Cotulla, Texas:
"To gain that which is worth having, it may be necessary to lose everything else."
~Bernadette Devlin
This is so true. Both of us lost our jobs in Hawaii in June 2011. In order to go on the
road and travel we gave up (sold) our "sticks and bricks" house and almost all
our possessions.
Did we have fear? You bet!! Could we find work on the road to support
ourselves? How would we pay for everything?
Fast forward one year...We've been "on the road" in our 5th wheel trailer for eight months and have
worked six months. We've been from Hawaii (where we lived, owned a house and worked) to Oregon (our home state for over 30 years),
bought our 5th wheel and trailer in Oregon, drove to Fallon, Nevada and worked
for Amazon.com in Fernley for two months during the holiday season.
Bob got a job as a commercial roofing service manager in Sparks, Nevada for three months. We took off in April to travel to Texas with stops in Las Vegas and Phoenix to see family and friends.
Bob got a job as a commercial roofing service manager in Sparks, Nevada for three months. We took off in April to travel to Texas with stops in Las Vegas and Phoenix to see family and friends.
We spent two days hiking in Big Bend National Park and a few days exploring
the Texas Hill Country before landing in Kerrville, Texas to attend the RV-Dreams Rally.
For the past six weeks we have been working as security gate guards at an oil
field in south Texas. In July, we will take two weeks to drive to Yellowstone
N.P., spend two weeks camping and hiking; go to the Black Hills and Mt. Rushmore
in Sept. We will then head over to the North Dakota/Minnesota border where Bob
will work the sugar beet harvest for three weeks.
From there, we will drive back to Oregon, park our
rig, and board our cats to take a month-long trip to Australia. It was not
possible to do all these things when we were tied to high-stress,
low-vacation-time jobs, our house and all our belongings.
So while we lost our house and most of our possessions, we gained freedom to
go where we want, when we want. Make no mistake about it, though, we also need to work!
Gate guarding update:
We received our Security pocket ID cards and name badges today. Thank you, LOMA Gate Guard Services!
After the cats' bag trashing incident last night, we moved all the plastic bags into a nice cloth bag. No more shredding the paper bags. Bowie came to terms with the new arrangement right away.
"Oh, look, Mom and Dad gave us a new, cushy bed!"
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| Time for my nap. Just a little yawn. |
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| And now for my siesta. Wake me in a few hours, will you? |
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| Roadrunner reappeared in front of our dining room window, bug in mouth. Isn't he gorgeous? |
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| Did a little dance, fluffed his tail and wings. |
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| Then did what roadrunners do best...ran away. |
Travel Bug out.
Sweetness! Traveling the Texas hill country is awesome. Are the bluebonnets still out?
ReplyDeleteI'm sure you'll have a blast at Yellowstone. Take pics!
Have fun.
Hi Jeremy,
DeleteThe bluebonnets were pretty much done in April when we first arrived in Texas. We saw a few, but not fields and fields of them as so many described and photographed. Maybe next year as we intend to return to this area.
Ah, we have working at amazon.com in common. Hubby and I worked in their Coffeyville, KS FC in 2008 and 2009 and then went and worked in Campbellsville, KY FC in 2010. We liked Campbellsville better.
ReplyDeleteIn a couple of years I'd like to work at the Kentucky facility. Love that area.
DeleteWhat's the weather like in winter?
Love this post. RR showed up again, and again too far away. Tried to see where he went, was gone in the brush.
ReplyDeleteOne of these days I would love to travel "Down Under".
Will be anxious to hear about your trip to Australia. That is something we'd like to do when we are cat-less one of these days.
ReplyDeleteSusan,
ReplyDeleteHere's another award for you - The Versatile Blogger Award! Visit my blog at http://phoenixonceagain.blogspot.com/2012/06/june-19-2012-another-award.html to pick up yours!
A trip to Yellowstone and Australia, how awesome!
ReplyDeleteWe LOVE Yellowstone...have been three times. Our main interest is hiking--to geysers, mudpots, geothermal pools and, especially, waterfalls. Last time we were there for a week and hiked 80 miles. Let's see what we can do in two weeks.
DeleteAnd this time I plan for both of us to carry bear spray!! So far I've only heard them crashing through the woods and heard other people's tales of seeing them. If I do see one I want to be prepared!
Hi Susan & Bob, enjoy reading your blog. Have also worked the oil patch last fall. Don't know if we could take the hot summer? Amazon sounds too long hours on your feet. We're getting too old for that! We have been trying to go to Australia for 3 years now. Just curious if you are planning to rent an RV to travel & what your itinerary will be. Also curious what your budget will be for such a trip. Tks, Tom & Lynn
ReplyDeleteHi Tom & Lynn,
DeleteActually we had lots of Hawaiian Air Miles that we used for airfare and I've been saving up timeshare weeks. We have three weeks booked so far in timeshares, now trying to find a place in or near Melbourne.
We will stay our first week in Bowral, New South Wales about 1-1/2 hours south of Sydney. The first week we will visit Sydney as often as possible and explore the Snowy Mountains and their national capital, Canberra. Second week we'll be in Coffs Harbour which will be our base while we explore Waterfall Way and the northern New South Wales Coast. Our third week will be in the Rothbury farm, horse and wine region. For our fourth week, we want to be in Melbourne so we're requesting a timeshare for that week...hopefully one becomes available. I have the time, just need the place.
Budget is more than we can afford, so we're selling my 2008 Ford Escape (yes, my Escape pod!). I think it's worth it, though.
I'm sure it will be worth it. Look forward to reading your blog on that too.
DeleteWow. What a lifestyle!
ReplyDeleteI lived in Melbourne as a kid but it's sooo long ago I couldn't recommend anywhere for you. (I believe they've tarmacced the roads and driven all the kangaroos out lol)