We have been at the Carlsbad KOA in New Mexico going on nine months—since April 26, 2013. Our time here has been interesting, frustrating, hot, cold, slow, fast, fun, not fun, etc. In other words, it has been a typical year! That's life, right? Some things that happen suit us and other things make us want to run and hide.
This campground is a great place and we would highly recommend it to any travelers or workampers who want to spend time in this area. It is certainly the nicest campground around and although we constantly hear comments about the price, if you look at what you get, the price is not unreasonable at all. The facilities are top notch and the staff is friendly and helpful. Sure there aren't big trees to shade an RV from the scorching sun in the summer, but this is the desert! There are much smaller trees that provide enough shade for a couple of chairs but that's about it. However, we have found that although it is quite hot in the summer, if you aren't directly in the sun it's not bad. The humidity is very low and that makes a huge difference in how the heat affects you.
The major things that have been difficult here include the extremely hard water and the low humidity. Our skin is dry, our fingers crack around the nails, our hair is dry and flyaway … okay, MY hair is dry and flyaway … oh yeah, and then there is the wind — and the needle grass! I posted pictures of the needle grass a couple of posts ago. It was kinda fun and novel the first time but let me tell you, the novelty has worn off. About the wind — it is CRAZY here and Wayne hates it. I don't like it either but it really bugs him.
Well, all that is quickly coming to an end. When we accepted our positions here as assistant managers, it was an open-ended agreement. We made a commitment to a year but it was always with the idea that we might very well stay longer than that. We fully intended on doing that too through the summer. However, some of the things that frustrated us ended up helping us make the decision to move on when our year was up or at least mostly up. That doesn't take away from the fact that the campground is great and the owners are very nice people. Really what it comes down to is that we have wanted to be closer to our family for quite some time and we simply decided to pursue those desires.
Thus, it is with great excitement that we have accepted jobs at a large RV park just a few miles east of downtown Portland, Oregon. The park is called Portland Fairview RV Park (http://portlandfairviewrv.com) and has over 400 sites. We have conferred with the owners here in Carlsbad and with their blessing, have made the decision to leave here within the first few days of March, arriving in Oregon around the middle of the month. This is obviously a little bit before our year commitment is up but new assistant managers will need to be trained in March and we will simply not be needed. We wish them all the best!
These jobs in Oregon are not seasonal workamping jobs … they are long-term positions. We expect, Lord willing, to be there for a minimum of five years. Wayne will be working in maintenance and Sue will be working mainly in the office, but with some additional landscaping and maintenance duties as well when time allows. Our schedule will be Monday-Friday (wow!) and we will get sick time and vacation. We have already scoped out a couple of Calvary Chapels to visit and can't wait to explore the area. Yes, we know it rains a lot. Honestly, we are looking forward to the rain. We are sort of done with the dry, windy desert. We have been in the desert since October 2012 (Arizona prior to New Mexico) and seeing lots of grass, trees and flowers will be a nice change. Wayne wants to plant roses! Yay!
On the way, we will be stopping in California to see our kids and grandkids on the way from New Mexico to Oregon. We can't wait to see them as well as the rest of the family in Oregon and Washington. We will be sad to be leaving family and friends in Colorado and New Mexico, but hopefully we can find a way to get together sometime in the future. Come see us!
