Day 31 / 334 The Last Day

Goliad, Texas Sunshine 80 degrees

We worked our last shift today. The truck is back at the maintenance parking area. Our exit interview is scheduled for tomorrow morning. Wow, did that go fast!

[caption id="attachment_642" align="alignleft" width="225"] Desiree and I[/caption]

We spent last evening at one of the staff's homes having a great time with other staff, volunteers and her family and friends. We've worked closely with Desiree and become very fond of her. She is like a sister and it's killing me to leave her behind.   Such is the life.  I felt like I was home already. It was surreal in a way.  Enough food to feed an army, everyone having a good time, kids running around the yard playing games and of course Champ in the thick of the kids.  A fire going in the back yard made it hard to leave.  Way past my bedtime and a workday ahead I pried myself away about 11pm last night. 

I've been play with a new App called 1 Second Everyday. You shoot short videos each day, the software clips a 1 second piece of it. You compile compressed videos of your selected timeframes to show a slide show or time-lapse of your project. I'll put the video at the end of this past month here at Goliad through our eyes. I imagine it would be really neat for a babies first year, or a wedding planning year or any number of long-range projects. It's free to download.

We're headed to Goliad Brewery for one last craft beer before we depart on Tuesday morning.  I'm feeling very emotional today but we'll talk more about that and the people who are tugging at my heartstrings tomorrow.

Until then...

[video width="1920" height="1080" mp4="https://ourhighroad.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/time_cc_A_Day_In_The_Life_Feb_28_2018_-_Mar_31_20181.mp4"][/video]

Day 30 / 335

Goliad, Texas Sunny 79 degrees

[caption id="attachment_638" align="alignleft" width="225"] Huisache Daisy being pollinated[/caption]

You do a lot of counting down when you are a full-time RV Volunteer. In this week of lasts, we did our last round of night duty last evening. It was a beautiful moonlit night and still in the 70's even at 10 PM when we closed the gate. It was a busy one too!  Apparently Easter Weekend is a big camping weekend in Texas and many of our guests were coming from Houston, whose traffic was horrible even by Houston standards, the weary families told us as they arrived after 9:00 to set up in the moon light. We took some extra time driving around and taking in the atmosphere of the campground at night, knowing we will depart in four days.

[caption id="attachment_637" align="alignright" width="300"] Easter Flowers at GSP[/caption]

Today was a Chamber of Commerce Day as my favorite aunt puts it. The campground is alive with families.  I spent most of the day mowing the front grounds.  As I was mowing around all the patches of wildflowers, so they will give a good show to people driving down highway past the park, it occurred to me that the flowers are peaking just as Easter weekend is happening and they are actually the color of Easter Eggs! Pink, lavender, yellow, white and of course blue.

We are having a get together tonight at one of the Rangers' home with our Volunteer counterpart and some of the staff. My emotions are starting to swing wildly between the thought of letting  go of people I've become very fond of, (again) and the excitement of getting back to the kids and our friends and the closest thing we have to home, Volunteer Village at Saylorville Lake. Leaving Texas this spring is a different experience. Last year we knew we were returning this winter. This year we leave knowing we will head to a different corner of the country next fall and simply do not know when we will have jacks down on Texas soil (aka rock) again.

The cats are lounging in our 'yard' this afternoon, blissfully unaware that they are about the be uprooted again.

Until tomorrow...

 

Day 29 / 336 The Ruins

Goliad, Texas Sunny 84 degrees

[caption id="attachment_634" align="alignright" width="300"] Mission ruins east walls[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_632" align="alignright" width="300"] Tool markings[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_631" align="alignright" width="300"] Fallen archway[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_630" align="alignright" width="300"] Former priests quarters[/caption]

Today was a big day for me. We got a long-awaited tour of the Ruins at the Mission Rosario south of Goliad, where the Karankawa's, the namesake of our campground loop were.  The area has been closed as they install gates, interpretive signs and parking areas. The ribbon cutting won't happen for several more weeks, but today the schedules and the weather came together in time for Rachel to take us there and give us a tour and another history lesson.

It is a very interesting facet in the overall history of the Franciscan Mission years. I feel so lucky that I was able to spend some time poking around here. As a volunteer going with a Ranger I was allowed to see it up close and take all the time I wanted instead of being on a guided tour on a timeline. Another perk of being an RV Volunteer. You get access that the general public does not.

The storms moved around us last night but did drop a good deal of much-needed rain. Today the sun returned and is baking the ground again.  It's hard to aceept that in 10 days we will be back in Iowa running the heat at night and running around in jeans and sweatshirts as my hard-earned winter tan fades. 

Tonight we will do our last tour of night duty. The countdown is on!

Until tomorrow...

Day 28 / 337 Obsessions

Goliad, Texas Over Cast Tornado Watch 77 degrees

Answer # 28 - When you do the full-time RV Volunteer gig you have time to feed your own quirky obsessions. Let's face it we all have them. In our professional lives and family raising years we don't have time to spend on our weird little indulgences.

Case in point, I can't pass a flower bed or landscaped area and leave a weed winking at me at the edge. I stop and pull it. I can't explain it but I feel like I have to do it. When I had my own yard, a simple walk around the house to look at my flowers could very easily turn into 2 hours and a bunch of tools drug out of my garden shed.  It happened to me today. I was killing time standing outside the Head Quarters building while Champ talked to Walter about the days plans and decided to bend down and pull a thistle that has been bugging me for days. Then I pulled all the little pathetic blades of Texas grass trying to grow in the mulch. Then I started pulling the clover out of the crack in the sidewalk. Next thing I knew Champ and Walter were on a mission and I had a big garbage bag out of the truck and was going to town on that whole side of the building. An hour later I had the bag full and was sweeping the walk. The beauty is I had time to do it.  Most people hate weeding, I find it quite therapeutic and satisfying. That's the thing about being a volunteer at a park. Practically anything you decide to do is appreciated and goes to making the park look nicer, even a subtle thing, like picking clover out of a crack in the concrete, makes a difference.

