Happy Thanksgiving

November 28, 2013

I am thankful for many things but right now, I am thankful to be leaving the DFW area on Saturday!!!  I haven’t posted anything since we left Corpus Christi, because to be perfectly honest, the most fun and exciting things we did this late summer/fall was to watch Meghan play volleyball.  And that was maybe twice a week! So, here is our latest blog update to get you up to speed before we hit the road. We have hitch itch something fierce!

First, I just want to bitch a bit about the weather here.  We got back to the area mid/late August and it was hot as hell and humid.  This went on until October sometime. Oh, we had a nice day here and there but they were brief and far between. Then one day, as we had the air blasting, the temperature dropped and we shut the air off! Woohoo!! We opened our windows and welcomed the cool breeze…..then within less then 12 hours, we had to shut the windows and about 8 hours later we had to turn the heater on!!! Yes our fall lasted about 24 hours.  To be honest, we did eventually shut the heat off for a week or two but then we hit more cold and the heaters have been on non-stop for at least a week. Needless to say, I am not a fan.   So because of this horrid weather, Sean and I spent a lot of time in our RV, running the air, or going somewhere there was air conditioning. We joined a gym so we could exercise but other then that and a few adventures here or there, we just tried not to sweat….profusely. And poor Sean! He sweats like know one you can imagine! He couldn’t get through the day without changing his clothes because they would be drenched. And he is also extremely appetizing to mosquitos.  So, besides sweating all the time, he was always trying to get away from biting bugs. I don’t sweat near as much and mostly mosquitos do not find me very appetizing so it wasn’t as miserable for me. I could be fairly comfortable outside once the sun set. 

                                                                    Texas State Fair

                                                                     Haunted House

Meg’s season was up and down. They have a new coach who everyone likes much better but they still seem to be either hot or cold. The ended up in the middle of the pack and did not advance to the NAIA finals. The last tournament that would have seated them was the best I have ever seen Meghan play. However, it was just not enough. So far, her shoulder has held but they still want to do an MRI to make sure she does not have a tear.  She made second team all conference but if the votes had been cast based on that tournament, I know she would have been first team without question.

                                                           Birthday girl! 21!!!

I continued working a few days a week for the marketing company that I have been working for about a year.  Sean looked for something temporary that paid a little better then awful but that is not easy. He was getting a bit frustrated when we saw a job in workamper.com that was looking for someone short term near us. They would provide a camping spot with full hook ups and pay $10 an hour. Not a fortune but when you are sitting around twirling your thumbs, it all works.  The employer is called Allegro Plaques. They make plaques and t-shirts for various secondary high school band competitions.  We called the owner and went out to visit the site in Midlothian. Midlothian is about 25 minutes from where we were in Arlington.  He was re-opening up his business after having sold it five years before.  He had a non-compete when he sold it five years before and the five years was up. In his heyday, he had dozens of employees and about 10 work camper couples. He is in his late 60’s but decided to open the business again but at a smaller level. Who would know that a business making t-shirts and plaques could be so profitable?! He didn’t tell us what he sold it for but did say that the broker who handled the deal made $125,000 off the deal. That tells me he must have sold it for a million or more. Plaques and t-shirts…..who knew?  He said he had a few jobs that could keep us busy for about 6 weeks if we were interested. It fit perfectly into our schedule of leaving and we said we would do it.  So, we have been making plaques and t-shirts for the past six weeks!

                                                      Sean working the press for plaques

                                                                    Sample plaque

Susan and Simon working in the t-shirt area

He also hired another work camper couple, Simon and Susan.  They actually like to do security site jobs but were waiting to be placed somewhere so they came out to join us in Midlothian until there security job became available. They were a really fun, experienced work camping couple and we learned much from them.  They were placed in a security job after about a month and we said our good byes. 

Now the jobs are complete and Sean and I can add plaque makers, t-shirt folder and whatever else is needed experts to our resume! It was actually pretty laborious work and we were both glad to be done at the end of the day. Neither of our backs is great and standing mostly all day can be a bit painful.  We were both glad that it wasn’t our careers.

We will be enjoying our Thanksgiving feast with Meghan, getting the rig ready, and then heading out on Saturday.  We will head towards Tucson where we will see some doctors, friends and family. Then we will head to Sedona for a week or so where we can park for free at our resort.  We will visit more family and make a day trip or two to Phoenix and see more friends and family. Then we head to Blythe where we will park the rig at our next work camping job.  We will drive onto Alpine/San Diego where we will spend the holidays with our children and grand children. Then we will stay at the Blythe job until we feel like leaving and heading towards Colorado.  We have another work camping job at a campground called Chalk Creek where we will spend the summer then back to DFW for Meghan’s final year of college volleyball! 

