since there were so many new smells!!

There are four campers to one pedestal, but since it wasn’t crowded only two share ours.

 

There is a VERY nice wooded area far far away from everything and everyone to walk Jack and even a big open field I can let him off leash a little and not interfere with anyone at all.

 

It’s not fancy, but incredibly clean and well kept, the power is solid and I have strong AT&T.

 

Jack was happy to meet new friends. The camper to the left has a 7 month lab and the one to the right has a two year old retriever. Both are very sweet with Jack

 

Once we got settled in we went up to visit with Kat and saw her and her partner Adrian’s apartment.  It was really cute, and lovingly decorated along with having some beautiful gardens outside.  Kat definitely got her green thumb from her Grandma Dede and her decorating style is similar as well.

 

Kat and Adrian showing us the garden

 

I bought Kat these trellises and I was happy they were working out so well

 

Awesome cucumber

 

She’s planting at the base as well which is urban gardening at its finest

 

Inside was equally nice with tons of plants

 

And a super cute, eclectic feel. Like I said DeDe would have felt right at home there. I particularly like the foot stool which had a place to put remotes.

 

What’s really neat about her decorating style is almost everything was purchased at second hand stores.  Another day she and I spent the morning checking out her favorite places and they were all pretty cool.  Masks are mandatory in Minneapolis, so I wasn’t so much worried about the closeness, but a couple of the places did feel pretty tight in a COVID world. Great to see her in her element though.

 

 

 

Hunt and Gather was super cool

 

They had tons of neon and sign letters for sale

 

And a fantastic outdoor section. Kat scored several used pots for really cheap.

 

The vintage clothes were amazing

 

I loved this pile of old slides

 

And this little guy was pretty cute

 

Her very favorite though was Es Emporium. The owner lives upstairs and Kat has been going here for years

 

Each room of the house was decorated with related items, which I really liked

 

Including the patio

 

And gardens. Fantastic use of a small space to hold a ton of merchandise

 

We also had a chance to go and eat at their favorite restaurant, Hi Lo Diner, just down the street within walking distance from their house.  Rigid restrictions are in place so it felt safe and the menu was fun.  They specialize in homemade donuts with meals on them.  I didn’t get one, but they looked fun.

 

 

The most interesting thing was they had a full bar. First time I have ever seen that in a diner.

 

It has been very nice seeing her and getting to know Adrian better, and we actually decided to stay in the fairground instead of going to Lebanon Hills as we had originally planned. The monthly rate here at the fairgrounds is $550 and by taking advantage of that we saved $300 and got an extra week within a very short drive of her house. Still getting used to having to pay top dollar for campsites, because mostly we have been getting our sites for free as a result of being employed wherever we are, but between working, COVID, and the summertime we are just glad when we can find a place that we like. It’s funny but since getting Jack my campground requirements have changed.   Well kept grassy areas matter more than most other things and when there are off leash areas I am a big fan.  We never liked being tight with the next door campers, but in this environment that matters more than area.  Under these conditions we are willing to accept less in services (ie: no full hookups required) and staying put rather than moving around is definitely optimal.  

Supporting our Blog

We very much appreciate your support of our blog.

  • You can purchase the ebook telling the story of how we became full-time RVers.
  • You can purchase our recipe book filled with 80 recipes we have cooked in our RV and taste tested by Lee himself. You can purchase the kindle or paperback version on Amazonor buy the Apple version on iTunes.

 

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July 2020 Budget

July was not a cheap month, as we spent $5352.  Lee made $1,035 at the job though which helped offset some of the costs.  In all fairness July has always been an expensive month for us as we had three family birthdays in that month.  Now we have four as we celebrated Oliver’s first birthday as well, and that all adds up.  For more details see below.

 

                             

Campground Fees – We spent $364 in campground fees.  At this point we are focused more on safe places with cell coverage and availability than cost.  That may change after summer, but for right now many people are camping since travel is so difficult, which limits choices. (Overall I think we will be spending more on campgrounds than we have in the past, because we were almost always working and getting the space for free, which will be less the case now. – Lee)

E-Cigarettes – I wanted to mention that the excise tax in Minnesota is incredibly high for e-cigarettes.  This came as a complete surprise to me and has almost doubled the cost. If I would have known I would have stocked up in Texas.