With no deadlines to meet, projects to  complete, project progress meetings to attend, sales quotas to satisfy or endless spreadsheets to update, there is time to do what makes me happiest. Feed my weird little obsessions, like pulling weeds.

Until tomorrow...

Day 27 / 338

Goliad, Texas Cloudy 80 degrees  with storms coming

It's an unsettled day in Texas. Much like that June day in Iowa when you know big storms are coming that evening. My thoughts today about 'What it's like to be a full-time RV volunteer" have gone to the accumulation of new things one learns and experiences.

In Mathis, I ate my first lemons fresh off the tree. The difference is akin to having that first tomato off the vine from your garden after eating store-bought tomatoes for months.  Or, coming to Iowa and eating sweet corn, picked that morning, for the first time. I never knew a lemon could be so sweet along with the tartness.

Here at Goliad we quickly learned to tell the difference between Harvester, Fire and Leaf Cutter Ants. I've never given much thought to ants unless they got in my house, or invaded the kids sandbox back in the day.  A quick glance at the behavior and pattern of movement tells me what kind they are and whether they need to be eradicated from the area or left alone. I will leave Texas with less than warm fuzzy feelings about fire ants after my encounter a couple of weeks ago.

The main event for our winter was coming to the birth place of what we know as the State of Texas. I knew there was interesting history to learn here but, WOW!  I've never experienced such densely concentrated history in this small a geographical area. The really cool part was meeting a woman in a local museum who is a direct descendant of those who lived and farmed here when the history was being made.  Even my nine years living on the east coast didn't leave me feeling as immersed in history as I feel here.

Everywhere you go as an RV Volunteer opens the opportunity to learn and try something new. Likely, something you haven't given any thought to until it presents itself in the midst of an ordinary day.

Until tomorrow...

Day 26 / 339

Goliad, Texas  Partly Cloudy 81 degrees

Eight days and a wakeup till we depart. I made what is likely my last trip over to Victoria to pay homage to Walmart and H.E.B.   On the 30 minute drive back, my thoughts turned to the experience of being on the other side of the Park Host sign. It's been a lot of fun and interesting to say the least.

Reflecting on some of the odd requests, I chuckled at the memory of a woman who knocked on our door one Sunday morning, somewhat panicked asking if we had a plunger. After telling me they were on just their 3rd trip with their brand new travel trailer she informed me that their stool was backing up. I told her a plunger would not help her, RV stools don't work that way. I tried not to laugh or smirk as I told her the only way a toilet could back up is if the tank was full or not draining. Turned out they were on full hook-ups, but didn't know about the gate valve to make the tanks drain. Rookies ( sigh, chuckle, smirk) !

Another woman  asked us to come teach her how to scan her TV for channels. She told us they have always had one of their kids or grandkids around to do it for them and she couldn't remember how. Champ went down and stepped her through it as she took notes.

Just this morning, an older woman traveling alone in a motor home, was having trouble with her Ebrake light not going out as she departed. She stopped in front of our RV and asked Champ if he knew anything about them. As a mechanic he was able to look at it and he even got in and drove her around the campground to show her that the brake had actually released and it was safe to drive. She'll get the light looked at when she gets where she's going.

Mostly it's been people curious about our cats hanging out on their lines and laying in their own lawn chairs. Asking us what it's like to camphost and how we find the jobs. Or just stopping because we have Iowa Tags.

We have met so many interesting people this past 90 days and shared experiences, learned of their experiences and taken note of many things to try later.  It has been pretty fun being behind the sign.  We will however focus more on interpretive host and heavy maintenance jobs going forward.  We'd both rather be on the business end of a power tool than a mop anyday.

Until tomorrow...

Day 25 / 340

Goliad, Texas Sunny 80 degrees

Sunday marks the first day of our 'weekend' in our Goliad State Park routine.  This is the first of the lasts, as it were. The life of a full-time RV volunteer is cyclical. By that I mean you get to a new place, usually for a 90 day committment, settle into a new routine and then before you know it you are preparing to move on and you begin what I call "The week of lasts".

[caption id="attachment_619" align="alignright" width="300"] Mexican guards outside the chapel[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_618" align="alignright" width="300"] Mexican soldiers getting the execution orders[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_620" align="alignright" width="300"] Wounded Texans[/caption]

This is our last restful weekend here at Goliad.  We ended  the week by returning to the Reenactment Event  last night to attend the, much touted, Candle Light Tour inside the Fort. It was well worth staying up late. The tour got underway about 9 PM. Inside the fort walls we were treated to a very well acted rendition of the conversations happening between Fannin, his leaders and the Mexican soldiers who had become their captors that afternoon. We saw negotiations for medicine and water for the captured Texas troops. The conversation among the Mexican leaders when they got word from Santa Anna that the troops would not be returned to Louisiana as negotiated in the surrender, but executed the next morning. Finally we were allowed inside the Chapel to witness the agony of the injured and dying soldiers. The cloudy night lended to the atmosphere. It was very dark with only lantern light inside the fort grounds and buildings.  This morning at ten o'clock there was  a reenactment of the executions. I decided reading it in the books and watching the films at the various museums was enough. Desiree, who we work with in maintenance went for her first time and said it was quite moving and sad.

