We had a safe trip home to South Dakota. Details to follow, a little distracted right now with two little boys.
Hope to see everyone this Christmas week.
Merry Christmas to you and your families!
Blessings,
Deb & Gary
Monday, December 23, 2013
Amazon - Four Final Days
Wed. - up at 4:30 again and ready for work. It is much warmer outside than a week ago and we know the end is near. All the Camperforce people were smiling this morning, everyone is counting down. Depending on the shift, some of them will be done Friday, some Saturday and those on 1st shift have to stay and work through Monday. But not us - hooray!
The full-time Amazon employees on our 3rd shift have mandatory 50 hours this week, so they were in on Tuesday for work. At morning standup, they announced that 20+ of our inbound people would be going to help in outbound, doing picking, packing or gift wrapping. Of course the whole focus at Amazon now is filling the customers' orders in time for Christmas. In my job, we do Putback Carts, which means restowing products that were picked incorrectly, order cancellations, etc - but by getting them back in the bins as quickly as possible, the product is then again available to be purchased by someone else. They assigned Gary to stowing, he has not been moved to any of the outbound projects. After work, we talked to the RV park owner to make our arrangements for leaving the motorhome here while we are gone and hooking up again the one night when we return. We told him we will plan to stay here next year if we return.
The last month or so, they have been handing out TUL Treasure cards for good work and good attendance. These are scratch off tickets that have 1, 2, 5 or more points that count for the equivalent dollar amount in the "Amazon Store" for t-shirts, hats, etc. with the Amazon logo that we can purchase with our dollars. Gary and I went in last week because we had points accumulated and picked up a couple shirts and things. This week they were more liberal in handing out cards and I happened to get one where I won a gift card. With the additional points we earned this week, we picked up a couple shirts again.
Thursday - work went well, Gary stowed all day and I did my Cubiscan job on a pallet full of clothes and did half a dozen Putback Carts. We are also handing out our business cards to our Camperforce friends and getting their contact information so we can contact them in the future. Pretty steady work today, but a lot of our group were working outbound again. Today, Amazon gave everyone cookies and fruit at afternoon break and we picked up our 2013 Amazon Peak t-shirts after work. Home again, we did more packing and preparing for our departure on Sunday. It is getting cooler outside, supposed to have rain and possibly ice on Saturday.
Friday - up and ready for work. Gary disconnected the cable TV equipment, we will take that back to the cable company tonight after work. Our group of Camperforce workers have our exit interview this morning before lunch. At work right away in the morning, they are letting people sign up for VTO, voluntary time off. Some of our camper friends signed up, they want to get their campers ready for leaving before the rain starts. A lot of workers to outbound again, but Gary is sent to stowing and I am on my regular job. At break, they told some of the campers they could leave for the day, but they really couldn't because of the exit interview meeting at 10:30.
At the meeting, they had us fill out a form detailing the jobs we did and asking for any comments and suggestions. Then Michael Cross, our HR rep, handed out gifts, an Amazon BBQ apron, a CamperForce window cling and a little notepad/pen set. He shared with us some of the season's numbers, this Coffeyville Amazon Fulfillment Center did the largest volume of product ever this season and we were a large part of getting that done. He told us there were 234 Camperforce workers there this season, 90% stayed the whole time. He then answered questions from the group about Amazon, about the Big Chief RV park problems and then the center manager came in and thanked us for working there this year.
After dismissing the outbound workers and any others from other shifts, Michael told us that because the work volume was down, we were free to leave our Amazon employment early - today, effective immediately instead of working through Saturday! Yeehaw! Everyone said yes! So we went and collected our things, our lunches, coats, etc, and left Amazon for the last time this season. The only downside about it, was that we did not get a chance to say goodbye to some of the fulltime workers we had become friends with. But they have seen it happen before and understand us leaving. About 40 Camperforce workers are going to stay on and work until the end of January.
The full-time Amazon employees on our 3rd shift have mandatory 50 hours this week, so they were in on Tuesday for work. At morning standup, they announced that 20+ of our inbound people would be going to help in outbound, doing picking, packing or gift wrapping. Of course the whole focus at Amazon now is filling the customers' orders in time for Christmas. In my job, we do Putback Carts, which means restowing products that were picked incorrectly, order cancellations, etc - but by getting them back in the bins as quickly as possible, the product is then again available to be purchased by someone else. They assigned Gary to stowing, he has not been moved to any of the outbound projects. After work, we talked to the RV park owner to make our arrangements for leaving the motorhome here while we are gone and hooking up again the one night when we return. We told him we will plan to stay here next year if we return.
The last month or so, they have been handing out TUL Treasure cards for good work and good attendance. These are scratch off tickets that have 1, 2, 5 or more points that count for the equivalent dollar amount in the "Amazon Store" for t-shirts, hats, etc. with the Amazon logo that we can purchase with our dollars. Gary and I went in last week because we had points accumulated and picked up a couple shirts and things. This week they were more liberal in handing out cards and I happened to get one where I won a gift card. With the additional points we earned this week, we picked up a couple shirts again.
Thursday - work went well, Gary stowed all day and I did my Cubiscan job on a pallet full of clothes and did half a dozen Putback Carts. We are also handing out our business cards to our Camperforce friends and getting their contact information so we can contact them in the future. Pretty steady work today, but a lot of our group were working outbound again. Today, Amazon gave everyone cookies and fruit at afternoon break and we picked up our 2013 Amazon Peak t-shirts after work. Home again, we did more packing and preparing for our departure on Sunday. It is getting cooler outside, supposed to have rain and possibly ice on Saturday.
Friday - up and ready for work. Gary disconnected the cable TV equipment, we will take that back to the cable company tonight after work. Our group of Camperforce workers have our exit interview this morning before lunch. At work right away in the morning, they are letting people sign up for VTO, voluntary time off. Some of our camper friends signed up, they want to get their campers ready for leaving before the rain starts. A lot of workers to outbound again, but Gary is sent to stowing and I am on my regular job. At break, they told some of the campers they could leave for the day, but they really couldn't because of the exit interview meeting at 10:30.
At the meeting, they had us fill out a form detailing the jobs we did and asking for any comments and suggestions. Then Michael Cross, our HR rep, handed out gifts, an Amazon BBQ apron, a CamperForce window cling and a little notepad/pen set. He shared with us some of the season's numbers, this Coffeyville Amazon Fulfillment Center did the largest volume of product ever this season and we were a large part of getting that done. He told us there were 234 Camperforce workers there this season, 90% stayed the whole time. He then answered questions from the group about Amazon, about the Big Chief RV park problems and then the center manager came in and thanked us for working there this year.
After dismissing the outbound workers and any others from other shifts, Michael told us that because the work volume was down, we were free to leave our Amazon employment early - today, effective immediately instead of working through Saturday! Yeehaw! Everyone said yes! So we went and collected our things, our lunches, coats, etc, and left Amazon for the last time this season. The only downside about it, was that we did not get a chance to say goodbye to some of the fulltime workers we had become friends with. But they have seen it happen before and understand us leaving. About 40 Camperforce workers are going to stay on and work until the end of January.
Mid-December - Almost Done at Amazon
Tuesday night - We went to do the Candlelight Tour of the Brown Mansion here in Coffeyville. www.brownmansion.com The Browns moved to Coffeyville in 1890, and turned an old carpenter shop into a lumber company. Several years later, Brown smelled natural gas outside his company’s building and, six months later, he discovered one of the largest natural gas wells in the country. You drive by the large stately looking house when you enter Coffeyville from the south.
The Candlelight Tour is a fund raiser for the preservation of the home and property. Local businesses and groups decorate all the rooms for Christmas, it really was pretty with the decorations and lights on. The third floor of the home is a ballroom, with two fainting rooms for the women, two smoking porches for the men and a cable pull elevator to get up there. There is also a stairway we used, they have not used the elevator for years. He owned the lumber yard, so the woodwork was beautiful. It was nice to see a home with Christmas decor and we enjoyed seeing the lights on the homes when we headed home. We stopped and had supper at Cielito Lindo, one of the Mexican restaurants in town. A family owned place, we had a good meal and brought some home.
Wednesday - back to work. Everyone is counting the days now, most are really excited to leave soon for warmer weather. Amazon has offered an extension to the Camperforce workers, they want to keep anyone that wants to keep working here through the month of January. Amazon will continue to pay the RV site fees, the same wages and the same bonus for hours completed and give a week off for the Christmas holiday. There are a few that are going to stay on. Not us.
Thursday morning, we woke up to hear it raining. It rained throughout the day and by the time we were off work, it had stopped and the snow was all gone! Hooray!
Friday morning I woke up and felt like I had a cold coming on. Sneezing and blowing my nose. I grabbed a allergy pill to take along to work and extra tissue. Good thing I did, by first break time my nose was running constantly and I was about out of tissue. I took my allergy pill, which helped for the four plus hours it is supposed to, but not long enough to last the work day. There were others sniffling too, one of our workers from Texas told us we had "Cedar Fever". She said the pollinating cedar trees causes it. I read about it and they say it is one of the most allergenic pollens.
I believe it now, I am suffering. Usually my allergy pills take care of my congestion, but I am fighting this time with the pain and pressure in my sinuses too. We stopped after work at Walmart and the pharmacist suggested Zyrtec. I took that and it slowed down the running, but not the congestion and pressure. Did not sleep very good that night.
Saturday AM was a little better. Made sure I had meds and tissue for work. As soon as we got to work they told people that they could take the day off if they wanted, said to not even check in, but go home. They call it VTO, voluntary time off. That left us with a small crew and they let a few more go during the morning. Just before lunch, they told us they were calling the shift. Everyone was to go home - there just was not enough work to do for the day. That was great. We stopped at Walmart again and I got maximum strength allergy sinus pressure pills. They have always worked best for me and hopefully now for the pressure too. Then at home, hot packs and a nap.
We decided to drive to Independence, KS for supper, just 12 miles away. Went to Uncle Jack's, had good prime rib for supper. A nice place, the owner/chef greeted us at the door, checked on us several times during the evening, great customer service. We drove around to see Christmas lights there before heading home. Cold again tonight, but is supposed to start warming up.