Clothing – Lee bought a pair of Merrell’s and ended up getting the waterproof version by mistake.  He didn’t like them after wearing them and ended up getting a second pair.  Those aren’t cheap so we took the hit for two pairs this month.

Dining Out – We ended up spending $434 on dining out.  Part of this was how hot it was as we traveled so we ate fast food and part was the restaurants opened up a bit and we treated ourselves. We have also been having problems with our convection microwave and ultimately needed to replace it.  While we are trying to coordinate getting the new one installed (it’s a two man job and I can’t help), we are a bit limited in what we can cook.

Entertainment – Traveling again we paid for some modest entrance fees, bought some books, and a couple magnets.

Gifts – We spent $312 on all the birthdays.  That’s actually not bad, I used some serious restraint when buying for Oliver.

Groceries – When we were in a remote area in Minnesota the food costs were definitely higher than Texas.

Home Repair – We spent over $600 on home repair/replace items.  This was $363 for a new air compressor, $166 for a new door for the washing machine, and $76 for the replacement microwave (we got a partial credit because it was only six months old).   I have noticed that many of the items we have had for 5 years are kind of simultaneously breaking.  In all fairness anything made in today’s world that lasts five years is great, but its unfortunate these things are all going at once.

Personal Care – I finally got a hair cut and a pedicure for $99.  Totally worth it.

Pets – We went a little crazy buying $129 worth of stuff for Jack.  Hadn’t been in a pet store for months so I got a new collar, new leash, lots of treats etc. I am still grooming him myself so that’s some savings in money.

Truck Fuel – We spent $577 in gas which really is pretty good considering we went from Texas to Minnesota and explored in between. Partly this was due to extremely low gas prices and partly due to using our TSD Logistics Program. So we went a little crazy but again we had some income to offset. 

We have managed to put $11K in savings in the last six months so I feel OK about where we are. I can’t overstate how different this is with having a regular income versus relying on work kamping jobs.  I know not everyone is lucky enough to find a job that allows for travel, but if you can I highly recommend it.

(Here’s some more detail for those that like that sort of thing! – Lee)

This month we used a total of 491.74 GB of data on our AT&T unlimited plan, across all of our devices. (Total for the year is a whopping 38.47 terrabytes. That unlimited plan is worth every penny.) 

For July we had a mixture of places we stayed….

  6 days “moochdocking” or staying with friends – $0
12 days  work kamping where the site was provided – $ 0
13 days  paid campsites – Total of $ 364.47, averaged to $  11.76 per night for the month

We put a total of 2,734.4 miles on the truck, 1,458.9 of which included the trailer with total engine hours for the month of 73 hrs, 35 mins, 33 secs. 

Year to date we’ve traveled 7,406.6 miles, 2,747.6 of which was pulling the trailer, with year to date engine hours of 203hrs, 01 mins, 43 secs. 

We burned a total of 270.6 gallons of diesel, and averaged 10.1 mpg for all of our travel, with a year to date total of 640.9 gallons at 11.6 avg mpg.

Our travel map for the month of July…

 

and our travel map year to date starting from Charleston after Christmas….

 

 

 

 

 

Supporting our Blog

We very much appreciate your support of our blog.

  • You can purchase the ebook telling the story of how we became full-time RVers.
  • You can purchase our recipe book filled with 80 recipes we have cooked in our RV and taste tested by Lee himself. You can purchase the kindle or paperback version on Amazonor buy the Apple version on iTunes.

 

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First Time Work Kamping Filling Crop Duster Planes – Week 2

As you can see from our last post that Lee had the weekend off but it was worth mentioning that the owner wanted people on call all weekend.  Two of the other guys volunteered for each day, but Lee was pretty adamant that he wanted the weekend off.  It was clear at this point that the owner wanted to have folks waiting around for his call, but that meant we wouldn’t be able to go anywhere at all or do anything at all.  As you saw we had a great time and Lee got caught up on well needed rest.

