Trip to New York 2008

I was hired to work at the Niagara Falls Grand Island KOA in 2008.  I was pretty excited to be going there as I had never been to New York State before or worked at a KOA.  I was to be the first workamper to arrive.  When I left Mexia on March 24th I traveled Hwy 84 over to Hwy 79.  I was only going about 100 miles as I planned to visit with Lori, Brad and Garrett and spend the night with them.  I was able to park my rig in front of their home in Whitehouse.  Ellie and I had a nice visit with them.  Ellie always loved visiting Lori as she lived with Lori for awhile when Lori was in College!  Lori spoiled Ellie!  The next morning I was able to get an early start and took the loop around Tyler then I took 271 up to Mt Pleasant.  From there I got on Interstate 30.  I would spend most of the day on I 30.  I decided to get beyond Little Rock before stopping for the night.  So I took I 40 out of Little Rock I spent the night at T Ricks RV Park at Hazen Arkansas.  It is a very small RV park just off the interstate.  You register at the T Ricks convenience store. The sites are pull thrus and easy in and out. 

After a long day of driving I was happy to stop for the night.  Ellie and I were almost alone when I checked in but by night fall the park was pretty full.  The next day I took I 40 all the way to Jackson Tennessee.  From there I took 45W up to Humboldt then on 79 to Clarksville  Somewhere along 79 I saw the pink elephant!  I can't remember for sure which small town it was in.  No I had not been drinking ( I don't drink anything stronger than a Dr Pepper).  There really was a large statue of a pink elephant.  Sorry now that I did not get a picture!  From Clarksville  I headed to Russellville still on 79. From there I took 68 toward Bowling Green.  I spent the night at the Bowling Green KOA. It is really nice.  I don't always stay at KOA's when I travel as they are a little too pricey for me.  However when you travel early in the year you have to take what is available.  I had a nice campsite and the doggie run was great.  It even had an outdoor chess set.

It is a good thing that when I left Bowling Green I did not know what the day would bring.  I would have stayed in bed and pulled the covers over my head!  Well maybe not but it would have been tempting! This day would find me driving on the interstate.  I took I 65 up to Louisville and then I 71 up to I 75 then I 75 through most of Ohio.  The interstate in Kentucky left a lot to be desired.  Lots of big holes!  It was a bumpy ride.  I took the loops around the big cities! I am not a City gal and I don't like city traffic!  I had planned to stop at a campground for the night but alas the one I planned to stay at gave me the creeps!  So I drove right back out of it and headed on up the interstate.  Sometimes you just get that feeling that you shouldn't be there!

I was really tired so I stopped at the next roadside park to look for another open campground.  I could not find one in Trailer Life or the Passport book.  So decided to keep driving and look for one that was not listed or even a WalMart!  A little before 7 p.m. my niece Lori called and said where are you Aunt Joy?  I always check in with family when I get off the road and they were beginning to worry as I had not called.  I told her I was still driving as I had not been able to find a place to park for the night.  She called Lisa who got on the Internet to search for a campsite for me!  Lisa had no luck finding anything either.  By this time I was nearing Akron and I told Lori I was going to pull into a Cracker Barrel that I had seen a sign for.  Well I was really glad to see that Cracker Barrel sign!  I exited and was able to pull into the back parking lot.  I went in the store and asked them if they knew of any campgrounds that were open in the area.  They said no but if I wanted to stay on their back parking lot for the night all I had to do was ask the manager!  Yea, I said bring him on please.  He was really nice and said it would be fine as long as I did not block the drive.  They also told me that they had just received a truck and that the truck driver was staying too.  So I would not be alone on the parking lot.  I went out and repositioned the trailer and called my nieces to let them know I was set for the night.  Then I went back in the Cracker Barrel and had a mighty fine pork chop supper!  I did not have the most restful night but it sure was nice to be off the road. 

The next day I took hwy 44 up to Interstate 90.  Then interstate 90 all the way to Buffalo New York.  It was a fairly easy drive.  I enjoyed driving slowly and going through the little towns on Hwy 44.  Then after I crossed over into Pennsylvania it started  snowing!  It was a pretty dry snow!  It would just bounce right off the truck.  I called Ginny at the Niagara Falls Grand Island KOA to see if I needed to get Propane before I arrived and to give her a heads up that I was on my way.  I had stopped at a Flying J to fill up the truck with gas and there was a propane fill station right there!  So I got both gasoline for the truck and propane for the trailer!   I was really excited to be getting to near my destination. I took the east loop around Buffalo then took 190 to Grand Island.  It was really easy to follow the signs right to the KOA.  I was thrilled to meet my new boss Ginny.  She helped me fill my fresh water holding tank as the water was not turned on yet in the employee section of

the park. 

