The pros and cons

In my previous posts I have talked about all of the good things that come from this "simple" lifestyle.  The simplicity of it is the number one "pro" in my opinion, not to mention the ability to take your home with you when you travel.  However, there are some "cons" to this lifestyle as well. Prior to August 11, 2012 the only "con" I had experienced was related to storm season.  Living in Oklahoma is not always a good thing during storm season whether in a house or a RV, but especially in a RV in the middle of the night.  My family and I spent many a night down at the lodge of our park during stormy weather, wondering if our RV would sustain any damage or if it would still be sitting there when the storms were over.  That got old very quickly with 2 kids and 2 dogs that were frightened by the possibility of tornadoes, however,  if you have enough notice, you can always hook up and move the whole house out of the danger zone, but this is inconvenient especially at night.  A weather radio is a must have while living in a RV. 
The newest "con" we recently experienced was on our way out of town with our "home" in tow.  We were headed to a much needed weekend of  R & R when we had a blowout!  We had heard of so many other people who have experienced blowouts while traveling but my husband was very cautious with our tires.  He was diligent about checking the air pressure, tread, and lug nuts before we left on any trip and this one was no different.  We had only been on the road about an hour when we heard a loud explosion and immediately my husband knew what had happened.  He safely made his way to the shoulder of the highway to inspect the damage but could see parts of the RV flying off through the mirror.  We both got out of the truck and were devastated by the amount of damage that had been done.  The tire was shredded, the fender was gone, the kitchen plumbing was ripped out, the propane lines were bent in half, a foot long section of the floor was missing, the tin was twisted and caused damage to the adjacent tire, the heater box was dented, 2 kitchen drawers were broken and there was saw dust, wood pieces, metal, and tire chunks in every kitchen drawer and all over my floor.  This was no easy fix!  We spent over an hour on the side of the highway with cars and semi-trucks zipping by, trying to cut the tin away in order to put the spare tire on.  Thankfully, my parents weren't far behind us and my father was able to help.  While the men worked on the tire, I spent that time on the phone trying to find out where to go for repairs.  That was the end of our trip and the beginning of a huge headache!
Once the spare tire was on, we headed back into town to the nearest RV shop for an estimate.  By this time the kids were hungry and the dogs were hot sitting there waiting for someone to work us in.  Finally, they looked at the damage and sent us home with an estimated guess of around $8,000 in damages.  Now what?  We can't use our kitchen sink or cook on the stove, we can't pull out 2 drawers, and we have a huge hole in the floor under the cabinets.  We filed a claim with our insurance company immediately and it took 3 days for an adjuster to come take a look.  The RV shop has to order parts which will take 8 to 10 days to arrive and cost us $2,000 out of pocket to place the order.  The RV shop took 4 days to send us the estimate and they anticipate the RV to be in the shop for a week for repair.  This will displace us from our home with 2 kids and 2 dogs for a week while trying to go to work, homeschool, and function as normally as possible.  I'm not thrilled with the idea of a hotel, eating out, and boarding the dogs but this may be what it boils down to. 

At this point we have received the insurance money for repair but the parts have not arrived yet so we are playing the waiting game for now.  Stressing about next few weeks of chaos and hoping it never happens again!  We realize it could have been worse and we are lucky that none of us were hurt or that it didn't cause an accident on the highway but it sure caused a hassle and costs us inconvenience, time, and money.  I'm just thankful we weren't on our way to a bigger vacation destination.  I will update the blog as the headache continues.

Work Camping

I wanted to share with you all a little about what we do here at the RV park.  Work campers have a variety of "job" possibilities all over the U.S. in RV parks and if you are a "full timer" you can apply for those jobs in the State you plan to stay at for a few months.  These jobs can include reservations, golf cart escort, maintenance, grounds keeper, pool maintenance, activities coordinator etc...  Here at our park we do a little of everything.  Our original job was to work at the front desk doing reservations, checking people in, working the cash register etc.. but it has evolved in the last year to much more.  We still work at the desk doing all of those things and more, but I am now the CPO (certified pool operator) of the park and the activities coordinator. The park is changing every year and things are being added which require more jobs to be done.  Last year the owner added the pool and hot tub, and a pizzeria.  This year, so far, he has added the mini golf, basketball court, eleptical bicycles for rent, 2 fenced dog areas, and has asked me to start planning events.  In the near future, he plans to redesign the store to make it more like a gift shop, build 2 more laundry rooms with bathrooms that will double as storm shelters, and possibly add more RV sites.  Since we live at the park, we are able to work in exchange for rent and utilities. We are only required to work 16 hours a week to pay for our site and utilities but we work more than that in the summer and less in the winter.  We are also able to go on trips anytime we wish and we get to enjoy doing things here at the park for free.  There are a lot of advantages to work camping and it has been fun for our family.