October 2010

Socializing Month

This month we had many activities but none more fun than a double date with Rocky and Georgette. We went out for a nice supper at Logan’s Restaurant and then off to Georgette’s home to play some card games.

The very next evening we went to dinner with a hometown couple from Indiana who were staying in the park. Rob Edwards and Robin Lee are from Fishers, Indiana. We went to an upscale restaurant called Red Rock River Canyon. It was a wonderful meal. In fact it is one of the best eateries in Wichita. We had a relaxing evening with this new couple which we now consider our friends. We hope to see them whenever we are in their area up in Indiana. After dinner we invited them back to our home where we talked, laughed and thoroughly enjoyed their company. We had such a good time we invited them to breakfast at Nancy’s Place, a small hole-in-the-wall restaurant that Frank and Sondra told us about in their old neighborhood. The breakfast was absolutely yummy. We are starting to think that Wichita might have the market on excellent places to eat.

(Pictured above Will, a friend of Robin & Rob, at Nancy's Place)

Golfing and Cleaning up

I continued to golf with Frank and Gary; and had the opportunity to go out with John Beddie and his niece, Samantha (Sam); and the owner’s new son-in-law Brock and his friends Shawn and Lucas. Golfing was a big part of my summertime fun.

I know that I’ve mentioned how nice and clean the USI restrooms and laundry facilities are because of Sheila’s insistence to maintain them at a high level of cleanliness.
Frank and I tried to sustain those high standards throughout the summer. Rhonda and Sondra also maintained the same high standards for the office which they were entrusted.

New Blood & Bonding

Mid-month Bruce and Sheila Keller arrived at USI; they were the finishing touch to the workforce for the winter season. While I was out golfing with Frank and Gary in Cheney, KS, Rhonda was out shopping with Sheila Wagner. They did a really nice job finding Rhonda a wedding dress with some nice accessories to compliment it and her. Sheila amused herself by poking fun at me concerning the wedding. If you listened to her, she had us getting married in Las Vega, right here in Wichita, at a far away island off somewhere in the Caribbean, on our upcoming cruise and if she could work it out I think she would have tried to get us hitched in Tim-buck-too. She did it all in good fun. The best part about their shopping experience was it allowed them quality bonding time.

(l-r, Frank, Tom, Sondra, Rhonda, Sheila & Keith)
Since we now had the winter crew in place; the owners of the park were taking the summer crew out for a farewell dinner. The six of us drove to the Bone Fish Grill where the ambience was first-rate and the company was appreciated. The meal was truly superb and the dessert was a melt in your mouth tantalizing way to end the evening. Driving back to the Pegg’s we all sat around their patio chit-chatting about what a wonderful summer we all had together.



(At right ladies with an attitude)



El Dorado, Kansas – Day Trip

We took time to drive up to El Dorado, KS to visit friends we met at Adventureland, Joyce and Jerry Riggs and their son Jeff. We had a nice lunch and visit with them. Rhonda and Joyce became close dear friends on a trip they took a few years back from Iowa to Indiana together.






Port-of-calls are calling

I worked on the computer a lot this month and last, I just didn’t work on the blog like I should have. I did accomplish booking our cruise down the Mexican Rivera and setting up a shore excursion in Mazatlan. Our port of call for Puerto Vallarta is where we are meeting our close friends Dave and Jacque Graff hoping to spend a fun filled day with them. The only port of call we haven’t set up something to do is in Cabo San Lucas, we plan on playing this one by ear.

Our Days were numbered
(l-r, Sondra, Frank, Rhonda, Tom, Keith, Sheila)

Our last two work days this summer were October 29th and 30th. Enthusiasm and bittersweet feelings came to the surface regarding these two days. We hope to say our goodbyes to the regular residents here in the park and our goodbyes to each other as we get ready for our departure. After work on the 30th Sheila and Keith threw the summer work crew a going away party. Those in attendance were the new winter work crew; Chuck & Pauline Doney-Montes; Bruce & Sheila Keller; also in attendance were Keith & Sheila Wagner (owners of park); their daughter Amy and her husband Brock and little daughter Chloe; residents John & Donna Beddie; and our new friends Rocky Reagan and his girlfriend Georgette Hall. It was a bittersweet way to say goodbye, but we are happy knowing we will be returning next season.

(Pictured above Miss Rhonda & little cutie pie Chloe)

(Farewell party in full swing)






Halloween brings out all the ghost, goblins and little witches. We had a real cutie pie stop by our motor home on Halloween. Sheila’s little granddaughter, Chloe came in with her mom and dad. She was our only trick or treater this evening and she certainly was a cutie as you can see in the picture with her Pa-paw.If you look real close you can even see a "black cat" in the background. How spooky is that?


It was time to try-out those new tires soon and see how the rubber hits the road as we get our voices ready to sing rolling, rolling, rolling; keep those tires a rolling.

September 2010

A time of remembrance!

As in my father and grandfather’s time everyone could remember where they were when hearing about the Pearl Harbor Attack, on December 7, 1941. So the same remembrance by my son, grandsons and myself as to where we were and what we were doing when we heard about the Twin-Towers being hit with planes full of our innocent citizens as all came tumbling down in a rumble of ash. It was such a sad day in our history and in the world’s nine years ago this month.


Scooter finds a home

The early part of this month had a challenge for me concerning a stray mutt running around the campgrounds. A handful of individuals were trying to catch him. Someone even called the Humane Society hoping they could catch this elusive little dog with a neck noose. But he was too quick for them and he stayed out of sight when they showed up. Fairy tales do come true once in awhile. After several days and failed attempts by myself and some of the other residents to capture him by putting food and water out, I was finally successful in capturing him. By using a travel cage we have for our little dog, I was able to entice little Scooter (later named by his new owner) into the cage. Just as Hansel and Gretel used bread crumbs, I used some doggie treats lining them up toward the open door of the cage so little Scooter would follow them. Once close enough I pushed him inside. Now the really good news about this little stray dog was one of the pipe-liners named Bob Bales was willing to take him in and give him a new home. He named him Scooter. During Bob’s long work hours, I would take Scooter outside to do his business. Someone had just dumped him but thanks to Bob’s good heart, little Scooter had a wonderful new home with four new playmates to go back to in Arkansas. Bob spent a lot of money on Scooter (getting him shots, shampoo and the works) but most of all he gave him a loving and safe environment.


