Day 261 / 104 Sometimes Things Don't Work Out

Plains, Georgia  62 Degrees Sunny

What's It Like?  Well, today we are at a place where many work campers find themselves at some point and we hoped we would never experience. We have entered some tenuous situations in the past and were able to 'ride it out' or work to find a solution that resulted in a very good experience. This time it is not in the cards. 

The work at the Jimmy Carter National Historic Site has been a pleasure so far. The rangers and other volunteers are nice and engaging. The problem is with our accomodations. We knew upon arrival that we were in a tough situation and it has deteriorated every day. We read many forums about people arriving at places to work and finding their living situation intollerable. That is what we have found in Plains. This National Park does not provide RV pads on their property for their volunteers, but rather pay for sites in the locally owned park in town. 

Our first red flag shot up on arrival at the RV Park on the 1st of November. An old yellow dog was laying in the road as we pulled in. Bob, the elderly gentleman who owns the park and lives across the road introduced us to the neighborhood dog. (great) he also infomed us that the man who lives in the home directly in front of our site feeds several 'neighborood kitties' aka feral cats. He is an OTR truck driver and 'don't worry, the folks who work at the convenience store feed them when he's not home"  Great, again. 

Lady, The Camp Dog napping in our site

We took a deep breath and set up in our site. I gritted my teeth as I picked up the waste that the dog left in our site the next morning. The 'kitties' number over 15 and are made up of 3 nursing females, several males and 2 distinct litters of kittens appearing to be about 4 weeks and around 3 months old.  The males caught the scent of our cats the first time I let them out on their tethers. They stalked me when I took Buster for a walk ending in Buster hissing and growling ( not at all like him if you've met him you know his temperment) and so upset I had to pick him up and carry him back indoors. That night one particularly aggressive male climbed the tree next to our RV, jumped down on the slide awning and proceed to 'mark' the roof of our motor home. That has become a nightly event. Other males started coming around daily when ours were inside marking the lawn chairs, lawn, yard ornaments and even our wooden deck stairs. Not good. 

Enter the culture difference.  We brought this situation to the Volunteer Cooridnator, who hired us. She appreciated our situation, shared she had never had a volunteer 'complain' about the park and committed to finding a solution. Over the past few days we have learned that there is no real animal control unit in town or the county for that matter. The local attitude about stray animals is quite cavalier. They don't see the nuisance, or the issue of disease being spread or the property damage that can occur from feral animals. Especially cats. Their solution was a park near Andersonville National Park 25 miles away, with even less curb appeal, and the same feral animal problem obvious when we drove through the park. Now they expected us to move to another crappy park with potentially the same issues and drive an hour round trip to work our hours three days a week. Not gonna happen 

It was a difficult decision for us but we called and visited several RV Parks in Central Georgia to inquire about a site that we would stay in till / if we find another work camp gig this winter. We found one that is pretty nice      ( not like we experienced in Texas, again another distinct culture difference about how one defines nice) the price was decent for the area. We expected to pay with elbow grease this winter,  but we will likely experience property damage if we stay where we are. 

Serendipity (my favorite word) will rule our destiny for the near future. 
The silver lining in the cloud is the man in the office where we will be moving on Sunday, deduced from our conversation, that we are experienced RV Volunteers and asked if we had a resume'. He may have some work for us in the park if we are happy there. So a work camp situation may develop over time. We don't know how things will evolve, but for now we know we are moving from here on Sunday and putting our jacks down in Perry, Georgia for the foreseeable future. 

Our meeting with Beth went better than expected. We handed in our uniform shirts and name tags this afternoon, along with a letter of resignation formally explaining our decision. She appreciated our choice and we shared that we appreciated their budget constraints and inability to find a quick solution to a problem that exsists in the Park they purchase space from for their volunteers. We parted on good terms. By far this is the toughest thing we've face so far. We will incur debt we didn't expect. Our two weeks in Plains has been good and difficult at the same time. We have had some great experiences. How many people get to walk through a car show with a former President in arms reach? The decision was hard but in the end we have to do what is best for us and our pets who travel with us. 

The next chapter will unfold in it's own time.  

Until next time...

Day 135 / 230 A Cat's Eye

Saylorville Lake – Sun 90 Degrees

I haven’t written about Buster and Annie in some time other than an occasional anecdote. They have been travelling with us for almost 2 years now and we’ve learned some things about travelling with cats along the way.