The staff at the park is weary from their big event and will recuperate slowing as they go about their daily work here. We will begin this week thinking about returning home. It always hits me that we are about to move on when the 10 day extended forecast includes our arrival date for our next destination.  I must say Iowa is not look very inviting right now, but the kids and grandkids will warm our hearts even if our skin is cold from the frigid midwest spring air.

Until tomorrow...

Day 24 / 341 The Big Event

Goliad, Texas  Overcast 81 degrees

Answer #24:  You get a front row seat to the events that take place in the park you are working in.

Today was the Reenactment Event of the Battle of Coleto Creek. This was the battle the spurred Texas troops to a new level of passion for their campaign that led to the battle, that ended in what we know today as Texas, becoming a United States territory.

The day was a busy one for us as volunteers. The Rangers we work for were very generous in allowing us time in between our rounds here, to go over to the event and take it all in. In addition to an entire encampment reenacted inside the fort walls, there were 2 skirmishes and the final battle that ended in the surrender of Fannin's troops reenacted throughout the day.

[caption id="attachment_615" align="alignleft" width="300"] Wilderness Lakes friends Gary & Joyce, Connie and Joel and us.[/caption]

A fun surprise for us was 2 couples, that we became friends with at Wilderness Lakes RV Park earlier this winter, attended. We got a chance to visit with them and watch the final battle together this afternoon.

Today was a culmination of all the history we have been immersed in since arriving in January.

It was cool to see the area we helped prep yesterday, turn into the huge event that it was today. The people were eager and engaged, the cannons were LOUD!  The costumes were elaborate and the reenactors  as authentic as they are passionate about their hobby of choice.

We have tickets to a candlelight tour at 8:30 tonight to get a feel for life inside the fort the evening of their capture and on the eve of their eventual execution on Palm Sunday at the Fort.

Below, enjoy some pictures from the event today.

Until tomorrow...

[gallery ids="614,608,607,606,605,603,602,613,612,610,604,611"]

Day 23 / 342 Event Eve

Goliad Texas - Sunny 78 degrees

Answer #23 to the big question:  You get to be behind the scenes of wherever you are.

Today is the day before the Goliad Reenactment Event.

The park is teeming with energy today, getting ready for the biggest event of the year.  After our usual morning rounds we helped the rangers finish getting the battlefield area cordoned off for tomorrows three battle reenactments. We gathered up barricades, cones, posts rope and paint and headed over after lunch. 

[caption id="attachment_593" align="alignright" width="300"] Wildflower field today Battlefield tomorrow[/caption]

What is currently a big open field between Presidio La Bahia the highway will become the scene of the skirmishes and battles this weekend. The wildflowers will succumb to canon wheels, horse hooves, gun powder and fake blood.

The campground is filling up with people coming to either participate in the reenactment or be spectators. I was in town after work this afternoon at the grocery store and found myself in line with a veteran reenactor who happens to be camping in the park. We had a good chat. He was intrigued that someone from Iowa would come here just to volunteer and learn the history.

[caption id="attachment_595" align="alignleft" width="300"] Cavalry horse pre- event[/caption]

The Presidio is filling up with tents, canons being brought in on trailers  and horses lounging in the shade. Tomorrow they will be in the midst of battle and canon fire. Something tells me they all love it.

 

[caption id="attachment_596" align="alignnone" width="300"] Inside the fort walls setting up[/caption]

Tomorrow will be a very busy and long day for us, but this is what I came here for. I can't wait. In the meantime it's a great evening for a campfire with our volunteer companions before we get up tomorrow, eat our Wheaties, roll up our sleeves and "get 'er done"!

Until tomorrow...

Day 22 / 343 The Calm Before the Storm

Goliad, Texas  Sunny 75 degrees

"What's it like to be an RV Volunteer?" Answer # 22:  It's nearly impossible to find yourself in a rut.  Unless you've been parked in an unpaved site during monsoon season in the SW.

Today is the proverbial calm before the storm.  The 'storm' is the coming in the form of Reenactment, that will take place this weekend. I've been very excited since we arrived that we will be here for this event. The population of Goliad is around 2,000. They expect around 4.000 to attend this event that will be here at the park and the Presidio across the road.  It will be a long work day for us but we have been encouraged to take breaks and go watch the reenacted battles. I have seen one reenactment before and that was Gettysburg some 25 years ago. The park is filling up quickly with large groups of scouts, school groups and history nerds, my kind of folks :)  After 2 very lackadaisical days of 'work' we will be extremely busy the next two days.  Check out the website to see the details. It's worth planning a trip to see. http://www.crazycrow.com/site/event/goliad-massacre-reenactment-living-history-program

In the mean time Champ went for his Post-Op appointment yesterday and was given free rein to undertake most any activity he wants. He's healing like, well, a Champ!

Until tomorrow...

Day 21 / 344

Goliad, Texas  76 degrees  Sunny

"What's it like to be an RV Volunteer?"  Answer # 21 :  Jobs you have likely done your whole life will be very different when you perform them in the context of being a campground volunteer. 

Mowing is one of my favorite outdoor activities and one of very few solitary times that I enjoy. Mowing a campground is a real game changer. Unlike your own yard that you are familiar with and have a particular pattern or routine; a campground is foreign territory. As many hours as I have mowed here, I will have only mowed a couple of areas more than once. There are some 600 acres here to maintain and several people tasked with mowing from day-to-day.

Mowing a campground is something like navigating the Brady Bunch driveway. Even an unoccupied site has far more obstacles. Picnic tables, grills, fire rings, lantern poles, small trees, sewer connections, hydrants and power poles; you get the idea. In Texas this time of year there are also clumps of wildflowers to mow around. Texans love their wild flowers, as do I and they want to see them when they are blooming. I think I heard somewhere that it is a capital offence to mow down a Blue Bonnet in Texas.