Multi-tasking

September found us doing all sorts of multi-tasking. Of course our regular routine at USI was being fulfilled. It was a month of screwy scheduling as far as our work schedule because of losing one of the three couples working here. We were supposed to go to working three days on and having three days off until the new couple arrived. The first week found us working every other day which neither couple liked but was a necessity because of commitments by each couple. We finally fell back into a more “normal” schedule once the new couple arrived. This is the new couple, Chuck & Pauline. A very nice couple and we think they will do just fine this winter.



Rhonda and I went to many different places for lunch; we dropped off six pair of blue-jeans given to me by one of the residents living here at the park, they needed alterations; making three into shorts and the other three being hemmed up an inch for proper fit; Rhonda visited J.C. Penney and I was dropped off at Barnes & Noble’s for a nice afternoon of relaxing while she shopped; stopped by TGW (the golf warehouse) to pick up free golf towels; I helped Rocky set-up his new treadmill; rented movies from Blockbusters; initiated the my man-cave for the start of the NFL and fantasy football season in the motor home; Rhonda and her new friend Sheila Dunn went to the Kansas State Fair; appointments with my chiropractor ; car care (oil change and tires rotated); setting up a cruise down the Mexican Rivera in the month of December; made phone calls to friends and family; attended a Arts & Crafts Fair in Hillsboro, KS; took a day-trip with Rocky and his girlfriend, Georgette; attended a Chili cook-off in downtown Wichita; picked up our wedding rings for our January ceremony. Now I will talk about just a few of these because otherwise this becomes a book instead of just a short blog.

Tom – Cruise, Wedding Rings and Rhonda

Okay not “the” - Tom Cruise, I mean it’s Tom on a Cruise with Rhonda. Yes, we are doing things a little ass-backwards in taking a honeymoon cruise before the wedding. So who says it has to be done in any sort of order? We are taking a cruise down the Mexican Rivera with port-of-call stops in Cabo San Lucas, Mazatlan and Puerto Vallarta. The cruise is a seven day excursion December 12 – 19 out of Los Angeles, CA on the Royal Caribbean Cruise Line. If you’re interested in seeing the ship we will be sailing on its name is Mariner of the Seas. Otherwise you can wait until I write about it after the cruise.

The wedding will take place in the Valley of Texas by our good friend Jack Gregory. We are looking forward to seeing him and his sweet wife, Karen. The date is going to be 1/11/11, that’s so the old guy (me) won’t forget our anniversary date. Kind of a memory trick in reverse no matter how you turn the numbers around, it’s always the same. We are hoping a lot of our friends will be able to attend. Here is a picture of the rings on our fingers.





Arts & Crafts Fair

We took a day-trip to Hillsboro, KS attending the 41st Arts & Crafts Fair held in this small community. This is a one-day event well worth attending. There are over 300 vendors from all over the country – hand picked from entries submitted to the town of Hillsboro. There are unique items at just about every booth. This fair is rated among the top Arts & Crafts shows in the nation. I didn’t take any pictures this year; we were so worried about Sadie being stepped on or being hurt because of all the people who attended this event, we carried her throughout the fair. We plan on attending next year when we return to the area and do some serious shopping. Of course we will leave Sadie at home for her safety.

A Couple of Day-Trips

Little Sweden in Kansas

Although I took pictures of our day-trip with Rocky and his girlfriend, Georgette to the town of Lindsborg, KS, I failed to properly transfer them on to the computer. Thus I lost all my pictures taken this day. Luckily they both took pictures and gave us printouts of the fun filled day we enjoyed with them. I in-turn took pictures of the pictures and then put a few on my computer so I could transfer to this blog. Lindsborg is considered the Little Sweden U.S.A. at least in the state of Kansas. We stopped for a nice lunch at a café called Butcher, Baker & Candlestick Maker Café. A block up the street was a nice little store where we rented a bicycle built for four. A four-seat contraption, two in the front and two in the back, it had pedals for all four of us. The problem was Rocky had a bum-knee and Georgette was too short to reach the pedals. Therefore; the four-horse powered bicycle was running on half of its horses, just Rhonda and me. And let me just say the old gray stallion isn’t what he used to be. We pedaled up the street to a small community college, Bethany College and rode through the campus collecting a few stares along the way. After a half –hour of pedaling we called it quits and drove over to, The Old Mill Museum where once a year they mill flour, showing how the mill operates. This mill was operational until the 1950’s. Rocky was truly impressed with the machinery since he was an engineer.

Chili Cook-off Downtown Wichita



We traveled to Wichita’s downtown area to attend the Great Chili Cook-off with another couple from the park. We made new friends with Gary and Barbara Bernhardt who live in the RV Park. Gary also became another golfing buddy of mine. Since this was their fifth time going to this chili cook-off, they drove us there. For just $5 you received a taster’s kit consisting of a small Styrofoam cup, a plastic spoon, a mint (for later), a napkin and a small navy bean. There were hundreds of booths to sample homemade chili. We sampled far more than we should’ve; some very good and some very bad. The navy bean was to “vote” for your favorite chili booth. It was fun and adventurous for the four of us. We all decided on this one booth to give our lonely little navy bean to. She was one fun loving person, running the booth all by herself. It was her first time at the Chili Cook-off and she was a hoot. We are not sure how she did in the voting process but we certainly hope she fared well. We look forward to attending this event again next year.

I could write much more for this month but I still need to catch up on this blog. So now it’s on to the month of October, 2010.

August 2010

Okay I know most people don’t want to read about the weather but I must say it needs to be mentioned this time. Why? Because according to the weatherman, residents here at the park and the people of Wichita, this was one unbearably hot summer.