Sunday - Mass at 10:00 and then home. Gary worked on getting our income tax information ready to take home to our accountant and I did some mending on jeans and household things. I was still fighting a headache and pain in my sinuses, but it did get better through the day. I did go out to Walmart to get some groceries for the week. The Kansas City Chiefs game at 3:00 was not broadcast here, so I watched the Green Bay/Dallas game on TV and listened to the KC game on the radio. Of course in Kansas, they have the Chiefs network and the announcer is very animated in commenting during the game, so it was fun to listen to him. For supper, we had the rest of the salmon from our freezer - we are trying to use up all our perishable food supply before we leave next week. We will be winterizing the motorhome, which means turning off all the appliances and pulling antifreeze through all the water lines, to keep everything safe while we are gone for Christmas. Sunday night we watched "White Christmas" - we stayed up later since we were not working overtime on Monday.
Monday - slept in. I woke up feeling much better - hooray! Gary worked on financials and I got the laundry done. By noon it was much warmer and sunny, we were in and out, trying to enjoy the nice weather outside. Ran some errands and organized things to take home for the holidays. By the time we sat down to watch a movie, we were both tired and went to bed early.
Tuesday - packing day! Gary got the suitcases out of the underneath storage and we packed for our Christmas trip to cold weather. It was fun to see our summer/warm weather clothes again that we stored in the suitcases, hopefully we will be wearing some of the in less than a month when we get to Arizona. Then we buttoned up everything one more time to go and get the propane filled up in the motorhome - we want to leave here on New Years Day and nothing will be open then. So bring the slides in, secure everything for travel and off to the propane dealer. Then home again and bring everything out again for living for another week. Then we will do it again. We found out from the RV park that we can leave our home on our current site, that is good because then we don't have to put every single thing away so we can use things when we come back on New Year's Eve. It was another sunny, warm day - what a blessing when we had to unhook and hook up again.
We went to Pizza Hut for supper, all sales this night benefited the Catholic School here, so a treat for us and help for them. And we had leftovers for Wednesday night supper!
M
The Candlelight Tour is a fund raiser for the preservation of the home and property. Local businesses and groups decorate all the rooms for Christmas, it really was pretty with the decorations and lights on. The third floor of the home is a ballroom, with two fainting rooms for the women, two smoking porches for the men and a cable pull elevator to get up there. There is also a stairway we used, they have not used the elevator for years. He owned the lumber yard, so the woodwork was beautiful. It was nice to see a home with Christmas decor and we enjoyed seeing the lights on the homes when we headed home. We stopped and had supper at Cielito Lindo, one of the Mexican restaurants in town. A family owned place, we had a good meal and brought some home.
Wednesday - back to work. Everyone is counting the days now, most are really excited to leave soon for warmer weather. Amazon has offered an extension to the Camperforce workers, they want to keep anyone that wants to keep working here through the month of January. Amazon will continue to pay the RV site fees, the same wages and the same bonus for hours completed and give a week off for the Christmas holiday. There are a few that are going to stay on. Not us.
Thursday morning, we woke up to hear it raining. It rained throughout the day and by the time we were off work, it had stopped and the snow was all gone! Hooray!
Friday morning I woke up and felt like I had a cold coming on. Sneezing and blowing my nose. I grabbed a allergy pill to take along to work and extra tissue. Good thing I did, by first break time my nose was running constantly and I was about out of tissue. I took my allergy pill, which helped for the four plus hours it is supposed to, but not long enough to last the work day. There were others sniffling too, one of our workers from Texas told us we had "Cedar Fever". She said the pollinating cedar trees causes it. I read about it and they say it is one of the most allergenic pollens.
I believe it now, I am suffering. Usually my allergy pills take care of my congestion, but I am fighting this time with the pain and pressure in my sinuses too. We stopped after work at Walmart and the pharmacist suggested Zyrtec. I took that and it slowed down the running, but not the congestion and pressure. Did not sleep very good that night.
Saturday AM was a little better. Made sure I had meds and tissue for work. As soon as we got to work they told people that they could take the day off if they wanted, said to not even check in, but go home. They call it VTO, voluntary time off. That left us with a small crew and they let a few more go during the morning. Just before lunch, they told us they were calling the shift. Everyone was to go home - there just was not enough work to do for the day. That was great. We stopped at Walmart again and I got maximum strength allergy sinus pressure pills. They have always worked best for me and hopefully now for the pressure too. Then at home, hot packs and a nap.
We decided to drive to Independence, KS for supper, just 12 miles away. Went to Uncle Jack's, had good prime rib for supper. A nice place, the owner/chef greeted us at the door, checked on us several times during the evening, great customer service. We drove around to see Christmas lights there before heading home. Cold again tonight, but is supposed to start warming up.
Sunday - Mass at 10:00 and then home. Gary worked on getting our income tax information ready to take home to our accountant and I did some mending on jeans and household things. I was still fighting a headache and pain in my sinuses, but it did get better through the day. I did go out to Walmart to get some groceries for the week. The Kansas City Chiefs game at 3:00 was not broadcast here, so I watched the Green Bay/Dallas game on TV and listened to the KC game on the radio. Of course in Kansas, they have the Chiefs network and the announcer is very animated in commenting during the game, so it was fun to listen to him. For supper, we had the rest of the salmon from our freezer - we are trying to use up all our perishable food supply before we leave next week. We will be winterizing the motorhome, which means turning off all the appliances and pulling antifreeze through all the water lines, to keep everything safe while we are gone for Christmas. Sunday night we watched "White Christmas" - we stayed up later since we were not working overtime on Monday.
Monday - slept in. I woke up feeling much better - hooray! Gary worked on financials and I got the laundry done. By noon it was much warmer and sunny, we were in and out, trying to enjoy the nice weather outside. Ran some errands and organized things to take home for the holidays. By the time we sat down to watch a movie, we were both tired and went to bed early.
Tuesday - packing day! Gary got the suitcases out of the underneath storage and we packed for our Christmas trip to cold weather. It was fun to see our summer/warm weather clothes again that we stored in the suitcases, hopefully we will be wearing some of the in less than a month when we get to Arizona. Then we buttoned up everything one more time to go and get the propane filled up in the motorhome - we want to leave here on New Years Day and nothing will be open then. So bring the slides in, secure everything for travel and off to the propane dealer. Then home again and bring everything out again for living for another week. Then we will do it again. We found out from the RV park that we can leave our home on our current site, that is good because then we don't have to put every single thing away so we can use things when we come back on New Year's Eve. It was another sunny, warm day - what a blessing when we had to unhook and hook up again.
We went to Pizza Hut for supper, all sales this night benefited the Catholic School here, so a treat for us and help for them. And we had leftovers for Wednesday night supper!
M
Saturday, December 14, 2013
December - 2nd Week
Sunday - we slept in! It was cold outside, easy to stay in our warm bed. 10:00 mass and then our stop at the grocery store for replenishing the pantry. Once home, I pulled out the supplies to make my own pumpkin pie, I need to get the frozen pie shells out of the freezer before we empty it to head home in 2 weeks. Now I discover I did not bring the pumpkin pie spice I need! Darn, another trip to the store. The snowy Kansas City Chiefs game had started, so I had to hurry.
Back home, I watched the game and mixed up the pumpkin pie. My convection oven seems to be working well, the pie turned out not quite as firm as usual, but otherwise good. The second crust I made into scrap pie, a little butter and cinnamon/sugar on it. And Kansas City won big! And the Dolphins won too! And some of the other teams played in snow furrows, like the Detroit Lions, yuck. Then in the evening we watched some of our Chrismas movies, "A Charlie Brown Christmas" and "White Christmas"
Monday, we were signed up for our last overtime day. This week all employees, full time or Camperforce, had the option to sign up for overtime, it was not mandatory. After the last week of mandatory overtime for full time employees, there were some that did not sign up. As a result there was a smaller workforce this morning. We were both assigned to stowing and to our delight, the bins were open (a lot more room in them) after all the picking activity. Lunchtime, there was a hot Christmas lunch again, we had our dinner on Saturday for 3rd shift, so we did not participate. We sat by another workkamper couple at lunch, they told us about another workkamping opportunity they have been doing. Many ideas out there - it is good to have a network to learn from. We found out at after lunch stand up gathering, that the trucks had not been able to get to Amazon because of the icy, snowy weather south and north of us so they were letting people sign up to go home early. We were there on an overtime day, so we signed up. Gary was picked in the 10 people to go home, I was # 11. I could not go, so Gary stayed and we let #12 go home. Then about an hour later, 12:40, they told us we could leave. I'm guessing they let others go because they were running out of work for everyone to do.
We left work and decided to drive up to Independence to find a propane tank gauge Gary wanted. We did not find one but we stopped at a couple stores and a stop at Walgreens for me. Once again we tried to find a beverage place, but they don't open in Independence until 4:00. Driving home, the snow started and blowing snow across the road. In the evening, the water faucets started running slower, so we turned faucets on to keep a steady stream flowing. About 10:00 we noticed the water bay heater temperature had dropped. Gary went out and found the heater had stopped working, so he made a trip out to Walmart to get a new one. It kept snowing through the evening and we ended up with about 3 inches overnight. ( And 6 degree temps!! Why are we living in a motorhome in this kind of weather!!??)
Tuesday - up and glad to know everything had kept working overnight. We were thinking we would need to go get propane in the motorhome, but with the three inches of snow, that would be a real challenge to unhook the cold hoses and button up everything to go. And driving the motorhome in the snow and reparking, yuck! So I called the office and the Buckeye staff picked up the tank and got it refilled in about an hour - thank goodness! In the meantime, Gary went out and up on the roof to brush off all the snow from the slide awnings and roof. The sun is out and melting will happen today! Gary swept off the patio mat, the picnic table and made sure the hoses were cleaned off.
I, in the meantime, got to update my checkbook on the computer for the year - time to get ready for the IRS. Easily done and I listened to Christmas music - what a treat! Talked to Benjamin on the phone this afternoon and got the laundry done. We are really watching the weather forecast now, it will only be cold here for a few more nights. And, we can almost see the ten day forecast for our drive home on the 22nd! We are in total preparation mode for going home in 12 days! Can't wait to see family and friends!