When we first got serious about doing this we struggled with the cat question. We love our cats and they were free roaming, hunting king and queen of their universes. The thought of corralling them in a camper seemed cruel. Were we being selfish wanting them with us at the expense for their cathood? Was it best for them to find a home for them with someone who would allow them to come and go as they pleased like they were accustom to? We decided to let them tell us.

The summer before we took off we started taking them camping with us and they went on vacation with us that summer. The first weekend, I’m sure they thought they’d been kidnapped by aliens and subjected to every horror that could befall a cat. Being trapped in the 5^th wheel, having a collar placed around their neck and a rope that wouldn’t allow them to take off. Noisy campgrounds with weird sounds and even weirder smells. They were stressed but did pretty good. Each time they went with us on a short trip that summer they got a little more comfortable. They soon learned the signals that we were preparing to go somewhere with the camper and became harder and harder to catch when it was time to take off. We talked at length about what would be best for them and even talked to a couple of people about taking them. In the end our selfishness overruled, and they went with us.

I have to say they have adapted quite well over the two years. I wonder if cats have any long-term memory. Do they remember the good ole days when they went on 2-day hunting safaris at harvest time? Do they remember the old house? Do they remember being outside without being tethered? All good questions, maybe karma will bring me back as a cat that travels with an RV’er and I’ll find out.

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Like us they prefer some places over others. They really loved the first wild life refuge we worked at since they were able to roam free a bit during the day. I think they felt like real cats there, hunting and roaming about the woods. Every now and then they seem to really like a place and we feel guilty for taking them away when it is time to move on. They do well here at Saylorville, but our temporary site while we wait for flood waters to recede is really to their liking.

They like the motorhome, with it’s big windshield to lay in and watch the world when they aren’t outside and the pass-through bathroom that provides an oval style racetrack for them at 3AM when they decide it’s time to get some exercise and romp.

I have found so far that veterinarians are very understanding with folks who travel. It’s easy to get a recommendation when needed and we carry their records with us, so we know what shots they need and when. That part is easy.

One thing I can say is they know the vibe when we are getting ready to move and they don’t like it. They stick very close together and spend a lot of time sitting with their backs to us to let us know their disdain. They recover quickly and still love on us. They are probably more spoiled now that ever due to our guilt for taking them away from their real cat life. At 8 and 6 years old they are healthy, and I think happy most of the time. Accept when grandkids come to visit with their quick movements and high-pitched voices. They can’t escape as easily in the motor home as they could in the 5^th wheel when they would simply run through their cat door in the steps into the compartment aka the ‘cat condo’. Those were the days. As I went through pictures I’ve taken of them the past two years I think they are content and I hope they feel as warm and fuzzy toward us as we do them. Who knows with cats, they probably only care that we keep the food bowl full and leave once in a while, so they can lay on the kitchen counter without getting sprayed with a water bottle.

Until tomorrow..

Day 91 / 274 Annie & Buster

Saylorville Lake – Cloudy 85 Degrees

After some much-needed rain, we woke up to 67 degrees this morning. The coolest we have been in over 10 days. It will be a muggy 85 today but I’ll take it. The portable AC and two blowers should be pretty effective today. I’m hopeful the central air will be going again by the end of he week.

[caption id="attachment_273" align="alignleft" width="300"] Hanging out by the Arkansas River[/caption]

I haven’t written about the cats in a while. A lot of people ask how they are doing with our AC predicament during this early season heat wave. They’re uncomfortable, just like us but hanging in there. I am glad I have conditioned them to be comfortable being outside on a tether. The RV is at its hottest, which is to say you don’t have to turn on the pan to melt butter for cooking, from about 2pm – 8pm when the sun is high in the sky and beating down on the west side where all the big windows are. Thankfully our patio faces east, so by that time of day it is shaded. We move to the patio with a fan moving things around and the cats lounge in the grass and shade at the back of the lot. Like us they are drinking a lot of water and lying around like slugs but we’re all getting through it just fine.

