I'm not to sure about all the campgrounds around the United States but at ours, kids have to be accompanied by an adult if the are under eighteen years of age. Common sensr would also tell you that you should want to watch your own kids so that they don't get hurt or damage any property. We recently had a young child riding a bicycle notice our dog, and the little boy came straight on our campsite and tried to approach our dog to pet it. We have a two year old Siberian husky who has not been around little kids and is a bit skittish around them. We quickly grabbed our dog to make sure that there would be no accident. Being nice we chatted with the boy for a few minutes and let him pet Zoey (our dog). The boy (which we don't know his name) told use that he was a few sites down with his grandparents. We had ended the conversation and the boy went on his way. Every few minutes the boy would return and try to find a way to approach us again. Some times he would just come right up without saying anything and just sit there looking at us.

Lucky for the child we are not any kind of creepy child abducting crazy people. But it led me to think as a concerned individual. What is the proper child courtesy, and what is the proper way of handling a child that just walks on to your campsite and keeps returning?

Well, after a few days of this I began to get a bit annoyed and had enough. After the boy left our site to go riding his bike (unattended) I walked down to his site and told the grandfather that we had a small dog that was skittish around little kids and would appreciate that he would not come on our site unattended and with out permission.

All this made me wonder…….. How would you as a parent (or as a grandparent in this situation) want to be approached about this problem ( yes for me that child was a problem) with out offending you but making sure you realized you have to talk to your child about courtesy, permission, but most important of all your child's safety and approaching

strangers.

Enough is enough

So we all live and we all work and for the most part it’s a never ending cycle. Many people work at jobs they enjoy, and the majority of us work at a company we learn to tolerate. So the question becomes when does enough become enough? Until recently work has been pleasant and suddenly we ran into a situation that made us a tad uncomfortable. Certain situations have arisen and, feeling concerned, we decided to voice our concerns to upper management. We wanted to make sure we would not be suspects in these matters had they not been disclosed to management.

So we are now starting our search for winter work, but in case things get worse we want to keep our options open for a sudden departure. So… what are some triggers that could be considered the straw to break the camels back?

Concerns

In my last post, I expressed some frustration. Well, the frustration blew up beyond the drama I mentioned, and Artur and I felt it necessary to talk to our manager.

The campground we are at has a “sister” campground a mile up the road. Our campground is managed by an “Assistant Manager”, and her supervisor, the “Manager”, oversees both campgrounds and is located at the other campground. He makes appearances at our location (and has proven to be a very knowledgeable and competent manager), but mainly our Assistant is in charge.

Well, Artur and I have grown less and less confident in our Assistant Manager, but up to this point have given her the benefit of the doubt. I won’t go into many details regarding our concerns with her, but it all came to a head during the holiday weekend. (Ok, so you don’t think we are whiners, one of our big concerns is theft…) Our campground was rather busy, and now was the time for everybody to pull together as a team. That didn’t happen. And we were both discouraged beyond what we could take. So, we vented….

First, we wrote a professional letter outlining what we liked about our jobs and the campground. Then we outlined our concerns with “management” – and how the concerns were growing. The letter was only to serve as a reference, we planned to meet with the Manager and discuss the concerns face-to-face.

It took a couple days, but we were able to sit down and discuss the situation with the Manager. It took almost 2 hours, but we got it all out. Artur and I were calm, professional, and highlighted the points that 1) We don’t want to leave, and 2) We aren’t trying to take over management. We were very successful in getting our concerns voiced – and I felt so much better getting it all out in the open – but we were unsuccessful in persuading the Manager that a problem existed. He listened and said he would look into everything, but he didn’t convey any type of concern himself in the issues we were bringing to him.

It’s now been several days since the discussion. Our Assistant Manager seems to have made some improvements (which leads me to believe that some action has been taken). Artur and I really do like it here and sincerely expect to fulfill the entire timeframe we committed to, so we hope the improvements continue. We will not, however, compromise our general happiness and comfort. If the situation declines further beyond where it was last weekend, we will look for other positions. We chose this lifestyle to reduce our stress – and that is what we intend to do!

But now the question becomes (to avoid these problems in the future) – How do you work for ourselves to support this lifestyle???

Drama, Drama

In choosing to live and work this new lifestyle, I made a hugely incorrect assumption that we would be leaving the workplace drama behind. WRONG!

Hopefully our experiences (in this respect) so far at this campground are not indicative of campgrounds around the country. There is so much gossip, talking behind people’s backs, bad-mouthing, etc, etc – this is definitely worse than I’ve experienced at most of my “career-style” workplaces in the past. I have had a few days where I stood on the brink of scheduling a meeting with the general manager. I knew if we were to do that, we’d either need to be prepared to suck up the wrath from our assistant manager for the rest of the season, or prepare to walk.