The cool thing is you see every detail of the campground and can make note of things that need attention.  My joy today was watching new flowers getting ready to open and noticing more new butterfly species hanging around the flowers or landing on the mower. Campers will stop and want to visit and that's fine, they're curious about us, just like I was before I became a camphost.

In this campground you can always tell if there were kids around. Apparently kids love to put bit sticks in the tops of ant hills. And in Texas you can't spit without hitting an ant hill. I chuckle when I go into and area and see sticks poking up everywhere. It's like the kids are trying to stake claim from the ants while they are there. Mesquite trees have unforgivable thorns as I found out last week when I wasn't paying attention to what kind of tree I was about to go under. That was about as fun as the fire ants crawling up my pants.

Every time I work outside in Texas, I have John Wayne's voice in the back of my head. There's a line in the movie Rooster Cogburn when he's talking to Katherine Hepburn,  that goes something like: "Everything in these woods will either bite ya, stab ya, or stick ya. "  That's about right!

In case I haven't mentioned it lately, I LOVE being an RV Volunteer!

Until tomorrow...

Day 20 / 345 Why Iowa is still our official home state

Goliad, Texas Sunny 76 degrees

It was a beautiful day today with Colorado blue skies behind the bright green of new leaves on the trees.  Our last day off started with a 2 hour trek along the newly reopened River Trail. The last hurricane recovery task for the public areas of the park. We will leave here two weeks from today, but that will be another post.

An oft asked question of us is "Why don't you change your state of residency to a state that doesn't have income tax?"

As a compulsive analyzer and retired banker it's a safe bet to assume I researched this thoroughly. My advise is simple. States that don't have state income tax generate revenue in many other ways, so do your research diligently before deciding. The first thing I did is pull out the last 3 years of state income tax returns and see what our state tax burden was.

Things to consider:

• Insurance rates - Property and Casualty as well as Health Insurance


• Speaking of health insurance research the state and their programs ACA has made things quite volatile.


• Do you use a credit union? If so what are their residence requirements to remain a member


• Will you visit that state each year?


• Vehicle licensing and inspection requirements


• Drivers License requirements

In the case of our Iowa home state, yes income taxes are somewhat higher than other states but.....  We have a 30 year relationship with our credit union and were not willing to give that up.  I love my insurance agent and don't want to have to go to an agentless relationship where we are simply a number. In the case of Texas the vehicle registration and inspection regs are expensive and somewhat ridiculous. Tags would have been very expensive and my favorite one of all; the toll roads here only charge tolls to vehicles with Texas plates. Out of state plates roll down the road toll-free! Plus you must have special training to be able to drive a motor home. I'm not sure if that is a DMV requirement or and insurance requirement.  In Iowa a valid license is all that is required. In our case the dollars were a wash and we didn't want to give up the professional relationships that we enjoy with our loan officer and insurance agent. I researched South Dakota, Florida and Texas against Iowa.

Other states like South Dakota, who boasts an entire cottage industry around getting full timers to claim them as their home state, are attractive, but you still have to pay an expensive mail forwarding service to handle your mail and you have to show up once a year no matter what your travel plans are.

Have to go to the doctor? If you get seriously ill, you are headed to that state if you want your insurance to pay full benefits and give you the advantage of the lowest maximum out-of-pocket.

I'm not saying changing is bad, I'm just saying do your research thoroughly, get a quantifiable amount from your returns and do the research. Chances are, it will be a wash dollars wise, and add some unnecessary complications if you are true RV gypsies.  Happy roaming!

Until tomorrow...

Day 19/ 346 Butterflies of Texas

Goliad, Texas Party Cloudy 78 degrees

I got to spend my day off yesterday taking some time to photograph some of the butterflies in the park. I had mixed feelings as I started to identify them. Several or butterflies that are in their northern range here in South Texas and I will not see them again until I come back. The happy part is I did get nice pictures of them to look back on when I want to reminisce about my time here.

The reality that we don't know when we will come back to Texas is starting to hit home with both of us. Intermingled with the excitement of knowing we are returning home to the kids in a couple of weeks and are looking forward to a new corner of the country to explore next winter, is the sadness that we will not see this part of the country or the people we have met and grown very fond of for at least a couple of years.

Scroll down and enjoy some of the Texas butterflies that I've seen while here.

Until tomorrow...

[gallery ids="581,580,579,578,577,576,575,574,557"]

Day 18 / 347 Weight Assessment Day

Goliad, Texas Sunny 84 degrees

The weather in Texas looks like it is going to send us away the same way it greeted us in November, hot. By our standards anyway. The real heat will come after we leave.

Today was purge day. When you live full time in an RV one of the most important things is controlling how much you own. This is an ongoing process. I hear the horror stories of those who didn't know any better or didn't give enough respect to cargo weight limits. They aren't pretty. They involve axles breaking going down the interstate, suspension and tires failing far too soon. The most common misconception is that these big RV's are capable of hauling whatever you can fit in the storage units. Nothing could be further from the truth. One must pay close attention to how much your things weigh. I cringe when someone shows off how they can carry all their glass dishes without breaking them. Clearly they haven't considered how much they weigh. Not only is it an expensive mistake it can be very dangerous when rolling down the highway.

We started out within the weight limits. The rule is if we buy something new we get rid of something. There is no room to hoard things. When we get ready to travel after staying put we go through all the closets and storage compartments and assess, pitch and give away. It is not only necessary but also liberating not being weighted down, as it were. Yes, I have empty space in my closets.

