The Lambros Travels

Still HOT and Busy

2011-06-22T10:29:00.000-05:00

The weather here has been very humid and hot with the temps being in the mid 90's and I think the humidity right up there with the temp. We had a cool front come through a day or two ago and it is back to normal with the temps being in the min 80's and low humidity, very nice.

We have survived the Woodcarvers convention and right after they left the Brothers of the Third Wheel came in, like the next day. So we were very busy with cleaning rooms and cabins. The laundry was piled up but we got it all done. Since the two conventions are over the lodge has quieted down and back to normal, what ever normal might be. The boss purchased 5 dozen new towels for us, so we will probably start to out fit the cabins with towels now and when someone rents a cabin we will put the rest of the linens in at that time. We still need more wash cloths and hand towels to complete this project.

In my last post I kind of went on a rant about some of the people that we work with. I am still trying not to offend anyone or ask them to do anything. It is strange though that when people do want to help all they want to do is clean maybe one or two rooms and do laundry. Now we have people asking us not to do laundry so they have something to do after we are off. I am sorry but we are not going to do that.

We have a golf cart problem as well. It appears that there are not enough to go around. We rarely have one for our use so we are unable to get things done. I don't even bother asking for one for fear of pissing somebody off and they go cry to the boss. Example a couple of days ago we had two campers come over here to the North park. We are to escort them to their sight so the owner, Robert called me to do it but I had no golf cart and I told him that. Another worker had to come over from the Main park to take care of the campers. The golf cart that we were suppose to use was at the main park not being used.

In general one of my pet peeves is "Lack of Consideration" for your fellow man or in this case fellow worker. There is a lot of this going on this year here in Branson.

Until next time be safe.

Things Are Getting HOT!!!!

2011-06-07T10:15:00.000-05:00

Well besides the weather, the place is getting very busy. Since my last posting we have had the cabins rented almost every weekend and the lodge rooms I would say about half have been rented as well.

We have everybody here now with one couple doing housekeeping with us and two other couples working the office in the lodge, one of them help us out when they can. Right now the Woodcarvers are here which takes up most of the lodge. Now that is not to bad but they will be checking out this coming weekend and right after that, like the next day, The Brothers of the Third Wheel will be here for a week. They are a motorcycle group that ride three wheelers.

I am really confused on some issues when it comes to dealing with people. We all had a training day and all were shown how to do things here and what to do, but it seems that some don't understand the simplest of things. They have been told to do this after you clean rooms and do that but they just don't , won't or can't do it. What we have established here just seems to make it easier for everybody but all I see is making it harder for them and everybody else. Now I know as we get older our brain isn't like it use to be but we can still take notes. We have shelves that are marked where things go but I still find things in the wrong place. Very frustrating. Is this what I have to look forward to when I get their age?

When I reach "The Golden Years" will I lose the ability to read, recognize different colors, not follow simple instructions or not care for your fellow worker? If this is the case then I don't want to be around anybody at all. So put me in a room until I die.

Until next time, be safe.

Gearing Up for the Season

2011-04-19T09:19:00.000-05:00

Well so far it has been pretty busy around here for us. Sherry and I have been trying to get all the rooms open at the lodge but not quite finished yet. We still have four more to go and then the lodge will be completely open, all 25 rooms.

This year the management team has decided to outfit all 10 cabins with sheets and towels. Now over at the main park there are 2 cabins and there are no issues as far as towels and sheets but over at the North Park, where we have 8 cabins, we have a shortage of towels. We finished cleaning, putting up towel racks and placed all the sheets in the cabins. They are ready to go and we will put the towels in when they become rented. We were told that we will get more towels down the road. No worries.

We had to turn the water on to some of the cabins yesterday and there were no leaks or busted pipes. Sherry and Bri went to clean them and I was cleaning up leaves with a leaf blower. Once all gathered up there was mountains of leaves. You would think what's the problem? We have had some rain so the leaves were wet and hard to move but I managed to get it done by the time Sherry and Bri finished, good timing.

The weather around here has been crazy. At least once a week for the past several weeks we have experienced severe weather. We have had hard rain, bad winds, and tornado watches. Now I grew up in Phoenix and never been through a tornado, not that I would want to. When we lived in Houston we went through a few hurricanes, most memorable was Hurricane Ike. Let me think about this...........Tornadoes and a Fifth Wheel RV Trailer..........
I don't think that is a good combination. What do you think???? Well one of the downsides of Full time RVing. We are expecting more severe weather sometime today so I will take the necessary precautions.

We have had more help arrive this past week. The couple that will take care of the bath houses have arrived, one couple that will help in the office and maintenance are here and both couples will start this coming Wednesday. One couple that was here last year arrived a few days ago and they are Bobby and Maggie. They are parked here with us at the North Park as the other couples are parked at the main park.

I can't think of anything else, I am sure there is more, so until next time be safe.

Started Work and Keeping Busy

2011-04-04T21:18:00.000-05:00

Hi There,

Well like I said before we like our site and we try to fix it up to our liking. We hung a string of rope lights around the picnic cover and looks pretty good. Sherry got out her wingchimes and stuff so we hung them up as well. I set up my barbeque area and I am thinking that I may need a new table top barbeque. Oh well Father's Day is not to far off.

It didn't take long before Roger and Heidi put us to work. We started on a Monday with getting the Motel rooms ready to rent. Now to start with we are only working 4 hours a day until mid April, then we go to full time. Next we went to the two cabins to outfit them and ready to rent and boy it sure didn't take long before the two cabins and a few motel rooms were rented that following weekend. A couple of weeks ago some help arrived. She is a single lady by the name of Maureen. Our schedules are different so we only get to work with her on Fridays for now but I am sure that will change. She is very energenic and is eager to work. This past weekend we had one cabin, all five motel rooms and the big house rented. Maureen has been off since Saturday so Sherry and I were able to get the motel cleaned, the big house and cabin done but we still had a room left over at the lodge to do, so Maureen will do that one tomorrow.

