Jeff and Tracy's RV Weblog

End of the Road?

jeffandtracy — Fri, 15 Jan 2010 15:47:43 +0000

Hi everyone,
So sorry for not posting in quite some time. This winter has been challenging to say the least; Tracy’s Dad passed away just before Christmas, my mother’s cat of almost 17 years had to be put to sleep following a long illness (you may remember that she is here in Florida with us), and after over three months I “finally” found work (Lockheed Martin, Cape Canaveral).

The employment situation, especially here in Florida, is extremely poor; so many people are looking for work. We have found that employers do not want to hire “migratory” workers …I guess that’s us, so it just makes matters worse. We originally worked at campgrounds/RV resorts, but many, if not most, have now stopped hiring folks who need the site “plus” an hourly wage. There are lots of “retired” Workampers who are more than happy to step in and take a position that only offers a site (no pay). That certainly doesn’t help matters!

Given the totality of the situation, we have decided to end our Workamping dream. We will sell the motor home and settle into a “regular” lifestyle back in New Hampshire. Tracy and I have spent numerous hours working things out on paper, and we simply have no choice at this point. At this point we almost feel trapped here in Florida, and welcome the return to a stationary lifestyle. At least we will know that we gave it our best shot. The economy has changed so much in just one year’s time; I wish we could wait it out, but that isn’t an option.

We would like to thank everyone who have been following us along the way. We will also miss all of the wonderful people we have met along the way; we are happy to call you “friends”. We hope you will drop us a note from time to time. We’ll miss you all!

God Bless,
Jeff and Tracy

Our New Location

jeffandtracy — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 17:06:42 +0000

Hi all. Well, we spent the Summer back in NH working at Chocorua Camping Village KOA. What a great bunch of people to work with! The only thing that we didn’t like was that we didn’t have enough time to spend with family, and before we knew it, it was time to head South.

We are now in Indian Harbour Beach, Florida located just off Melbourne which is about 60 miles North of where we were last year. One added plus is that it’s only a half-mile walk to the ocean.

We were lucky enough again this year to have Jeff’s mother come down with us. As was the case last Winter, her Fifth-Wheel travel trailer is parked right next to us!

We will do our best to add more content to this blog in a more timely manner. Thank you for your patience.

New Location …

jeffandtracy — Sun, 26 Apr 2009 14:22:21 +0000

Hi all,

We left Port St. Lucie, FL on April 16th for our trip north for the summer. We detoured slightly and headed south down to the Florida Keys before making the final push northward. We had a nice time, but really didn’t have enough time to just relax and unwind. We’ll post more on the Keys and the trip a little later.

So, we are getting settled-in here at Chocorua Camping Village KOA, Chocorua, NH. We will be assuming the duties of Assistant Managers, and other duties; Tracy will work the office and store, and I will do general maintenance.

Mom rode back to NH with us …you may remember that she had her Fifth-Wheel TT hauled to Florida and stayed next to us for the six months. She is back at home getting her house back in order. We are hoping that she will consider traveling south again with us in the Fall; I guess we’ll see how things work out!

Ok, keep checking back …I’ll try to get some trip pics uploaded soon.

Thanks for visiting,
Jeff and Tracy

A Couple Nice Parks …

jeffandtracy — Sun, 08 Mar 2009 01:43:58 +0000

Hi again everyone. We recently visited a couple nice parks that I thought deserve mention:

White City Park, White City, FL (kind of a township of Fort Pierce). About a 20 minute drive from where we are staying.
Here are some pics …

Mom and Tracy - White City Park picnic

KFC Ad?

White Ibis ...what a bunch of beggars!

This was Tracy's favorite Ibis. Critters are pretty funny aren't they?

Uh-oh, looks like they have Tracy and Mom surrounded!

Ok, now we move to Savannas Recreation Area . 15 – 20 minutes away.

Great Blue Heron (also called "Gray Heron")

A young Alligator ...about 2.5 feet in length

Another shot of the same Great Blue Heron

Anhinga (nope, not a Cormorant) sunning it's wings

Mom petting a Gopher Tortoise. We spotted this guy munching on some grass

... Tracy's turn

There are three baby Alligators here; each about 18 inches in length. Can you see them? Where's the mother?

... she's hiding on the other side of the waterway!

Sorry, more of a nature show than a look at the parks! We had a great time.

Thanks for visiting,
Jeff and Tracy

Sorry for the long absence …

jeffandtracy — Thu, 05 Mar 2009 01:56:40 +0000

Hi everyone. Our apologies for not keeping the blog current. It’s been hectic here at the RV resort. Tracy and I barely have enough energy to make dinner before calling it a day.

