We made it safe and sound to the Cherokee / Great Smokies KOA in North Carolina on October 29th as planned. It is so beautiful here. We were sad to leave Moab, Utah as the area is stunning but it is every bit as gorgeous here … just in a different way.
We are doing well at the campground and both of us are working hard to wrap our minds around our new jobs … mine as bookkeeper and Wayne's as housekeeping supervisor. Since I was in bookkeeping/accounting for over twenty years, it might seem like it would be easy for me to adjust, and in some ways it has been. However, I have never dealt with the volume of cash that we have here and even that is nothing like it will be in the midst of the summer business. I just bought a handy dandy coin counter/wrapper on Ebay though that will make my life a whole lot easier.
KOA sent Wayne to Virginia Beach KOA mid-December to get some training and ideas about how to function as the housekeeping supervisor. It was a successful trip and he is feeling much more confident. He has already implemented a couple of new processes and is working on several more to make his department run smoothly and efficiently.
Most of the time up to this point, the temperatures have been in the upper forties to high fifties. However, just like the rest of the country, we are heading for some real cold in the next week. This coming Wednesday it isn't even supposed to make it to thirty degrees and is supposed to be close to zero overnight! This will be a good test of the insulation in our new fifth wheel for sure.
We were able to go out for a Christmas lunch with the managers and a few coworkers on Christmas day. It wasn't nearly as nice as being with family but we did have a good time. We went to the Chef's Buffet at Harrah's Casino in Cherokee. We don't normally go to buffets because Sue doesn't eat enough to make it pay, but this was not your typical buffet. There were several serving areas, each with a different cuisine and it all was serious food … Peking duck included. It was very expensive for a buffet but at least the food was exceptional for that type of restaurant. We enjoyed it very much. Other than that, we had a nice, quiet Christmas and got to video chat with several grandkids!
It's hard to believe we have entered a new year … again! We are hoping to be able to stay/work in one campground this year instead of four like 2014. That was a bit much and quite expensive to go from New Mexico to Oregon to Utah and finally to North Carolina. As much as we love to travel, we are both ready to put down some temporarily permanent roots for a while. The fact that our managers are awesome as is the campground makes this a very attractive option!
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| Of course the leaves are gone now but I just love this picture! |