“How hot was it?” "It was hotter than a nanny goat in a pepper patch."

It was the third hottest recorded summer in Wichita. I can honestly say it was miserable. At times reaching highs of 103-110 actual temperatures and the heat index reaching 110 t 114 some days.

The city of Wichita held a professional golf tournament for the Nationwide Tour, The Wichita Open. We had five of the players staying in our campground while the tournament was being held August 5th-8th. I had the good fortune to meet Daniel Summerhays a nice 27 year old man from Farmington, UT. He was down to earth and not stuck-up like the others I met when they pulled in with their expensive units. Daniel was nice from the get-go and even nice enough to give me four tickets to the four day event. They were good all four days. I was able to attend opening day and the last day. The other two days I had to work. I gave two of the tickets to Frank, my golfing partner and kept two for myself. I became a one-man groupie following Daniel around the course and rooting him on. And why not, he was very likable and nice to me. You couldn’t help wanting him to do well because he was such a pleasant young man. It was my first time attending such an event and it was a blast. I even had Daniel give me an autograph and asked his caddy for one too. I believe he started out number 14 or 15 on the money list and the last time I checked his status sometime in October, he was up to number 4. He is doing great this year.



On August 10th Rocky had another milestone. Rocky had his 89th birthday and celebrated it with his girlfriend of 23 years, Georgette. Rocky has become a good friend and I truly enjoy being around him and talking with him.

Baby Jack enjoying his breakfast

Mid-month we traveled north to Iowa. My son, Ted was taking his wife Connie on a surprise get-away for their anniversary. We watched the grandsons (all three of them) while they were gone. We had a really good time and Brady the oldest of their children was very helpful to Pa-paw and Miss Rhonda. And a big slap on the back goes to my oldest daughter who helped more than I can explain here. It worked out for everyone to have a good time and Pa-paw was able to do some bonding with the boys. We had a great time visiting family. I was able to golf with Mike, and his two oldest boys.

Brady, Kyle, Baby Jack with their cousin Lily



We came back to their lake house where I had my first experience with tubing. An activity that's better suited for the younger generation. I thoroughly enjoyed it but it just proves there are things you should do more in your younger years of life rather than in the latter years. The one activity that my number 3 grandson,Luke is really good at is fishing as this picture indicates. Oh yeah, he also won his football league’s championship.

Luke with one of his prize catches




Arriving back at Wichita it wasn’t long before we had the motor home at the Goodyear Tire Shop to have her re-shoed (new tires). Total bill after buying tires, mounting, balancing and labor was $2,589.53. Then to complete the day we topped off the gas tank and two five-gallon containers we keep for emergencies for $97. The grand total for us this day was $2,686.53. This was the first half of my wages earned at USI.

Rhonda and Estella




Now for that shining moment I mentioned last month concerning my second half wages at USI. They are going toward our new set of wedding rings. We went into the jewelry department at J.C. Penney and a sweet lady helped us throughout the whole process of picking out the rings and the sizing. Her name is Estella and she was a real sweetheart for us to work with. We picked them out on August 28th. The exact date 7 years ago when I bought the motor home. I didn’t realize it until I started writing this.

The last two days of August had highs and lows. August 29th our family fantasy football league had its draft. I did terrible and the results of the season show it. August 30th was my birthday which indicated I was now eligible for Social Security and I was another year older. Okay, forget about the highs – I just had some lows. Wait a minute! – there were a couple of highs.

Rhonda gave me the new John Grisham book titled, Ford County for my birthday. He is my favorite fiction author. On the nights we work we make a nightly round throughout the park. We have a regular routine we go through and one of the last stops is to check the laundry room. As soon as I open the door and turned on the lights, six smiling faces yelled out in unison, “SURPRISE!” And let me tell you it did surprise me.



It’s only the second time I’ve been caught off guard. I didn’t see this one coming. The owners, Keith and Sheila, along with the other two couples we work with Frank and Sondra; and Mike and Joann were in attendance. This was all set up behind my back by Rhonda. We all went over to the rec-hall celebrating with a DQ ice-cream cake. All three couples had given me nice cards. Frank, my good old golfing buddy gave me a golfer’s calendar for 2011.

My youngest daughter, Katie told me, she had a present for me but I would have to wait 7 more months before I could have it or hold it. She must have seen (anticipated) my bewildered look, because she said, “I’m having your tenth grandchild, Dad.” Now how could I get any higher? So if I have to turn another year older it's not a bad way to finish up the month of August.

July 2010 – Our Country is 234 years old

John & Donna accepting their certificate



Park Police

It was official on July 4th; Sheila bestowed the responsibility of Park Police on a couple living here at the park, John and Donnie Beddie. It was sort of an excuse for us to have a get-together at the rec-hall. This little gathering brought the new workers for the summer together to meet and greet each other. It was also a time to have a little fun and see the owners, Keith and Sheila Wagner in a social setting. The evening was filled with homemade ice-cream, pies, fruits, a multitude of snacks and coffee. Frank did the honors of swearing in of the new Park police which I just so happened to video for prosperity.



John & Donna seem to like their new uniforms

There were many fireworks this evening but none from the new officers since they fizzled out soon after their second piece of pie.


Sadie's a hit with the kids



A Few Cities in a Day Trip

In the middle of the month we took a day trip which covered 300 miles and a few interesting cities along the way. Our first stop was in the small community of Yoder, KS. We drove through their downtown area with its small shops and eateries. Rhonda picked up a small item as a Christmas gift for one of her friends. We then drove north of Yoder, where we arrived at Hutchinson, KS around the lunch hour. Taking a few minutes we walked along a small water park that skirts a creek right through the downtown area. This day was extremely hot with the actual temperature at 100 degrees and the heat index reaching 110 according to the radio weatherman. Little children were playing in the water spouts splashing around and enjoying the cool wetness provided them at the hot noon hour.