Announcement - we have a summer job for 2014 lined up! We have accepted a position to host at a Bureau of Land Management park in Oregon for the months of May, June & July. Wildwood Recreation Area - near Welches, OR. We will be hosting with other couples in a day use area northeast of Portland, OR. A beautiful area in the forest, not far from Mt. Hood where we honeymooned. There will be tons of things for us to do there and Gary's sister and families live in Salem, about an hour away. Also, wineries in abundance in that part of Oregon! Attention: A great place/opportunity for all of you to vacation to this summer if you have not seen the Northwest!
Back home, I watched the game and mixed up the pumpkin pie. My convection oven seems to be working well, the pie turned out not quite as firm as usual, but otherwise good. The second crust I made into scrap pie, a little butter and cinnamon/sugar on it. And Kansas City won big! And the Dolphins won too! And some of the other teams played in snow furrows, like the Detroit Lions, yuck. Then in the evening we watched some of our Chrismas movies, "A Charlie Brown Christmas" and "White Christmas"
Monday, we were signed up for our last overtime day. This week all employees, full time or Camperforce, had the option to sign up for overtime, it was not mandatory. After the last week of mandatory overtime for full time employees, there were some that did not sign up. As a result there was a smaller workforce this morning. We were both assigned to stowing and to our delight, the bins were open (a lot more room in them) after all the picking activity. Lunchtime, there was a hot Christmas lunch again, we had our dinner on Saturday for 3rd shift, so we did not participate. We sat by another workkamper couple at lunch, they told us about another workkamping opportunity they have been doing. Many ideas out there - it is good to have a network to learn from. We found out at after lunch stand up gathering, that the trucks had not been able to get to Amazon because of the icy, snowy weather south and north of us so they were letting people sign up to go home early. We were there on an overtime day, so we signed up. Gary was picked in the 10 people to go home, I was # 11. I could not go, so Gary stayed and we let #12 go home. Then about an hour later, 12:40, they told us we could leave. I'm guessing they let others go because they were running out of work for everyone to do.
We left work and decided to drive up to Independence to find a propane tank gauge Gary wanted. We did not find one but we stopped at a couple stores and a stop at Walgreens for me. Once again we tried to find a beverage place, but they don't open in Independence until 4:00. Driving home, the snow started and blowing snow across the road. In the evening, the water faucets started running slower, so we turned faucets on to keep a steady stream flowing. About 10:00 we noticed the water bay heater temperature had dropped. Gary went out and found the heater had stopped working, so he made a trip out to Walmart to get a new one. It kept snowing through the evening and we ended up with about 3 inches overnight. ( And 6 degree temps!! Why are we living in a motorhome in this kind of weather!!??)
Tuesday - up and glad to know everything had kept working overnight. We were thinking we would need to go get propane in the motorhome, but with the three inches of snow, that would be a real challenge to unhook the cold hoses and button up everything to go. And driving the motorhome in the snow and reparking, yuck! So I called the office and the Buckeye staff picked up the tank and got it refilled in about an hour - thank goodness! In the meantime, Gary went out and up on the roof to brush off all the snow from the slide awnings and roof. The sun is out and melting will happen today! Gary swept off the patio mat, the picnic table and made sure the hoses were cleaned off.
I, in the meantime, got to update my checkbook on the computer for the year - time to get ready for the IRS. Easily done and I listened to Christmas music - what a treat! Talked to Benjamin on the phone this afternoon and got the laundry done. We are really watching the weather forecast now, it will only be cold here for a few more nights. And, we can almost see the ten day forecast for our drive home on the 22nd! We are in total preparation mode for going home in 12 days! Can't wait to see family and friends!
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| RV Park snow - 3 inches Monday night |
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| Snow in Kansas |
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| You can see the inches on the picnic table - Luckily the sun is shining! |
Announcement - we have a summer job for 2014 lined up! We have accepted a position to host at a Bureau of Land Management park in Oregon for the months of May, June & July. Wildwood Recreation Area - near Welches, OR. We will be hosting with other couples in a day use area northeast of Portland, OR. A beautiful area in the forest, not far from Mt. Hood where we honeymooned. There will be tons of things for us to do there and Gary's sister and families live in Salem, about an hour away. Also, wineries in abundance in that part of Oregon! Attention: A great place/opportunity for all of you to vacation to this summer if you have not seen the Northwest!
Tuesday, December 10, 2013
December Begins
Sunday, first Sunday of Advent. We woke up at work time, so we went to 8:00 mass. Windy and chilly, we went home for breakfast and relaxed. I pulled out the sewing machine and mended Gary's jeans. He had worn out the knees on several pairs and needed them patched. We are always kneeling on the concrete floor when we are stowing in the lower bins. He did book work and updated the computer. We got our Christmas tub out from underneath storage, I put up lights, our Nativity set and a few other things. We are not using the Advent wreath this year, we don't like to burn candles in the motorhome very often. I need to look for battery Advent candles for next year. And we watched the Kansas City Chiefs/Broncos game. The Chiefs did not win again, very disappointing. They should have played better.
After the game, I went to Walmart for groceries and ?? (shh, Christmas things) At Walmart I found greenery roping, I had an idea to use it to make a tree for the motorhome. In our Christmas tub, I found the ornaments that we had brought along, but no where to hang them. So, once home I crafted a tree from the roping that could hang from the front curtain rail. The captain was amazed and loves the result. I hung our special ornaments on it and lights, then crafted a trunk from a paper towel roll covered in foil, which also covers up the light cords. When it was all done, we remembered that we always have champagne when decorating our tree - no way to get some then, so we had a Tuaca cordial to celebrate. We had turkey drumsticks, potatoes, corn and pumpkin pie for supper. Our own Thanksgiving dinner.
Monday, we did not work overtime. We knew we needed an extra day to rest and Gary had some repair work he wanted to do. It was a nice sunny day, he was thankful for that when he had to be outside. We had planned to go get propane again, but the RV park procured more big tanks and we were able to get one. I cleaned the house, vacuuming and dusting - it is so nice that it does not take very long. That night Gary did go and get champagne, we put a star on the Christmas tree and had our annual champagne, 29 years of tree decorating together.
Tuesday, overcast and cool again. We are getting ready for cold again, it is supposed to get down in the single digits at night this week. Gary went and got his hair cut and in the afternoon I ran errands. Went over the border to get gas in the car again and a car wash. Then to Walmart for supplies and to Dollar General to find a bow for the motorhome. It was dark by the time I headed home, so I got to see the Christmas lights lit around town. (Not too many of them are on at 5:30 AM when we go to work in the mornings)
Wednesday - Saturday - work continues. This is our shift, so I am back on Cubiscan duty and running to put things in high value. Wow, that area really was depleted from the holiday weekend shopping. Gary was put on water spidering again, he just does too good of a job there. They gave him a good helper this time, but they were both running all day to keep up.
Thursday it snowed a little and more on Friday. Wednesday night we pulled the bed slide in, that helped keep it warmer in the bedroom. Friday morning we pulled the living room slide in, hoping to avoid snow on that slide awning. We put it back out on Saturday night. Friday night was the cold night, 6 degrees, everyone was wary of hoses freezing. We have our heated water hose and a heater plugged in the water bay. Gary also put pipe insulation around the heated hose since it lays in the snow.
Saturday at work, we got our Christmas dinner from Amazon, basically our Thanksgiving menu again, but very good. Then after lunch, they announced that we would probably be sent home early, the work would be caught up in an hour or two. But I and another gal were going to have to stay for a big Cubiscan project. They told Gary and her husband they could go, but the boys said no since we each come to work together. So Gary and Ed stowed some more, while we did Cubiscan. About 30 minutes later they came again and said we could go home. So we checked out about 1:45 and headed home. We were going to stop for a beverage, but could not find a single bar open in town - they don't open until 5:00 - on a football Saturday!! Not like the northern Midwest, that's for sure.
So home again to watch football and relax. Nice to be off in more daylight hours. Still very cold here, but everything is working.
After the game, I went to Walmart for groceries and ?? (shh, Christmas things) At Walmart I found greenery roping, I had an idea to use it to make a tree for the motorhome. In our Christmas tub, I found the ornaments that we had brought along, but no where to hang them. So, once home I crafted a tree from the roping that could hang from the front curtain rail. The captain was amazed and loves the result. I hung our special ornaments on it and lights, then crafted a trunk from a paper towel roll covered in foil, which also covers up the light cords. When it was all done, we remembered that we always have champagne when decorating our tree - no way to get some then, so we had a Tuaca cordial to celebrate. We had turkey drumsticks, potatoes, corn and pumpkin pie for supper. Our own Thanksgiving dinner.
Monday, we did not work overtime. We knew we needed an extra day to rest and Gary had some repair work he wanted to do. It was a nice sunny day, he was thankful for that when he had to be outside. We had planned to go get propane again, but the RV park procured more big tanks and we were able to get one. I cleaned the house, vacuuming and dusting - it is so nice that it does not take very long. That night Gary did go and get champagne, we put a star on the Christmas tree and had our annual champagne, 29 years of tree decorating together.
Tuesday, overcast and cool again. We are getting ready for cold again, it is supposed to get down in the single digits at night this week. Gary went and got his hair cut and in the afternoon I ran errands. Went over the border to get gas in the car again and a car wash. Then to Walmart for supplies and to Dollar General to find a bow for the motorhome. It was dark by the time I headed home, so I got to see the Christmas lights lit around town. (Not too many of them are on at 5:30 AM when we go to work in the mornings)
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| Our 28" hanging Christmas tree |
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| Our "Presto" TV roaring fire & decorations It even crackles! |
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| Our Kansas December home |
Thursday it snowed a little and more on Friday. Wednesday night we pulled the bed slide in, that helped keep it warmer in the bedroom. Friday morning we pulled the living room slide in, hoping to avoid snow on that slide awning. We put it back out on Saturday night. Friday night was the cold night, 6 degrees, everyone was wary of hoses freezing. We have our heated water hose and a heater plugged in the water bay. Gary also put pipe insulation around the heated hose since it lays in the snow.