On our off days we usually do the necessary things like grocery and laundry but that's not all we do. We have checked out our favorite second hand stores and craft stores. We did get to go to a magic show. We have never been to a live magic show before but let me tell you it was very good and Bri got a real big kick out of it.

A couple of day ago we were driving around and we stumbled onto the fish hatchery. This is located at Table Rock Dam.

At the hatchery they breed Rainbow Trout which is released through out the state. Some of the fish are really big like this one.

How's that for a fish on the end of your pole? Let me give you a picture to show you just how big this fish is.

Pretty big fish don't you think?? Bri had a good time and it was very educational.

Well I don't have much more so until next time be safe.

Preparing For The Trip To Branson, MO

2011-03-27T16:36:00.000-05:00

When we arrived in Tomball we stayed at a park called Tomball RV Park. Nice little park with only about 45 sites, all with full hookups. The monthly rent was $275 plus 10 cents per kilowatt hour. We had a good site up until we had sewer problems once again. Their sewer line was plugged and the manager failed to get it fixed. He told us that we could move to another site so we did and then the billing problems began. Lets just say there was no contract, they tried to charge us for extra fees, higher rent for the space that they put us in..................well you get the picture.

We found a park ran by the county that had 8 full hookup RV sites and get this it was free. You can stay for 7 nights at no cost. The park is gated so you better be in by 10 pm or you will be locked out. Outside of that it is quiet, and a beautiful park. We stayed for the seven nights and then packed up and headed for Branson. Oh the name of the park is Spring Creek Park and it is maintained by Harris County. You can find them on the web by looking up Harris County Prec. 4 Parks. You can even make your reservation online if you wish.

We took off on March 8th and headed for Livingston, TX and staying at Escapees Rainbow Park. We stayed two nights because we needed to do some business in Livingston. When we got there and pulled into our site I started to unhook like always. When I pulled the lever to unhook the jaws to release the trailer it felt kind of funny. To my surprise the jaws never released. Oh Crap now what am I going to do?? I was able to play with the lever and managed to release the jaws, Thank you Lord. We found the problem which was a broken clip. We were able to locate one and the repair was made. We took off from there and headed north to our next stop.

We stopped at a Corps of Engineer park on some lake just outside of Texarkana, TX. This was a very nice park and the rates were good. We were able to get a pull through site and we left the truck hooked up, only staying one night. Next to our site was a playground so Bri was in hog heaven.

We left early in the morning for our next leg of our journey which took us into Little Rock, through Conway and into Clinton. We stayed at a park just north of Clinton off of highway 65. There was no manager around but one of the residents showed us where to park and this site was also a pull through. I am loving these parks, no backing in. We still never noticed any manager around when we got ready to leave the next morning so we left some cash in an envelope and put it in a mail slot. I sure hope it was the right amount. We took our time getting out of there since this was going to be our last day of traveling and only about 150 miles.

Brianne is back to her old self when we travel. But on this trip she has begun to ask more questions and she seems to wonder if we are lost. I try to reassure her that Daddy knows where he is going. At least the GPS knows for sure. We drove into Branson and then into Compton Ridge Campground around 12:30 or so. The park was pretty much dead and after all of us checked out the bathrooms we located our managers, Heidi and Roger. They said that the site we had last year was available and that we could go over there. Roger helped us back in and we got set up for the long stay. We think we made it look very homey. We like our site. Well I think that wraps up our trip to Branson so until next time be safe.

Holidays With The Kids

2011-03-23T12:04:00.000-05:00

When we left Arizona we headed towards the Houston Texas area. We used to live north of Houston in a small town called Tomball. This is a good central location to the rest of our kids. We arrived on December 9th, got set up and later that night our son and his family showed up. Our son, Chris and his wife Lauren recently had a baby girl. This was the first time we got to see the new addition. Her name is Jordyn and of course the cutest baby you have seen.

As the Grandfather I do have some privileges like teaching her how to stick out her tongue. Very cool. Now Sherry got all the baby time she wanted since they were only about five minutes from where we were staying.

The first family gathering was the following Sunday where we all gathered at our oldest daughter's place to celebrate some birthdays. You see in December we have mine, our son's and our eldest daughter. We all had a good time and this was the first time that the kids saw that I pierced my ear. Some liked it and some didn't. Oh well I like it.

Christmas Eve is the Lambros get together, when all the families gather to share and open gifts. It is great to see all the kids and grandkids open their gifts. Mel and Spencer's little one seems to be quite the shy one but she started to warm up to us later on.

We had one more gathering before we left which was a picnic. Great weather and food. We had planned games for the little ones and they all had a good time. Good family time with everyone.

Well until next time be safe.

Water Problems and Then Some

2011-03-20T10:32:00.000-05:00

Hello,

Well I'm back. Amazing huh! I titled this post "Water Problems" because we had many water issues this past winter.

It all started back in Branson when the floor in the toilet area was wet. I went to investigate and found that the vacuum break valve was leaking. At first I thought it was the seal at the floor leaking. I had to replace that one once before. But that was not the problem. When we got to Houston I was able to get the new part and no more wet floor. Not for long.

Before we left Arizona we started to notice that the toilet started to back up. I am trying to figure out how a 3 inch diameter hole can be plugged up? None the less it was. I could plunge the toilet and the clog would go down. In the mean time I kept noticing that around the toilet was still wet. How can this be?! Nothing was leaking. So I thought.