Day 6 –  Lee started work again at 6am on Monday but he wasn’t sure what to expect.  He thought they would be on a split shift again, but with no discussion the day just kept going and he ended up working a 13 hour day.  This was much preferable to a split shift so Lee was OK with working all the way through although he would have preferred some kind of communication as the day progressed. (The lack of respect for people is definitely a problem for me. There’s absolutely no reason not to tell people what’s going on. – Lee)

Day 7 – Lee was told that he didn’t need to come in until 8am but he “might” be called at 6am.  Once again Lee wasn’t OK with having to get up early just to wait around but one of the other guys volunteered to get up and be on call.  To be clear we have worked weather dependent jobs before.  The beet harvest had a system where you called a number first thing in the morning and they gave you the start times.  Amazon did something similar as well, so at least in those cases you had a hard start and end time sometime during the day.  This is a small company though and it seems to largely be based on the owners whim.  There maybe more going into his decision process but since he doesn’t communicate that, we simply don’t know.  Lee was let go this day at 2pm which largely wiped out the OT he had made yesterday.   No matter what the reason at this point, being available morning to night is only worth it if you are making money. (There’s definitely a pattern emerging here. I can’t entirely blame it on the owner, part of the problem seems to be the farmers. They all want their fields sprayed at the same time, based on the weather and where the crops are in the process. I get that. But none of this is being communicated. So the idea of working a 16 hour day to squeeze as much in as possible makes sense, but then the next day is a very short day which negates all that extra time. And again, the problem is the not knowing up front. I would NOT have taken the job if I had known this is how the schedule would be. – Lee)

Day 8 – Today was a 15 hour day and a very unpleasant one and Lee decided he had enough.  He stayed late after everyone else left and had a discussion with the owner.  After talking about how difficult the schedule was, Lee told him we were leaving.  Thankfully the conversation went well.  Lee stressed the importance of being upfront about the more unpleasant aspects of the job in advance and they parted on decent terms.

This is the first time we have ever left a work kamping job.  In the past we would probably have stayed because we would have needed the money, but since I am working we have more flexibility.  I am glad we didn’t slip out in the night or make up a “family emergency” but instead Lee had the decency to be honest about why we were leaving so hopefully things could improve for the next work kamper.

(I shot a few seconds of videos here and there during the short time I was there to compile a representation of what the job entailed. It’s basically these steps over and over for each flight, of each aircraft, all day with just waiting between flights. Although short flights meant really fast turnarounds, and the owner did say that once things got busy it would be 5 aircraft at a time, 16 hour days for a few weeks straight. Anyway, if you’ve ever wondered about the process of mixing chemicals and prepping a crop duster, here you go! – Lee)

The one thing Jack and I will really miss is the campsite.  It was absolutely fantastic with a wonderful onsite owner who was very cool about dogs.  There were two HUGE fields I could walk Jack along with a dead end we could walk down.  There was a pretty loud train that wandered through but since we had the AC on most nights it wasn’t a big deal. Seriously it is one of my favorite places we have ever stayed.  The name is Prairie NW RV Park and if you ever find yourself near Appleton, MN I would definitely stop by, although you have to  Contact Jason at (320) 289-1202 or (320) 760-7710 (after hours)  for reservations, because they don’t have any kind of website presence 🙂

 

 

 

Because there are few people here they have us in every other spot which is great

Behind our RV

This field is largely fallow and he loves it

This road stops at some railroad tracks and Jack and I walk here several times a day

The owner lives on site

Jack even made a friend, Rex, an 8 week old dauchsund. Watching them play was a blast.

 

 

Supporting our Blog

We very much appreciate your support of our blog.

  • You can purchase the ebook telling the story of how we became full-time RVers.
  • You can purchase our recipe book filled with 80 recipes we have cooked in our RV and taste tested by Lee himself. You can purchase the kindle or paperback version on Amazon or buy the Apple version on iTunes.
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First Time in Tracy

To be fair this isn’t the first time I have been to a city named Tracy.  It’s goofy, but if possible I like to stop in these cities and take a picture of me by the sign.  My first experience with this was many years ago when I was on a business trip to San Francisco area and my travel partner was driving on the freeway and we were lost.  Suddenly a sign said “Tracy, Turn Here”..so of course we did and found a super cute little town. We also eventually found the place we were supposed to be going to 🙂  In this case because Tracy was right next door to Walnut Grove I knew we had to stop and huge bonus it turned out they had a train museum in the small town.      