They travel well these days. They have decided sitting in the stairwell while on the move is their safe place. I put a blanket on the bottom step for them thinking the soft padding would be more comfortable for them and they moved to the next step up! Cats, they’re so damned hard to please. They get their exercise these days running laps back and forth through the motor home at 3:30 in the morning. Like a fan running in the room,  their pre dawn romp is a sound we’ve gotten used to and we don’t usually wake up unless one of them runs across our face or stomach.

We would like to thing they are happy traveling with us, like yesterday when Buster narrowly missed catching a bird that made the mistake of landing within his tether radius. That would have made him happy. They act like they still love us, but maybe that’s just because they know they need our coveted thumbs to open their cat food container.

Until tomorrow…

Annie's Diary April 24th 2017

Things finally stopped moving again.  It seemed like every time we turned around the walls started moving and the house would shake all day.

[caption id="attachment_273" align="alignnone" width="300"] Hanging out by the Arkansas River[/caption]

We stopped at a place that Buster and I really liked. It was next to the water and there were lots of birds and squirrels in the yard. We really liked it there but we didn’t stay very long.

Buster and I decided we like where we are now. I hope our humans like it too so we can stay awhile. Barefoot lady still insists on carrying us out and putting the things around our neck. We know how to walk just fine but she insists on carrying us. We have a nice yard next to the woods.

[caption id="attachment_271" align="alignright" width="300"] Keeping an eye on things[/caption]

There are a lot of things to watch. One night we were laying out there and deer came by and said ‘hi’ on their way to their sleeping place.  There is also a piece of tree that I like to sit on and watch everything.

It was fun in Texas since they let us run loose sometimes, but it is nice to be where the grass is thick and the ground is soft to dig in. Texas was hard and prickly. We had burrs stuck in our feet a lot and had to work hard to get them out of our fur. Iowa is much softer.

We are pretty sure we are somewhere we have been before because the little people with the loud voices are back.  Some of them are nice, but there is one who is really loud and I’m afraid of him.  Even when I go in our door under the stairs I can’t get away. He sticks his head in the hole and swings the thing they kill flies with at us. Even when I smack him with my paw or hiss at him, he just laughs at me. He is supposed run away when I do that but he doesn’t.

Fuzzy man is building something out of wood. It smells like the deck where we used to live. I remember that smell I used to spend my days laying on it and keeping an eye on the yard.  It is sitting right by the door of the house and we have to go on it to get in and out.  Buster and I think he must really like us since he is making something new for us to scratch on.

I wish they would just let me walk around outside and go where I want instead of being on a string. Sometimes I just lay in my window in the back and watch or take a nap with the breeze blowing in. Buster and I are happy here. I think our humans are too.

[caption id="attachment_272" align="alignnone" width="169"] Pure Contentment[/caption]

 

Annie's Diary Entry 4-2-17

[caption id="attachment_75" align="alignnone" width="300"] Annie[/caption]

My name is Annie, I’m a beautiful calico and I live with another cat named Buster. He’s gray and has stripes. He’s also very fat and warm to sleep with. There are two humans who live with us. The fuzzy man and the barefoot lady. They’re not bad for humans, though I’m not sure how smart they are sometimes. Even though we have names they call us all sorts of things like they can’t remember what to call us. We know what they mean though and they are always nice to us and make sure we have food and water so we don’t  have to hunt  to eat.

[caption id="attachment_21" align="alignright" width="300"] Buster[/caption]

I used to live in a big house and got to go outside whenever I wanted. There was a time when I could go outside and climb trees to chase the birds, I laid on the roof of the big house a lot. I really liked it up there. There was also a big cornfield and barn. I went there every day to hunt or sleep in the cool dirt.

The humans had another house that sat in the back yard. I liked it when it was there, I would lay under it and watch everything.  Sometimes it was gone, but they always brought it back for me to lay under for shade.

One day a long time ago they let me go in the little house. It was really neat. It smelled like the humans but not like us. Me and Buster went in and rubbed our scent all over it. We liked it. Then one day, when we were in the little house, all the walls moved and the house got really small and it was hard to find our way around in it. Then the humans left and it started to shake. Buster and I were scared. It was noisy and shaking a lot. We couldn’t sleep and it was hard to walk around so we got under the table and waited.  After a long time, it stopped and the humans came back.  All the walls moved again and it was easier to walk around. We went outside but everything was different. There were so many smells we couldn’t figure out where we were.  The barefoot lady put something around our necks and we couldn’t walk very far.  It was horrible. We wanted to go back to the big house and the cornfield but we couldn’t find it.