Saturday at work, we got our Christmas dinner from Amazon, basically our Thanksgiving menu again, but very good. Then after lunch, they announced that we would probably be sent home early, the work would be caught up in an hour or two. But I and another gal were going to have to stay for a big Cubiscan project. They told Gary and her husband they could go, but the boys said no since we each come to work together. So Gary and Ed stowed some more, while we did Cubiscan. About 30 minutes later they came again and said we could go home. So we checked out about 1:45 and headed home. We were going to stop for a beverage, but could not find a single bar open in town - they don't open until 5:00 - on a football Saturday!! Not like the northern Midwest, that's for sure.
So home again to watch football and relax. Nice to be off in more daylight hours. Still very cold here, but everything is working.
Thanksgiving Week - end of November- Amazon Palooza
Sunday - Mass at 10:00. A visiting priest was here, Fr. Ben was in Wichita for a Vietnamese celebration for the weekend. Very chilly this morning and windy. The guitarist cantor was there, but at Communion a Hispanic family sang. Unfortunately the guitarist had not tuned his guitar.
We drove down to the Oklahoma border, 5 miles away, again for gas for the car. It is 20 cents cheaper over the border. Back in Coffeyville, we stopped for groceries and cinnamon rolls at the store, then home for brunch and getting ready for the game. Watched the Kansas City game - bummer, they lost! We pretty much relaxed today, keeping warm on this chilly, windy day!
Monday - a day of overtime we signed up for. The overtime days on Mondays are run by 1st shift management, so we are always put on stowing. The day went quickly, a lot of product to stow before the holiday weekend. This week Amazon is giving its workers a Thanksgiving turkey lunch. We got to participate today since we were working, the dinner day for our shift will be Saturday. Sliced turkey or ham, potatoes and gravy, dressing, corn, dinner roll and choice of dessert pie (mostly pumpkin or apple). Because of the rush of everyone breaking for lunch at the same time, they were out of the whipped cream and cookies they also were serving earlier and later. A good hot meal for lunch, we were thankful.
Tuesday - another day of rest for us. I made sure we got the laundry done for the busy days ahead. Ran some errands and had my dentist appointment to pick up my permanent mouthpiece to help my TMJ and clenching. I bought the fixings to make pumpkin pie for us, not sure which day we will make it.
Wednesday work as usual. Thursday, Thanksgiving Day, we are ready to work 6:00 - 2:00, a shorter day. Gary was put on water spider duty, moving the carts of received product to the buffer zone for the transporters to take. They had him running- they were pushing the product out like crazy!!! I was running back and forth stowing product in the high value area, all those IPads, IPhones, tablets and more. After lunch at 11:00 they told us they were going to focus everyone on stowing, so the product was available for the Black Friday shopping, and then they would let us go for the day. At 12:30 they told us all to go. Great!! And they sent everyone home with a pumpkin pie.
We went home and cleaned up and then went out for our meal. By then we weren't really hungry for turkey dinner, so we ended up at Hog Heaven and had a delicious BBQ brisket sandwich. Then home for pie and a nap. Later, we met some of the workkampers at Jack's Pub for visiting and beverages. We had told quite a few of the campers that we were going to meet, guess who joined us? The three couples that are all older than us, the one gentleman is 78, but delightful to visit with. They are our heroes, we admire the shape they are in and they do the same work we do. We can hardly keep up with them.
Friday was busy, busy and the pickers came out of the woodwork, they were everywhere, picking the orders being made on Amazon. And they have been there in droves ever since. Friday and Saturday they pulled some of the workkampers over to pick, some of them have picked before and they trained others. Saturday we received another Thanksgiving dinner at work. Yum. We were pretty worn out after this work week. Came home and watched college football until we could not stay awake any longer.
We drove down to the Oklahoma border, 5 miles away, again for gas for the car. It is 20 cents cheaper over the border. Back in Coffeyville, we stopped for groceries and cinnamon rolls at the store, then home for brunch and getting ready for the game. Watched the Kansas City game - bummer, they lost! We pretty much relaxed today, keeping warm on this chilly, windy day!
Monday - a day of overtime we signed up for. The overtime days on Mondays are run by 1st shift management, so we are always put on stowing. The day went quickly, a lot of product to stow before the holiday weekend. This week Amazon is giving its workers a Thanksgiving turkey lunch. We got to participate today since we were working, the dinner day for our shift will be Saturday. Sliced turkey or ham, potatoes and gravy, dressing, corn, dinner roll and choice of dessert pie (mostly pumpkin or apple). Because of the rush of everyone breaking for lunch at the same time, they were out of the whipped cream and cookies they also were serving earlier and later. A good hot meal for lunch, we were thankful.
Tuesday - another day of rest for us. I made sure we got the laundry done for the busy days ahead. Ran some errands and had my dentist appointment to pick up my permanent mouthpiece to help my TMJ and clenching. I bought the fixings to make pumpkin pie for us, not sure which day we will make it.
Wednesday work as usual. Thursday, Thanksgiving Day, we are ready to work 6:00 - 2:00, a shorter day. Gary was put on water spider duty, moving the carts of received product to the buffer zone for the transporters to take. They had him running- they were pushing the product out like crazy!!! I was running back and forth stowing product in the high value area, all those IPads, IPhones, tablets and more. After lunch at 11:00 they told us they were going to focus everyone on stowing, so the product was available for the Black Friday shopping, and then they would let us go for the day. At 12:30 they told us all to go. Great!! And they sent everyone home with a pumpkin pie.
We went home and cleaned up and then went out for our meal. By then we weren't really hungry for turkey dinner, so we ended up at Hog Heaven and had a delicious BBQ brisket sandwich. Then home for pie and a nap. Later, we met some of the workkampers at Jack's Pub for visiting and beverages. We had told quite a few of the campers that we were going to meet, guess who joined us? The three couples that are all older than us, the one gentleman is 78, but delightful to visit with. They are our heroes, we admire the shape they are in and they do the same work we do. We can hardly keep up with them.
Friday was busy, busy and the pickers came out of the woodwork, they were everywhere, picking the orders being made on Amazon. And they have been there in droves ever since. Friday and Saturday they pulled some of the workkampers over to pick, some of them have picked before and they trained others. Saturday we received another Thanksgiving dinner at work. Yum. We were pretty worn out after this work week. Came home and watched college football until we could not stay awake any longer.
Saturday, December 7, 2013
Nov. 18 - Woolaroc - Bartlesville, OK
Sunday - 8:00 mass, then home for breakfast. It was a nice warm day so we headed to Bartlesville to tour the Woolaroc Ranch, Museum & Wildlife Preserve. www.woolaroc.org
This was Frank Phillips (Phillips 66) ranch home. It now is a place to visit, seeing numerous varieties of wildlife he collected, a museum of art and a Colt gun collection display and touring part of the ranch house they lived in and entertained at. Somewhat like the LBJ ranch, the Phillips hosted and entertained celebreties and employees at their ranch home through the years. As we drove on the grounds we saw Wapiti, llamas, water buffalo, ostrich, a dark zebra, emus, buffalo and Fallow deer, including an albino. The museum housed southwest art, history of the Indian tribes of the area and the development of Oklahoma with the cowboys and oil industry. The ranch house was full of historical artifacts and plenty of room to entertain. The views from the porch were beautiful, a great place to relax and enjoy nature.
After touring, we went in to Bartlesville and did our shopping. Kmart is our place for multivitamins and Gary needed new slippers. Then a special stop again for good pizza at Mazzios. Back home in time to watch the Kansas City Chiefs game. Unfortunately they lost to the Broncos.
Monday - we did not work overtime today. It was time to go get propane again. So we packed everything up again for movement. It was a nice dry day, no mud puddles at the propane place and no soft ground when we backed in to park again. A chance to dry out the patio mat and rugs and get set up and leveled up again. I went out and vacuumed out the car, it was a nice day to be outside, 55 and sunny.
Tuesday - was supposed to be a nice day again, but overcast and cool. We worked inside on projects, laundry and cleaned. I ran errands in the afternoon. There is a little thrift shop here, Garage Sale Goddess. I have bought a shirt, purse and pair of jeans there, each for $1.00. A few groceries and checking out the Dollar General and Family Dollar stores. It never hurts to look.
Wednesday - Saturday. Work again. Gary was put on the dock one morning, loading boxes of product coming in to the big cage carts that take the product over to the receiving area. Heavy carts, using a lot of upper body muscles. He was beat that day. The next two days he was on Water Spider duty, moving empty carts to the receiving area and the full carts of received product to the buffer zone to be hauled to the stowing areas. The carts aren't as heavy here, but constant movement and hustling, I think he lost 5 pounds this week and was asleep before 8:00 every night! Friday and Saturday were a little easier, back to stowing product. This is getting tougher, the bins are full because of all a the product coming in to the warehouse to be bought.
A rough week for us, but the end is in sight and we know we are both in better physical shape than we have been in a long time.
This was Frank Phillips (Phillips 66) ranch home. It now is a place to visit, seeing numerous varieties of wildlife he collected, a museum of art and a Colt gun collection display and touring part of the ranch house they lived in and entertained at. Somewhat like the LBJ ranch, the Phillips hosted and entertained celebreties and employees at their ranch home through the years. As we drove on the grounds we saw Wapiti, llamas, water buffalo, ostrich, a dark zebra, emus, buffalo and Fallow deer, including an albino. The museum housed southwest art, history of the Indian tribes of the area and the development of Oklahoma with the cowboys and oil industry. The ranch house was full of historical artifacts and plenty of room to entertain. The views from the porch were beautiful, a great place to relax and enjoy nature.
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| Wapiti deer and buffalo roaming on the ranch land. |
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| Fall colors |
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| Fallow deer - European deer |
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| Woolaroc, the aircraft that won the Dole Air Race in 1927 |
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| Woolaroc plane, Frank Phillips provided newly developed 66 aircraft fuel for this race. |
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| View from the lodge front porch |
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| The Woolaroc museum |
After touring, we went in to Bartlesville and did our shopping. Kmart is our place for multivitamins and Gary needed new slippers. Then a special stop again for good pizza at Mazzios. Back home in time to watch the Kansas City Chiefs game. Unfortunately they lost to the Broncos.