                                                                   Cute grandkids!

Home from the beach

8/26/13

We are back from Corpus Christi and the Padre Islands. It was a nice break from Arlington but still very hot. We had a good time walking the beach every day, playing in the waves and watching all the people.  As a side note, this may be "great state of Texas" but the great people of Texas are very litter prone.  I have never lived in a state where there is so much trash! I hate it. Especially on the beach.  I think they need to quit threatening to secede from the nation and start a campaign to pick up their trash. Yuck.

 Our beach view

 Sand Art

Jelly fish in the sand

 The trucks first ferry ride

One day we did a tour of the USS Lexington which is a huge ship that has been made into a museum. Lots of world war memorabilia and just interesting stuff to see. We spent a good three hours walking its decks and looking at all the displays.

Another day we took a very short boat ride to a deserted island called Saint Joe's. It is a very small island and the family that owns it doesn't live there. The 5 minute boat ride there and back again was $12! We spent several hours there but it wasn't really worth the price since the beach wasn't much different the any of the others and it actually had more trash. Oh well, at least now I can say I have been on a deserted island.

St. Joe's island 

A crab we saw that I thought was dead until he moved after this photo. Scared me to death.

We got back to Arlington August 19 to......you guessed it, more heat.  We were only here a few days before we took off for Meg's tournament in Oklahoma. We didn't take the rig but got a motel for the one night. The girls played well and we had a good weekend. I've started back to work here for Interactions Marketing company doing promos at the local Costco's.  Its kind of fun, easy work and I can pick and choose when I want to work.  Sean has been spending the time I am at work doing various maintenance tasks that we need to get done.

We also decided not to work at Amazon for the Christmas rush. We wouldn't be able to get there before the end of November which would only give us 5 or 6 weeks to work. We decided it just wasn't worth rushing there for that little bit of time.  Maybe we can do that once we are not committed to Texas for the volleyball season. On the other hand, we did accept a job on the Colorado River to work camp for the winter. We were going to hang out in that area anyway and now are site will be paid for. We just need to work 18 hours a week combined as a couple. Sounds easy and maybe we can learn how to fish!  This will put us close to Arizona and to California so we can see our kids and Arizona family and friends. We will start there around December 29.

Other news in the Finley family.....Our baby girl, Aislynn has started Kindergarten! I am not sure where time goes as I was just holding her in my arms as a newborn the other day.  Sean Jr. has been sent to fight the Yosemite fire. He has been working long days with little rest. I hope he gets home soon....

 Aislynn's first day in Kinder!

Sean's staging area near the Yosemite fire. Those aren't fluffy rain clouds in the back.

Cory and April moved back to California as April got her first full time job as a speech pathologist teacher! Cory is finishing up his degree and doing his Coast Guard duties.

We aren't doing much exciting traveling right now but we still manage to stay busy and have fun!

Back to the Lone Star State

7/28-8/1

As we left northern Arizona and headed onto Albuquerque, the weather just got hotter and hotter. We spent two days in Albuquerque and other then a nice bike ride, we didn’t do much. From there we headed to Amarillo and then to Wichita Falls. Not to be negative but neither one of these towns had much to offer but more HEAT and humidity. I got more and more depressed as we headed to Arlington as I knew it would not get any better.  We arrived where we started from on August 1, 2013.  We parked and got ourselves situated.  Other then getting to see Meg, I can think of a hundred other places I would rather have been.

Meg flew back from her summer camp job at Camp Victory Junction around 10:00 p.m. August 2.  We got there and met her as she got off the plane. Sean hadn’t seen her since her knee surgery and subsequent blood clots back in February.  It was a great reunion. By the way, she got cleared from her blood clots over the summer so she also got to quit taking her blood thinners! So, we headed to the carousel to get her big bags of luggage.  As we were waiting a worker came out with the most mangled piece of luggage we had ever seen! We were all shocked when we realized it was one of Meg’s pieces of luggage.

After taking it to the luggage security area and after a rather long conversation, Southwest Airlines agreed to pay her on the spot for a new piece of luggage and a $250 travel voucher for the rest of the things that were ruined. However, there was a wonderful quilt that her best friends grandma made her out of t-shirts that had much sentimental value to it and it now had several big wholes. There was no amount of money that could replace that. Poor Meg! She got a little upset about the whole thing but handled it with grace.  The Southwest customer service representative thanked her for all the control she showed.  We got home late and went to bed. The next day was going to be long, hot and hard as we planned to get her moved back into her dorms.