A Happy "Wet" Youngster












Turning our car southbound we headed for a town called Medicine Lodge. Just the name itself sounds intriguing and just like a Wild West town’s name should sound like. We chose this town because there starts the scenic byway known as the Gypsum Hills. It’s only 41 miles long, and travelers can start in Medicine Lodge traveling westward until they reach the town of Coldwater. The Byway is named for the underlying layers of gypsum. It’s a phenomenon unique in Kansas. Their distinctive color comes from the iron in the soil that creates a rust color when exposed. The red bluffs and stark flat-topped buttes are capped with white gypsum and accented with dark green cedars to create a painted landscape of timeless beauty. We stopped at Coldwater Lake to survey the campgrounds and the lake itself.

Coldwater Lake

The price was right at only $275 per month for full hook-up. But it’s some place you would have to book really early to get in during the summer months.



















Kechi, Kansas The art of glassblowing can be seen up close and personal at a store just a few miles up the road from USI RV Park. The only other time I’ve seen this being done was in Mexico. The gentleman that does the glassblowing is named Rollin who studied hot glass at Emporia State University. He still has a studio/gallery in Kechi where he has seen many changes over the past thirty years. He wasn’t there the day we were there, but we did get to watch four young men perform the art of glassblowing. Man O’ Man, what a hot job. I wouldn’t want to be in their shoes, but it was very interesting to watch as they sculpted a piece from the beginning to the end product. I only wished I would’ve taken pictures as they were working. The rest of the month was pretty uneventful for us. Just working in the hot days and cooling off on our four days.

What a life!

Summer Time 2010

Okay, sorry about not staying up with our blog as I have stated in the past I hope to do better, but with my track record; until I see it or you see it – don’t count on it. There really is no excuse, so I will tell it like it really is; I was just plain lazy and the more I got behind the easier it was just to let the time slide by and not do it.

We had a fantastic summer and I’m going to capture the summer in small installments of monthly summaries instead of doing what I’ve done in the past. That being more like a daily log. Instead I will just summarize each month with highlights and pictures I have collected. I will be able to do that because of keeping my daily journal. So without any further ado, let’s get started.

June 2010

The 2 by 4 Rule
Usually for an RV’er the 2 by 4 rule is applied when traveling. It goes something like this; two-hundred miles or four o’clock whichever comes first and then you exit for a good nights rests. So what does an RV'er do with that rule when they’re sitting still? They take the rule and make it applicable to their situation. In our case; work two days and take four off which equal’s the 2 X 4 Rule.

(Frank addressing the ball, then Frank with his fine follow through and of course Frank addressing me, telling me that's how it's done.

Hot Summer Dog Days & Golf Days
This month was very hot, but it was just the start of the long hot summer for us all. About once a week Frank and I went golfing, hot or not. He stopped playing golf about 12 years ago, I finally convinced him to try again. He has been enjoying it so much he went out and bought himself a new set of clubs. Frank has done really good getting his scores down in the low 90’s and even once or twice reaching 89. Frank must be a good luck charm for me because I have consistently been in the low to mid 80’s while golfing with him. Having my lowest score twice this year with an 81.

Rhonda and I made the best of our days off by going to a lot of different places to eat and seeing a bunch of movies. During our normal course of work, Sheila approached us concerning our return to work next year. Normally we don’t like to return to work the same place two years in a row. The question arises what good is the RV if you continue going back to the same place year after year? The predicament in all of this is that if you do find some place you really like and you feel appreciated – then why wouldn’t you go back? The answer to her question and so she could line up her work schedule for next summer was a definite – Yes, we would be back for at least one more season. Besides all of my money was earmarked already for this season. The first half was saved for new tires for the motor home. The second half of my wages will be explained at a later date. It will be another shining moment to talk about.

Live Performances
We both love live theatre and we took the opportunity on one of our days off to attend the showing of Gypsy Rose Lee in downtown Wichita at the Century II Theatre. It was a wonderful musical with a lot of professional actors and singers. We were then invited to attend another live performance by Sheila at a local church. Her daughter Amy was getting married to a nice young man, Brock. We felt privileged that we were even thought of in this way.

Family, grandkids and a short trip
Toward the end of the month we took a short trip up to Iowa to visit family. Rhonda and I took Luke, Griffin and Lily to a movie, Toy Story Three in 3-D. I then had a wonderful time on the golf course with my son, Ted and my two oldest grandsons, Mikey and Riley. The visit was way too short.

So came and went the month of June.

Last Weeks of May, 2010

Final Week of May, 2010

After receiving my first treatment with Dr. Young, I was excited about the procedure known as UCC (upper cervical care). Although my pain wasn’t totally gone, it had dropped in its threshold level considerable. Dr. Young with his staff of Mary and Shirley are very professional and nice individuals who make you feel right at home. He put an Atlas machine at the base of my neck turning it on; it sounds as if it’s a small machine gun. Ra-ta-ta-tat, Ra-ta-ta-tat at intervals of what seemed like five or six minutes at a time for 30 to 45 minutes. All the while he made sure I was comfortable and checked up and down on my neck and spine alignment. After the procedure was completed more X-rays were taken to assess the correction to my Atlas.

They told me, they were going to try and get my head on straight.

All I could say to them was, “Good luck with that!”

I received my certification for dispensing LP-Gas and fixed a mail flag on the mailboxes to let the residents know that the mail has arrived and in their box or that it’s in the office for pick up. It was my mailman mentality coming to the surface. We went to work just before the Memorial Day weekend expecting a lot of things needing to be done. We weren’t wrong. We stayed hopping getting things readied for the weekend. One nice thing that happened was my oldest daughter Kimmy called and invited us up to the lake house for the upcoming weekend.

We left for Ellston, Iowa at 8 a.m. We put our clothes and personal hygiene items in our traveling bags getting ready for the trip. We had to get Sadie’s stuff ready too, since she would be traveling with us. I also put two sets of golf clubs in the truck; my old set for Riley and the set Rocky gave me for Luke. Arriving after about six hours, only Kimmy and Mike knew I was coming for the weekend. Everyone was out on a boat ride when we pulled up. We waited until they pulled into the dock area and surprised everyone. It was a good feeling seeing everyone. Now I was waiting on Katie and Ally to drive up to surprise them too.