 

 

We are always amazed by the quality of local museums and this was absolutely no exception. The Wheels Around the Prairie museum was HUGE with multiple buildings and loads of exhibits which were obviously donated by locals.  Plus they had a full size train, which Lee loved, and although it was pretty hot we enjoyed wandering through the buildings.  Especially because hardly anyone was there. 

 

They had a local veteran exhibit as well which is always nice to see in a small town

 

Loved this picture with Tracy and the Train. Yes I know its goofy 🙂

 

It’s always nice when you can climb into the train

 

Huge engine. Way taller than I am

 

Although sometimes cheesy I always like when they set up little vignettes

 

 

This was unusual as it was the old city council layout. I don’t think I have ever seen this before but glad they did it.  Small town politics is an important part of small town life.

There was one HUGE warehouse that had tons of stuff in it

 

My favorite was the counter from the old local diner

 

The old barber shop

 

Because many Norwegians settled here they also had some beautiful pieces of handmade art that were donated. 

 

This children bed was gorgeous

Even had a train on the top

 

And this handmade clock was really special

The only downside to our visit was many of the buildings were not air conditioned and by this time of day it was really hot…especially with masks on.  It so was so lovely getting out and exploring though, so if you visit Walnut Grove we absolutely recommend you drive a few extra miles and visit Tracy as well. 

 

Supporting our Blog

We very much appreciate your support of our blog.

  • You can purchase the ebook telling the story of how we became full-time RVers.
  • You can purchase our recipe book filled with 80 recipes we have cooked in our RV and taste tested by Lee himself. You can purchase the kindle or paperback version on Amazonor buy the Apple version on iTunes.
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On the Banks of Plum Creek

We found ourselves with the weekend off, and we definitely wanted to do something on our list.  When we are staying in a new area for awhile I make a list of all the places I would like to see, and when we have time we can choose from the list. During the research process I was really surprised to find that Walnut Grove (the town from Little House on the Prairie) was 1-1/2 hours away.  I had read the books as a child, but was much more into the TV show and I had a vague notion it was in Kansas.  It turns out it was in southern Minnesota and when I saw that the museum was reopening from COVID closure that weekend I knew we have to go.  Thankfully Lee, who is always a good sport about these kinds of things, was game so off we went. While we were driving I checked the Roadside America app and looked for places to stop along the way.  I have always been a huge fan of the app, but I was pleasantly surprised by how COVID friendly it is.  Most of the stops are outdoors and here are a few places we jumped out and took pictures of along the route.  This was very rural country by the way, and the app had plenty to see.

 

 

 

 

 

Giant bell

 

Cool fireman statue

 

Lovely mural

 

Giant wooden viking

 

And my personal favorite the “Worlds Oldest Rock”

 

 

Finally we made it to the site of the homestead and cheerfully paid our $5 to enter the property.  As we travel we have seen several places that are on private property that the owners make available to the public.  I never mind paying them a small maintenance fee and am always grateful that they allow folks to visit. Fair warning this place is not big rig friendly, so I would definitely recommend going with just your vehicle.

 

We turned down a long country road

 

Saw a beautiful little farm

 

And then saw this sign.  Bring a $5 bill. And even though it says “tour bus” it’s NOT big rig friendly.

I should probably stop at this point and give a little background.  If you have read the books you know there were major differences between them and the TV show.  On the banks of Plum Creek has most of the story we remember fondly and this was the land they owned during that time period.  They actually moved several times during her childhood as this map shows.

Although I wasn’t 100% sure what to expect I will admit I got goosebumps when we saw the creek.  It may have changed its path since she lived there, but it was still the same body of water.

The road ends in this small parking circle, with the creek to the right. As you can see, there’s plenty of parking, but all it takes is a few vehicles and suddenly there’s no room to turn a rig around.

 

Plum Creek

The signage isn’t great when you get there, but go to the right to see the creek and to the left is a bridge that takes you to the former dugout location.  Since the one other person went left, we went right and came upon what might have been the “big rock.”  In the book Laura talks a lot about the big rock and this was the only one they could find left on the property.  It probably isn’t the same one, but it was still fun and I definitely had to take a picture on it.