The house shook a lot.  The fuzzy man and the barefoot lady were never there when it happened. We tried to tell them about it but they didn’t understand.  It stopped happening and we started having a good time again. We got to go outside without the tight things on our necks.

[caption id="attachment_222" align="alignleft" width="300"] The little house[/caption]

There were birds and mice but the cornfield was gone.  Everything was prickly and the trees smelled different. We started to like our new yard, but then yesterday the walls moved again, and the house is shaking a lot. Our humans are gone again. We’ll try to tell them when they come back, but like I said earlier, they aren’t very smart and don’t understand what we say. They just pet us on the head and give us food. They’ll want to sit in our chairs, so we’ll have to sit on top of them to rest.

When the house isn’t moving it’s a nice house. We have dark quiet places to hide in our new house. I’ll tell out about it some other time.  For now, I just hope the shaking stops soon.

Heading North

“Parting is such sweet sorrow”.  These words from William Shakespeare, immortalized in the play Romeo and Juliet, come to mind as we prepare to depart Balcones Canyonlands National Wildlife Refuge leaving behind people we have met and become friends with. Sweet in the sense that we have forged new relationships with a few and already have plans to see them again down the road, some sooner than others but we will meet again for sure and possibly work together again.  Sad in that, like all other chapters in life, this one is coming to a fast end.

[caption id="attachment_228" align="alignright" width="300"] Packing up[/caption]

 

As I reflect on our 14 weeks here, my thoughts turn back to the expectations and apprehensions I felt as we embarked on our first RV Volunteer assignment. My only fear of being in this wild place was an encounter with a scorpion.  I never saw one, maybe we were here the wrong time of year.  Fortunately, unlike my husband I have no fear of snakes.  I did see several this winter and was not concerned but more curious and a little disappointed that they moved away so quickly that I didn’t get a long look at them.  The encounter with the Rattlesnake was, well, ‘rattling’. It was my first encounter with a snake that could harm me. He was quite docile, having recently emerged from hibernation but scary none the less.  Two things happened after that. I became quite vigilant when walking around knowing they were lurking about and much to my surprise don’t feel the need to rattle at humans, giving them stealth. Not the two that were encountered around the RV’s anyway. The other result was the sudden influx of field mice into the underbelly of our camper. They got inside the camper living space by way of the louvers in the stairs going to the bedroom.  The cats caught the first one. We caught 6 more, in short order, with traps and can only imagine how many ate the Decon that we provided for their dining pleasure. A few hours from departure I am happy to announce, that Champ did not succumb to sudden heart failure, when our reptile friends came out of hibernation, as he predicted he might and the mice are under control.

The work we did for Balcones was a far reach from the job descriptions we applied for but was very rewarding.  My cousin recalled an adage her grandmother used to repeat often “Bloom where you are. “ That fit so perfectly.  The cardinal rule of RV Volunteering is to be flexible to the needs of your host.  "Other duties as assigned" a phrase I uttered frequently in my professional career, was the phrase of the season.  In our case, especially mine, because of our sudden job description evolution, I was privileged to get involved in the refuge mission in ways I never imagined I would be able to. This has been such a rewarding experience for this nature loving corporate burn out. Instead of working in the Visitors Center every day, I got out, got dirty and sweaty, learned a lot and got a great tan!  I still got to do 1 day a week in the Visitors Center which I also loved.  Champ could satisfy his love of ‘piddling’ as he calls it doing various handyman type jobs for the refuge as well as mowing. Our once a week duty of cleaning the trail head public areas, a morning spent working together each Monday was something to look forward to each week.

[caption id="attachment_230" align="alignright" width="300"] Texas Bluebonnet[/caption]

It has been a treat to watch the Texas wildflowers awaken. The best part for me is that most of them are not familiar to me, so it is exciting not knowing what is going to bloom next and what it will look and smell like.  I marvel at the astonishing array of butterflies here. Being from a part of the country that is ag intensive and saturated in pesticides, butterflies and other pollinators are becoming rarer each year. I have also discovered the pleasure of birding ( something that I'm sure will make my mother smile) and plan to continue with what I have learned from our friend John, and hopefully find a new bird mentor who can continue to teach me when I return to Iowa.