Brady (my #5 in the line of 7 grandsons) caught his first fish ever on our first day at the lake house. I didn’t get a picture of it, but his dad did. Mike took a bunch of us out on the boat giving us a tour of the nice homes around the lake.
He stopped at a location where he takes his family so they can swim and have fun when he has the boat anchored down. We then watched as my dare-devil grandkids went tubing behind the boat. Rhonda, Sadie and me took the opportunity afforded us by Mike to jet-ski for the very first time. It was a blast. I was able to take Ally and Brady out on the jet-ski too.

The sleeping arrangements were a challenge for Kimmy. But somehow she always seems to work her magic and makes it work for everyone. I have to say this has been one of the best weekends I’ve had in a long, long time. It’s not surprising that it happens when I’m with my kids and grandkids. They are my world now. I’m going to be a little sad because it’s coming to an end faster than I wanted it to.

It was the last day of the month and last day of being at the lake house. I was up before anyone else and went out on the deck to read a book I brought with me. It started sprinkling so I had to retreat to the car to stay dry. After everyone was up and the noise level was too, breakfast was fixed by Kimmy. We had a great breakfast of sausage and biscuits, scrambled eggs with everyone pushing away from the table completely satisfied. We said our goodbyes and left the lake house around 9 a.m.

On our way home we stopped in Iola, Kansas for a Mexican lunch before arriving home at 3:45 p.m. We weren’t home but a few minutes when Sheila, our boss called asking when we thought we would be home?

Rhonda replied, “We are home.”

Along with the other two couples we were invited to a dinner that Sheila and Keith were providing for us. It was very sweet of them. We had a great time with everyone in attendance. Now it’s back to work tomorrow and starting a new month.

The video below is of my grandsons, Mikey, Luke and Griff. Watch as Griff right at the end of the video tries to jump from one tube to the other. He almost, I say almost makes it.

Last Weeks of May, 2010

The Third Week of May, 2010

I checked this journal/blog and realized I haven’t written for a long, long time. I’m not sure whether it’s pure laziness on my part or I’m just tired and let it slip by me. No matter the reason I lose so much by not writing like I should. One thing I accomplished this third week of May was finding an acupuncture doctor recommended by Frank & Sondra’s daughter. I hope Dr. Michael Young will be able to relieve some of my pain and headaches which seem to be a constant thing for me. I filled out the informational sheet for my appointment with Dr. Young and now look forward to seeing him. He is the first acupuncture doctor I’ve gone to since 2006.

Dr. Young took X-rays and checked some pressure points on my body. He’s going to try something called an Atlas treatment on me. I liked his approach to my problem and his staff of two, Mary and Shirley.

Rhonda and I checked out the Goodyear Tire Store on the price of tires for the motor home. The tires cost $347 apiece. To mount and balance them was another $53 per tire for a total of $400 per tire, times six. That’s a lot of money for the rubber hitting the road. My paychecks are going for the six new tires.

Last Weeks of May, 2010

The Second Week of May, 2010

We had to work on Mother’s Day which wasn’t bad; in fact it was nice staying busy on this day. We only had to work until 5 pm thanks to Sheila the owner letting us close shop to attend a little get-together with the other workampers and John and Donna Beddie a couple residing in the park. We had snacks but most of all we had a great time just talking amongst ourselves.

We had set up a date to go out to dinner with the Beddie’s on Monday, May 10th. Late in the afternoon around 3:45 p.m. sirens started blaring warning of tornado sightings in our county. Residents staying in the park started showing up to enter the storm shelter. I took Rhonda and Sadie to the shelter for their safety. Frank, Mike and me escorted the residents that were showing up to the shelter. Our dinner date with the Beddie’s had to be canceled until a future date. Once it started raining pretty hard and the clouds turned a dark black we all went down inside the shelter. Approximately 25 to 30 people along with about a dozen dogs went down inside the bunker type shelter. Everyone handle themselves with courtesy and dignity. It was a first for Rhonda and me to be evacuated to a storm cellar. Okay I just have to say this – “I think we are in Kansas, Toto (Sadie).

Toward the end of the second week we had a little excitement with a customer who’s RV was put in the storage area because he owed Sheila a lot of money (rent, electricity). This customer was a young and arrogant man with a bad attitude. His appearance put him probably in his mid-twenties or late twenties. He brought along a buddy as back-up. Sheila didn’t take any guff from him. She told him how much he needed to pay – and he did. He rolled his eyes and gave a few disgusted looks to his buddy, but in the end he paid up. I stayed in the office with her the entire time because I didn’t trust the young man to be there alone with Sheila. Keith (Sheila’s husband) came in shortly afterwards. We took them back to his unit. The young man backed his pickup truck toward his 5th wheel and made a mess of it. Dropping the neck down onto the bed of the truck missing the hitch altogether. He then got out and went to his door on the RV with his buddy pointing and making comment about, “how they broke into his RV.”

Keith had had enough. Now I want you to picture in your mind the Incredible Hulk. Keith turned into one but instead of turning green he turned beet red. Stepping up directly in front of this arrogant kid, Keith stood a good foot taller than him. Keith went into a rage. Spewing out a mind-numbing amount of profanities at the young man. This young man was initially very arrogant in his attitude but lost it quickly with Keith. Finally I stepped between them and placed my hand on Keith’s left shoulder asking him to calm down. The young man was thankful for my action and the voice of reason and calmness settled everyone down. In fact the young man’s voice took a softer tone with me and he thanked me. I just told him the best thing to do was to hook-up and get out of here as soon as he could. They finally were hooked up and he came over to where Keith and I were sitting in the golf-cart. He stuck out his hand, I took it in mine and he thanked me. He just looked at Keith and said nothing to him.