Monday - we did not work overtime today. It was time to go get propane again. So we packed everything up again for movement. It was a nice dry day, no mud puddles at the propane place and no soft ground when we backed in to park again. A chance to dry out the patio mat and rugs and get set up and leveled up again. I went out and vacuumed out the car, it was a nice day to be outside, 55 and sunny.
Tuesday - was supposed to be a nice day again, but overcast and cool. We worked inside on projects, laundry and cleaned. I ran errands in the afternoon. There is a little thrift shop here, Garage Sale Goddess. I have bought a shirt, purse and pair of jeans there, each for $1.00. A few groceries and checking out the Dollar General and Family Dollar stores. It never hurts to look.
Wednesday - Saturday. Work again. Gary was put on the dock one morning, loading boxes of product coming in to the big cage carts that take the product over to the receiving area. Heavy carts, using a lot of upper body muscles. He was beat that day. The next two days he was on Water Spider duty, moving empty carts to the receiving area and the full carts of received product to the buffer zone to be hauled to the stowing areas. The carts aren't as heavy here, but constant movement and hustling, I think he lost 5 pounds this week and was asleep before 8:00 every night! Friday and Saturday were a little easier, back to stowing product. This is getting tougher, the bins are full because of all a the product coming in to the warehouse to be bought.
A rough week for us, but the end is in sight and we know we are both in better physical shape than we have been in a long time.
Friday, November 29, 2013
Nov. 11 week
Nov. 11 - our grandsons turned 4 today. They had their party Saturday night, we were not present of course, but my folks and sister, Heidi, were there to help celebrate. Katie and Jordan did their professional cake decorating again, "A Bugs Life" and "Sully" cakes. We Face-timed with them Sunday and caught up on all the fun they had and presents they received.
We worked overtime today (Monday) - it was a good day, we had steady work and the day went really fast.
Tuesday we drove to Owasso, OK for shopping errands. A new Sam's Club opened there in October, it is now the closest one to us. This was a good trip, all our familiar stores were there too, right at the same exit. We went to Lowe's first to get more hot water heater plugs and other supplies Gary needed. Then he dropped me off at the shoe store and went to get the oil changed in the Ford. I had time to go through the shoe store, a "Ross" store and a Penneys. Looking for black shoes or boots, nothing struck my fancy. Then we stopped at the Walmart, I ran in and picked up other things I needed. This Walmart is a little bigger and better than the one in Coffeyville. (The captain took a nap in the car.) Then to Sam's Club, picking up strawberries and a few staples. Now to eat out! Pizza at Andolini's - a good choice, it was yummy. We really are missing Papa Murphy's, we will have to catch up on that when we are home in Sioux Falls. Also, we filled up with gas in the car - Oklahoma gas is about 15 cents cheaper than Kansas prices. We had a nice drive home. The fall colors are pretty well gone now after the winds and the rains.
Back home, Gary plugged a heater in the water bay to prepare for the cold temps for the next couple nights - 27 and then 21 degrees at night. We brought the water softner inside and stored it in the shower those nights - there really is no way to heat it so we can leave it outside and it is too big to fit in any of the outside bays and still be connected.
Wednesday - Saturday, back to work. A little chilly the first couple mornings, Gary started the car early and scraped the windshield. Luckily the roads were not slick at all.
Friday morning at beginning of the day at the standup gathering, the shift manager told me he was going to have me train on a new position, Cubiscan. The cubiscan process is done on any new product that comes in to the warehouse, measuring and weighing it so the computer knows what box to pack it in and what postage to use when it is sent out. (Makes sense - that's how they know what box to use!) So I stand at a station at the end of the receiver's conveyors with a computer, scanner and cubiscan machine and process each item that is sent down the conveyor. The machine is will measure and weigh the product, I am supposed to watch the measurements to make sure they are all taken correctly and then retained. The vendor has assigned measurements to the product, but they are not always quite correct for sending it to the buyer.
It is nice to do another job here, it's a little different than stowing every day.
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| Sully - "Monsters" |
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| "A Bugs Life" |
We worked overtime today (Monday) - it was a good day, we had steady work and the day went really fast.
Tuesday we drove to Owasso, OK for shopping errands. A new Sam's Club opened there in October, it is now the closest one to us. This was a good trip, all our familiar stores were there too, right at the same exit. We went to Lowe's first to get more hot water heater plugs and other supplies Gary needed. Then he dropped me off at the shoe store and went to get the oil changed in the Ford. I had time to go through the shoe store, a "Ross" store and a Penneys. Looking for black shoes or boots, nothing struck my fancy. Then we stopped at the Walmart, I ran in and picked up other things I needed. This Walmart is a little bigger and better than the one in Coffeyville. (The captain took a nap in the car.) Then to Sam's Club, picking up strawberries and a few staples. Now to eat out! Pizza at Andolini's - a good choice, it was yummy. We really are missing Papa Murphy's, we will have to catch up on that when we are home in Sioux Falls. Also, we filled up with gas in the car - Oklahoma gas is about 15 cents cheaper than Kansas prices. We had a nice drive home. The fall colors are pretty well gone now after the winds and the rains.
Back home, Gary plugged a heater in the water bay to prepare for the cold temps for the next couple nights - 27 and then 21 degrees at night. We brought the water softner inside and stored it in the shower those nights - there really is no way to heat it so we can leave it outside and it is too big to fit in any of the outside bays and still be connected.
Wednesday - Saturday, back to work. A little chilly the first couple mornings, Gary started the car early and scraped the windshield. Luckily the roads were not slick at all.
Friday morning at beginning of the day at the standup gathering, the shift manager told me he was going to have me train on a new position, Cubiscan. The cubiscan process is done on any new product that comes in to the warehouse, measuring and weighing it so the computer knows what box to pack it in and what postage to use when it is sent out. (Makes sense - that's how they know what box to use!) So I stand at a station at the end of the receiver's conveyors with a computer, scanner and cubiscan machine and process each item that is sent down the conveyor. The machine is will measure and weigh the product, I am supposed to watch the measurements to make sure they are all taken correctly and then retained. The vendor has assigned measurements to the product, but they are not always quite correct for sending it to the buyer.
It is nice to do another job here, it's a little different than stowing every day.
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| Another sunset in Kansas, looking over the fishing pond at the campground. |
Sunday, November 24, 2013
Nov. 6 already
Our day off, Tuesday, was rainy, we stayed inside and rested. Wednesday back to work for the 4 days. On Thursday after lunch, they announced we would be working 11 hour days on Friday and Saturday. Start at 5:30 am, finish at 5:00 pm. (Camperforce workers could end their day at 4:00 if they wanted to.) So we were up at 4:00 am and in to work for the earlier start. The day seemed to go quickly and then at noon they announced we would end the day at 4:30 after all and we would not work the extra hour on Saturday. All good news!
Saturday night on the way home we stopped and picked up BBQ baby back ribs at Ross's BBQ Shack. Yum! We bought a slab of ribs to go so we could go home and watch football. The waitress there tempted us to stay, showing us the full plates she was serving others with ribs, corn on the cob, potatoes and then told us about the fresh peach and apple cobblers they have for desserts. She kept laughing while she was teasing us, we promised to come back again and eat there.
Sunday we were up early and so we went to 8:00 Mass. Had a young lady cantoring this morning with a pianist, a nice change. Afterward we went to the grocery store to buy a treat of cinnamon rolls for brunch. When we got home, we could see we had water leaking from the motorhome. Once again, the plug on the hot water heater had cracked, creating a leak. But, the captain was prepared, had a supply of extra plugs and got it changed in short order.
Then we changed into our hiking clothes and headed northwest of Independence to Elk City State Park. They have a reservoir with a large lake, campgrounds and 4 hiking trails. It was a gorgeous sunny day. We started with the Green Thumb Nature Trail, going through the woods with educational signs along the way. The trail is covered with the common white gravel we see here in Kansas, but was totally covered by leaves, so we had to watch for the trees along the way that were marked with white paint. We saw many colors of leaves and crossed the same brook three times.
Then we drove up the hills to the lookout point and hiked on the Post Oak Nature Trail. From here we saw the dam road below, the lake and the colors across the lake. Again, the trail was covered by leaves. There were orange paint marks on the trees, but because the beginning was not marked clearly, we actually walked the trail backwards and only saw the orange marks when we stopped and looked backward. We could not have got lost on this trail though, it was all on one level and the lake was on one side, the road on the other. When done, we drove down across the dam road and found the campground below the dam. There were half a dozen people fishing there, looked like they were catching the catfish the information described. We took pictures of the colorful trees from down below, the sun was hitting them from the right angle.
Saturday night on the way home we stopped and picked up BBQ baby back ribs at Ross's BBQ Shack. Yum! We bought a slab of ribs to go so we could go home and watch football. The waitress there tempted us to stay, showing us the full plates she was serving others with ribs, corn on the cob, potatoes and then told us about the fresh peach and apple cobblers they have for desserts. She kept laughing while she was teasing us, we promised to come back again and eat there.
Sunday we were up early and so we went to 8:00 Mass. Had a young lady cantoring this morning with a pianist, a nice change. Afterward we went to the grocery store to buy a treat of cinnamon rolls for brunch. When we got home, we could see we had water leaking from the motorhome. Once again, the plug on the hot water heater had cracked, creating a leak. But, the captain was prepared, had a supply of extra plugs and got it changed in short order.
Then we changed into our hiking clothes and headed northwest of Independence to Elk City State Park. They have a reservoir with a large lake, campgrounds and 4 hiking trails. It was a gorgeous sunny day. We started with the Green Thumb Nature Trail, going through the woods with educational signs along the way. The trail is covered with the common white gravel we see here in Kansas, but was totally covered by leaves, so we had to watch for the trees along the way that were marked with white paint. We saw many colors of leaves and crossed the same brook three times.