I took the toilet off and noticed that the floor flange was cracked. So every time that I would plunge it would force water through the crack. Now replacing the floor flange doesn't seem like a problem but purchasing the right one is the question. There are 3 different types of flanges to choose from. Not sure which one I have. So we kept towels around the toilet to soak up the excess water.

Now in Houston we started to figure out what could be clogging up the toilet. We changed the TP we used and it still plugged up. We ran water and a snake down the vent tube and the plug was still there. All the while plunging and forcing water onto the floor. More towels please. Finally we tried some Foaming Liquid Plumber along with some boiling water and that seemed to do the trick. No more plug. It must have been a massive one because it even plugged up the valve when I was dumping and flushing the tank. I was able to tap on the pipe and away it went.

I have a flushing system on this trailer so I hook up a hose outside and the flushing begins. What I didn't know is that the piping goes through and under the bathroom sink. Guess what, water leak at a connection under the sink. I tightened that one and no more leaks there.

What else could leak.......?????......How about the hot water tank??? You guessed it there is a small leak at the tank which is under the kitchen sink. Tightened this one and there is still a small dribble, more towels please. I think I have covered the water problems so far so until next time be safe.

Recap Since The Last Post

2011-03-18T16:57:00.000-05:00

Hello There,

Well I know it has been awhile since I have been on this blog but forgive me. I will try to keep up on our experiences. There are many things to talk about so I may break this up into several blogs.

We left Branson in mid November and headed towards Arizona to visit my mother. We stayed for two weeks and celebrated Thanksgiving her and some of my brothers. While there I made some repairs to her house and we had a good visit. The park we stayed at was not the best in the world, as a matter of fact it was down right terrible. It was in the middle of downtown Mesa and the sewer pipe was broken and messy even after I told them about it they never fixed it. Really bad.

We left Mesa and headed towards Houston for the holidays with the rest of the family. We arrived in Tomball around the 9th of December.

Like I said I am going to start small for now so until next time be safe.

Autumn Is Here!!

2010-10-06T10:17:00.001-05:00

One of my favorite times of the year has to be Autumn. The leaves change color and the cool temps especially after a very warm and humid summer. It is just great. The weather around here has been beautiful with the highs in the lower 70's and the morning lows in the 40's. It does get a little crazy on what to wear though, jacket in the morning and then have to take it off by noon. Boy I wish I had that problem all year.

OK I haven't been on for awhile so there is a lot to talk about so let's get to it. A few weeks ago the campground hosted a group called the Fiddlers. What this group does is get together twice a year and basically play music. Call it one big jam session. I wasn't able to get any pictures but I did get one at a dance they had. I can't remember the group's name.

They were pretty good and they had a good time with the crowd. Sherry and I started dancing and we actually forgot some of our moves. Boy did we look bad. I guess we will practice more often.

We all got the opportunity to go to a show called the "Dixie Stampede". It's a dinner show. The show consists of a type of musical between the North and South with song and horses and wagons. The food was great. Let me tell you what you get; A whole chicken, a slice of pork, a baked potato, a roll, a bowl of soup, soft drinks and a apple fritter for dessert. Everybody gets this menu including Brianne. The best part is there is no silverware to use. Use your hands and plenty of napkins. Everything was served hot and it was all good.

We have started homeschooling with Bri and she is doing quite well. We had the best science class served up by mother nature herself. This month we are studying spiders and we had the perfect opportunity to see what happens when a stick bug got caught up in a web. I took some pictures of what happened.

As you can see the spider took the stick bug from the ground and then finally wrapped it up in its web. Brianne was very interested in what was going on and asked a lot of questions. Great class.

Work around here has been steady. Our help around here is starting to leave for the winter. Johnny and Ginny, who was helping us in house keeping left back in September. Greg and Karen, who take care of the plants and grounds left this past week. Here is their picture.

They are a great couple and will be back next year. Brianne calls them Mr. and Mrs. Garden. Bobby and Maggie will be leaving sometime early next week and also will be back next year. here they are.

As you can see Maggie is somewhat of a character and fun to talk to. I think I have covered everyone that is leaving in the near future.

We are staying pretty busy with just the two of us cleaning. If we need help we can get Daniel and Rachal to help. We try not to leave any rooms to carry over to the next day but sometimes it is too much to get done in one day. The busiest days are Sunday and Monday and then we are off on Tuesday and Wednesday. Coming up in about two weeks is the "Wood Carvers" and they are to rent most of the lodge rooms so we will be busy most of the week. They are scheduled to start coming in on a Thursday and stay for about a week. Now this leaves most of the checkouts on a Thursday or Friday which means that Sherry and I just might get the lodge cleaned before our days off. I don't know but we will wait and see.

I think I have covered what has been happening so until next time have a good one.

Beautiful Weather

2010-09-15T10:50:00.000-05:00

Hello everyone and welcome back. I tilted this post for obvious reasons. The weather here in Branson has been wonderful. We have had some rain which is a nice change but the highs have been in the mid 80's and the lows around the low 60's. This is great weather for the up coming activities here at Compton Ridge. This weekend there is a convention called "The Fiddlers".

We have no idea what it is all about but they come here twice a year, spring and fall. We are hoping that there will be some time during the weekend that we can see and hear some of them. They are scheduled until Sunday. I am sure that we will get some pictures and once we do I will post them for all to see. We are looking forward to seeing them.

Yesterday, in preparation for the weekend, Roger asked us to help put up some canvass type covers. They were heavy and we managed to put up two of them. These covers are for the Fiddlers just in case it rains or just a place to sit and play the fiddle, I guess.

Here are a few pictures of us putting them up.

