A nice day out with Adam

George
Heartland Campground
Campbellsville, KY

Laurie
Prunedale
Monterey County, CA

It is a rare day that I can spend some time with my oldest son, Adam.

He had the day off, so I picked him off and off we went!

We started off at The Barnyard in Carmel.

It's a lovely shopping area with different terraces of flowers,

fountains, and shops.

We walked around a bit, but most of the shops are a little high priced for this RVer!
I thought it would be nice to sit outside,
have a beer and an appetizer,
so we went to Flanagan's and sat outside on their deck.

Good thing George isn't around, since we had garlic fries :-)

After enjoying those, we drove into Monterey,
and parked at the wharf.
It's a great place to people watch, and see the boats.

The shops here are a bit more touristy,
so I bought a new sweatshirt to wear if it gets cold :-)
Didn't need it today,
it was beautiful out!

Soon it was time to eat some more!
We drove over to Cannery Row,
and to a great little place called Schooner's.

There was a bit of a wait for an outside table,
but it was worth the wait, as the view was pretty nice.

Our meal was terrific, with fresh fruit and a turkey club..

On the way back into Salinas, we stopped to visit Adam's girlfriend Candee,
who works at sculptor Richard McDonald's studio.
She gave us a pretty cool tour of the place,
showing how his sculptures are done from start to finish.

He's famous for some of the sculptures at the olympics,
and of a golfers swing which is at the Peter Hay course in Pebble Beach.
I did get to see the statue pre-bronze..

It was a very interesting tour.
I never knew what the process was like!
Starts with a form modeled in clay..

Then there is a plaster cast, then wax forms.
Candee's job is to clean the wax forms so that the bronze can be applied.

Can you imagine how long it would take to do this one?!

That was the one that he did for the 1996 summer olympics in Atlanta.
It was so nice for Candee to give us a tour!

I get to be her date at Richard's fall show in Carmel on Oct. 4th!
How cool is that!?

Maker's Mark

George
Heartland Campground
Campbellsville, KY

Laurie
Prunedale
Monterey County, CA

It's very odd posting a blog about things that I'm not experiencing :-)

George is into his second week of Amazon and so far so good.

They've decided to give the newcomers two weeks of 5 hour days,

instead of starting the second week at 10 hour days.

Something about a few complainers needing more hardening time :-)

Saturday he went with Harry & Jessica to the Maker's Mark distillery in nearby Loretto, KY.

George really enjoyed the tour even though he's not much of a whiskey fan.

They even got to stick their fingers in the mash

to take a taste!

Apparently it's sanitary as the alcohol will kill any bacteria...hmmm..

no double dipping!

They went out for a nice buffet lunch afterwards!

Meanwhile, in CA..

We keep plugging along!

 The appraisal has been done on the house,

and we're awaiting the numbers.

My mom's contractor's son is coming to look at the house on Sunday,

he's interested!

I've been trying to sell my Dad's pickup truck,

mostly word of mouth, and a sign in the window.

May have to put it online soon.

We went to my favorite hangout, Phil's, on Tuesday

with some friends from church,

love that place!

Tonight we've been invited to dinner at another couples house.

We got some quotes on Texas insurance (auto) and it's looking good.

Kyle Henson of RVer Health Insurance advised us that Florida would not be a good fit for us

for health insurance on the ACA exchange :(

For now Texas makes the most sense to us as George's brother lives there,

and it is more centrally located between families on both coasts.

Amazon days

Heartland Campground

Campbellsville, KY

George started his first day at Amazon on Tuesday.

He got his paperwork all filled in,

his picture taken for his badge,

and some safety training along with a tour.

He also got a small backpack with some supplies in it.

They took a picture of all the workers that started on 9/9..

Looks like a rowdy bunch!

He's had a couple days training under his belt now.

There's a lot to learn!

He's in receiving,

so he does a lot of scanning with a handheld scanner.

So far he's only working 5 hour days,

but his shift will be Wednesday-Saturday from 6 am to 4:30 pm.

He has a different shift than Harry & Jessica,

but when overtime kicks in they'll work some of the same days.

 

Since they both have this Saturday off,

they're going to tour the Maker's Mark factory,

and get a bite to eat somewhere.

Meanwhile in California...

I'm still helping my Mom get things arranged.

Lots of paperwork to get filed,

and appointments to be at.

We're trying to clean out the house a little at a time.

Maybe if all that gets done I can still make it to Amazon :-)

Oh, and we found out that our health insurance provider,

Avera of South Dakota, is going to drop full time RVers.

So...

I'm doing some research about moving our residency to Texas.

Fun stuff!

George made it to Campbellsville!

Prunedale
Monterey County, CA

George made it to his next workamping gig at Amazon.

He started out on Friday from Modoc, SC.

This was his first time driving solo,

and without my helpful navigation skills :-)

With a little help from another workamping couple Jim & Linda,

they gave him great directions to maneuver around Atlanta.

He got through with no issues at all,

and stayed overnight in Adairsville, GA

at Harvest Moon RV Park.

He said it was adequate for overnight,

and it came recommended by Mike and Terri :-)

This morning he left Adairsville around 7 am.

Between the two of us, we figured out a route that would

keep him out of the mountains as much as possible.

He kept going north on 75 through Knoxville,

then west on KY 80, to KY 55 right to 

Heartland Campground.

There were a lot of rolling hills,

and only one grade at the TN/KY border

which was a 6% descent, so not so bad!

He had a  terrific welcoming committee,

as Harry & Jessica have the site next to him!

Jessica took some pictures of him backing in,

and a few of him getting settled :-) 

Harry and he had a cold one after George got settled :-)

George will have a couple days to find the stores, etc.,

before he starts work on Tuesday.

I'm anxious to hear all the stories!

In the meantime, my Mom and I are getting things in order.

We have appointments with the lawyer, appraiser,

and investment broker next week.

Today we tackled my Dad's bedroom.

We had some laughs cleaning out his closet of all his clothes.

He had so many shirts and pants he never wore!

We said it must be a man thing...

George does the same thing!

A game of golf (well, sorta)

Prunedale
Monterey County, CA

I got up very early this morning, (3:30!) to drive George up to the airport.

He's returning to Modoc, SC for a few days,

then leaving on Friday to head up to Campbellsville, KY

to start his job at Amazon on Sept. 9th.

We decided that he'll take the route through Atlanta on 75,

stopping overnight in Adairsville, GA

at Harvest Moon RV Park.

It was recommended by Mike and Terri as a good place.

Then he'll arrive at Heartland Campground in Campbellsville.

I think he's looking forward to getting there and seeing some friends,

and keeping busy working :-)

I'm still staying behind in CA.

My Mom is doing terrific, despite the circumstances.

We'll begin the arduous task of cleaning out the house,

and then selling things, and the house itself.

She's actually looking forward to moving into the independent living facility in town.

Yesterday we got together with my cousin Kelly and her husband Gary.

They have a beautiful Redwood fifth wheel, 

and were staying in a campground nearby.

They are avid golfers and invited us to ride the course with them.

We met them for breakfast at Coyote Creek golf club,

our old stomping grounds from workamping at the RV resort.

They rented two carts, I drove with Kelly,

and George got in Gary's cart.

We got some tips from both of them,

they are pretty good!

One of the things I am taking with me of my Dad's

is his set of clubs.

I've always wanted to learn,

and I'm hoping to take lessons while we're workamping

at the RV resort by the course this January.

The views from the course are nice!

Too bad it's so dry in California. The only green is the fairways and greens :-)

We took them over to the RV resort to check it out.

They made reservations to come up for a week in January while we're there!

It will be so much fun to spend more time with them.