Ok, we will be leaving Port St. Lucie, FL on April 16th. The plan is to actually head south to hit the Keys for two days before heading back to NH …can’t be this close without heading down. Neither Tracy nor Mom have been down there, so it should be fun! We’ll take plenty of pics as we are planning on attending the Sunset Celebration at Mallory Square. You can get a peek at: www.sunsetcelebration.org

Now to back-track a little, here are some photos we’ve taken since the last update …

Tracy and Mom on Thanksgiving Day 2008

Jeff and Tracy on Thanksgiving Day 2008

Bondi in our motor home patiently waiting for Christmas Day (mid-December).

Jetty Park, Fort Pierce, FL

Jetty Park

Christmas Day 2008 in Mom's Fifth-Wheel Travel Trailer

Mom and Tracy, Christmas Morning 2008

Tigger looking for his presents

Tracy

"Two Turtle Doves" on Christmas Day! What are the odds? Oh, and let's not forget the Cardinal!

Mom

Here we are at the beach, Christmas Day 2008

Jensen Beach, FL, Christmas Day 2008

Kathie and Kalley down for a visit (Jensen Beach, January 2009)

Kalley and Kathie at Jensen Beach

Mom at Riverwalk Park, Stuart, FL (February 18, 2009)

Tracy at Riverwalk Park, Stuart, FL

Jeff at Riverwalk Park, Stuart, FL

Mom and Tracy at Riverwalk Park

Riverwalk Park

Riverwalk Park

The city of Stuart is known as the Sailfish Capital of the World, because of the many sailfish found in the ocean off Martin County

Stuart, Florida

Hope you liked the pics. We’ll try to update more often.

Jeff and Tracy

Climate Difference Over 1600 Miles

jeffandtracy — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 19:08:54 +0000

Here’s a fun little thing that my sister Mary and I cooked up. We decided to take photographs at the same time on the same day, and mark the temperature. I’ll let you decide where you would rather be sitting in a lawn chair

Mary is in Madison, NH. We are in Port St. Lucie, FL …

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!

jeffandtracy — Thu, 27 Nov 2008 13:49:59 +0000

From Myself, Tracy, Nana, Sasha, Bondi and Tigger (whew, that was long)…

November 18, 2008

jeffandtracy — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 19:37:47 +0000

Friday (Nov. 14th) at 7:55pm, Tracy, Mom, and I sat outside in our chairs and watched the Space Shuttle Endeavor launch. It was a nice clear night, and we are only about 80 miles South of Cape Canaveral, so we had no problem seeing it. Tracy was amazed at how big the ball of fire really was. She said that she thought it would look like “a tiny dot”. I would say that the size could be compared to holding your arm out and looking at the tip of your pinky finger …about half that size. Anyway, it was pretty neat. We could even see it at the point of Solid Rocket Booster separation (a rapid dimming). We also had the TV tuned to the NASA Channel and turned way up so we could hear what was going on in real-time.

Here are some photos …

Endeavor on the Pad (NASA Channel)

A Few Seconds after Lift-Off (ignore the car going by)

Several Seconds After Lift-Off

Start of Solid Rocket Booster Separation

After Solid Rocket Booster Separation

October 30, 2008

jeffandtracy — Fri, 31 Oct 2008 01:52:47 +0000

Hi all,

Sorry we haven’t posted since we started working. We’re still getting settled in, and there are never enough hours in the day to get everything done.

Mom is having a great time …she was the first to ride the public transit, and quickly filled us in on the details. “Thank you Mom!”

We have also added a WeatherUnderground banner so you can get an idea how the weather is treating us at any given time. We’ll change this for each location as we go.

To the kids; “We miss you and love you very much!!!”

Keep checking back for updates. We’ll try to get some more stuff on here real soon.

October 16, 2008

jeffandtracy — Fri, 24 Oct 2008 01:32:42 +0000

Left New Green Acres RV Park at 6:07am, crossed over into Georgia and had the “low battery” idiot light come on. We decided that we had better find an exit with a Walmart so I could check things out and probably buy a new battery (we had problems with the battery when we bought the motor home). We ended up losing all the gauges and speedometer before getting off the highway. We pulled into a motel parking lot and Jeff removed the now dead battery and dropped in the battery from the car. This got us to a Walmart where we were able to buy a new battery. Looks like the alternator may need to be replaced. We’ll look into that after we get settled-in. 9:50am …crossed the Florida state line! Whew, we’re almost there! Arrived at our destination; Port St. Lucie RV Resort somewhere around 4:40pm after a 10 3/4 hour ride.