It may look like a disorganized mess but we were able to get them up with no body getting hurt.

It looks like in this picture that Roger is either hot and tired or he is thinking of what to do next or maybe he is thinking it is time for a beer.

We were able to get FREE tickets to go see the "Osmonds" last night. We have always wanted to see them and because of this job we finally did. There were 3 of them Wayne, Jay and Merill.
It was a great show and much fun to watch. Unfortunately we didn't think they would allow cameras in the theatre so we didn't get any pictures but we did buy the DVD of the show and a picture of us at the show. We got home around 11 so it made for a late night. Luckily we don't have to work today so everybody got to sleep in some.

Well not much more to say so until next time have a good one.

The Unofficial End of Summer

2010-09-08T10:26:00.000-05:00

Here we are at the end of the summer holidays with Labor day in the past. Compton Ridge Campground was packed for this last holiday along with the lodge as well. From what we can tell the lodge only had 4 rooms that were not rented and the hotel at the main campground were all filled. We have been working with Johnny and Ginny since Joel and Linda left. They come on at 11 am and ask us what needs to be done. We come on at 9:30 am so we have a jump on them and usually have a game plan figured out. Now John and Ginny are off on Sunday and Mondays and we are off on Tuesday and Wednesdays which leaves only 3 days for us to work together.

On Sunday we had so many refreshes to do that I think we lost count. We were able to get them all done including doing a turn around. We were busy for sure. On Monday everybody checked out of the hotel and lodge. To make a long story short, we were able to clean all but ten rooms at the lodge and didn't get to the main campground at all. There is no rush get everything cleaned because nothing is being rented for awhile.

Yesterday we started Bri on her home school. She seemed excited about it and had a good time. She had spelling words, reading a book, built a squirrel feeder for science, and did some clock work. Oh and also sent her grandmother an email. We switch subjects on different days like today she will do some math as we didn't have math yesterday. The whole homeschooling takes about one to two hours. Now mind you we teach all the time when the opportunity arises.

Homeschooling was a no brainer when we decided to go full timing. We were not happy with the school district that Bri was in. We had an ace in the hole, my brothers, Tim and John both home schooled their children. We discussed the subjects and found the necessary books to work out of. Now Bri has started her second grade and will progress just fine.

Speaking of full timing, what do you look for on the inside and out? Well before buying I recommend going to inspect your RV after a rainy day and bring a flashlight. Why? Because you will be able to see if the roof leaks in the smallest areas. Inside you want to make sure the layout is to your liking and will be roomy for you. On the outside, my favorite part, look for tire tread as well as the date code to see how old the tires are. On our unit we had great tire tread but the tires were made in 1996. Too old! So we purchased four new tires. What else to look for, hot water heater for signs of leaking and look inside the cabinets for the heater as well for leaking. Climb on the roof if possible, no you need to see the roof. Check out the storage areas for enough room and leaks. What about the propane tanks and the battery(ies)? Looks like there is a lot of stuff here to learn I know that I had to. Maybe we can talk about that at a later time. So until next time have a good one.

The Rain Has Come

2010-09-02T08:37:00.000-05:00

Yesterday and the day before we had off from work. Thank goodness as there would have been nothing much for us to do. We go back today to get ready for this coming weekend and the weather is suppose to be just spectacular. Yesterday it rained for much of the day. It stopped just long enough for us to get the groceries in the truck and unloaded them into the trailer. We needed it and it was a nice change. They are forecasting more rain for today, so we will wait and see.

Tuesday night we had a potluck dinner we went to. I like to call it a monthly meeting with all of us and there just happens to be food there. I brought my famous potato salad, actually it is my mothers and grandmothers salad. There was plenty of food and company and it was all good.
I met up with Rachael and Daniel and talked with them for a while. They take care of cleaning the bathhouses here. They are the ones that workamp in a tent. Well good news they have purchased a tent trailer a few weeks back. They tell me that they are really enjoying the air conditioning. We will be taking over their job in November when they leave, so we will be working with them down the road to see what they do as far as their job.

Here is Daniel and Rachael. Great couple and easy to talk to. Good luck guys in your new RV.

Speaking of new RVs, how does one choose an RV to go on the road?
When Sherry and I decided that this type of life style will be in our future, we would go to shows mostly or take a day and go to different dealers.

So again how do you choose? A Pop-up, a Travel Trailer (Bumper pull), a Fifth wheel or a Motor home? You simply choose what will fit your needs is all that I can say. As you know in our case we chose the fifth wheel.

We considered all the options, cost, room, living space, storage, kitchen, our bed position (that's a weird one), the bathroom setup, and so on. This home of ours fit our needs. OK now for the tough part, can I tow this beast.

The biggest thing that I have towed was our 26 foot bumper pull trailer. I think I have mastered that one pretty good, but a monster of a trailer like this fifth wheel.........Never! I have been told that once you pull a fifth wheel you will never go back to a bumper pull. Great but what about backing it in. When we bought the trailer and truck and got it home it took us about two hours trying to back this thing into the driveway. I thought what did I get myself into? With practice and getting advice I am a bit better at it.

In closing, consider all aspects of your choice no matter how silly it may be. Not only do we check out the inside make sure you check the outside as well. What do we check for there? How pretty the paint looks or are the tires still there and still black??? UUMMMMMMM.......

Until next time have a good one.

Back To Work

2010-08-31T10:18:00.000-05:00

We went back to work last Sunday after being off for week. Now we are off today, Tuesday and tomorrow. Joel and Linda worked their last day on Sunday. There was not much going on but we all managed to stay busy, somehow.