Today was the third time I have completed this task. I marvel at how much we can accumulate sitting in one place for 6 months. I'm starting to wonder if I give more things to thrift stores, than I buy these days. I think its close to a wash.

Two more days off to relax then we start getting the park ready for the big Reenactment Event on Saturday.

Until tomorrow...

Day 17 / 348

Goliad, Texas  Sunny 84 degrees

One of our favorite things to do when we spend time in an area is to get out in the community and do the things the locals do.  We've been looking forward to the Goliad County Fair since we got here. In conjunction with all the 4H activities the PRCA Rodeo circuit came to town. This is a major event for Goliad and it draws people from all around. The Rodeo is rated as one of the top 5 small rodeos in the nation.  We had a chance to see the lamb our park boss' kids had entered along with the other show animals. Ate some fantastic Texas BBQ for dinner, sold as a fundraiser for 4H. If there is such a thing as bad Texas BBQ we haven't found it.  Perused the Homemakers displays. It's hard to remember that these photographs, 3D art, quilts, decorated cakes and other hand crafted things are made by mostly junior high aged kids. Amazing young talent is everywhere.

Perhaps the strangest part of the evening was sitting in my sleeveless shirt at 8:00 this evening in the warm night air, scolling through Facebook during intermission and seeing the pictures of he 6" of snow that fell in our home state of Iowa! No way would a county fair take place in Iowa in March!

I got to see Mutton Bustin' for the first time, complete with pint sized rodeo clowns.  Nothing cuter than watching  kindergarten aged kids try to ride sheep! We looked like the Yankees that we are in our midwester clothes. At least Champ wears western boots. I think we were the only ones there who weren't wearing either plaid or something sparkely. No glittery belts in my RV wardrobe and definitely no Stetsons in our closets. We did have a great time though and talked to the people around us. The best part of traveling is the people you meet along the way.

Until tomorrow...

 

Day 16 / 349

Goliad, Texas  Sunny 87 degrees, humid

Holy cow did it get hot today. I broke official park dress code and changed into capri pants,  tied my button down ranger shirt at my waist and put on my flip-flops to finish out the day after lunch! No one noticed accept Champ who said I looked like a hippy camphost. I can live with that!

Another day of just trying to keep up with bathrooms and going in behind campers checking out and cleaning the fire pits. Talking to people and basically being ambassadors of good will out in the park is our number one job this week, with spring break and the rodeo going on right across the highway.

While I was taking a break this afternoon, I sat in the shade watching a bunch of butterflies working away on a patch of flowers marveling at the variety and taking it all in knowing I will leave in a couple of weeks. While I sat there I pondered whether the wildflowers are so abundant in South Texas because there are so many butterflies to pollinate them, or does virtually every butterfly that migrates come through South Texas because there is such an abundance of wildflowers to feed them along the way. Kind of a Chicken/ Egg question; the world may never know.

I know I am in a really special place in terms of butterfly and bird migration. Some of them will arrive in Iowa around the time we do and others will exit the migration funnel that is here and go to other corners of the continent. Maybe as we travel to different places we'll see some of these in their summer homes. Something to look forward to!

Until tomorrow....

Day 15 / 350

Goliad Texas - Overcast 70 degrees

"Have you got ants in your pants?".  We've all heard someone say that to a kid who is squirming around. Today it really happened to me!  Being a camphost means being ready for most anything to come up.  We were having a pretty leisurely day going behind campers who had checked out, making sure the site was ready for the next guest.  About half the campground turned over today so we stayed busy!

I was picking up some unburned firewood from a fire ring and caught movement out of the corner of my eye. I realized too late that I had stepped on a fire ant mound next to the fire ring. The movement I saw were the soldier ants swarming over my shoe. 'Oh crap!' If you know me you know that isn't what I really muttered but this is an all audience blog.

My friend Cathy said one time about fire ants;  "People will take their pants right off no matter where they are."  I almost did right in the middle of the campground. Luckily I was about 8 sites away from our site and I grabbed the wasp spray and hosed down my shoe to slow them down, jumped in the truck and flew to the motor home.  The jeans ended up on our steps as the ants were quickly working their way up my pant leg and were almost to my lady parts by the time I made it to the shower to wash them away.  Cathy was right. I'm not sure where my jeans would have landed if I wasn't so near our site!

I have been stung by fire ants several times. Usually its a few stings on my hands or feet and they itch like heck the next day. I got lucky, the wasp spray saved me.  Most of the ants that got in my pants were hit by the spray and in the process of dying so after all the panic was over I only have 10 or so stings mostly around my ankles where they got in my socks. My skin is a little irritated from the pesticide, but I'll take it compare to how it could have turned out.

We have night duty again this evening. I think no matter what happens the rest of the day, it won't be nearly as alarming as realizing 1,000 angry fire ants are marching up the inside of my right pant leg.

What's it like to be a full-time RV volunteer?  "Never a dull moment!"

Until tomorrow...

Day 14 / 351

Goliad, Texas  Sunny 72 Degrees

Three hours south of us, friends are likely hunkered down in the RV resorts avoiding te mayhem of South Padre Island and the throngs of college kids blowing off steam. Here at Goliad State Park we are busy with families enjoying picture perfect camping weather. The college students, who are here, I imagine are Environmental Science majors or some other 'liberal' type degree whose idea of partying is hanging out in the campground and playing their guitars around the campfire. It's like Haight- Ashbury without the drugs. Pretty cool if you ask me.