 

 

 

 

 

\

 

As you can see from the smile I felt like a little kid again. That in itself was worth the $5 🙂

 

To the left was a nice wooden bridge and the dugout site.  It was very common for farmers to live in a dugout until the first crop came in and they used the proceeds to build a house.  They had plenty of wood, but nails and other things cost money and they didn’t want to invest until they were sure the land would yield.

 

View of the creek from the bridge

 

 

They planted the area around the site with traditional plants that would have existed at that time and only cut a walking path which was pretty cool.  This view definitely made me think of Laura skipping through the meadow.

 

The homestead site itself I need to say is not particularly glamorous.  If you have no sentimental attachment to the books, save your money because all you will see is a hole in the ground.  I saw a little piece of history and was particularly impressed by how small it was. Of course this is what the dugout hole looks like after over 100 years of being flattened by rain and wind and time, which eventually erases everything. 

 

 

 

It was hard for me to picture though so I was glad when later we went to the museum and they had a recreation.  I’ll show that here, but remember this is only at the museum.

 

 

I had three girls also and I am trying to imagine raising them in this

 

Two of the interior walls looked like this

 

 

We didn’t spend long at the homestead site because it was so hot, but drove into town and saw the museum.  The gift shop is free, and it was a super nice one, and touring the museum area was only $2 a person.  The smaller buildings were closed because of COVID but it was still worth it especially the room where they had lots of memorabilia from the TV show.  Over the years many of the actors from the show have visited this small town and the pictures and stories really brought back a ton of memories.    

 

 

 

 

 

 

Awesome gift shop

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ma and Pa

 

 

Mary’s story was interesting because in the TV Show she got married but not in real life

 

 

Laura did not start writing these books until late in her life, which I didn’t know either

 

My favorite character was Nellie.  There was something about the spoiled brat turning into a nice woman that was really compelling.  The actress who played her has visited the area many times and is a local favorite.

 

 

 

 

I loved this buffalo coat

 

 

And an entire outfit worn by the Doc in the TV Show

 

 

But the absolute best was Pa’s fiddle from the TV show which gave me chills

 

After we walked around, we were both hungry and I was thrilled to see a sign for Nellie’s cafe in town.  We haven’t eaten inside a restaurant since COVID started, but since it was small and only held 23 people we felt it was worth the risk.  We ate at the counter and the owner was really great. The food was also yummy, Lee loved his Frisco burger, onion rings, and of course a piece of home made pie.

I even bought a $12 T-Shirt

 

Carol the owner runs a tight ship and we highly recommend stopping there is you are in the area.

 

 

 

One thing that really was interesting about this visit was when I posted it on Facebook I heard from so many people my age who were jealous!  Several people I knew also reached out and said they had been there which really surprised me because you have to go to some trouble to get to the town.  Again if you are not a fan I don’t know that it was worth it, but if you are it was more than worth the time and money spent.  For us as our first full day out exploring since Covid, it was darn near perfect. 

Next up we decided to stop in Tracy, Minnesota and stumbled across a really cool Train Museum!

Supporting our Blog

We very much appreciate your support of our blog.

  • You can purchase the ebook telling the story of how we became full-time RVers.
  • You can purchase our recipe book filled with 80 recipes we have cooked in our RV and taste tested by Lee himself. You can purchase the kindle or paperback version on Amazonor buy the Apple version on iTunes.
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First Time Work Kamping With Crop Duster Planes – Week 1

When Lee started looking for a job in June, he wanted to find something that didn’t deal directly with the public and mostly had weekends off.  I did some research for him and gave him multiple options, but he selected working at a small airport mixing chemicals and fueling crop dusting planes.  The job was in Minnesota (near our daughter), did not involve the public at all, and paid $15 an hour.  It also had weekends off although during the “busy season” he knew he would be working long hours and some weekends.

It sounded fine to me and we headed that way, ultimately arriving in Appleton, MN.  We received several phone calls along the way to make sure we were en route, and when we finally arrived at the campground the owner of the company came right over to meet us.  We were thrilled with our site at the campground and happy to be in one place for awhile.  The owner of the company told us that in previous years he had always hired college students, but when he lost several to graduation this year he decided to try work kampers.