The day started slowly as Meg slept in.  We got over to Texas Wesleyan in time to get her checked into her dorm. However, it was a huge mess! It seems a male RA spent the summer in there and did not deem it necessary to clean it. The rugs were disgusting, paint was chipped, the floor filthy and I don’t even want to tell you what the bathroom looked like! Meg went and talked to the dorm supervisor and she came over and saw the disgusting mess and was abhorred! She apologized and promised to have a cleaning crew come through but we had to get her in the dorms that day as practice started the next!  We worked around the gross carpet and I scrubbed the floors and bathroom. Meg had way too many things for the small dorm room and we spent part of the day purging out what was not needed. I am not sure where my oldest and youngest got these hoarder tendencies but they sure like a lot of STUFF. 

After getting her moved in, we headed to the gym for her first volleyball meeting. It was a meet and greet so that the players and parents could meet the new coach.  She seemed very friendly and we ended the day on a positive note.  The next day Meg had another meeting and fitness test that went well but before she could practice, she had to be cleared by both her surgeon and physical therapist.  She had appointments with both of them for that Monday, August 5.  Those appointments went well with her getting clearance but orders to start slow and work her way back into a full practice. So far, she seems to be holding her own.  Her coach is very anxious to get her back to 100% as her blocking and offensive skills are greatly needed.  So far, Meghan is very positive about her new coach and all of her teammates.

Sean and I decided to head out and go to Corpus Christi for a while. Though it is certainly not any cooler then Arlington, at least there is some ocean to play in and catch a bit of a breeze from.  We stopped in San Antonio on August 8, before heading into Corpus Christi.  We walked around on the River Walk and took a boat through the waterways there and had dinner. I liked San Antonio quite a bit. I think I could hang out there for a while once it cools down. It was a really nice city with lots to do and see.

We got to Corpus on August 9 and when we were cruising around trip advisor that night to see what we should do, we saw there was going to be a turtle release the next day! We set our alarms and headed out before the sun came up to watch all these tiny little turtles go scrambling back into the ocean.  It was really interesting and fun and we felt lucky that we just happened to get there the night before the release.

We have spent the next few days hanging out at the beach and walking as many miles as we can take in the heat. Again, still hot but a little ocean breeze does help!  We are staying until August 19 when we will head back to Arlington and get ready for Meg’s first tourney in Oklahoma. We aren’t going to drive the rig up but just take the truck and get a motel for one night. Paying the gas to go all that way with the RV doesn’t make much sense!

Back home in Northern Arizona...

July 12, 2013 – July 26, 2013

We arrived in Sedona today!! So glad to be here! Our plan was has been to get to Sedona, hang out and see family and that is just what we did.  This entry will not be day by day and it will be mostly photos as we know the area and though we love it, it does not need the detail of the other areas we visited since we have been here many times. 

We had a very long day coming from Moab. It was a beautiful and nice easy ride until we hit the Flagstaff area.  We cruised into Flagstaff and needed gas. We hit a local station that seemed like it would be easy to get into. As Sean loves to say, “You don’t know what you don’t know”.  We pulled in and suddenly realized a car was blocking our access and the easy entry we thought we had was not near as big as it looked from the road.  Add the car and it could have been a disaster!  I got out of the truck and directed Sean and inch-by-inch we averted disaster but getting gas was not an option.  We were just happy to not blow up the gas station with a direct hit!  We made some turns and eventually hit a truck stop and made a pinky promise to NEVER attempt a gas station that was not a truck stop unless we were unhooked.  We gassed up and continued on our way down 17.  A monsoon hit with a vengeance! Sean handled it perfectly and we took our exit to head to our resort but it was a blind exit. By blind exit I mean you exit the freeway but the exit turns sharply in the other direction in a circular fashion so you don’t know what you are getting into. Much to our surprise, a large semi was stalled out in this circular exit.  We came up behind him and stopped too.  Quickly traffic piled up behind us. We had no idea what to do. The truck was broken down and couldn’t move. The rain poured and we had nowhere to go! I called 911 to let them know of our dilemma and then a stuck motorist came to our window and suggested if we backed up we could turn around in the median and get back onto the freeway.  It looked muddy and Sean thought we would get stuck but one of the drivers behind us was familiar with the terrain and said it was asphalt under all the mud and we would be fine. So every one inched backwards so we could turn and so we did!  Whew! We breathed a sigh of relief and headed onto Sedona Pines.