Joel and Linda took off yesterday to head back home. He emailed me to let me know that they made it home safely. They have a busy schedule for the next few months and are expected back in Branson in mid November for a doctor's appointment. Unfortunately we think that we will miss them by a day or so because we will be leaving around that time.

Our work load is going to be heavy for this coming Labor Day weekend. At last count for the whole park there are 80+ arrivals and the lodge is filling up fast. We are to have help and I am sure that all will go well, tired but well. There will be many check outs but they all don't have to be done in one day. We can spread them out for a few days.

I forgot to mention in my last post that on our vacation we went to visit Silver Dollar City. In case you don't know, this theme park is set back in the 1880's or so having people making things from that time period. The park was very clean and lots of shops. Bri got to ride a few rides and she loved them. My expectations were not met. I am not sure what I was expecting but when we left I felt disappointed. It is more of an outside mall of different craft stores and such. We did plan to go for two days but decided not to go the second. The most expensive thing we bought was lunch. I don't mean to bad mouth the place but just giving my opinion. I think everybody should experience the place once and form your own opinion.

Onto my other subject that I opened up in my last post. Sherry and I both feel that full timing in the RV was and still is the choice for us.

For us full timing was a choice we made many years ago when we retire. It just so happened that the decision was a little earlier, like 12 years. When I lost my job back in late of 2008 Sherry was kidding around and said "The heck with it let's just sell everything and go full timing." I looked at her and said that is a possibility. We talked more about it while I was still looking for work. We were out and about one day and saw this fifth wheel and decided to take a look. We looked at it and just kept looking at it. I think that's when we both knew that this is the path we were going to go down. I cashed in my 401k and we purchased our new home. Oh it also came with a Ford pick-up to tow it with.

Here is our home a 1997 NU-WA Snowbird, 31 foot.

I don't have much more to say now so until next time have a good one.

Vacation All but Over

2010-08-28T10:36:00.000-05:00

Today is our last day of vacation. We are still trying to get of hold of Sherry's sister but not having any luck in doing so. We might try again today to see if she is home.

A couple of days ago we went to the Springfield Zoo. It was somewhat warm but we had a good time and Bri got to see many animals. She was very animate about seeing the hippos and that was the last animal she got to see. Afterwards we drove back to Branson to have dinner.

We went to a place called Mike's Steak House. Bri got her normal cheeseburger and mom and I got steaks, of course. The waitress was very attentive and gave Bri some crayons and coloring books. She told her that if she colored real nice and ate her dinner she would put her picture on the wall for her. Bri did a good job and now her picture is hanging on the wall.

Joel and Linda's time here is coming to an end. We think that they will be leaving this upcoming Monday. They have been the most friendliest people I think I have ever met. They are very helpful and very easy to talk to. We are going to miss them very much. Hopefully we will stay in contact with them and maybe get to meet up with them in our future travels. Good luck Joel and Linda and stay safe.

Now that just leaves Sherry and I to do the housekeeping. This upcoming Labor Day weekend shows over 66 plus guests coming in. We are not sure how many of them will be renting rooms but I am sure we will stay busy. We are suppose to have help if needed but we will wait and see.

Changing gears here, I have started to plot our course for our trip to Mesa, AZ this coming November. We are headed to Mesa to have Thanksgiving with my Mother. I wanted to make sure that we did not head into the mountains so I decided to head south in New Mexico, plus I hope that we will not get any snow or ice. I am sure that we won't but you never know what might happen.

We are looking to put the trailer in storage and stay with my mom while we are there. I am going to call my bother and see if his backyard is big enough and accessible from the street. Going this route we might be able to save a few pennies.

After Thanksgiving we will be heading back to Houston to spend the holidays with the rest of the family and catch up. We are also hoping to work another fireworks stand this year. We had alot of fun doing it and made a few bucks.

If you don't mind let me change gears again.

We have met people in the past and when we tell them that we are full timing RVer's we get answers like,"That sounds like fun", "I wish I could do that", or "That's what I want to do". My question is why not?

Now I know that in this economy this type of lifestyle may not be possible for everyone or is it. In our situation when I lost my job it was only natural for us to go down this path. I am very glad that we did. The stress factor alone did it for me. No more mortgage, electric and water bills and don't even have to mow the lawn. I just wonder why more people haven't chose this type of life style. Oh well maybe more on this subject later.

Until next time have a good one.

Tuesday, August 24th, 2010

2010-08-24T09:20:00.006-05:00

Here it is the third week of August and the weather has finally cooled down some. This is great because we are on vacation for this week. We have some things that we will be doing and the weather couldn't be any better.

On Sunday we went to the "Butterfly Palace". It is a rain forest type place with a bunch of butterflies. Here are a few of them.

It was a great place but kind of pricey. Thank goodness we got a discount. Towards the end Bri and the butterflies didn't seem to get along to well so we left and went to get some lunch.

Yesterday we went to a place called the "Toy Museum". This place was great. Every type of toy that you probably played with was there. I think we were there about two hours. We saw a video about a famous author, Harold Bell Wright who wrote the book called "The Shepard of the Hills" which is about the surrounding area and Branson. I bought the book and actually plan on reading it.

We have been trying to get a hold of Sherry's sister but she has not returned our calls. We plan on going to visit with her but we have no idea how to get to her place. We are going to try again and maybe go see her today.

Well that's it for today so until next time have a good one.

Close But No Cigar

2010-08-13T07:33:00.005-05:00

A couple of days ago our son Chris called and said that he was taking his wife Lauren to the hospital. Lauren is about 7 months pregnant. She was in a lot of pain and we were worried that they may have to take the baby. They did many tests and to find out she had a bad kidney and bladder infection. The baby is fine and they released her yesterday with medication and orders to take it easy. We made arrangements with Heidi just in case we had to take off for Houston. Now that won't be necessary.