Then we drove up the hills to the lookout point and hiked on the Post Oak Nature Trail. From here we saw the dam road below, the lake and the colors across the lake. Again, the trail was covered by leaves. There were orange paint marks on the trees, but because the beginning was not marked clearly, we actually walked the trail backwards and only saw the orange marks when we stopped and looked backward. We could not have got lost on this trail though, it was all on one level and the lake was on one side, the road on the other. When done, we drove down across the dam road and found the campground below the dam. There were half a dozen people fishing there, looked like they were catching the catfish the information described. We took pictures of the colorful trees from down below, the sun was hitting them from the right angle.
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| On the Green Thumb trail |
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| A beautiful blue color |
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| The Elk City Reservoir road |
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| Post Oak Trail |
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| From the Reservoir road, looking up at the park Nov. 10, 2013 |
Tuesday, November 19, 2013
November 2013 Begins
Back to work for our regular shift Wednesday-Saturday. Still mostly stowing product each day, but Gary and I were both assigned to the dock area for half days. I was unloading boxes from the semi trailer for a few hours and putting them on the conveyor they had pulled into the trailer. Someone else would then cut the boxes open, then they were scanned to determine which carts they would be assigned to for transporting in the warehouse. Gary was moving the carts full of product cases to the receiving area to be sorted for stowing. On another half day this week, I was sticking identification labels on the cases loaded on pallets and then we opened the cases before they went on the conveyor belt. The dock work is a different kind of physical labor for us, good but using new muscles again. We do sleep well at night and find we need to go to bed earlier than we did at home.
Halloween day - workers at Amazon could wear costumes, if they conformed to the dress code - which is mostly directed to staying safe on the job. No loose clothing that might get caught on bins, carts and conveyors. A few did dress up, we saw a Richard Simmons, a pirate, and a couple of the CamperForce workers were dressed up as well, one as a clown and 4 of the girls wore black t-shirts with a big pink "P" on it and black makeup around one eye. They were the "Black Eyed Peas".
Saturday night after work we decided to get showered up and go out for supper, so that we would stay awake later - since we were going to get an extra hour of sleep with daylight savings time changing. We went downtown to go to Lanning's again, but they were closed for a wedding reception. So we walked around the corner to "Tavern on the Plaza". They have live music there, this night it was a saxophone player, playing with recorded background music. He was pretty good, but we were glad we were in the other room, he tried to play softly but that was difficult with a saxophone.
Sunday, Mass at 10:00 and then the annual church dinner and bazaar afterward. We went over to the school gym and had chicken and noodles with mashed potatoes and gravy, green beans, a dinner roll and a piece of dessert, our choice from the homemade selections. There were also booths with crafts and raffles. Quite an event for the parish.
Back home to watch the Chiefs game, another win, now 9-0! I did some mending while watching the game. Gary worked on book work and watched the other games. Afterward I went for a walk over to nearby Leclere Park and got some pictures of the fall colors. Back home, I finished the laundry loads and packed Gary's lunch for tomorrow. We were offered an overtime day again tomorrow, Monday will be our overtime days now. Gary will work all day, I will work just a half day because I had a dentist appointment already scheduled at 2:00. Gary will ride home with one of our fellow Camperforce friends that lives at Buckeye also.
This week all day shift work times change to report a half hour earlier, so now we will be 6:00 AM to 4:30 PM.
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Halloween day - workers at Amazon could wear costumes, if they conformed to the dress code - which is mostly directed to staying safe on the job. No loose clothing that might get caught on bins, carts and conveyors. A few did dress up, we saw a Richard Simmons, a pirate, and a couple of the CamperForce workers were dressed up as well, one as a clown and 4 of the girls wore black t-shirts with a big pink "P" on it and black makeup around one eye. They were the "Black Eyed Peas".
Saturday night after work we decided to get showered up and go out for supper, so that we would stay awake later - since we were going to get an extra hour of sleep with daylight savings time changing. We went downtown to go to Lanning's again, but they were closed for a wedding reception. So we walked around the corner to "Tavern on the Plaza". They have live music there, this night it was a saxophone player, playing with recorded background music. He was pretty good, but we were glad we were in the other room, he tried to play softly but that was difficult with a saxophone.
Sunday, Mass at 10:00 and then the annual church dinner and bazaar afterward. We went over to the school gym and had chicken and noodles with mashed potatoes and gravy, green beans, a dinner roll and a piece of dessert, our choice from the homemade selections. There were also booths with crafts and raffles. Quite an event for the parish.
Back home to watch the Chiefs game, another win, now 9-0! I did some mending while watching the game. Gary worked on book work and watched the other games. Afterward I went for a walk over to nearby Leclere Park and got some pictures of the fall colors. Back home, I finished the laundry loads and packed Gary's lunch for tomorrow. We were offered an overtime day again tomorrow, Monday will be our overtime days now. Gary will work all day, I will work just a half day because I had a dentist appointment already scheduled at 2:00. Gary will ride home with one of our fellow Camperforce friends that lives at Buckeye also.
This week all day shift work times change to report a half hour earlier, so now we will be 6:00 AM to 4:30 PM.
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| Along the street to the park |
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| Leclere Park with walking trails |
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| Looking across the park to the golf course on the hill |
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| Above the park, colors on the hills on Nov. 3rd. Some of the trees are already done. |
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| A tree with just 2 branches of red color |
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Wednesday, October 30, 2013
Days Off - Sunday, Monday
10:00 church and then home for brunch. We took a picture of this colorful tree on the way home. Worked on laundry again, dirty jeans and sweaty shirts from working. We are appreciating our washer/dryer so much! I can only do small loads, but I can do them without going somewhere else. The campground has a nice laundry room with 3 washers and dryers, but it is busy constantly and I cannot see if anyone is using it from where we are parked. Many go to the laundromats, everything could be done quicker - I love being home and knowing the cleanliness of my own washer. (There is a sign in our campground wash room that says - "washers are not to be used for dog bedding!")
We put together a shopping list, we are going to Bartlesville, OK tomorrow for sightseeing and errands. Watched the KC Chiefs win, 8-0 now and watched part of the Packers/Vikings game before bed.
Monday, we woke up to heavy fog, it hung around until after 10:00. I woke up with a crink in my neck and a headache, had to stretch and ice to get rid of it. Also woke to noise from the icemaker and discovered that a defrosting was in order, glad we were off today! We worked on that and some other projects and then left for Bartlesville. There were more fall colors in the trees, but they just did not show well with the overcast skies, we kept waiting for the sun to come out as the weatherman promised. We drove to Caney, KS and then turned south for Oklahoma. Drove south past Copan Lake, to Dewey then Bartlesville. Our first stop was Lowe's, mission to buy a 5 gallon water cooler for drinking water. Next stop, historic downtown Bartlesville. The Chamber of Commerce and Visitors Center is located in the Atchison Topeka and Santa Fe RR Depot. One of the only 910 Engines is on display here, check out the Engineer! (Astronaut and Engineer, who knew!!)
After a nice leisurely lunch downtown at the Indian Coffee Company, we toured the Phillips 66 Museum. Lots of interesting history regarding the Phillips Petroleum Company that was founded in Bartlesville. Did you know Phillips 66 engineers developed plastics and invented the Hoola-hoop?? The Company originated and owned many patents, for a time period they averaged one or more new patents a day. Now the Company is known as Conoco-Phillips.
The Phillips mansion is available to tour in town, unfortunately only open on Wednesday-Saturdays, the days we are working. Frank Phillips also had a ranch/museum, Woolaroc, outside of town we can tour, we need to check on those hours.
Bartlesville is a much bigger town than the others nearby, so we bought groceries and other needed items before we headed home. It was a nice drive back, the sun peaked out more so we did see some fall colors, including more Osage Orange trees.
Home to put away groceries, make lunches and get ready for work tomorrow. They offered voluntary overtime, VOT, so we will be going in for an extra day this week.
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We put together a shopping list, we are going to Bartlesville, OK tomorrow for sightseeing and errands. Watched the KC Chiefs win, 8-0 now and watched part of the Packers/Vikings game before bed.
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| On Buckeye Street |
Monday, we woke up to heavy fog, it hung around until after 10:00. I woke up with a crink in my neck and a headache, had to stretch and ice to get rid of it. Also woke to noise from the icemaker and discovered that a defrosting was in order, glad we were off today! We worked on that and some other projects and then left for Bartlesville. There were more fall colors in the trees, but they just did not show well with the overcast skies, we kept waiting for the sun to come out as the weatherman promised. We drove to Caney, KS and then turned south for Oklahoma. Drove south past Copan Lake, to Dewey then Bartlesville. Our first stop was Lowe's, mission to buy a 5 gallon water cooler for drinking water. Next stop, historic downtown Bartlesville. The Chamber of Commerce and Visitors Center is located in the Atchison Topeka and Santa Fe RR Depot. One of the only 910 Engines is on display here, check out the Engineer! (Astronaut and Engineer, who knew!!)
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| 910 Engine |
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| Engineer for a Day |
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| Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe RR Depot |
After a nice leisurely lunch downtown at the Indian Coffee Company, we toured the Phillips 66 Museum. Lots of interesting history regarding the Phillips Petroleum Company that was founded in Bartlesville. Did you know Phillips 66 engineers developed plastics and invented the Hoola-hoop?? The Company originated and owned many patents, for a time period they averaged one or more new patents a day. Now the Company is known as Conoco-Phillips.
The Phillips mansion is available to tour in town, unfortunately only open on Wednesday-Saturdays, the days we are working. Frank Phillips also had a ranch/museum, Woolaroc, outside of town we can tour, we need to check on those hours.
Bartlesville is a much bigger town than the others nearby, so we bought groceries and other needed items before we headed home. It was a nice drive back, the sun peaked out more so we did see some fall colors, including more Osage Orange trees.
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| A tree downtown Bartlesville |
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| An older Phillips building |
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| In the Phillips 66 museum |
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| Bartlesville has 25 buffalo statues all over town, each decorated differently. One here is decorated with OSU with boots on and the other, Amadeus, has musical notes for the Symphony Center. |
Home to put away groceries, make lunches and get ready for work tomorrow. They offered voluntary overtime, VOT, so we will be going in for an extra day this week.