We have talked about the official Camphost gig, the job most people associate with being a workamper. So far we have done Visitors Center, maintenance and wildlife stuff.  This is our first experience as camphosts and we have found it to be somewhat of a double-edged sword. It is fun to be in the campground and not in a segregated area... most of the time. This past week it is a challenge because we are never really off duty. Someone can knock on your door pretty much any time of day or night, and do.  Bathrooms have been pretty uneventful up to now. However, it's been more than either of us cares to deal with the past week and will continue like that until we leave with all the events impacting the park traffic. We don't regret this job at all, but we have decided that we will stick to interpretive stuff and maintenance minus the potty patrol in the future. I have a new respect for the camphosts who pull bathroom duty year after year. What I do know from talking to them, is they would rather take a beating than do Interpretive Work and Public Speaking. I would rather do the Interpretive Work and Champ his blissfully happy fixing stuff. Running a campground truly 'takes a village'  in this case a Volunteer Village!

The doctors office removed Champ's surgical staples today and he is mending beautifully!

Until tomorrow...

Day 13 / 352

Goliad Texas, Sunny 65 degrees

Today as I think about why it is so cool being a full-time RV'er , I have circled back around to the theme of immersion. I have written about it several times over the past 18 months. Getting off the crazy train gives you time to really notice where you are.

I have been spending time on the trails around the park on my days off. Today as I was returning from my morning bike ride is spied a woodpecker specific to this area and grabbed my camera and binoculars and walked back to the area hoping for a good look and a picture. I missed the Goldenfront Woodpecker but I made it a point to sit on that part of the trail for 30 minutes or so.

When you first arrive in a natural area you notice the obvious things. Today, it was the trees, grass, the river flowing nearby and the ever-present Cardinals calling. After sitting quietly for several minutes the rests of the area made itself known.

[caption id="attachment_555" align="alignright" width="300"] 1/4" small wonder[/caption]

Today I photographed the smallest butterfly I have ever seen. It is as small as my pinky fingernail. The flower it is near is less than 1" in diameter. I was amazed at its miniature size and it begged the question, "Do butterflies grow once they emerge from the chrysalis?" I've never given it any thought till now. I imagine they emerge a certain size and stay that way.  It will give me something new to research.  It's a beautiful thing to be able to stop and completely immerse oneself in a small space on the planet and discover the wonder of something like a butterfly the size of a house fly.  I wish I had learned to do that decades ago. 

Until Tomorrow...

Day 12 / 353

Goliad, Texas  Sunny  65 degrees

Things are settling back into a normal routine. Champ is healing nicely and starting to get some stamina back. I went for a walk  last evening and when I came back there was a pair of side-cutters laying on the kitchen table. If you know Champ, you already know that he had them out to try to remove his surgical staples! He decided they weren't ready to come out, never mind his follow-up appointment is not till the 21st when they plan to take them out. It's going to be a long 9 days getting him to comply with doctors orders. The good news is we have survived our first medical emergency.

I went out for a bird walk this morning. The river trail that has been closed since Hurricane Harvey last August, was opened  last week thanks to the hard work of the Rangers here. It was great birding, the trail has been closed for 7 months, the morning was sunny and about 55 degrees; perfect birding conditions. I saw the largest variety this morning, over 30 species, that I have any given morning so far this winter.

The stars of the morning were the butterflies. The migration is in full swing. I got a good look at a Monarch 3 days ago. The past week I see a new species almost everyday. The variety of Skippers is astonishing. With the wildflowers in South Texas coming alive there is plenty of food for them. This is a real treat for a butterfly lover. I am learning something about myself, I think I will be more a butterfly lady than a bird lady simply because it plays to my passion for gardening and the way the two are dependent on each other. I do love birds but I think the Butterflies had stolen my heart. I'll soak it up this winter, as I know that I am in a special place in terms of migration. I'll miss this next winter while in the SE corner of the United States. I'm sure there will be something special about that area to take up residence in my heart though.

Until tomorrow...

Day 11 / 354

"What's it like to be a full-time RV Volunteer? "  Today's answer is,  you never know where you will end up from one year to the next. That's the whole point. Our commitment here in Goliad will end in three weeks. It's been a wonderful 90 days here and we've had another good winter in Texas but alas, it is time to move on to another part of the country next winter.

I am a unappolgetic history nerd.  History is what brought us to Goliad. HIstory will take us to Plains Georgia next winter. I got confirmation today from the Volunteer Coordinator at the Jimmy Carter Boyhood Farm, now a National Park Site, that we will be working there as interpretive volunteers next November 1 - February 1. It is a working farm with the old High School acting as the Visitors Center.   It will be our first time working for the National Parks Service and I'm pretty excited about it as I want to do more and more interpretive work. It suits my love of working with people and sharing my own passion for history with others.  Champ will work with me in the Visitors Center and also lend his repair and maintenance skills to the farm while we are there.  They will be good months to be there as two of their biggest annual events are held during our tenure for next winter. 

We are excited to have another corner of this great country to explore next winter. With no work committment for February and March we will be free to roam for 2 months before return back to Iowa once again.

In the meantime, the two biggest events at Goliad are happening during our last 3 weeks here. The County Fair and Rodeo,  and the Reenactment of the Coleto Creek Battle and Massacre of Fannin's Troops. We'll be ready for the solitude of the road when we leave here soon!

Until tomorrow...

https://www.nps.gov/jica/index.htm

Day 10/355

Goliad Texas - 89 Degrees Sunny

What is it like to be a full-time RV Volunteer?  Well today I would say it is about gaining an entirely new perspective of a busy campground.  We are seasoned guests, today I found out what it's like to be staff.