Yesterday we went in search of Sherry's parents cemetery. I was there once before over 20 some years ago and didn't remember how to get there and Sherry was not quite sure of the way either. With a little investigation work we were able to find it with no problem.

She told me that her grandparents were also buried next to her mom and dad. The name of the cemetery is "Wrights Cemetery". Just wanted to put the name in there for arguments sake. We had a very nice drive home well to WalMart and finished the day grocery shopping.

We have to go back to work today and Joel and Linda are off today and tomorrow. The weather is still hot and humid but some relief is on the way by this weekend.

I don't have anymore so until next time have a good one.

Monday, August 9th, 2010

2010-08-09T19:43:00.002-05:00

Well here we are the end of the first week in August and the temperatures are holding true for the last month of the summer. We are hitting around the upper 90's and the humidity is right there with it. They say (the weather people) it is suppose to break next week sometime and give us some relief. We'll see!!

The life working here does have its perks. Some of the shows here invite the local area businesses to come to their show for FREE. That's right for free. A couple of nights ago we went to a show called "The Legends in Concert". It is a bunch of performers who are impersonators of famous people. So we saw Little Richard, Brittney Spears, The Blues Brothers, Michael Jackson, a young Elvis and Alan Jackson. By far Alan Jackson , we think, was the best of all. The show was about 2.5 hours long so it made a very long night, but worth it. There is another free show this coming Wednesday but is to mature for Brianne, so we will fore go that show and wait for the next one. We have been told that we can get discounted tickets with our check stub so we will look into that some day.

The work load lately has been busy but no pressure of people renting any rooms or cabins. Tomorrow we have 4 cabins to clean and will start with them first thing. Should get them cleaned before lunch. By our best guess we think there will be about 5 or 6 rooms to clean and the lodge will be empty to the best of our knowledge. Now there is the possibility of some rooms getting rented tonight but we won't know until tomorrow. Joel and Linda have been a get help. They normally take care of the main campground motel and cabins. They only had one room to do today and then they came over to the lodge to help us. They did two rooms and two cabins and then they had to go back to the main campground to finish their laundry. Sherry and I quit cleaning rooms around 3:30 today to catch up on our own laundry. We are almost done with the laundry but there is still tomorrow.

Sherry and I will need to get back with Heidi to see if we can finish up the deal for next season. I am not worried but Roger and Heidi were out of town for their daughter's graduation this past weekend. I am sure we will all get together sometime this week.

Well that seems to be it for now so I need to get Bri to bed and until next time have a good one.

Wednesday August 4th, 2010

2010-08-04T09:03:00.004-05:00

Today is our day off as well as tomorrow. We sure can use the rest, and we can sleep in. The whole family was up around 8:00 this morning. So much for sleeping in. We received a knock on the door earlier and it was Joel bringing is famous cinnamon rolls. We have been trying to tell him that he needs to sell them and make millions. Well maybe.

I left you all hanging on the last blog about our accident with the stove top well here are the pictures of our mistake.

Needless to say we got a replacement from Camp World but it is black instead of white. While in Springfield we went to a few second hand stores, had lunch and then went to visit with Sherry's niece for awhile. Nice visit and not too far away.

The work load here has finally calm down some. Yesterday was a easy day. We cleaned one room and had 3 or 4 refreshes. We did more laundry and got that caught up and stocked the storage closets.

Later in the afternoon we went over to the main park to talk to Heidi about coming back next year. We accepted the offer but had a few questions that she will have to talk to Robert, the owner about. Once this happens then we think we can finalize the deal. We talked about starting in mid March through October. We will be leaving here in mid November and head towards Mesa Arizona for Thanksgiving with my mother. We are looking forward to that get together.

Well I don't have much more than this so until next time have a good one.

Saturday July 31, 2010

2010-07-31T20:59:00.003-05:00

Here we are the last day of July. My goodness were has the last two months gone. It seems just like yesterday we were in Virginia and hating it. Now were are in Branson, MO and loving it.

The last few days here have been a bear. Not only has the weather been hot and muggy, all of the cabins have been rented for a family reunion, and they all took sheets and towels. Not not normal. The cabins will be checking out tomorrow and most of the lodge will be also. When we left today I was able to see what kind of work load we will have for tomorrow and there will be over 25 check outs. I was able to find out which rooms will be rented for Monday and there are seven of them, so Sherry and I will hit those first. Today was pretty bad so i asked I Joel if he would come in and help and he did. Thanks Joel. It was his day off so he only worked a half a day.

Here is a picture of our managers Roger and
Heidi. They are great people.

Well I have to admit that we had our first boo boo in the trailer a few days ago. We have a range cover that adds extra counter space when you don't need the stove. I opened only half of it to use the front burner and when I started that burner the back one was turned on. I didn't realize it at first and you guessed it it burned a mark on the cover. I would show you a picture of it but the computer is acting stupid right now. Maybe later.

Well that's about it for now so until next time have a good one.

2010-07-25T06:34:00.002-05:00

Well here it is Sunday, July 25th already. I can't believe that we have been on the road and living in the trailer for about 7 months now. Some would think that with 3 people living in such small quarters that we would be getting on each others nerves. We all have our spaces and there seems to be plenty of room.

The weather for today says that we will be getting some rain. That's fine with me as long as it cools off for a bit. The temps have been around the lower to mid 90's with high humidity. I like when I have two days off, I don't have to sweat that much.

I should be grateful that I can come home from work to an air conditioned trailer. We got to know another couple here named Daniel and Rachel. They keep the bathrooms clean. They live in a tent. No a/c but only a fan. I haven't heard the whole story but Hurricane Katrina did their house in and later Daniel lost his job. They are in good spirits and are looking for a Pop-Up.