.
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Back to Work - Amazon
Oct. 22 - home again, spent this day doing laundry and getting ready for going back to work. Emptied suitcases, putting the summer clothing in them before stowing them away. We got out of the house for a little while to walk on the trails at the nearby park. We also drove up the hill by the stadium to find spider balls.
In driving around in this area when we arrived, we saw trees that had grapefruit looking balls on them. A couple of weeks ago we found a tree by the stadium full of the balls, but only a few had dropped. We were surprised to find out that spider balls, as we know them from buying them in the stores at home, grew on these trees. The tree is called an Osage Orange tree. You may know the bumpy fruit of the Osage Orange tree by one of its many nicknames including "Hedge Apple", "Horse Apple", "Mock Orange" or "Spider Ball". The wrinkled skin of its softball-sized fruit is light green in color and gives off an aroma that smells like an orange. Because of their long sharp thorns, Osage Orange trees were planted and used as fences to keep livestock from straying. The early settlers would plant rows of these trees which grew so thick a cow or pig could not get through. We picked up 1/2 dozen of the balls to put in the lower bays of the motorhome to keep spiders away.
Wed - Sat. - back to work. We are still stowing product. Gary and I were in different areas a couple days, he was opening cartons and stowing cases of product. I was working with carts and totes of product, seems like I was on my knees a lot putting items on lower shelves. My body handled it pretty well, I could tell more by the dirt stains on my jeans. A lot of the guys and gals are wearing shorts and capris with t-shirts, it does get warm in many areas during the day, but we don't want to bend down on the cement floor with bare knees.
Friday night we ordered a pizza and cheese bread from Casey's, the first pizza we have had in over a month. It was great, enough for leftovers to enjoy. There is a Pizza Hut in town too, but we were told Casey's was the best.
Saturday, the owners of Buckeye RV Park where we are staying had their annual picnic for the residents. They have a chili and dessert competition we could enter and then they provide hamburgers and hotdogs for everyone. We were to each bring a dish to share. The time frame was 11:00 AM to 6:30 PM, this allowed us to attend after we got off work at 5:00. I made a box brownie mix, I've realized it is cheaper and easier this way then trying to make something from scratch.
We had some of the winning chili, but the winning dessert was gone and we never did find out what it was. The weather was cool but sunny, we had a nice visit with with owner and his wife while we ate. There were not a lot of people there by that time, so we were home by 6:30. It really cools down quickly after 5:00 this week. Showers and relaxing before heading to bed. A long 40 hours, but we are feeling better each day after the 10 hour days.
In driving around in this area when we arrived, we saw trees that had grapefruit looking balls on them. A couple of weeks ago we found a tree by the stadium full of the balls, but only a few had dropped. We were surprised to find out that spider balls, as we know them from buying them in the stores at home, grew on these trees. The tree is called an Osage Orange tree. You may know the bumpy fruit of the Osage Orange tree by one of its many nicknames including "Hedge Apple", "Horse Apple", "Mock Orange" or "Spider Ball". The wrinkled skin of its softball-sized fruit is light green in color and gives off an aroma that smells like an orange. Because of their long sharp thorns, Osage Orange trees were planted and used as fences to keep livestock from straying. The early settlers would plant rows of these trees which grew so thick a cow or pig could not get through. We picked up 1/2 dozen of the balls to put in the lower bays of the motorhome to keep spiders away.
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| Osage Orange tree - most of the leaves had dropped |
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| Still a few balls hanging up high |
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| Spider balls |
Wed - Sat. - back to work. We are still stowing product. Gary and I were in different areas a couple days, he was opening cartons and stowing cases of product. I was working with carts and totes of product, seems like I was on my knees a lot putting items on lower shelves. My body handled it pretty well, I could tell more by the dirt stains on my jeans. A lot of the guys and gals are wearing shorts and capris with t-shirts, it does get warm in many areas during the day, but we don't want to bend down on the cement floor with bare knees.
Friday night we ordered a pizza and cheese bread from Casey's, the first pizza we have had in over a month. It was great, enough for leftovers to enjoy. There is a Pizza Hut in town too, but we were told Casey's was the best.
Saturday, the owners of Buckeye RV Park where we are staying had their annual picnic for the residents. They have a chili and dessert competition we could enter and then they provide hamburgers and hotdogs for everyone. We were to each bring a dish to share. The time frame was 11:00 AM to 6:30 PM, this allowed us to attend after we got off work at 5:00. I made a box brownie mix, I've realized it is cheaper and easier this way then trying to make something from scratch.
We had some of the winning chili, but the winning dessert was gone and we never did find out what it was. The weather was cool but sunny, we had a nice visit with with owner and his wife while we ate. There were not a lot of people there by that time, so we were home by 6:30. It really cools down quickly after 5:00 this week. Showers and relaxing before heading to bed. A long 40 hours, but we are feeling better each day after the 10 hour days.
Tuesday, October 22, 2013
Oct. 16 - 21 Travel & Wedding Days
Wednesday - we are up early, just as if we are going to work. We left the motorhome at 6:30 AM to drive to Wichita to catch our Southwest flight to Tucson. A nice drive, we got there easily in two and a half hours. Parked in the Park & Ride lot, the shuttle was right there to take us to the airport. After checking in and getting through security, we had a breakfast bagel and settled in the passenger lounge to wait for our flight. Free wi-fi, so we each worked on our I-Pads and made calls.
This is our first time flying on Southwest, so we learned how to line up for the seating order and ended up sitting with a window and center seat with a gentleman. He said he was glad to have us sit there, in comparison to the linebacker size guy that he had sat by on his last flight. Time to rest, I usually fall asleep on some part of the journey.
Arrived in Las Vegas, we had a one hour layover. Just enough time for me to quickly lose my $5 in the slot machines. There are even penny machines there, but they don't take pennies, just dollar bills and then the minimum bid is 30 cents. Boarded our plane there about 30 minutes late and arrived in Tucson about 15 minutes late. Dan was there waiting for us, our luggage came quickly and we were out in the sun. We stopped to pick up Gary's vest and tie for the wedding, then went to Dan's house to get Gary's tux. Another stop to see Gary's sisters and husbands who had arrived and then to Deb & Joe's where we stay for the week.
Wednesday night was a girls' surprise party for Connie at Deb's house. We settled in, changed and helped Deb get ready for the guests. Dan picked up Gary and they went over to another house for a guys' gathering. A fun night, Connie and Dan both had surprises.
Thursday - the morning schedule is for the ladies to have massages and nails done, the guys were golfing. A beautiful day in the desert! After my appointments, I ran a couple errands for last minute items, then visited with Deb (and took a nap) in the afternoon. Rehearsal was at 4:00 and then everyone boarded a shuttle bus to go to The Cadillac Chapparal restaurant for supper. It was about a half hour drive there, it was fun having everyone together on the bus, our kids and their cousins kept us entertained with their stories. A great meal and good time to visit with Connie's family members and catch up with our family too. A fun ride home again. The "cousins" group came over to be with us at Deb & Joe's house for awhile, we enjoyed all being together.
Friday - slept in! We all needed it, with travel and two nights of parties, we were tired. Our bodies had to adjust to the two hour time difference too, we were up two hours later each night. Out for a walk and a lot of visiting. We saw a roadrunner in Deb & Joe's yard this morning and deer out on the golf course. The "cousins" girl group went for their nail appointments and then everyone was back to get ready for the wedding and the 2:30 PM picture schedule.
A perfect weather day again for the wedding. Pictures were done easily and the guests began to arrive. The Santa Catalina Church was built with a beautiful view of the mountains through the windows behind the altar, a perfect setting. Ben & Kelsey were the singers, it was a treat to hear them sing again. Gary did an extraordinary job as Best Man and Harriet was shining as Matron of Honor. The bride looked so beautiful and elegant in her dress and the groom very dashing.
Following the wedding, we all went to the Saddlebrooke Club for the reception.
We were in a room there with a wall of windows looking out over the golf club and the mountains. As the evening progressed, the full moon came up over the mountain. Connie and Dan had a steel drum player providing the music for the evening that was quite unique and did a great job. We enjoyed visiting with family and with the Saddlebrooke friends that attended. Many pictures were taken, I will have a few here and there will be many on Facebook from the others. The "cousins" group came over again to be with us at Deb & Joe's house for awhile, we had a lot of conversation and celebration.
Saturday - we enjoyed the morning together and relaxing. Katie's sister-in-law, Jolie and family, came from Mesa and picked her up to spend some time together. Ben & Kelsey came over for awhile and then went to the Desert Museum. Gary took Dale to the airport for his return flight. Gary and I drove to Oracle Junction RV Estates, just up the road a bit from Saddlebrooke and reserved a place for us to park our motorhome when we return to Arizona in January. (Yay!)
We helped Deb & Joe get their house ready for the supper gathering Dan & Connie were providing for family members and friends that had traveled for the wedding. Also invited the Saddlebrooke friends that were so generous to house the many out of town guests. As we were waiting for the grill to heat, we got to see Deb's "kitties" (bobcats) hop over the wall and walk around the yard. There was a small cub and two adult cats. Gary and Joe pregrilled the brats and burgers, we served them from crockpots on the buffet line. It was a fun evening with much food and fun. The bride and groom joined us, their chance to say goodbye to everyone before leaving on their honeymoon.
Sunday - the exodus begins for the travelers returning home. Many of Connie's family, the "cousins" group and friends from Wisconsin had to fly out early Sunday morning, so they were up early and on their way. We met Ben & Kelsey at Mass before they drove to Phoenix to catch their early afternoon flight. We were back at Deb & Joe's, cleaning up from the night before, cleaning the neighbor's casita where guests had stayed and taking the extra items back to Dan & Connie's house. Then some of us cheered the Chiefs to a victory!! 7-0!! That night, we were invited over to the Smith's for supper and games for those who were still in town. And then it was time for goodbyes. Gary's sisters and husbands, Connie's son and family, our friend Jan B and we, all have to leave on Monday. We said goodbye to the Saddlebrooke friends and wished everyone well until the next time.