This weekend marks the beginning of Spring Break in this part of Texas. Unlike Iowa where it is an opportunity for people to flee the enduring winter weather for points south, in Texas it is  the big camping season kickoff.  The park is filled to capacity with families and large scout troops.

With Champ still recovering I worked solo today. Talk about a game changer! We take care of 10 bathrooms, 4 with showers. Ordinarily it is an uneventful hour and a half to begin each work day. The campground, to now, has been populated mostly with snowbirds in big rigs with their own facilities. This morning was a whole new ball game. With the tent pads sold out and most of them at max occupancy of 8 people the bathrooms were an all day job. Cleaning took 3 hours then I spent the rest of day patrolling,  stocking, restocking and driving around the park answering questions and giving directions. I took a couple of breaks to sit in the shade and watch birds and did make it up to Market Days on the town square for a bit over my lunch break.

I finished my day with a new appreciation for camphosts at parks we have camped in on busy weekends, and the amount of effort they put forth keeping the bathrooms stocked with TP and generally clean for us to use. It was fun to watch everyone enjoying the park.

Tonight, our Interpretive Ranger is holding a Night Sky event with telescopes and laser pointer to teach people about constellations. I am on gate survey duty from 9-10 then my time will be mine until Wednesday. There is no doubt I will sleep good tonight!

Until tomorrow...

 

Day 9 / 356

Goliad ,Texas-  Overcast 69 degrees

Champ is recovering nicely and will hopefully return to duties with me next week sometime on light duty. I mowed again today. It gives me great satisfaction to be a part of making the park beautiful for everyone to enjoy when they visit.

Today's answer to the question " What is it like being a full-time RV volunteer?"  is   "You never know what you will learn from day to day."          

Everyone has that opportunity everyday of their lives, but in this life style with its constantly changing scenery and new jobs every  90 days, ones eyes are more widely open. It occurred to me today that this lifestyle is mostly about embracing new experiences and learning something new all the time. One never knows what will come up. Last year I got to help net and band birds. Very cool indeed! I will leave Goliad knowing how to adjust the flow valve on a commercial toilet and after helping hang 9 ceiling fans I can assemble and wire one in my sleep. Not that I had high aspirations of learning these tasks, but I can add them to my ever more varied list of skills. Who knows what I'll know how to do by this time next year!

Spring break is decending upon the park, who knows what the week ahead will bring!

Until tomorrow...

 

 

Day 8 / 357

Goliad Texas - Sunny 69 degrees

When I started this a week ago things were pretty uneventful. What a week it has been! We got a call last week from Champ's cousin Zeke, who lives in Kerrville, saying he and his wife would be in the area today. We made plans to see them and have dinner tonight.

Who would have thought on Tuesday, when Champ's appendix was deciding it wanted out,  plans would still happen. I returned to our volunteer duties today which consisted of a safety meeting this morning, daily clean up rounds, and mowing the day use area.  Since Zeke was in town and came to the campground to visit Champ I felt better about leaving him unsupervised.

[caption id="attachment_539" align="alignright" width="300"] Zeke, Roslyn and us[/caption]

Not that he can't take care of himself. The risk is that instead of resting quietly and allowing is body to heal he would likely do something like change the oil in the car or climb up on the roof of the motor home, with no one around to stop him. He is recovering quite nicely and even tolerated a quick dinner out this evening. I marvel at the human bodies ability to heal so quickly.

We are ramping up for a very busy last 3 weeks here. Spring Break, the County Fair and rodeo across the street and the Coletto Creek Battle Reenactment that will draw some 4,000 people to the park that day are all taking place between now and our departure date. Champ will continue to get a little stronger each day and the world will turn along with the campsites. Who knows what the next 51 weeks will bring!

Until tomorrow...

Day 7 / 358

Goliad Texas - Sunny 68 degrees

The sun came up and the day is beautiful. The friendly, hospitable people of Texas and especially at Citizens hospital in Victoria took very good care of Champ and he came home around noon today. We have survived our first medical emergency away from home. A long running mystery was also solved. He has had mysterious come and go severe abdominal pain for about 5 years now. It occurred about every 6 months and would hit him hard during the night and generally last around 8-10 hours then disappear as quickly as it came leaving him tired and weak for 24 hours or so. He has seen the specialist several times with no answers as the symptoms were not active by the time of his appointment. Turns out the suspicion is that he has been suffering from chronic appendicitis all this time and it took acute appendicitis for it to finally be apparent. We feel very fortunate that he didn't suffer a rupture after the many flair ups he has had over the years.

The park staff has been wonderful and I will resume our normal duties tomorrow while he rests for a few more days. The challenge will be keeping him from overdoing while his incision heels. Wish me luck with that one! The cats are glad he is back, but Annie is upset that she can't lounge on is lap as she is used to doing.

Tomorrow his cousin from Kerrville will be in town for a visit. We won't be rolling up the sidewalks, as it were, but we are looking forward to seeing Zeke and Rosalyn for a partial day. If the rest of the month before we start to make our way back to Iowa is boring, that is okay with both of us!

Until tomoorrow...

Day 6 / 359

Goliad Morning Cool Rainy Afternoon Sunny 75

We never know what lies around the corner. We certainly didn't think Champ would be undergoing emergency surgery today. Last night we were sitting by the fire enjoying the warm evening, knowing rain was coming over night and today. By 2:30 this afternoon we were driving to the hospital 30 minutes away. At 5:30 Champ was under the knife getting his appendix removed.

When we travel I have always been in the habit of finding out where the preferred hospital is and make sure I know how to get there. Champ has always teased me about being a compulsive planner and control freak. I say it's the Girl Scout in me always being prepared. It paid off today. I knew where to take him and how to get there. This afternoon would have been a lot more stressful if I had not had that knowledge ahead of time.