Thursday night was our pot luck dinner. The theme was that you had to bring a dish that started with the first letter of your last name. So since our last name is Lambros we brought "Lemon cake". We had a good mix of food and the managers provided us with steaks. The owner's last name began with the letter S so he brought fried Spam. I was going to try it but darn it it was all gone. Thank God. Overall it was a pleasant evening and we all stuffed ourselves.

Joel and Linda were off Friday and Saturday, the work load busy but not too bad. Today is going to be the kicker. Almost every room has been rented and they are all checking out today. That means about 20 plus rooms need total cleaning. Now Sherry and I can clean one from start to finish in about 30 minutes, now you do the math. Joel and Linda with be taking care of the main campground motel and they will busy over there.

We just have to concentrate on the turn arounds and the rooms the will be rented for Monday. If we can at least get that done we can work on the other rooms at a later date. This also includes the cabins as well.

Maybe I should explain what I am talking about.
Refresh: Go in collect and put new towels as needed, make the beds, empty the trash.
Turn Around: This means that one guest is checking out that day and another is checking in same day. These have to be done first.
Arrivals: The easy ones means some one is checking in that day and make sure the room is prepared for them.

I think that I have caught you up now. Well it won't be long now that I have to wake the family to get started on this day. So until next time have a good one.

2010-07-22T09:44:00.008-05:00

Hi there. It has been a couple of weeks now so I better let you know what's been happening

Since I last posted we have had some changes here in the house keeping area. Just in one week we have had two couples leave and head back home. Now that just leaves Joel and Linda and us to do the house keeping.

Here is Joel and Linda. Not a bad picture if I do say so myself. We also had a schedule change as well. We are off on Wednesday and Thursdays and Joel and Linda are off on Friday and Saturdays. Not a bad setup because most of the check outs occur on Sunday and all four of us will be on then.

We were off yesterday and went to go pick up our new sign. Unfortunately it was wrong. Instead of the apostrophe being after the "S" he placed it before the "S". He made it like this "Lambro's" Sooooo Wrong. The maker was out to lunch so we decided to have lunch as well and wait for him to get back. While having lunch he called me and I told him that it was incorrect and that it needed to be fixed. I also told hem that we will be back next week to pick it up. We were disappointed.

I have a few pictures of the area that I would like to post here.

We went and did some shopping and I think Sherry said that she has completed one of the grand kids gifts. Cool get that Christmas shopping done early. Way to go Babe. We decided to try this one Mexican restaurant just down the street for dinner. It was not bad, we both had mixed fajitas and they were good. We probably will be back.

Today we will be grocery day so off to WalMart. Joel calls it the $100 dollar store. Good one Joel, you're right.

Tonight we have the Campground pot luck dinner. We are looking forward to it. I will need to remember to take my camera.

I almost forgot. A couple of days ago Sherry found a large copperhead snake near a tree by the parking lot. I call Roger on the radio and asked if he had a plan for snakes and he said he did. He showed up with Robert and a .22 rifle. Robert killed the snake and boy he was big and fat. We think he got done eating and was taking a nap or something. Now we have to be on the look out for snakes.

Well I think that about wraps it up so until next time have a good one.

2010-07-14T21:25:00.002-05:00

Yesterday was a great day. We were off and Sherry wanted to go see some craft shops. We drove through the main strip and found the first one and boy it was big. The shops around here just seem to go on forever. We stumbled onto a man who makes outdoor signs so I talked to him about making a sign for us to hang outside on our trailer. He makes them out of ceder and I know it will hold up in the weather. It will say "Lambros' Est. 1981". We also told him that we will be hanging a horseshoe on it as well. He said that it will be ready in about a week and that works great for us since we will be off at that time to pick it up.

After that we went to a place for lunch that was a buffet. This was a real nice place and also had a petting type animal show that Sherry thought would be nice to take Brianne. We will investigate that in the near future. The food was very good but somewhat pricey.

We took off to locate where this one show was going to be because we get free tickets to see them tomorrow night. They are called the "Heygoods". We found the theater and went to find another craft store. Nothing new there pretty much the same as the other one but what we did find was a card that had the correct spelling for Brianne's name. The first time ever that we found something that had the correct spelling of her name. Pretty cool. After that we went grocery shopping and went home.

Today we had to go back to work. Now mind you that this work is not hard at all. Come on how hard is it to make a bed and vacuum? And be in the a/c? Well sometimes the a/c isn't on when we go in but it is not bad. We found out that one of our cleaning couples had left to go back home so that leaves just us and Joel and his wife Linda who starts back working again we think tomorrow.

Joel and Linda will be working over at the main campground which has a motel with 5 rooms and a mobile home that will sleep up to ten people. Basically a 3 bedroom, 2 bath home. They will keep that up and cleaned and do laundry over there. Sherry and I will be handling the lodge that consists of 25 rooms and laundry. Now don't think that we got the short end of the stick here we prefer doing the lodge, it has a better washing and drying machines than the other side. We all work together and help each other out.

Today Sherry and I cleaned 4 rooms which is what we call a check out and did 3 refreshes, which are towels, make the beds and trash gathering. After that we do the laundry and anything else that needs to be done within our capabilities. Sherry likes to clean the outside doors to the rooms so there you go.

Tomorrow we were scheduled from 11 to 6:30 but asked the manager, Roger if we could come in early so we can get off early to make the show and he said fine no problem. What a relief, now we have a little time to get cleaned up before we go to the show. I am looking forward to it. I just hope I can bring my camera in to take pictures.

