Reflections on Retirement

Retired!  And I am loving it! For me it means - seven weeks ... and a few days with only one job and two days off each week!  But wait just a minute.  Hum? That doesn't really seem much different than what most of the working world is doing - work 5 days and play 2 days! 

But there is a difference... things are not so permanent now. 

•  My job at the campground is temporary - the contract ends the 1st of October.  Sort of scary but then maybe not because the options are out there can take us places we have never been.  We have a dream to see the USA and now we can and don't have to cram it into 2 week vacation periods.  Guess we could say we are on a very long vacation!  What's wrong with the concept?  Nothing as far as I can tell!
• Our home is on wheels - no mortgage, no lawn to mow, no siding to paint!  That doesn't mean that the 'honey-do' list went away for Randy but it sure doesn't take him long to knock off the items on it! The garage is now the "belly" of our 5th wheel and it is maybe 4 feet by 8 feet. Seriously,  how long can it take to clean that amount of space!  Not to mention that we can no longer save all the "stuff" we used to stash away!  Two sets of bath towels! Four dinner plates!  Only 3 pairs of sandals!  Life is much simpler and uncomplicated.
• The social security checks are in the bank each month and even though our income is  limited it seems like we have plenty. We just have to make better choices and find things to do that are cost free!  

Potlucks and Campfires and Wild Wacky New Friends!

I think my favorite thing so far is the new friends we are making and the spontaneous nature of the 'Work Camper' community.  It is not uncommon to be sitting out at our picnic table for dinner and before we know it there are several more friends sitting with us sharing stories and laughter.  A bottle of wine and a campfire and the stories continue!  The awesome thing is - we haven't even left Fort Collins!  Can't wait to meet the friends we will make coast to coast.

And speaking of wacky/wonderful friends!  There is our next door fellow work camper!  Mike and Marilyn from Rockport, TX.  Mike is forever playing practical jokes on me.  Sneaking up behind me like a stealth bomber and scaring the wits our of me. (Of course I am easily spooked any way!) But gotta love the guy because he spontaneously comes and washes all the windows on our coach every couple of weeks!  They haven't been so clean in many years!  Thanks Mike!

Then there is Ted and Faustine!  What wonderful friends they have become.  I once got a text message pix of Jippers, our dog, on a walk.  Only thing was that Randy and I were both at work.   Fausy love our dog and will come take him for walks when ever they are in the neighborhood!  She calls it her 'dog fix'.  We lived next to them this winter at the campground while they were building a home here in Fort Collins.  I'm pretty sure we have made friends for life.  

We are planning a journey this fall to the Albuquerque Balloon Festival with these two wonder couples!  Can't wait!  Our first  'caravan' or as we say out here in the West - a wagon train - Wagons! Ho!   More on that as it happens.

Today - I'm off to work!  62 new campers arriving for the weekend!  Busy and loving it!