Dealing with adults rather than college kids is certainly different, but he seemed open to the concept of work kampers and Lee and I both got a really good vibe from him.  Lee and I spent the next day getting oriented to the area (grocery store, hardware store etc) and then Monday morning Lee started working. Below is an account of how the first few days went.  As always, keep in mind experiences vary from person to person, so I will try to state things as factually as possible.  Value judgement as presented are Lee’s alone and may not mirror someone else’s experiences.

An Air Tractor crop duster.

 

Day 1 –  The first day Lee went into work, he was pleased that the office was large and well kept and the kitchen/break area was well stocked.  Everything was pretty new and nice and clean and tidy. The airport is only 1-1/2 miles from our campground, but since the schedule is variable we knew Lee would not always get home at the same time.  Thankfully our neighbor was also work kamping along with Lee, and since he had access to an extra vehicle from the company he was able to give Lee a ride each morning so I could have use of our truck. The first day started at 8am and since it rained and the planes couldn’t run much, Lee and the other new guy mainly learned the mixing and pumping systems and practiced mixing chemicals using colored water.

The job is essentially to mix specific types of chemicals (based on individual farmers work orders) and then pump those chemicals into the planes when they came into the hangar.  The planes also need fueled and windshields cleaned, etc. Because this is a fast paced business, it is a little like NASCAR where the “pit crew” gets the plane out as quickly as possible.  Unfortunately the process is not simple and there was definitely stumbling the first day.  There was some pressure to go faster, even in a practice environment, but Lee held firm that accuracy was more important than speed that first day. (I believe that it’s better to teach muscle memory correctly then build to speed rather than force speed and learn bad habits. Efficiency is both an art and a science. And I’m also deeply suspicious of any environment that creates artificial urgency and stress, especially for new people, as it benefits nobody and nothing. – Lee)

The environment is also no joke as these planes have live propellers that don’t stop spinning when they come into the hangar, and the chemicals being mixed and pumped are pesticides and fungicides and are extremely toxic.  A mistake costs not only time and money, but could also result in a serious injury.  When Lee came home at 5pm that first day he really wasn’t sure what to think.  He found the work itself interesting, but was having a hard time getting the process.  This was partly due to haphazard training and inconsistent instructions, but it was also due to the level of complexity, and Lee hoped the next day would be better in a live environment. At the end of the day he was told to return the next day at 8am. (Again, I am always very concerned when there is no documentation or formal training for a job. That says a LOT about the environment immediately. People put time and money into what they care about, and the opposite is also true. Something this complex and dangerous should have ample safety and other training. “Don’t get that stuff on you” is not training. Being taught y someone who arrived two months before you who is ALSO a work-kamper just leads to middle-man syndrome. But I also chalked most of the chaos up to the fact that the owner was used to working with college kids instead of adults (not sure why I thought that mattered) – Lee)

 

Boom with spray nozzles

Day 2 –  The second day it stopped raining and Lee knew it would be for real.  It was a bit of a stumbling effort getting into the pattern of filling the planes for real, and there was definitely more pressure to do it quickly.  Around 5:30pm Lee was told the crew was working until dark and one of the employees gave him a ham and cheese sandwich.  Lee knew that they would eventually be going long days but didn’t expect it to start immediately, on his second day, so he didn’t bring lunch and dinner.  Plus he didn’t have any goggles and by the end of the day his eyes were burning.  Whether that was from jet fuel exhaust or chemicals he didn’t know but when he finally got home at 9:30pm he reeked of something and his eyes were red and watery.  As tired as he was I made him take a shower before he came to bed, mainly because I didn’t want that stuff on his skin.  He was told before he left that they were starting the next day at 6am and we scrambled to figure out what food he could take that would work for the whole day.  Again he wasn’t sure how he felt about it.  There was lots of down time in between planes, but the lack of a plan and the physical impact were getting to him. (For me, this level of ambiguity in scheduling is a problem. To go from “It will be M-F during the day” to “It will be any time between dawn and nightfall plus weekends” is a pretty big jump. the jet fuel fumes were definitely a problem, and I was really unhappy that no goggles or respirator mask were provided. Again, these small things tell a lot about how an organization is run and what the priorities are. Someone who has been doing something for 40 years already knows that people should have masks and goggles. They’re not missing because of oversight. I specifically asked if personal protective equipment would be available in the phone interview, and was told that it would all be provided. – Lee)  

 

