Sunday, October 05, 2008
What A Long, Strange Trip It's Been Going To Be.
If there's one thing I've learned in life, it's that nothing worth doing is ever easy. Well, that & the clean underwear thing. (Thanks Mom!). And so it was with our latest foray into
The Undiscovered Country.
We knew right off we were bound for Yuma, Arizona. Yep, no doubt about it, Yuma. We have never been to AZ before & thought it was high time. Burning several midnight candles, I relentlessly attack the monumental task of finding our next work camping job. OK, so I looked on the Workamper web site, big deal. Still, I must of looked through tens of ads, maybe as many as 20! Little did we realize, though it seems like a "Duh" moment in hindsight, that most of the population living on wheels in this country were also trying to go to Arizona for the winter.
No matter. Undaunted, I carried on the search. I found 2, count 'em, 2 jobs in AZ that seemed suitable for our needs. After a lengthy discussion with the park owner, he assured me we had a job. All we had to do was fill out the paperwork & provide him with a copy of my drivers license, a credit card and my social security card...Not the numbers....copies of the documents.
I asked him why he needed copies, to wit he replied "In case you don't stay for the entire length of the contract, so I can charge you for your site." I was, needless to say, a bit puzzled by his reply. Again, I asked why he would need a copy of my social security card for this. At this point he instantly pulled the Jekyll & Hyde routine, screaming into the phone, "Why don't you want to give it to me? Are you one of those deadbeat dads? You don't pay your taxes or what?" At this point I decided to tell him to have a nice day. Actually I advised him to make travel plans for warmer regions.
Having fared so well with the first employment opportunity, I went for broke and contacted the second park. Long story short...guess who the owner of park #2 was? Yep. Lovely.
OK, so we had no job. No biggie. We have enough cash to just go down & pay for a spot for the winter. Or I should say we had enough. Enter a phase of life I refer to as Canis Interuptus, otherwise known as "my dog needs an operation".
This was a wonderful set of circumstances wherein our prized pooch purloined a princely portion of our pyramidal purse. In other words, the dog drained a dollop of dollars. But, ya gotta do what ya gotta do, and we did, to the tune of a thousand bucks. That's a funny tune. Always sounds better coming in than going out.
Arizona, the land of legends. Wyatt Earp, the Apache leader Cochise, and the famous Buffalo Soldiers all made history there. All I wanted to do was to go camping there, anywhere. Yuma and the like faded from our view screen. After our Cocker conniption, we realized we not only couldn't afford the camping, but it was starting to look iffy about affording the gas as well.
Texas! Yep, no doubt about it, Texas. We hadn't been back to TX since our first workcampingdebacle 'er experience. Ah Texas, the land of...cows, I guess. Don't get me wrong, plenty of famous people have come from Texas. Sam Houston, Buddy Holly, and don't forget two Presidents named Bush...*ahem* errr...did I mention that Mary Kay was from Texas?
I'd plan a magnificent trip! A trip to end all trips! This would be the saga on the lips of the masses for years to come! Well, it would be the best trip we'd taken in over 18 months. I knew where we were starting & finishing, now all I had to do was come up with an unforgettable experience...on a budget *groan*. So, back to burning the midnight candle thing.
Stay Tuned.....
The Undiscovered Country.
We knew right off we were bound for Yuma, Arizona. Yep, no doubt about it, Yuma. We have never been to AZ before & thought it was high time. Burning several midnight candles, I relentlessly attack the monumental task of finding our next work camping job. OK, so I looked on the Workamper web site, big deal. Still, I must of looked through tens of ads, maybe as many as 20! Little did we realize, though it seems like a "Duh" moment in hindsight, that most of the population living on wheels in this country were also trying to go to Arizona for the winter.
No matter. Undaunted, I carried on the search. I found 2, count 'em, 2 jobs in AZ that seemed suitable for our needs. After a lengthy discussion with the park owner, he assured me we had a job. All we had to do was fill out the paperwork & provide him with a copy of my drivers license, a credit card and my social security card...Not the numbers....copies of the documents.
I asked him why he needed copies, to wit he replied "In case you don't stay for the entire length of the contract, so I can charge you for your site." I was, needless to say, a bit puzzled by his reply. Again, I asked why he would need a copy of my social security card for this. At this point he instantly pulled the Jekyll & Hyde routine, screaming into the phone, "Why don't you want to give it to me? Are you one of those deadbeat dads? You don't pay your taxes or what?" At this point I decided to tell him to have a nice day. Actually I advised him to make travel plans for warmer regions.
Having fared so well with the first employment opportunity, I went for broke and contacted the second park. Long story short...guess who the owner of park #2 was? Yep. Lovely.
OK, so we had no job. No biggie. We have enough cash to just go down & pay for a spot for the winter. Or I should say we had enough. Enter a phase of life I refer to as Canis Interuptus, otherwise known as "my dog needs an operation".
This was a wonderful set of circumstances wherein our prized pooch purloined a princely portion of our pyramidal purse. In other words, the dog drained a dollop of dollars. But, ya gotta do what ya gotta do, and we did, to the tune of a thousand bucks. That's a funny tune. Always sounds better coming in than going out.
Arizona, the land of legends. Wyatt Earp, the Apache leader Cochise, and the famous Buffalo Soldiers all made history there. All I wanted to do was to go camping there, anywhere. Yuma and the like faded from our view screen. After our Cocker conniption, we realized we not only couldn't afford the camping, but it was starting to look iffy about affording the gas as well.
Texas! Yep, no doubt about it, Texas. We hadn't been back to TX since our first workcamping
I'd plan a magnificent trip! A trip to end all trips! This would be the saga on the lips of the masses for years to come! Well, it would be the best trip we'd taken in over 18 months. I knew where we were starting & finishing, now all I had to do was come up with an unforgettable experience...on a budget *groan*. So, back to burning the midnight candle thing.
Stay Tuned.....