Thank you to everyone in Saddlebrooke that were so generous with their homes and time helping host all of us. Thank you to Deb & Joe for hosting several events at their home and transporting guests when needed. Hope you can rest and relax now.
This is our first time flying on Southwest, so we learned how to line up for the seating order and ended up sitting with a window and center seat with a gentleman. He said he was glad to have us sit there, in comparison to the linebacker size guy that he had sat by on his last flight. Time to rest, I usually fall asleep on some part of the journey.
Arrived in Las Vegas, we had a one hour layover. Just enough time for me to quickly lose my $5 in the slot machines. There are even penny machines there, but they don't take pennies, just dollar bills and then the minimum bid is 30 cents. Boarded our plane there about 30 minutes late and arrived in Tucson about 15 minutes late. Dan was there waiting for us, our luggage came quickly and we were out in the sun. We stopped to pick up Gary's vest and tie for the wedding, then went to Dan's house to get Gary's tux. Another stop to see Gary's sisters and husbands who had arrived and then to Deb & Joe's where we stay for the week.
Wednesday night was a girls' surprise party for Connie at Deb's house. We settled in, changed and helped Deb get ready for the guests. Dan picked up Gary and they went over to another house for a guys' gathering. A fun night, Connie and Dan both had surprises.
Thursday - the morning schedule is for the ladies to have massages and nails done, the guys were golfing. A beautiful day in the desert! After my appointments, I ran a couple errands for last minute items, then visited with Deb (and took a nap) in the afternoon. Rehearsal was at 4:00 and then everyone boarded a shuttle bus to go to The Cadillac Chapparal restaurant for supper. It was about a half hour drive there, it was fun having everyone together on the bus, our kids and their cousins kept us entertained with their stories. A great meal and good time to visit with Connie's family members and catch up with our family too. A fun ride home again. The "cousins" group came over to be with us at Deb & Joe's house for awhile, we enjoyed all being together.
Friday - slept in! We all needed it, with travel and two nights of parties, we were tired. Our bodies had to adjust to the two hour time difference too, we were up two hours later each night. Out for a walk and a lot of visiting. We saw a roadrunner in Deb & Joe's yard this morning and deer out on the golf course. The "cousins" girl group went for their nail appointments and then everyone was back to get ready for the wedding and the 2:30 PM picture schedule.
A perfect weather day again for the wedding. Pictures were done easily and the guests began to arrive. The Santa Catalina Church was built with a beautiful view of the mountains through the windows behind the altar, a perfect setting. Ben & Kelsey were the singers, it was a treat to hear them sing again. Gary did an extraordinary job as Best Man and Harriet was shining as Matron of Honor. The bride looked so beautiful and elegant in her dress and the groom very dashing.
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| The Bride & Groom |
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| Santa Catalina Church |
Following the wedding, we all went to the Saddlebrooke Club for the reception.
We were in a room there with a wall of windows looking out over the golf club and the mountains. As the evening progressed, the full moon came up over the mountain. Connie and Dan had a steel drum player providing the music for the evening that was quite unique and did a great job. We enjoyed visiting with family and with the Saddlebrooke friends that attended. Many pictures were taken, I will have a few here and there will be many on Facebook from the others. The "cousins" group came over again to be with us at Deb & Joe's house for awhile, we had a lot of conversation and celebration.
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| The Cousins |
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| Moon coming over the mountain at the reception |
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| With the bride and groom |
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| The Sieverding "kids" in order |
Saturday - we enjoyed the morning together and relaxing. Katie's sister-in-law, Jolie and family, came from Mesa and picked her up to spend some time together. Ben & Kelsey came over for awhile and then went to the Desert Museum. Gary took Dale to the airport for his return flight. Gary and I drove to Oracle Junction RV Estates, just up the road a bit from Saddlebrooke and reserved a place for us to park our motorhome when we return to Arizona in January. (Yay!)
We helped Deb & Joe get their house ready for the supper gathering Dan & Connie were providing for family members and friends that had traveled for the wedding. Also invited the Saddlebrooke friends that were so generous to house the many out of town guests. As we were waiting for the grill to heat, we got to see Deb's "kitties" (bobcats) hop over the wall and walk around the yard. There was a small cub and two adult cats. Gary and Joe pregrilled the brats and burgers, we served them from crockpots on the buffet line. It was a fun evening with much food and fun. The bride and groom joined us, their chance to say goodbye to everyone before leaving on their honeymoon.
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| One of the big kitties in the neighbor's yard |
Sunday - the exodus begins for the travelers returning home. Many of Connie's family, the "cousins" group and friends from Wisconsin had to fly out early Sunday morning, so they were up early and on their way. We met Ben & Kelsey at Mass before they drove to Phoenix to catch their early afternoon flight. We were back at Deb & Joe's, cleaning up from the night before, cleaning the neighbor's casita where guests had stayed and taking the extra items back to Dan & Connie's house. Then some of us cheered the Chiefs to a victory!! 7-0!! That night, we were invited over to the Smith's for supper and games for those who were still in town. And then it was time for goodbyes. Gary's sisters and husbands, Connie's son and family, our friend Jan B and we, all have to leave on Monday. We said goodbye to the Saddlebrooke friends and wished everyone well until the next time.
Thank you to everyone in Saddlebrooke that were so generous with their homes and time helping host all of us. Thank you to Deb & Joe for hosting several events at their home and transporting guests when needed. Hope you can rest and relax now.
Oct. 13 - 15
Sunday again. 10:00 Mass and then home. We are getting caught up on laundry and book work and starting to think about packing for Arizona. I watched my Chiefs win AGAIN! and started gathering the items we wanted to take to Katie, Ben and Deb & Joe and for the wedding needs. Gary pulled out our suitcases from the outside bay storage. After the game, I went to Walmart and picked up groceries and needed items. Gary is making Peppers and Shells tonight! Yummy! Back home to watch the chef in action, he does a great job in our little kitchen. Turns out our saute pan and pasta pan crowd pretty tight on the stove top, but he made it work. A relaxing evening with nice weather again!
Monday - we wake up to rain and it rained all day. We packed our cooler weather clothing in the suitcases, so I took all that out and started packing for the wedding trip. Gary's white dress shirt has been rolled up in a drawer, so we will wash and iron that at Deb & Joe's after we arrive. I had to try my dress on and figure out what jewelry to wear with it and other accessories. The weather there will be highs in the 80's, lows in the 50's - Dan and Connie have ordered perfect weather for the wedding week.
Gary drove over to the propane dealer to make sure we could get propane tomorrow. I spent the entire day inside, it was just too wet, cold and windy out. Days like this we are enjoying our cable television options. Tonight we had salmon patties for supper, I'm trying to use up things out of our pantry. Monday night football and resting.
Tuesday - today is propane day. Sounds easy, just drive over and have them fill up our tank, BUT this also means putting everything away inside, securing everything again for travel mode, unhooking everything outside and pulling the slides in. It always takes longer than we think, so it was noon before we were ready. I went over and told the office we would be gone for awhile, they were looking for a window of time that they could mow our site and the adjoining ones. It was a nice sunny day again, just a little cooler.
Off to the propane store, their parking lot was muddy and full of puddles, but we got backed in and filled up. We stopped and filled up the gas tank too, Gary will put some stabilizer in it since we (hopefully) will be sitting again until just before Christmas when we winterize it to come home.
When we got back to the campground, they were just mowing, so a delay there, but they did a thorough job. We changed our parking on the site to be on firmer ground, then it was time to set up again. While backing in, we turned into some softer ground from the rain across the road! (Yikes!!) but the captain got it out without getting stuck. Gary worked outside hooking everything up and I put almost everything out again inside. A couple more hours work, but now we will have enough propane to run the furnace when we need it.
Finished packing, showers, leftover Peppers & Shells supper, we are ready for travel tomorrow! We will miss our entire Amazon shift this week, but we had arranged that with them before we signed on. It will be great to see everyone - all Gary's siblings will be there and our kids, Connie's family and the many friends we have made in Saddlebrooke where Dan & Connie and Deb & Joe live. It will be a wonderful celebration.
Monday - we wake up to rain and it rained all day. We packed our cooler weather clothing in the suitcases, so I took all that out and started packing for the wedding trip. Gary's white dress shirt has been rolled up in a drawer, so we will wash and iron that at Deb & Joe's after we arrive. I had to try my dress on and figure out what jewelry to wear with it and other accessories. The weather there will be highs in the 80's, lows in the 50's - Dan and Connie have ordered perfect weather for the wedding week.
Gary drove over to the propane dealer to make sure we could get propane tomorrow. I spent the entire day inside, it was just too wet, cold and windy out. Days like this we are enjoying our cable television options. Tonight we had salmon patties for supper, I'm trying to use up things out of our pantry. Monday night football and resting.
Tuesday - today is propane day. Sounds easy, just drive over and have them fill up our tank, BUT this also means putting everything away inside, securing everything again for travel mode, unhooking everything outside and pulling the slides in. It always takes longer than we think, so it was noon before we were ready. I went over and told the office we would be gone for awhile, they were looking for a window of time that they could mow our site and the adjoining ones. It was a nice sunny day again, just a little cooler.
Off to the propane store, their parking lot was muddy and full of puddles, but we got backed in and filled up. We stopped and filled up the gas tank too, Gary will put some stabilizer in it since we (hopefully) will be sitting again until just before Christmas when we winterize it to come home.
When we got back to the campground, they were just mowing, so a delay there, but they did a thorough job. We changed our parking on the site to be on firmer ground, then it was time to set up again. While backing in, we turned into some softer ground from the rain across the road! (Yikes!!) but the captain got it out without getting stuck. Gary worked outside hooking everything up and I put almost everything out again inside. A couple more hours work, but now we will have enough propane to run the furnace when we need it.
Finished packing, showers, leftover Peppers & Shells supper, we are ready for travel tomorrow! We will miss our entire Amazon shift this week, but we had arranged that with them before we signed on. It will be great to see everyone - all Gary's siblings will be there and our kids, Connie's family and the many friends we have made in Saddlebrooke where Dan & Connie and Deb & Joe live. It will be a wonderful celebration.
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