April 2008

April 1st: Move in Day, at a private Campground. We got a sort of late start, I had wanted to leave by 10 am, but it was raining and yucky, so we decided to leave a little later in the day. We got off at 12:30 pm, not too much later but probably should have called a private Campground to let them know we were running behind. Of course, can't call with the cell phones while on the road, and we were driving separately, Sasha in the truck with the Camper and me in the Saturn. We would go back later that night to get the motorcycle. 

It was quite windy on April Fools Day, like Mother Nature was playing a joke on us, making it windy like March. But we got to the campground fine, at around 2 pm, and the managers were glad to see us. We got set up, decided to wait on getting the motorcycle until after traffic and hoped that it would not rain.  I actually checked out the office and spent a little time in there, checking out the software and stuff. They told me that tomorrow I was going with a bunch of hotel/motel people to get a condensed view of Northern Virginia, with all of it history and things to do. WOW - jumping right in - which I like.

We left the campground at 8 pm, got dinner at a McD's and drove back to Prince William Forest Park. We got there around 9 pm, Sasha got suited up, and then we got back on the road. It was very windy out. I drove back behind Sasha, so I could watch whenever a large gust was blasting up the highway. But Sasha handled himself like a pro. I was still very glad when we got back to the campground around 11pm.

We took showers in the camper and got to bed around 11:30. It is very quiet here. Did not see too many people up at that time.

April 2nd: Had to get up early to go to the Visitor Center in Winchester. The private Campground where I work has a trolley which was used for the all encompassing tour of Winchester. I will write later about where we went. But I got back at 4 pm, took a small nap and it is a little cold here. Had the heat on.

April 3rd: Lindsay Michelle Lawrence's Birthday (my Niece): First Day of Work, I'll write shortly about how it went.  Well, I got back from work, and I am very excited. The people I work with are very nice, most live in the area. I guess right now, I am the only workamper. Microsoft is stating that I am spelling that word wrong, but in fact, that is a word. It means that you are working where you are also camping, so there is less commute.

I worked from 2-8 pm, I had had a late lunch so I figured I would eat dinner afterwards (which I did).  I like the later hours as Sasha, when he goes back to work, will be going into work later in the morning, then working out somewhere near his work, and then come home. We stay up later than most people but it works for us. I still like to get up around 7 or 7:30 am to write about yesterday's experiences and having the broadband internet (YAHOO!) is so nice. And our cell phones work well here.

April 9th: First day off, went to see my niece and nephew down in Richmond. Spent some time with my niece, since I am not going to be able to on April 12th for her birthday party. Boo Hoo, I wanted to be at the party but working from 2-8pm makes that impossible.  I also closed on April 8th with another co-worker, so that I could do it by myself later on in the week.

Starting to get more familiar with Winchester and its environs. I think on Saturday or Sunday, will have to check out a couple of gyms and the library.

April 10th: Found a great grocery store called Martins. It is similar to Wegmans and Safeway I think. Relatively good prices, even though grocery prices are high. They also have a gas station, although the prices are similar to other gas stations.

April 11th: I worked a slightly different shift: 10-4 pm. The campground is pretty dead in the morning, then around lunch time we start to get phone reservations, and by evening we are packed. One of the employees was fired, he only lasted a week. But the owners were completely justified in doing so, the guy was difficult and slightly weird. I guess there are all kinds at the campground. There was a ferocious storm this evening, I was worried about Sasha but he managed to time it quite perfectly so he hardly got wet coming home from work. He has started to use the motorcycle to go to work.

April 12th: We are going to the grocery store today to check it out and the area. I also want to take Sasha to the farmer's market today too. We'll try to find the library as well and get a library card. OK, going to wake him up!

 April 13th through April 16th:  Working hard every day, in a double shift sort of thing, because one co-worker quit, and we are leaving for the Mid Atlantic Truck Camper Rally on April 16th afternoon. Sasha went to his parents' house on Sunday and stayed over there rather than coming home each night so that he could get more done at work. So not much to report, except that I am excited for the Rally.

