Class Day

We left the apartment at around 6:45 AM yesterday to drive the 52 miles to Hemet, CA where our class was being held at the Camelot Community. Breakfast didn't begin until 8:30, so we arrived really early at 7:50. Driving through the gates to this Community gave us a shock that we weren't prepared for. The Camelot Community looks like a castle when you drive in:

It has to be one of the most unique communities in all of the Holiday Retirement complexes. As soon as you walk into the spacious lobby area you see the wooden staircase straight ahead at the end of a long, wide walkway:

On the right was the Veterans' Wall of Honor:

Our class was being held on the second floor and the staircase was in the middle of this huge rotunda:

The breakfast was a buffet style in an adjacent room to our classroom and we just went through the line and fixed plates to take into our classroom area to eat. The classroom was set up very nicely and we were able to get a shot before anybody else arrived:

We were even more amazed to discover that this building was about 30 years old. The restoration and maintenence of the building and the current condition is nothing short of fabulous!

Although the content of the classes was boring - Harassment in the Workplace and Fair Housing - the day was a wonderful experience. We met co-managers from all of the other Communities in our region and had a great time talking with them and interacting with them during the meal breaks - breakfast and lunch - and after class. We broke at 3 PM and Josie and I left to head home. We stopped briefly in Temecula which was a town - along the way - that we had visited while working at Blu-In near Borrego Springs a couple years ago and liked very much.

All in all it was a great day that provided a nice change of pace for us from the hectic schedule we have. We now have 2 long days ahead of us before our next scheduled time off on Sunday and Monday. It will be easier to get through the next couple days after that nice break we had yesterday...

Travel Day to Columbia, CA

It was 6:30 AM when we left our rig yesterday. I keyed in the address of the park on the GPS and it said we should arrive at our destination at 2:20 PM. As we headed out, we thought that we would hit the rush hour traffic in LA as we went through on I-10 and I-210 to get to I-5. Surprise! We realized that the GPS had set a different route when we headed north past the I-210 exit and went toward Victorville on the way to Bakersfield. We thought the good news would be that we would miss the traffic through LA and miss the Grapevine, but we would have to go the whole way on Route 99 through all the small towns along the way to Modesto before turning off. It turns out it was good news all around. I haven't been on Route 99 for about thirty years and, boy has it changed - we never hit a traffic light the whole way. We were so surprised that we could do 70+ MPH through Bakersfield - and the whole way north - that we rejoiced that we were on this 4-6 lane super highway. We stopped a couple times for gas and potty breaks and we arrived at the park at 2:22 PM. We were able to make up the lost time from those stops by being able to go 70-75 MPH the whole way.

The last town we went through before Columbia was Sonora and we were pleasantly surprised at how nice this little town is. It is the town adjacent to Columbia and has the stores, including a Walmart and Bank of America, that we would be using regularly. Also, this is very close to the town of Strawberry where the back packers from our old church used to rendezvous after their backpacking trips years ago.

As soon as we arrived at the park, Bill Meissner, the owner, met us and took us on a tour of the park and told us about all the history surrounding the park. It is a fascinating place, to say the least. We sat and chatted about the jobs for quite awhile and he offered us the jobs for Workamping for at least the next 6 months. The package we discussed is not quite what we had hoped for, but is very close. We will use today to decide what we will do. I also expect to have some pictures by the end of the day. They have put us up in one of their rental trailers and like most other rentals in RV parks, it is old, but not bad. It is totally equiped with everything we need.

We heard the weather forecast which indicated that rain was coming for Sunday and Monday, so we may cut the trip short and head home on Sunday. This morning we will be meeting with Bill again to go over responsibilities and learn some things about how the park operates. We then have free time to explore the area for the rest of the day. It will be a difficult decision for us since we also have an offer for Workamping this summer in WA on the Hood Canal. That package is close to this one, which makes the decision even more difficult. We are happy that there are choices out there...