Check Link

Link to new Blog site:
http://www.dustymop.com/

Just about drained the jug.

2 MORE DAYS

Picture above: post 5pm Amazon work day exit, of the Big Chief, from December 21,2010.

I took Dustymop here for a little unleashed romp of pooping/ peeing/ ground rolling( on anything that remotely smells like death or seasened lower intestine waste matter and her favorite: butt-skidding.

Being here this far south at this time of year is like living in a Salvador Dali painting. Anti winter.... Landscape:brown instead of white, nasty bugs just under the surface of my boot prints...like chiggers! and bright colored multi banded death snakes in shallow burrows, hopefully deeply hibernating..but you never know ! Give them just one December 60 degree day and poof they are out hunting naive northerners!

The Northwest as any decent normal place should, has 4 distinct seasons, however here in Southeast Kansas, the bugs,snakes,humidity,heat and tornadoes are just panting-at-the- bit to be unleashed once the sun starts climbing again, after a few weeks of obligatory weak winter emulation.

Anyway, on to what you really want to read about.

Amazon: weak back-log of ~69,000. Orders obviously down, nothing in In-Coming..getting the drift that the adrenaline days are  definitely over....they are just keeping us around so that we will come back in the future (next year)....the weather continues to degrade on a national level increasing my anxiety to make it back home for a time sensitive employment opportunity...also concerns for travel safety and costs associated with rising price per barrel of fuel oil and not to mention Hotel outlay. My hair is getting shaggy.

Thought about leaving a day or two early to maybe make it to family for Christmas and possibly slip under the worst of the weather, but we are not ready to say good-bye to the Morgans and end this dream.

To make a long story shorter...it feels like..you know the planets are aligning and the magnifying-glass has now gathered the sunlight into a pin-point of laser heat and I now smell smoke!

So much to do in such a short period of time.....the clock is melting and sliding down the steps that I need to take!

Back to Idaho

Just days away for the Moe / Morgan Diaspora.

While our Morgan mates have their destination compass heading towards the morning sun and its balmy warmth we have our compass needle quivering towards the icy setting sun.

Above is our two proposed routes for our return to the Great White North.

We would appreciate any help in regards to any road/weather data to insure a safe migration.

You would think that by now ( after 5 weeks) of  the Amazonian experience that we would be hardened veterans towards the demands of  being your Christmas Elves. However  its obvious from the photo below that we are very much anxious to complete our tour of duty here and try something else. Below, we have just stumbled into our trailer after 11 hours of vigorous hell. The stress on my face and Jeannie's bloody stumps soaking in a hot salt bath indeed have all the classical visual characteristics of hardened front line veterans recovering between assaults on their Pork Chop Hill.

I took a couple of documentary shots of the inside of our trailer, its really more for our benefit then yours.

Nate gave us the SeaHawk Helmet. On the way down here to Kansas every time we hit a bump, like crossing railroad tracks, it would sound off with " touch down SEAHAWKS !" or  "here we go Seahawks-here we go!". Its been hanging inside our trailer since arrival and will remain so as traditional trailer decor.

A night shot from Saturday of the Big Chief, just before we went to the Mexican. Looks like we have lost about 25% of the Workampers...see all the empty spaces ?

The other night picture is of the Morgan's rig, empty spaces behind them also. and another one of the inside of ours.

I know we have 4 more days here and it may be premature to evoke a summation of our experience in Kansas but its my blog and I will take any liberties I see fit.

So let me ramble a bit more....

We have risked much for this venture in terms of, finance , safety and being away from some of our family and friends. However its obvious that sometimes bold actions result in tremendous rewards. In a few days we will take north an over-all tremendous impression of our South-East Kansas experience.

The landscape, fellow workamper friends, the Amazon staff, the Coffeyville Church of Christ , the cooperative weather and the Morgan family have all contributed to bench-mark living.

Like Tom Hanks just after he cleared the reef, he looks back at his receding tiny island with fondness  and sadness,....we too will have to say goodbye to our home of November/December.

...and like Arnold,"we will be back"....for a visit.

        

 The two Stower girls doing the laundry today, Monday morning.

Other Workampers take care of business here also.. The 2 other couples you see here I will document their names and other memory hook information.

 This Rig above belongs to a guy named Daniel. As far as I know Workamping is his way of life. As you can see he doesn't need much. This is his home.......he needs to get a Dog.

The above is from the local Church, the 23rd has obvious implications !!!

Last night we lost 2 other families from the Big Chief and today the Rig next to the Morgans is warming-up for their exodus.

We plan to bust butt here to complete the original plan ( Dec 23rd).

We are planning our route and keeping a big Eyeball on the weather.

So far it looks like we have sailed with flying colors through the worst of the Kansas weather.

Was 23 degrees this morning, last night maybe 10, we have left the heaters on full blast and the water dripping.



Trailer is a Rockin tonight !

Just back from:

Colder then HECK, you know....with the wind chill.

But inside with our new friends we forgot about the Winter.

Left to right. Karen & Jim, Dave & Jeannie, Bill & Bobbie, Jalene....oh.. the Salsa was rock-on.

Left to right: Bill, Dale & Sharon, Hal & Julie and Karen.

Above is what Jeannie ordered...yea! now we'r talkin.

After the feast,now the Bull session.

We have arrived at a point in time here, in this Kansas dream ,that the talk of leaving was broached, departure dates were bantered about above, at the table.

Bill & Bobbie and Dale & Sharon are cutting anchor before the rest of us, it

will be sad to see them go, but you know we will look forward to crossing paths again someday!

...oh the trailer rocking thing.........the wind is blowing and slamming the cold Canadian wind against the Moe trailer....feels like we are on a Sea Cruise...where is my Dramamine ?