Sedona Pines is our timeshare resort where we own.  Sedona Pines started its life as an RV park.  The current owners bought it and turned it into timeshares but deeded 10 or so spots for owners to park their RVs.  We knew of this benefit but since we never owned an RV, we never paid much attention to it.  We called a week out and made our reservation.  Again, not really understanding too much, but knowing we could park their for a bit free of charge.  We also had a week of free condo time coming to us, so we reserved that for Sean Jr. and family to enjoy.  We pulled in after our very stressful past hour or so to get into our space. The local maintenance guys led us in.  Again, you don’t know what you don’t know and what we didn’t know was that having FIVE slides was going to be a challenge. There were bigger sites but we didn’t ask for them so we didn’t get them! Poor Sean! He backed in, then realized the one slide wouldn’t open. He pulled out, then pulled back in and realized the other slide wouldn’t open and so on and so on. It was a long ordeal and it took myself and two maintenance guys to finally get us situated.  All of this in the pouring rain I might add…….anyway we finally got in and hooked up. We were so happy to unhook for two weeks!!!!!!

We knew we had this benefit with our ownership but again, we werent really too sure on the details. We had originally planned to stay a week but after I visited with owner services and realized we could stay their, free of ANY charges for two weeks A MONTH we were hooked! Why leave the most beautiful country in the world when you can stay there for FREE!!!! And I mean free. Free spot, free utilities, free laundry, and access to all of the resort amenities! This includes, a beautiful pool, several spas, free miniature golf and all of the activities.  Sean and I felt like we had just gotten the best Christmas present ever! Wow! And we learned from other RV’ers and owner services that you could plan your two weeks at the end of the month, then add the next two weeks at the beginning of the next month and really get a whole month with never moving! That is work camping without working! We are definitely coming back for a month after the holidays when get back to Arizona.  Anyway, we were so happy to camp for free, in a beautiful location, where we could put up family and friends for a minimal amount.  Life is good.  We spent July 13 getting groceries, hanging out in Flagstaff and having a wonderful meal with my brother Kent and his wife Kathy in Cottonwood.  His home is just about 15 minutes from our timeshare.

Sean Jr and family couldn’t get there for a few days so our best friends in the world, Brad and Lisa Wierck, came down and spent two days in the timeshare and hung out with us. They are so much fun and we always have a great time together. There son Zach came too. Then after they left, Sean Jr showed up with his crew….his wife Lisa, Aislynn and Carson. The next day after they got there, Sean’s mom, Lou and her partner Ken came in and spent the day too. It was great to get the multi generations together.  Cory and his partner, April, came in and stayed with us in the RV but it was pretty squishy so we rented them a condo too. They also brought our grand dog, Bruce as well.  We were pushed to our limit but our little condo on wheels did just fine! Luckily Lou brought some extra snacks and with her contributions and mine we had plenty of food.  Lou and Ken just stayed for the day and headed back down to the Valley. They also had a big trip they were getting ready for back to 

Minnesota.

The next days were spent just lounging at the pool and hiking and enjoying the area.  Sean and Lisa celebrated their second wedding anniversary.  Sean and I took care of the kids so the could enjoy the day with Cory and April. They hiked, went out for lunch and the got to sleep in the next day because we had the kids.  The kids were perfect for us! However, I was such a worry wort over Carson that I didn’t sleep much but that is to be expected.

After all the kids left, Sean and I had one glorious week to do whatever our hearts desired! We hiked Devils Bridge, Cathedral Rock and Sycamore Canyon. One day we got hit with monsoons and Sean decided to take the moment with the free water to scrub our RV too. Talk about multi tasking!! We also hung out in the resort pool and spa as much as possible. We just did not much and had a great time doing it!!!  We also took a day and went to Prescott to see Cory and April. While we were there I met my oldest brother, Hank, at my parents gravesite. I haven’t been there since my mom had passed away so it was good to see their final resting place and I visited with my big brother too.  We had a great time in Prescott with Cory and April as well. I sure love that little town.  Having my wonderful son and daughter living there was sort of like a full circle moment! I pointed out many places that I loved and shared my memories with them.

On July 26 we had an appointment to get our sliders fixed at camping world.  The original plan had been for Sean to repair them but once we realized that there was a camping world in Flagstaff, we decided to let them handle the repairs.  We pulled out reluctantly on the 26^th and headed to Camper World.  They took most of the day and we only got to Holbrook since we hit yet another monsoon.  On the 27^th we left Holbrook and went to Albuquerque.  We are here until the 29^th and then onto Texas!