Beginning to Blog: Arizona Life!

We've been in AZ almost 2 months! We stopped in Tuscon to met Pam and her family for lunch at Cracker Barrel. We hadn't seen Daun for over 15 years and got to meet her 2 younger kids, as well as Samantha her oldest who we saw the last time she visited Pam in Florida. Pam & Samantha have recently rented an apartment together. Pam is working for a temp agency & Sammy is working & going to college.
We got into Mesa late afternoon and headed for the Mesa Regal Resort. We hadn't made reservations, but luckily we were able to get a site there. Mike, Michelle & Abbey came to greet us as well as Mike helping getting the Goldwing off the trailer. We discovered in Tuscon that the bike had tipped and broke several of the straps, so the 1-1/2 ride from there to Mesa was made a little more stressful. But somehow (angels?) had righted it up along the way.
Since we were to babysit for Abbey on Good Friday, we went over to there house a few times that week to get reacquainted with her. She was shy at first but it didn't take too long to warm up to us....especially with Bill pushing her around in her Little Tykes car that we had gotten her for Christmas. She is such a cutie, she loves to "dance" whenever she hears music! That Friday we took her to the park. It was just fun to be grandparents enjoying the day! We also had Easter dinner at their house and realized it had been Easter time last year when we had seen them last!
We were also called into duty the following week when Abbey developed an ear infection & fever & couldn't go to nursery school for a couple of days. It'll be nice when we are back down there (in the "valley") in the fall so we can be the support system for Mike & Michelle.
The Mesa Regal Resort was so appealing that we put our resume in and secured a workamping job there for the fall. We'll work in the gift shop for 2 six hour days a week. That will pay for our site as well as our electric. No pay, but we have all the amenities to enjoy...3 pools, 2 hot tubs, sauna, exercise classes, computer lab, hobby classes, tennis, pickleball, bocce ball as well as entertainment. It's like a little town and you hardly ever have to go off the property as there is a grocery store within walking distance!
Now we are up at our summer job at Happy Jack Lodge & Resort. I'll write about that on my next post!

Goodbyes continued....

Saying goodbye to Carole was fairly quick & easy as her therapists were still working with her helping her get a shower & get dressed. She had just put on one of the new outfits I had purchased at Walmart (with her money). She looked good in the turquoise color top & pants. Sorry I didn't take the time to take a picture. A quick hug & then hugs to both Cheryl & Mark and I was on my way. No time for tears as I knew she was in good hands.

After stopping at the Havar office to turn in the apartment key & talking briefly to Carla, then gassing up the the Fiat I was on my way to Dayton Airport. Roads were good all the way but Columbus definitely had more snow. When I stopped at a rest stop I almost got run over by a snow plow! Had to park with the big boy trucks and trudge through the snow and slush to the restroom! Proud of myself for getting to the airport in plenty of time. Treated myself to a matcha latte. Discovered the benefit of match a tea at the tea room in Cinti as well as an Internet post saying how many anti oxidants it has. Definitely plan upon buying some soon & adding it to my stash. It did give me a bit of the jitters but could have been the sugar or the trip anxiety.

Saying goodbyes

Hard to believe I've been back from Ohio over a week and haven't written since then. When I woke up the last day there was about 2 inches of snow. Been a long time since I've had to clean the snow off my car! Luckily it was just a little Fiat. I loved that little thing. So fun to drive...had the option of shifting gears without a clutch or just using automatic..after I figured out why I couldn't go faster! Good thing I didn't ruin the transmission. Anyway, got to meet Carole's OT & PT therapists and made me feel so much more confident about her progress and care. They assured me she was doing well and should be home in the allotted timeframe. They do a home inspection first and make sure of all safety features needed. Since Carole won't be going back to her job is another plus. She called McDonalds from the rehab & told them she quit...good for her! There are no steps in the apt bldg and her neighbors will look out for her. She'll still have Havar services and home health visits too. So praying that all will go well there. I was able to stop at Havar and talk to Carla the program Manager before heading to Dayton airport.

Afternoon Entertainment!

Enjoying listening to The Back Porch Swing Band at The Laurels with Carole. They have lots of a activities here!

Trip to Ohio!

Flew to Dayton on Wednesday 2/27. Net up with cousins Mary, Patty, Ike , Delores & Julie. Then drove to Cincinnati my BFF Jan's house. Thursday went to dentist office I used to work for to get teeth cleaned. Then went to Essencia Tea house for lunch date with Jan, Sally, Diane. Lots of laughs and delicious food. Had dinner with Jan & Dave at Skyline Chili..yum. Today I drove to Athens for the reason for my trip, to visit my sister Carole who is on a rehab facility after breaking her leg before Christmas. It was kind of a shock to see her at first sitting in a wheelchair looking much older than the last time I saw her on September. But after spending some time with her I felt better about her status. She's doing we'll with therapy. She can stay out of her home until end of April without losing her. Services from Havar.. The agency that provides home visits. Carole has intellectual disabilities. Up until the fall she was working 2 mornings at Mc Donald's. She just moved from a house to a senior apartment complex in November. I'm staying at her apartment while here. It's so much nicer than that old house. Met some of her neighbors and they expressed concern for her. It's about time me to get to bed....it's been a busy couple of days.

Catching Up

After spending 3 months caring for our precious grandbaby we moved on to an RV Park in Lower Alabama where we would be fairly close to Bill's sister in Crestview, FL  who was in poor health.  We decided we could visit her while we looked for a Workamping position somewhere in the area.  Our goal in becoming fulltime RVers was to become workampers, wherein we would contract with an RV park to work in whatever capacity they need us in return for free rent.  We belong to an organization called Workampers.com where they help bring workers and campground owners/managers together.  They even offer help with putting together a resume to showcase our skills and talents. 
Well, low and behold, we handed our resume to the owner of Azalea Acres where we were and a few days later she offered us our first job!   I would work in the office and Bill would ride the golf cart around to pick up trash and we would share cleaning duties (restrooms, community room and laundry room)  Isn't great how God works things out!?!
So we started in January, 2012 and our new retirement career was off the ground!  Azalea Acres is a fairly new campground started by a couple who were looking for their retirement career!  The husband was still working in the construction industry and his wife, Gaye, runs the campground.   The majority of their campers are "snowbirds" that come from various northern states to enjoy a warmer climate for winter.  Most of them arrive in October or November and the exodus north starts the end of March! 
We were also fortunate to find our next  "gig" by displaying our resume on the Workampers.com website.
We had decided to work in Ohio which is where we had lived most of our lives before moving to Florida.

Well more on that next time....

First Post

Well, here I am...after much procrastination finally getting started on my goal to Blog about our new lifestyle.

We've been full-time RV'ers since May, 2011.  We were both still working and our house in St. Augustine had finally sold after being the market for a year and a half.  I retired the end of July & Bill retired the end of August.  Our first grandchild, Abigail Mikaela, was born August 12 in Columbus, GA.  So off we went to Georgia.  Gave the parents a month of bonding with their new baby, then in October we started babysitting for little Abbey while parents, Mike & Michelle went back to work.  What a joy to see her grow and develop those first three months!  Forgot what it was like since Mike was born some 32 years before!  But it didn't take too long to get into the groove!