“Cones” used for mixing chemicals

 

Day 3 – The third day he got up at 4:45 and was out the door at 5:45am.  On one of my breaks in the morning I went to the local hardware store and bought the last pair of goggles.  Lee needed something to completely cover his eyes and by the time I got him the goggles he already had an abrasion of some kind.  It could have been a piece of metal, or grit, or really anything and I was glad I was able to get him the goggles for future protection.  The work was much easier on the third day though and they were turning planes in 4-6 minutes, which seems pretty fast for brand new people. Because only two planes are running currently they generally had a 20 minute break between planes.  This will change as more pilots are added, but for now the pace was manageable.  Unfortunately today was the day we learned that he would normally be working split shifts when they sent the crew home around 1pm.  Turns out the wind kicks up almost every day between 1pm and 5pm so most days they leave and come back and work 5pm until dark.  The problem was Lee was expecting to work long days and because he would be making overtime it was worth it.  Now he learned that the long days would not all be paid and he was “on call” during his down time.  Personally I had a big problem with that because it was definitely not communicated to us prior to him taking the job and it left us both wondering what other piece of news would happen next.  Still he decided to continue to work it out and see what came next. (This is a really big deal to me. A split shift is unpleasant and is the sort of thing, again, that should have been clearly communicated on the phone. Starting a day at 6am and working until 9:30pm with a break of unknown length in the middle makes for a VERY long day and if you’re not the napping type, which I’m not, you get tired pretty fast. – Lee)

 

Mixing chemicals in another vat mixer.

 

Day 4 – Once again Lee got up early and was onsite by 6am but this time he was prepared.  He had lots of food, was prepared for a long day, and the break that would probably come early in the day.  By 8:30 though the wind was strong and there was thunder and some rain.  Based on what had happened the previous day I expected Lee to come home, but instead they kept working.  The “work” consisted of following the owner around for 2-1/2 hours and having him talk about his plans,  but nothing else really happened.  To be clear at this point the work itself was completely fine with Lee but the arbitrary nature of the schedule was tough.  He understood that the weather dictated what they could do but the work was also based on how the owner was feeling that day.  To be fair this is pretty common in most small businesses, but most employees also have set hours and some level of job description.  Different people have different levels of job flexibility, but I think most people appreciate some kind of structure to work in.  Again, your mileage may vary on that, but the lack of structure seems to be a common theme with these seasonal jobs. Lee ultimately had to go back in at 5:00 pm but was let go again at 8:00 pm.

 

Fueling and pumping in chemicals

 

Day 5 – Lee started the morning again and they worked until noon.  At that point Lee was trying to get a feel for what was happening over the weekend, but not surprisingly no one wanted to commit.  When they ran out of work orders at noon, Lee really pressed the issue.  Finally the owner said they weren’t working the weekend and Lee left for the day around 12:30.  For the entire week he ended up with 40 hours RT and 8 hours OT which seems great, but he was essentially on call from 6:00am to 9:00 pm for three of five days. Keep in mind on call means on call.  No driving far away, no drinking, and no getting into anything that you couldn’t easily get out of.  Lee did manage to go to Walmart one day, but that was only a 25 mile drive and it was raining when he left.

So what do we think so far? Well, the owner was definitely not transparent about the downsides of the job, but Lee also didn’t ask the right questions.  Since the owner has only had college kids in the past he may not have known the types of questions we would ask, but I find it hard to believe that he wouldn’t think the split shifts would be a big deal.  From Lee’s perspective the long hours are fine (since he gets OT) but the stop and start nature of the work coupled with the long window he needs to be available is problematic.

He likes the work itself although there have been several potential safety issues.  To be fair the owner has largely addressed those as they were brought up, but since he has been doing this for a long time it is surprising they exist.  Again college kids might not notice or say anything, but an older person with grand kids and a wife would feel differently.  $830 gross per week is not a bad check, but there are limits to what we would do for that kind of money.

 

 

Supporting our Blog

We very much appreciate your support of our blog.

  • You can purchase the ebook telling the story of how we became full-time RVers.
  • You can purchase our recipe book filled with 80 recipes we have cooked in our RV and taste tested by Lee himself. You can purchase the kindle or paperback version on Amazon or buy the Apple version on iTunes.