Well I think that's about it for the last two days. We really do like it here and we may even think about coming back next year if they will have us. I have to get up early tomorrow so until the next time have a good one.

New Job in Branson, MO

2010-07-13T08:27:00.002-05:00

Well I know that it has been awhile and I apologize for it. There has been a lot going on so I better get to it.

The job in Bracey, VA did not work out at all. We were working at a place called Americamps. It started well but when they wanted us to "just" clean the two bath houses for eight hours and have three split shifts, it became too much. In a nut shell, if you like to party every night and kiss a** then this is the job for you. If you want to do your job correctly, well and stay to yourself then stay away from this place. Oh I almost forgot, they shorted us about 9 hours of pay.

We left there June 9th and headed towards Springfield, MO. Sherry has a neice there and she said that we can park at her house for however long it will take to get ourselves another job. After attempting to park the trailer in her backyard, which was too soft, we ended up using the driveway instead. More solid and safer.

We set up the trailer and in the next few days we headed for Branson to do some cold calling. That was on a Saturday, the day after we arrived. We decided that the next day was Father's Day and would not be a good day to prospect for jobs and would go on Monday. Father's Day was nice and I grilled steaks for everyone.

Monday morning we received a call from a place called Compton Ridge Campground and Lodge. The owner said that he would like to meet with us that afternoon at 4. We went down there and had a talk with him, his name was Robert. He gave us the low down and a breif tour of the place. The job is in house keeping and laundry. We clean the lodge rooms and do laundry. I located an Olive Garden so we went to dinner to discuss the job. We decided to take it and called Robert back to accept. He asked when we can be there and we said Friday.

We drove down to Branson on Friday and set up in a great sight by the manager Roger. He said to come to the main office to sign the papers and meet his wife Heidi. She said that we will start the next day on Saturday.

We started at 9:30 and met a gentleman named Joel. He is to show us what to do on the rooms and laundry. Joel works by himself and he was a very good teacher. The next day he let us clean a room by ourselves and he said that we did a very good job. We also work with another couple named Bernie and Wilber they clean the other rooms at the main campground.

Well that is about it for now. We have been here for about 2 or 3 weeks now and the job is nice. I like the part that we can clean a room with a/c. It doesn't get better than that. Until next time have a good one.

Terrible Fire!

2010-03-26T15:29:00.002-05:00

Hello There,

Well we have been here almost three weeks and started working here for about the last two weeks. Sherry and I have been very busy. She has been trained to work in the office/store taking care of customers and I have been basically painting the rental trailers they have and other projects. They are changing the color scheme here at the park so everything is being painted. I will be so happy when this painting is over with.

About two days ago we had a major fire that consumed three trailers and the surrounding fixtures. The blaze was so intense that the heat from the fire warped and melted homes across the street. The Fire Marshall is doing an investigation to find out what started the fire. It started in a vacant home so we have no clue how it started. Of course you can never rule out arson. But we have no idea.

Nobody was injured just the homes burnt to the ground. One lady stays here all time and her home was a total loss. We were very happy to know that she was not at home at the time of the fire.

Things have calmed down some now and we are preparing for a fishing tournament that will be happening this weekend. i will be continuing with the painting and Sherry will be in the store for the next two days. So until next time........................

We Made It To Our First Job

2010-03-13T16:24:00.002-06:00

The time for getting on the road had finally came. We landed a summer job in Bracey, Virginia, which is in southern Virginia just about four miles north of North Carolina.

We took off from Tomball, Texas on March 3rd and planned at least a week to two weeks to get to Virginia. We wanted plenty of time for weather and road conditions. Our first stop was just outside of Baton Rouge at a RV Park called Maxies RV Park. The rates were reasonable at about $17.00. We stayed one night and moved on the next day.

We planned to travel about 200 to 250 miles a day. The next stop was at Payne's RV Park at Theodore, Alabama. The fees for this park came in at about $24.00. This was a real nice place with pull throughs so I didn't have to worry about backing in. One of my favorite things to do. Yea Right!!!! we woke up and on the road again. Hey that sounds like a good name for a song.

Brianne was a good trooper in the truck. She had her dvd's and an electronic game of some sort. Mom packed her a lunch everyday and she watched movies and wanted to know when lunch was at 9:00 in the morning. I have no idea where she puts it.

We travelled across Alabama into Auburn and stayed at a place called Leisure Time Campground. We missed the turn off into their park but turned around and found it with no problem. This place had pull throughs (Thank God) with cable. First time for us and it was neat. They had a softball diamond field and we got to watch fast pitch softball games in the evening. The weather was beautiful and the road conditions were not that bad.

The next morning we did our routine with Bri's help and back on the road for our next leg. Now we are getting excited because we are entering into South Carolina. This brought us to a state park called Lake Hartwell State Park. The site that we got was a pull through as well, how sweet can this be. We decided to stay 2 nights and take a break from travelling and build Bri a fire. The site wasn't all that good but we have been in worst. Very relaxing place. Well now it is Monday morning and time to go. One more night and we will be in Virginia.

Our travels today take us through and up to the norther part of North Carolina to a place called Golden Pond Campground. Unfortunately i had to back into our site there. The roads inside the park are somewhat narrow to say the least. This site cost us $25.00 a night and the only good thing that warrant that cost is that they had a stocked fishing pond. We all practiced our casting while we were there.

We woke up and got things in order and took off for our final destination in Bracey Virginia. We pulled into the park at about 1:30 or so and met with the managers and then was escorted to our sight. Not the mos level site in the world but we made do. So far we have met some of the nicest people and will be meeting more tonight because the is a dance that we will be attending.

Well that is about it for now. I will be trying to keep you all informed of our job and activities as we stay here for the next 8 months.

Have a good one and until next time.