What's Next in 2010!!!

We have decided to take our first "paying" job since being on the road. Until now, we have been "volunteers" for the Corps of Engineers at Lake Allatoona in Georgia. Volunteers get their site for free in exchange for various duties such as surveillance for closed campgrounds or opening and closing gates for boat ramps and Day Use Areas. Campground "hosts" are required to bid on these jobs and if your bid is accepted you become contractors for the government. This entails a lot of rigmarole since it is the government you are dealing with!

We have started the process of getting our Dun and Bradstreet number as we are considered a business now. After you receive your D&B number, you are ready to register with CCR.gov. All of the information you provide D&B must be exactly how you register with CCR, down to the last dot or dash. I was very careful when talking to the D&B rep, going so far as to spell out our street address. I said "Oak Hills Dr." and he asked me to spell it. I did! "O-A-K- new word H-I-L-L-S Dr." Imagine my surprise when I pulled up our account and our address read "Oak New Word Hills Dr." I was laughing so hard I couldn't tell Bob what was so funny. Talk about doing your job on automatic pilot! Duh!

Well, if we can get all the "stuff" done, pass our background checks and get bonded, we have the positions of campground hosts for Clark Creek North Campground. We chose this park as it is small, only 24 sites. (Some parks have 200 sites) We are just getting our feet wet so we wanted to make it easy on ourselves. We have another couple who will share the duties, 4 days on and 4 days off. The gatehouse must be manned (or woman'ed) from 7 AM to 10;30 PM. The reservation system as well as the check-in process is all computerized which should make it easier. And how hard can it be to register 24 sites? We have camped at some of the other big campgrounds here on the lake and those "hosts" work their tails off! They are so busy they have 4 huge lanes for RVs to line up while waiting to register. We don't want the pressure! Hey, I'm looking forward to the days we are full and I can put my feet up and relax. (If our ranger, Linda, is reading this, I'm only kidding)
We are required to make rounds to ensure all the rules and regulations are being followed and actually have some clout if things are not as they should be. Stay tuned for updates on how it goes.

It may be that we will decide this is not for us but we have to give it a try! The contract is only 4 months, May thru Labor Day, and I figure we can do anything for 4 months. We will be back in Arkansas in March to see the doctors, dentists, etc. and then head back here for training. So we know where and what we will be doing through September 8th, 2010 but after that who knows where our travels will take us?? That is the beauty of this life.

Big City Opportunities

Being in a large metropolitan area is not our usual environs so we are trying to make the most of all the varied entertainment opportunities that come with the territory. Richard, Bob's brother, turned 60 in November so to celebrate we went with Marion and Richard to see "Cavalia" at Atlantic Station in Midtown Atlanta. Cavalia is an amazing show mixing 60 horses and 40 people on one stage in various acts of revelry including acrobats, aerialists, musicians and dancers. It was created by a co-founder of Cirque du Soleil, Normand Latourelle. It was a magnificent performance as all Cirque performances are with a different spin by adding the horses. You don't have to be a horse lover to enjoy this show. At one point, one of the trainers was on stage with 10 of the horses and to see her put them through their paces was incredible. The communication between her and the steeds was amazing to see as well as the respect she had for them and they for her. You could feel the true affection these gorgeous animals had for their trainer. The energy that runs through out the performance is what you expect from a Cirque show and they don't disappoint with their usual acrobatic maneuvers.
They have a great band for live music and every show is unique in that the band leader adjusts the music to the horse's behavior rather than the other way around! If this show comes to your area, you should consider seeing it.