I turned to Keith and told him, “I don’t think he wants to talk to you.”

Keith said, “I don’t have anything to say to that #”?*##.”

I just winked at him and said, “I’m just messing with you.”

He just had this little smile on his face.

It was another paradise day in the state of Kansas. I didn’t get home until close to 7:30 pm. We then took our trusty golf-cart out to do our nightly check.

Another exciting day happened the very next day. I was awakened by a knock on our door a little after seven in the morning by a gentleman a few sites down from us. In fact, I had taken him to his site a couple of nights ago. After the torrential downpour of rain last night he informed me his jack’s on his fifth wheel had sunk into two sinkholes. I told him, I would be right down to inspect the situation. What I found when I arrived was something I hadn’t seen before.
I immediately went to Frank since he owns a fifth-wheel to ask his opinion and help concerning this situation. We then had to call Sheila since we knew she would have to be involved too. No one had ever seen anything like this before. We all had seen jack’s on a fifth-wheel sink a little into gravel, dirt and even blacktop, but nothing like these jack’s being buried so deep. Even though it was the 5th wheel owner's own stupidity for not putting blocks under their jack’s Sheila was required to pay the wrecker service to winch them up and out according to her insurance company. Everyone is in agreement that if they had taken the necessary precautions it would never have happened to them. It’s a sad commentary that the campground was considered liable, when it had no part in setting up this disaster of stupidity by the owner’s.

May 1 - 7, 2010

May 1, 2010, Saturday

Today is the first day of the month and our first day of work this month. We worked today and then have two days off. Looking at our schedule for this month we only have to work twelve days. The new couple Mike & Joann came in earlier than expected so after they’re trained we will be going to our regular work schedule of two working days and four days off. We worked long and hard today which made the day fly by.

May 2, 2010, Sunday

Today was filled with a lot of running around. Went to TGW (the golf warehouse) with another coupon to pick-up more free NIKE golf balls. That makes eight total so far, just by going into the store and handing them a newspaper coupon. Got the car washed for five bucks. We stopped by Arby’s picking up lunch. Did the circuit of stores selling flowers finally buying a couple more hanging baskets to put on our double Sheppard-hook. The yard outside is starting to look real nice. Cut a pie I made (orange pie) giving a couple of pieces to Frank & Sondra; Sheila & Keith and the newbie’s Mike & Joanne. Around 8:30 pm or 9 pm we had a heck of a storm blow in. Weatherman said gust up to 50 to 60 mph. It turned our round table and chairs over. I had to go outside and save our new plants by sticking them under the motor home. Again this was a windy night for us.

May 3, 2010, Monday

Out of bed and out the door to sunshine. All the plants and our stuff outside survived the on-slaughter of the storm. I let Sadie out to take care of business and I picked-up and cleaned up what needed to be taken care of outside. It looks like today is going to be a really nice day weather wise.

May 4, 2010, Tuesday

Today we worked with the new couple. Rhonda was with Joann and I worked with Mike. Mike and I certainly earned our pay today. It took me 13 trips to get all the wood back to the burn pile at the north end of the park. Mike took a chainsaw cutting up limbs that were cut down inside the storage area. I put them in trash can on golf cart transporting them back to north side of park. Our other project today besides the limbs was to fix a sign that has been down for awhile. The sign directs campers to pull their rigs up to a certain point by the office check in. We pulled the poles out of the ground to reset them in concrete. The sign needs to be remounted on a piece of plywood, and then mounted on the poles. We moved a sign stating a 5 mph speed limit and to slow down. There was a lot accomplished today. I’m tired and wore out. Rhonda said she was pooped and just wanted to take it easy. That’s just what we did.

May 5, 2010, Wednesday

Today was a very busy day for Mike and me. We worked on completing the sign, “Campers pull up to here.” We had a false alarm concerning Rocky. It seems he left early to go fishing and Sheila wasn’t aware of it. Although Rocky was missing he did informed Keith, but Keith failed to tell Sheila. Anyway, I tried to open his door to the storage bin he “lives” in with his M/H. I found out I wouldn’t be a very good burglar – I had no luck getting in. Everything turned out okay and we were all relieved after Sheila called Keith and he said Rocky went fishing.

Today was another day when Mike and I really earned our money. We stayed busy doing something all day. We’ve been here almost a month and so far I’m enjoying it very much. At the end of the day Keith stopped by and thanked me for the pie I sent over to them the other night. In fact all three coupes said they enjoyed it very much. It makes me smile and feel good to do something like that. It was another successful day in Wichita.

May 6, 2010, Thursday

Long work day for us today. Rhonda and Joann worked in office and Mike and I worked the outside stuff. Toward end of day, maybe the last three to four hours I worked trying to clear and organize storage bin #6. It’s going to take me a long time to get this done. I believe it will be worth it once I get it completed. We did have a couple arrive today and the gentleman, Jim Campbell asked Rhonda if there was anyone who golfed. She volunteered me which I was happy she did. So we set up a golf date for tomorrow morning. After work we watched our TV show Survivor.

May 7, 2010, Friday

I woke up ready for a full morning of golfing with Jim at a new golf course. Our tee time was 8:45 am. I picked Jim up at 8 am. He loaded his clubs into the back of the car and we headed for McDonalds golf course. Jim is an easy going handsome man probably in his late 50’s. I say easy going because he was so very patient with me on the golf course. He shoots in low 80’s and of course I shoot way above that. He did show me a few things to help me out with my game. We had a really good time and I hope someday to play golf with him again using some of the things he taught me. And the next time I hope to have a better showing on the golf course. I will need to go practice but I feel I can improve my score 5 to 10 shots using what he showed me. When I arrived home Rhonda had to leave and get her haircut and do some errands. While I was golfing, Rhonda fixed a bathroom vent. I appreciated that very much. She took it apart and repaired it, then put it back together.