In less than two weeks we will be at Saylorville Lake experiencing our favorite campground and part time summer home the past 15 years, in a very different way. There will be new volunteers to meet and become friends with. A new job to do and new rangers to work for. The web that is the Full Time Rv’ers network will grow a bit more and we’ll be at home with our family and friends.  Not in our brick and mortar home but our RV home in Volunteer Village. For the cats’ sake, I wish sometimes I could do a Samantha Stevens trick and wiggle my nose to transport us the 1200 miles home. The road trip is a pleasure for Champ and me.  The cats, well let’s just say, they will be glad when it is over.

Several family members asked me over the winter if I missed anything since selling the house. Or story as yet, reads much like the blogs I read of those who have gone before us.  The angst of selling all our possessions and foundation, morphed quickly into a feeling of liberation and we haven’t looked back.

[caption id="attachment_229" align="alignnone" width="300"] Farewell Volunteer Lunch[/caption]

We’ll pull out of the refuge and head for the Interstate in less than 24 hours and take with us some great memories, new people in our hearts, and maybe a stowaway field mouse.

Till next time…

Enjoy pictures of some of the wildlife I photographed while here. It has been a great experience.

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Traveling with cats

 



Traveling with cats is  tricky. Let's be serious, most things about cats can be tricky!  We have 2 cats. Buster,  our male Tabby and Annie,  a sassy female who is the epitamy of the Calico.   The biggest challenge for them is making the change from being free roamers on our acreage in northern Iowa, being able to come and go from the house on demand, to travelling with us and being forced to tollerate a collar and 12' line when outside.

I read many blogs written by feline lovers who travel and took some great advice away to put to the test with these two.

The first hurdle was to figure out what to do with the litter box.  Many use the shower as a resting place I even met a woman home schooling her kids on the road, who had two cats and a dog.  She travelled in a motorhome and the litter box sat in the drivers seat. Not my first choice but it worked for her.  We have always been partial to 5th wheel campers so my husband made a cat door in the stairs leading up to the raised living area. We put the box in the compartment and the cats have free reign to come and go as needed.  I enter the area from the compartment door and scoop it everyday for them and we all enjoy a nice odor free indoor environment.



I'll talk about the cat condo another time. They really seem to like having their own space when they don't want to deal with their human roomates or visiting miniature humans aka preschool aged grandkids.

Once we committed ourselves to making this lifestyle change we decided to start acclimating Buster and Annie to the lifestyle.  Normally they stayed at home in their outdoor quarters and had free reign of the property and wherever else they decided while we left for the weekend.  Self feeders, numberous water sources and neighbors, for longer absenses, left them pretty free to do whatever they liked. We started taking them on the weekend camping trips close to home. Over the course of the summer and a dozen or so short trips they eventually got used to being tethered when outside, not to say they enjoy the experience but they do nap in their kitty chairs and relax after a few minutes outside.  The frustration ensues when one of them sees a squirrel, or grasshopper or other fun thing to chase and takes off only to be reminded that their travel distance has been limited. That ends the fun and they usually decide they've had enough of outside at that point.

So far we have let them ride in the camper. They have quickly chosed their spots to hunker down while the rig is in motion. There is much to consider in this regard. I read many blogs of those who that let their cats select their own travel nook.  Others adamantly promote putting them in a carrier in the truck with them or in the camper for their own protection.  I will take to position, that these are your pets and you decide what you are comfortable with.  There are some dangers, cabinet doors come open and projectiles can be a threat.  A fast stop can cause loads to shift and a sleeping cat on a couch can quickly become a projectile.  Ours hunker down under the step where their cat door is and the other tucks away between the bed and the closet, so I am pretty comfortable letting them choose their spot, that way they can move about when we stop to fuel and get a drink or use the litter box which they do. They travel quite well as long as we keep a travel day arouund 4-5 hours.  We pulled 7 hours one day in bad weather, high winds and rough roads and they were obviously stressed when we arrived at our destination. They recovered quickly and were in their positions on our laps for TV time after dinner that night. We decided not to make a steady diet out of long travel days for their sake.

It's been 10 weeks of full time camper living so far and they are adapting well. They certainly have made the camper their castle as only cats can do. They reign, pure and simple. They know it and as long as we let them enjoy their perceived status as king and queen of the camper everyone is happy!