The employee section of the park was a large area behind a wooden fence. It had been set aside to have the sites up graded however the work had not been done yet.  The up grades were set for a future time.  So it made a really neat area for the workampers to have their own space.  For a good while I was the only one there! Ellie loved it as it was like having her own private yard.  There was still some snow on the ground when I arrived. However, that night we got bunches of snow!  This is what it looked like the next morning!

It was about 10 days before I could hook up to water. Then I had to run water hoses across the road to the sites along the fence!  Water was turned on in stages in the park. I was just happy to have a home for the season!

The end of 2007

I wish I could say that I enjoyed working for Sees Candies in 2007.  Alas that just was not so.  I had to leave Branson about 10 days before I had planned in order to take the job with Sees in Baton Rouge Louisiana.  Leaving all my friends in Branson was tough.  Bless their hearts they threw me a going away party!  I hated that I had to leave early. 
I took hwy 65 south into Arkansas and followed it all day. I spent the night at The Pine Grove RV Park in Lake Village. 

I really liked this RV park.  Not only was it in a pecan grove it was across the street from a lake. It also had nice long pull thrus!  Before I got there I had to stop and use some duct tape on my trailer.  I noticed in my drivers side mirror that one of the fenders was flapping.  I was afraid that the wind would rip it off.  Got to love that duct tape!  Other than that the day was pretty uneventful which is how I like my driving to be! 

The next day I followed 65 down to Natchez Mississippi.  From there I took 61 to Baton Rouge.  As I got to Baton Rouge I had to use one of those loopy turns to get on US 190/Airline Hwy.  Well my GPS did not like that turn and lost it's mind!  After that I was praying for stop lights!  It took me a few stops before I was able to get it back on track!  I managed to make it to the KOA in Denham Springs with no more problems.  It was more expensive than I usually had to pay at the KOA but I just did not have any other options.  I was also not real happy to be 13 miles from the mall I would be working in.  But sometimes you just have to take what you can get and pray for the best.  My campsite was ok but under the trees so my satellite did not work!

There was an elementary school right next door.  I did not have to worry about sleeping in as the school bell would wake me.  It was kind of fun watching the

little kids play!  Ellie wanted to play with them. 

Right after I got set up I went inside and turned on the microwave to fix a fast meal.  Well smoke started coming out of the breaker box under the refrigerator!  Uh Oh!  NOT GOOD!  I went up to the office and they recommended a mobile repair guy.  He came out and had to replace a section of burned wire behind the breaker box.  

I was really excited about another season with Sees, even though from experience I knew it would be hard work.  Unfortunately I was the assistant team leader and the team leader and I did not communicate very well.  I managed to hang in there and kept my commitment but it was hard.  I did the best job I could do but it never seemed to be good enough.  As it got close to Christmas it got really hard to find a parking place!  I usually had the late shift which was okay with me but that meant I had to take any parking place I could find.  Usually I was way out in the far reaches of the lot.  At closing it was a trip out to the truck! 

One good thing about being in Denham Springs was I was close to a friend from my time in Yellowstone.  Mary Core lived just one more exit down the interstate.  It was so good to see her and meet her family.  I even went over and had Christmas Dinner with Mary, her  husband and some of their friends. 

I worked late the day we closed the kiosk because we wanted everything ready to be shipped back the next day.  I was suppose to stay until after it was all picked up but my cousin Margaret Ann had died and I wanted to get home in time to go to the service. 

I decided not to take the interstate.  So I took US190 over to US171 to DeRidder.  This is really a neat way to go across Louisiana!  I enjoyed seeing the small towns.  I was so excited to finally get back to Texas!  I could have stopped and kissed the ground when I crossed the Sabine River!  I stopped at the Whispering Creek RV Park for the night.  It was nice and the lady who checked me in was helpful.  I asked her where I could get my truck inspected as the inspection sticker was way out of date.  She recommended a repair shop and off I went.  They were really nice there and in less than 30 minutes I was legal again!  I went on into Newton and stopped at the Dairy Queen and bought myself a meal.  After driving most of the day I don't want to cook!

The next day it was on to Mexia.  I took US 190 to Woodville then US 287 into Crockett!  I felt like I was almost home because this is where my Grandmother use to live.  I decided to take Hwy 7 to Centerville and then Interstate 45 up to Buffalo.  Then 164 to Personville and hwy 39 into Mexia!  I was "home" at last.  I got there in plenty of time to make my cousin's funeral.  It was great to see everyone but I wish we had been meeting for another reason.  I was glad I was able to be there.  With my lifestyle I seem to miss a lot of things I would like to attend.  Most times I just can't get there in time!

I spent the rest of the winter sitting in Johnny and Carol's driveway.  I was bored so I wrote my book!