The other two couples Joann in pink with her husband Mike on her left; Frank & Sondra across the table

John Beddie with USI Park owner Sheila

Later in the evening we had a meeting a rec-hall for the workampers and owners of the park Sheila and Keith. Sheila provided pizza and salad and I made one of Kimmy’s recipes – a chocolate chip cake. So for the meeting we had pizza pie for the main dish and cake for dessert. It was a good meeting. It was fun for all of us and an enjoyable evening for all in attendance.





USI Park owner Keith with Donna Beddie

April 22- 30, 2010

April 22, 2010, Thursday

We did get to stay in bed longer this morning which I was thankful for. The weather today has been pretty bad raining most of the day. We did venture out to Walgreen’s where they were celebrating “Earth Day” by refilling ink cartridges for a dollar a cartridge. We dropped off five. We also stopped at TGW (the golf warehouse) where I had a coupon for two free NIKE golf balls. Which reminds me, I forget to mention that yesterday Rocky the older gentleman from Indiana gave me his old set of golf clubs. I plan on cleaning them up and giving them to one of my grandsons, either Riley or Luke. Today I wanted to get some outside things accomplished but the weather didn’t permit me to do so.

April 23, 2010, Friday

Today the weather was a little better for doing the things outside I wanted to get accomplished. I put out chairs, cleaned out the car and put all three sets of golf clubs in trunk of the car. Next, I then put the wheel covers on the motor home, put the table cloth on our round table and put out our new solar lights. Later in the day we drove to a Mexican restaurant for dinner. It was a good and productive day for us.


April 24, 2010, Saturday

Weather was bad today with rain and wind. This seems to be something we’re going to have to get use to staying here. Kansas has shown us the ability to have some really bad storms. Now I know why the location in the Wizard of Oz was in Kansas. Except for the weather it was a relaxing day for us. Tomorrow we start back to work for three days.

April 25, 2010, Sunday

WOW! – this day went by so fast we even went 40 minutes into our lunch time before we knew it. I cleaned the restrooms and the laundry room early. Rhonda and I planted more flowers today. We are starting to get in a routine and feeling more comfortable each day that we are here. This day was short because of staying busy. And this day was again exhausting. Our trip around the park was nice and Sadie is enjoying her short golf cart trips at the end of the day.

April 26, 2010, Monday

Again our days at work seem like they are going to be very repetitive in nature. I stayed very busy all day until about the last two hours. I had caught up on everything and started looking for things to do. Rhonda’s day sometimes gets frustrating for her because she still has to call Sheila more than she wants to. But I have confidence in her – I think she is doing very well. It was a long and productive day for us. One new item is we subscribed to the Wichita Eagle newspaper for the next 26 weeks. We are receiving the weekend editions (Fri, Sat-Sun) until Oct 27, 2010 for $1.25 per week. This is a pretty good deal considering the Sunday paper has been costing me $2.00 per week since we arrived.

April 27, 2010, Tuesday

This is the last day of our three days working. After today we will be off for three days. I did find out that the other couple (the third couple) will be arriving this weekend (Saturday). They will be in training for a couple of weeks, and then we can all go to a 2 days on - 4 days off schedule. We’re really looking forward to that work schedule.

This was quite a work day. I did all kinds of jobs today, besides my normal chores of cleaning and appearance upkeep around the park. I had a few maintenance chores that came my way. We had a motor home come in that is staying with us for one year. I took them to their designated site after filling up their propane tank.
After they were in their site they called the office asking Rhonda if I could fix the water line at their site. The water spigot didn’t have a handle to turn it off and on. So I went to see what the problem was and sure enough the handle had been broken off during this past winter. It was so bad I had to replace the top and the spigot going down into the water hole shut-off valve. Before I could do that I had to shut off water to 13 sites. So I called Sheila to let her know. Then I informed Rhonda in case anyone called about not having water. I only needed to shut the water off for about 15 minutes. No one called and everyone was happy.
My next project was putting a wheel(s) on a storage gate. Thanks to Keith’s help he let me have two -wheels off an old dolly where I transplanted them to the gate. Now it’s much easier to open and close the storage gate. It was a very physical and exhausting day but one of self satisfaction too.


April 28, 2010, Wednesday

Today we’re off work but that doesn’t mean we weren’t busy. Our first stop was less than a mile from USI south of highway 96 at a roadside flower shop location.
We were shopping for more flowers for around the outside of the motor home.

We then went to a bank to set-up accounts for ourselves. Rhonda did a checking and savings account, while I only opted for a savings. All my earnings from USI will be saved for new tires for the motor home. My guess is they will cost us between $1,800 - $2,400 for six new tires.

We were in need of a lunch so we stopped at a cute little diner called, Jimmie’s Place. It had a retro-setting of the 1950’s. Our waitress had picked the name “Cookie” for her job. It seems the workers can pick a name they want to use while working at this establishment as long as it’s associated with the 50’s. It was a very good meal with good service. I’m sure we will be going back there again.

Then it was on to Lowe’s and Nature Way to look at some flowers. We went back home to let Sadie outside and put our stuff up. Then the wind started kicking up again with 20-40 mph sustained winds with gust up to 55 mph according to the weatherman. It was so bad we had to bring in one of the plants we bought today and put it inside the motor home. We had a busy day and I feel like we accomplished quite a bit. The rest of the evening we relaxed and watched a little TV.

April 29, 2010, Thursday

All night long the motor home was rocking and rolling. I don’t think I have ever been in a location that’s had so much wind. The Panhandle of Texas gets a lot but here in Wichita its murder. We have been here 20 days and I can honestly say all but 3 or 4 days we have had windy days. I’m not just talking a little; I’m talking a hold on to your cowboy hat wind or lose it kind of wind.

Later today we had a dinner date at a nice Mexican restaurant. On our way home we stopped at Target Super Store to buy a small ice-machine. They were sold out so we picked up a rain-check for this item. We made it home just in time to watch the TV show “Survivor.”

April 30, 2010, Friday

I worked around M/H mostly worked on outside and tried to get our satellite back since we lost it because of the wind storm knocking it off-line.