One thing that is always in the back of the mind of a full-time RV'er is how one will handle a situation like this. Having gotten through the day, I can say it is harrowing to be 1500 miles away from family and deal with a health emergency. But when you camphost there is always a kind of surrogate temporary family of your work partners, in this case the staff at Goliad State Park. They were wonderful today and even though we were far from home, we knew we were not alone. I think it was harder on the kids not being able to come to the hospital like they would have if we were home, than it was for me to navigate the day. In all fairness though, if I had to draw a health emergency out of a hat full of situations, acute appendicitis is a good one to draw. It could have been much worse.

The moral of the day is whether you are a full-time RV person or just on vacation. Seek out the nearest ER when you arrive at your destination. Emergencies don't text you an alert ahead of time, they smack you with a 2x4 while you're doing the dishes.

I am back at the RV now, Champ is resting in the hospital in Victoria 30 miles away. It's weird but I know all is well and he will be back in our little home on wheels with me by this time tomorrow. He said as I left, "I'll leave a little part of me in Texas" His sense of humor is intact even under the cloud of anesthesia. That's a good thing!

Until then...

Day 5 / 360

Goliad Texas  Cloudy 80 degrees

It happened this morning. The thing all women dread; the realization that they have indeed become their mother! In this case it's a good thing. Mom is a birder.  Back in the day,  I looked upon it with scorn in a way only an estrogen fueled teenaged girl could. Yes, it was cool to grow up in the woods and have a mother who could tell what birds were around by listening to the songs in the trees. But then when I was a teenager she got the bug big time and was going on walks simply to look at birds getting, excited over one sighting or another and actually keeping track of what she saw!  Gawwd!  I could have cared less back then.

Yet another great thing about stepping off the crazy train of the career track and camp hosting part time to finance this great lifestyle is that it forces you to slooowwwww dooowwwn. With time on my hands and the luck of working with the Harrington's last winter,  I have become a birder, just like mom was. Thank God my daughter is not a teenager anymore, though she may snicker anyway. That's okay. This morning I headed out with in and out sun and 70 degrees at 7:30 this morning. I was very excited when I got back having seen my first Black and White Warbler and got a great picture. But also ran across a Long Billed Thraser that I saw with John and Cathy recently but this time I got a much better picture.  I saw some 25 species this morning.   Thanks Mom!

Until tomorrow...

Day 4 / 361

Goliad Texas -Partly Sunday- Windy- 79 degrees

One thing I have always liked is exercising outside. During my working years I ate whenever time allowed at work and spent my lunch hour walking on a nearby trail or through the neighborhood where my office was located. I even bundled up in winter weather and headed out. I always had a gym membership to fall back on when the weather was rough but, never enjoyed it as much.

One of the coolest things about living full time in the RV and living in parks is the scenery for my favorite exercise venue changes periodically. I can do my yoga in the park without driving to the park or ride my bike on the trail without hauling the bike on the back of the car to get to the trail head. I don't have to put on a playlist of Zen style music to hear the sounds of water running, or breeze blowing and bird sounds in the background. It is all around me in the woods in it's natural form.

Until tomorrow....

Day 3 / 362

Goliad - Drizzle Overcast 70 degrees

When you first go full-time, it feels like a perpetual vacation. You start to feel weird when you realize you aren't going to go back to your brick and mortar home and the routine of your old life.

Although that feeling is starting to fade a bit, we need days like today to help us feel 'normal' .  We started our Saturday morning routine, which as camphosts at Goliad State Park, means our last work day of the week. Morning clean up routine, then today the task was to finish mowing and start prepping a room we are helping remodel for the next phase of work.  We worked till about 10:00 then the rain came and thwarted our mowing plans. We piddled around the shop till noon, then called it a day and retreated to the RV to be couch potatoes and watch movies the rest of the day. Ahhhhh!  Just like our old life, the rainy days make you rest. As I type the sun is peaking through finally at 5:30 PM.

Until tomorrow...

Day 2 / 363

Goliad, Texas  Sunny 77 degrees

Today is what my Aunt Pat calls a Chamber of Commerce Day. As far as camp hosting goes it was also ideal. After morning routine of checking the five bathroom/ shower houses the fun began.

We spent the day on the 60" front mount, diesel-powered ZTR fire breathin' commercial Grasshopper mowers. ( Do you hear Tim the Tool man grunting?) Spring is in the air in SE Texas.  Temperatures are in the upper 70's, light north breeze wafting the smell of fresh-cut grass and a faint smell of wild onion around me as I mowed the campgrounds. I'm seeing new wildflowers open and a new butterfly migrating through almost daily. Days like this make up for the 2 weeks we worked outside in upper 40's and drizzle in early February.

Headed to Goliad Brewing Company's outdoor food, beer garden venue with our volunteer companion and his wife to finish out a perfect day.

Until Tomorrow....

A Year in the Life of a Full Time RV Volunteer

1 / 365

Goliad, Texas   Sunny & 80 degrees

Welcome to the first day of our year chronicle as a full-time RV couple. I agonized a little too long over when to start this. Anyone who has worked with me knows how bogged down I get in a small detail. I decided there's no time like the present and picked March 1st for no particular reason. What a glorious day it is!

After a cool, wet February the sun came out yesterday and the wildflowers that Texas is famous for have appeared. We have been mowing the past two days getting the park spiffy for its spring show.   I saw my first Indian Paint Brush and Blue Bonnets from the mower this morning. Yes, I mowed around them. The trees are heavy with buds and my heart is happy!

Until tomorrow....