Before we embarked, Artur and I knew we would have to make some attitude and expectation adjustments. I was choosing not to be a boss, so I couldn’t allow myself the attitude of “I could be so much better as the manager!” And we have been highly successful in keeping a positive attitude and accepting the quirks and weaknesses of our coworkers – but this angle I was not prepared for!

Right now I just can’t decide if the negatives are simply a sign of the adjustment everyone is going through, or if this is how it is, and things will only get worse…..

Our New Site

A few days ago we got a neighbor! He’s a fellow Workamper. We haven’t met him since his arrival – it appears that he dropped off his camper and took off (he isn’t scheduled to work for another week). While he seems very nice, having the site next to us filled has proven that we don’t have the amount of room we’d ideally like to have…

Before we had a neighbor, our dog Zoey could stretch the length of her 20 foot leash – wandering and laying wherever she pleased. When the site was filled, we realized that if we allowed her the full length, she’d be playing under our neighbor’s camper! That would be rude on our parts! So, while Artur was working his outdoor maintenance job, he scoped out the other sites to see if there might be one that could offer us more room. And he found one!

Our original site sat atop a slight hill – giving us a great view over part of the campground. It offered a pleasant view of the deer playing in the empty sites! Our new site is at the bottom of the hill, and it’s an end spot, so we have no neighbor on the side we enter our trailer. Plus, since that side begins to slope upward, we have extra space – almost like 2 full sites! Now Zoey has plenty of room!

Opening Day!

Yesterday was opening day for our campground. I woke up with an excited feeling, expecting somewhat of a buzz around the grounds. I thought I would be busier in the office/store than I had been so far. By the end of the work day, I must admit, I was quite let down! There were a few campers that I checked in, but for the most part the day was still slow and low key. As I walked out of the building, I couldn’t help but note how “anti-climactic” the day had been.

After the 2 minute walk back to the rv, glancing around the park and viewing the handful of extra rv’s, the excitement was building again. Even with rain coming, Artur and I tried to get a fire going. We were both excited to watch the newcomers setting up their sites. We even saw a black 4 door Wrangler pulling a bright yellow t@b camper! I could just tell by looking around that we would have some opportunities this summer to meet and hear stories from some great people!

At work today, some of the campers stopped in and I had a chance to meet some of the “regulars”. Several have told me that they are “fulltimers”. I can’t wait to speak with all of them and get their advice regarding life on the road, hear how they make money (some were relatively young), and find out the good stuff to see and do in this area. I know it’s going to be a great stay here!

St. John's & the Four Seasons Diner

This morning Artur and I attended mass at the local Catholic church. We don’t expect to be available to attend regularly – as we will be working weekends – but it would be nice to go occasionally. Artur is Catholic, I was raised Lutheran. I would prefer to visit a Lutheran church, but don’t mind worshipping at mass. The deciding factor for us is usually distance.

Traditionally, it takes me a few visits to get used to any new church, but the Catholic ones even more so. I’m not fond of the “singing” that the priests do in certain parts, and never can catch when the congregation is supposed to make the sign of the cross or kneel. Today’s service was no different. But then the sermon began.

The priest was personable and authoritative. I instantly connected to his words – and the message itself seemed to be directed towards me. Or, at least, I found it completely relevant to the journey Artur and I are on. His message was - Seeing the “Christ” in everyone and Belonging.

Seeing the “Christ” in everyone – or seeing the good in everyone. This truly has been one of my personal goals in relation to beginning our new life. I want to rid my life (as much as possible) of the negativity and stress caused by negativity. Using church as an example, it would be fairly normal for me to look down upon the people who waltz in late, after the service has begun. In my mind I am thinking, “This person is disrespectful towards the priest and rudely disrupting my worship.” I need to retrain my mind to instead think, “I’m glad this person was able to attend this service and worship with me.” And I will be making this effort in all aspects of my life.

Belonging. Every time we move, Artur and I will need to make a renewed effort to meet people and find a sense of belonging. Not “belonging” in a sense of “fitting in”, but rather belonging in the sense of making friends and figuring out the best the area has to offer. Belonging to the area – getting the most out of our time in that particular area. And I am excited about that prospect!

As a side note, after church we visited our first local restaurant – the Four Seasons Diner. The exterior aluminum exuded the charm of a 50’s diner, but the interior fell flat. The menu was huge – everything you can think of! Artur ordered the Caprese Burger, and I the Spanish omelet. Neither was outstanding, but at least we chose local over chain. We won’t be in a rush to go back (we’ll check out some of the other local eateries), unless we check back in for 50 cent Coors Light on Sundays!