April 16th: After work, we started to get ready to leave. We did leave around 3:30 pm and I hoped we could get to a winery before 5 pm. The winery is Linganore, they have over 15 different wines to taste, but I was only able to taste a few, as they were closing up shop. I still was able to buy 4 bottles and some cheese. Sasha had jack-knifed the truck and trailer so that we could get in. He was smoking a cigar when I got out, and he had the chairs out. I had a glass of wine while he had his cigar. It was very nice.

We stayed the night at a Wal-Mart as we could not make it to the campground.

April 17th: Went to a Friendly's restaurant for breakfast, and then Sasha washed the rig at a nice car wash place. Then we headed back on the road. We got to the rally area around 10:30~11 am. We spent some time getting set up, and meeting old friends and new. We did not take the camper off of the truck. We only took one picture of our site during the stay, probably because I was worried about my computer. It was starting to act up, which was freaking me out, as I had not done my back ups and we were planning to wipe the computer clean and restart it. But can't do that if I can not even turn it on!

There were some huge rigs at the rally, plus over 100 people there this year. I think it was the best year ever. It got so large, they were giving everyone name tags to wear. Lots of people were there from the first year so we got to see them, and we got to meet Gordon and Angela from Truck Camper Magazine. They had done a interview with us, their second, when they were first getting off the ground. Now they have been doing the online magazine for a while, and are old hats at it.

April 18th: Friday: Sasha went to the Happijack and the Torklift Seminars while I chatted with other folks and dealt with my computer going down. The computer glitch got me into a bit of a tizzy, because I hadn't backed things up for a while. So I had to deal with that. We went to the Crab Fest at the tent (being where we were was nice because we were close to the tent.) Several of the sponsors put up money for the event. We unfortunately did not take too many pictures of the event this time around, except for the monster truck and camper.

Friday evening was appetizers and dessert for a meet and greet event, with some karaoke. Sasha and I did sing for that. They also gave away some prizes. We brought beer and wine and have a fabulous time.

April 19th, Saturday: I am starting to freak out, the computer is going in and out, working and not working, and I have a seminar at 10 am. First, I get over there and there is no screen, so I asked the manager where is the screen? They had to come and do an inflatable screen. So while that was filling up, my computer went dead. Thankfully someone else had a computer, but she did not have Powerpoint -she had Open Office which can see PowerPoint files, but we had to fuss around with that. While all of this was going on, the tent was filling up! My seminar was the best attended, and I did not have it going until ~ 10:30! But finally with my intrepid IT and AV team, we were up and running and I gave the seminar.

I will post the seminar as soon as I get it PDF'd so that it is not such a HUGE document. Right now it is 7 MB in size, way too large for the website, I want to get it down to about 1.5 MB. Once I do, it will be a separate navigation button on the left side of the screen.

We had lots of questions after the seminar and then had lunch of hot dogs and chips. We did not do the scavenger hunt, or best rig judging or cutest dog, but chatted more with others especially the New England contingency (they had brought snow from up north to make a small snowman - which they displayed during the crab feast on April 18th.

That evening was the Prizes, Music & Fun  at the tent. Almost everyone had bought tickets to win a prize and there were tons of prizes to give out. Actually, I think there were too many prizes, and not enough karaoke, but that is just me. It was around 11 pm when it finally was over, and everyone headed back to their campers.

April 20th, Sunday: People were headed out pretty quick to get over to the beach but we had breakfast in the Rec Hall first, and saw Gordon and Angela again. They write the Truck Camper Magazine. Sasha and I were featured as the second interview they wrote back in 2007.  They stated that they would like to do another interview with us about full timing in a truck camper. It was great chatting with them, they added an extra tank to their truck which is soy based, so they can run on Veggie Oil instead of diesel. They just go to a Costco, get some gallons of Soy and fill up. The mileage is about the same as diesel. Now if only the price was just a little bit better and that could work with Ford, we'd be set.