Sheila the owner of the park has WI-FI through Tengo an internet server. She allows her workers to have free WI-FI while working here. So I called Verizon and put our Verizon air-card on hold for the next six months. This gives us a savings of $60 per month allowing us to save $355 over the next six months just in Verizon fees. The only requirement was to pay a $15 fee to suspend it for the next six months. And let me just say the Tengo internet service is great.

April 15- 21, 2010

April 15, 2010, Thursday

Today we planted flowers all around the office area and the entrance to the park. We spent the better part of the day digging, planting and cleaning up. It was a very productive day. This day we didn’t have one LP tank to fill. I was a little disappointing because I was going to start filling tanks today. Maybe I will get the chance tomorrow.




April 16, 2010, Friday

Boy talk about struggling to get out of bed. This morning I crawled out of bed after yesterday’s activities working around the park. My body is really sore. I have aches where I didn’t know I had places. Frank came over early afternoon to let me fill my first LP tank. It was a brand new one so I had to purge excessive air out of the tank. It was pretty easy.

April 17, 2010, Saturday

Today was our first day of working without another couple, if you don’t count the bosses (Sheila & Keith). They were close by to help us if we needed it. Rhonda's job is more mentally challenging than mine. Mine is more physical and just getting into a routine. Rhonda is doing very well on the computer working the program called Campground Master. I’m confident by the end of the summer she will know most of the inn’s and out’s of this program.

My routine is checking for departures, reading any electric meters put on my list, cleaning the restrooms and laundry facilities, filling propane tanks when they come in, empting trash cans, picking-up any litter in the park, keeping up the appearance and maintenance of the golf carts, empting recycle bins, inventory of cleaning supplies for restrooms/laundry/office, empting the coin change machine in laundry room and a few other things that have slipped my mind at the moment. Other-than those few things I don’t have much to do in the park.

So far I’ve filled two LP tanks yesterday and two today. Today’s count would have been higher but Frank filled one up for me while I was planting more flowers in front of the office. It was nice of him to do that for me since, it was his day off. Even Sondra went to the office on her day off to help Rhonda with a problem she had with the computer. That’s just how it is in the RVing world. Keith, Sheila’s husband helped me with a 100 lb tank, a 40 lb tank and a few 20 lb tanks. He explained certain things that are a must when filling up the tanks and he provided me with some helpful hints.

The flowers we have planted and the few still to be planted are really making the office and the park look attractive. During the course of our stay here so far I’ve had the opportunity to meet several of the residents staying here at USI RV Park. None more interesting than a man named “Rocky.” Rocky Reagan is a walking, breathing, historical figure full of stories. He proclaims to be 90 years old and others tell me he’s 88 or 89. No-matter; he is full of history and stories that I can’t wait to sit down with him and let the fountain of information flow out. Another gentleman by the name of John Beddie and his wife Donna are from Kerrville, Texas. We met him our first or second day here. We all were talking in the office and as it so often happens, when you ask where someone is from; you are surprised on how small our country becomes with that little question. It seems they have a house in Kerrville they want to sell. At this point in time Kerrville is a place I’m looking at as a retirement location. In fact that little question of, “Where are you from?” brought out the fact that Rocky was born in the Hoosier State of Indiana right down close to the Ohio River in Hanover, Indiana. Now that makes it even that more exciting to me to interview/talk him.

My day was filled with non-stop work activities all day long. I didn’t take one break which made the day escape from me without even realizing it. Rhonda’s day vanished from her too. At the end of the day we were ready to call it quits and go home to relax. Tomorrow is an off day for us (Sunday).

April 18, 2010, Sunday

The temperature was 48 degrees when I got out of bed at 6:46 am. I turned on the furnace to take the chill off; put two dollars worth of quarters in my pocket for a Sunday paper (Wichita Eagle) and took Sadie outside to conduct her business. We were off to a good start for this day. Today we are off work but that doesn’t mean we won’t be working. We have things to accomplish around the M/H. Rhonda wants to do some deep cleaning and I have a satellite to put up, plus odds and ends outside to finish. Since we started our training we’ll have worked nine out of the last ten days. We certainly have stayed busy.

April 19, 2010, Monday

Today we were pretty much on our own. Sheila was in and out of the office helping Rhonda some and she helped me with a few things around the propane shed. My mailman mentality came out today. I put names of the residents inside the mailboxes for the office staff and talked to Sheila about a pop-up flag to put on mailboxes so residents will know when the mail has arrived. I stayed busy filling seven 20 lb tanks at one time, two additional 20 lb tanks, one 30 lb tank and two motor home tanks today. I do like staying busy but it sure is wearing me out. Guess I’m just not use to working this long and hard. I have until November 1st which will come in no time because of the way time is flying by. We finally finished our work day around 6:15 pm and then did the nightly run in the golf cart checking the park at 8 pm. It again was a good day by working hard and long.

April 20, 2010, Tuesday

Today and tomorrow we are working 9-12 and 5-6. Then we are on-call until 8 pm. I filled two motor homes and two 30 lb tanks with propane today. I cleaned both bathrooms and laundry room. Swept the driveway entrance into the park and in front of the long white storage building. Rhonda continues to learn the computer program for the campground and everyday is becoming more comfortable working with it.

April 21, 2010, Wednesday

It was a short night again because I wanted to stay in bed a lot longer. Today will be a short day in work hours but a long day in commitment having to stay at the campground on-call until 8 pm. I’m physically exhausted. I’m not used to working these long hours or this type of physical work anymore. I hope I can get my body back in shape. I started cleaning the batteries in the golf cart. They had all kind of corrosion on the cables and around the terminals. I cleaned them all up and replaced two cables that were destroyed. I worked the rest of afternoon and evening escorting RV’s to their sites and filling LP tanks. At the end of the night Rhonda and I take the golf cart around the park checking to make sure everything that needs to be locked up or checked on is done. Sadie even gets the opportunity to take a tiny ride around the park. Now we have three days off.