We headed out of the campground around 2 pm. It was starting to get dark and scary, but it never really rained. We headed back and went to Trader Chicken for lunch - huge portions of Southern food, enough for lunch tomorrow and checked out the area a bit.  We just did not get very far. But we planned to go to riding on Sunday.  We went to Pocomoke River State Park, to check out the riding conditions, but found they were truly lacking. What a waste, they are not well maintained, with serious mud holes and rocks. A bit of a disappointment too, with the park itself, and the parking conditions at the trailhead. If you are lucky, you could maybe fit 4 1/2 rigs into the parking area. We did not ride, but I took a nap, and Sasha was outside and took a nap. I guess we had partied a little too hardy this weekend.

Then to the Friendly's for dinner, and to the Walmart for staying over. We came back to the private Campground on Monday.

I worked on Tuesday April 22 through to April 26th, really getting the hang of working at the campground store. It is not hard, just have to remember a few things.

On Sunday, April 27th: Serbian Easter: Orthodox Easter was later than regular Easter this year and so we went to Yvonne & John's House for some great food and see most of the Jevtich family. 

Everyone was in the spring colors, we really want spring to be here and be warm. 

On Monday April 28th, I went in with Sasha to his work, to help out a former client, and to download and get all of the files from my computer onto a hard drive to back it up. Sasha's co-worker, Ryan, suggested that we get a new battery, which we bought the next day. The owner of the company, Sid, came in as well, and strongly suggested getting an Apple computer, like a Mac laptop. I must say, the Mac computers do so much, both my sister and the Batal kids (pictured above) have them. Kristina and I were playing around with her Mac Book doing pictures and video. And it was so easy to do. And they have a very good battery life. The biggest obstacles would be my Outlook files and Frontpage (website) files.  But video and graphics work so much better on a Mac. Maybe I will take a couple of classes (free at their stores) and check it out. 

Back to work on Tuesday and Wednesday April 29th and 30th: Gearing up for huge Festival here in Northern Virginia, getting ready for the onslaught of people. The days are a little hectic, but not too bad. We will see what the next couple of days bring. 

Expenses: Yikes, April was an expensive month.

Like I said, it was an expensive month. Partly because we moved and were checking out the area, checking out dinner in some restaurants, driving a bit more and also going to the Truck Camper Rally. The diesel prices are pretty high, and going to Sanford MD for the rally is the reason for the $300 for diesel. We also broke down and bought a T-shirt for Sasha for the Rally, but I think he is putting it to good use. Transportation costs are high because of a longer commute but now Sasha is using the bike more, so that expense will hopefully go down next month.

We bought wood at the Rally, and now have to pay for laundry, so that is the Camper Expenses Services. Since we do not have a phone hook up at the camper, we are paying for the cell minutes, but that is not too bad, but we both upped it in April.

The Fun Stuff included the camping fees at the Rally, tolls to get there, ice for the cooler, and the wine before the Rally (had to have some for the trip!) They also included the new battery for the computer, a computer game, and the Rolling Stones' IMAX show at the Udvar-Hazy Museum in Dulles. We got there, no food, and only could bring in water. We left (Sasha really enjoyed it) and went out to dinner a little late. Both the show and the place we went for dinner was dead - no one around. 10 people at the show, and only us at the restaurant for dinner. BAD ECONOMY - YES! Thank God we do not have a stick & brick anymore, or we would not be doing the fun things that we can do.

We also got some more Toys Gear - Sasha went over a nail while on the bike, so had to first plug the leak, then buy a new tire. I had to deal with an oil change, State inspection, and the hood latch not working on my car for the Transportation Maintenance.

One of my nieces had a birthday, and so I went down to Richmond to celebrate it with her. I just spent the day there and we had loads of fun. It is so nice to be able to do that. Just go down and visit when you can. While working on the weekends can be tough sometimes, other times it is great because you can do things like that. 

An accountant did our taxes for last year. We figured that selling the house, donating tons of stuff, me closing my business, and volunteering deserved an accountant. So that was a big chunk there too. Hopefully the expenses will be down next month, as we get to understanding this area and what it can offer. I will post May shortly.

Check out Next Month: May, Major Festival in Northern VA when they do have traffic.