Transition Time - 3/18 to 4/15

Tomorrowland Terrace Restaurant in Magic Kingdom

Our time in Kissimmee as “snowbirds” came to and end in a rather busy flurry of activity. Since the spring break season was in full gear, Byron worked six days per week in Tomorrowland Terrace, a restaurant that is open seasonally. His last day was April 9. During this period he also substituted in an adult class at the First United Methodist Church where we’ve been attending regularly. Martha continued to enjoy card games and pool time with others in the park in addition to staying as busy as possible with her online medical transcription work; right up to the end.

What? The end? Yes. On April 10 Martha received an email stating that her contract was being terminated. The company had lost a major account and was releasing 20 contractors and/or employees due to the loss. She was among the unfortunate ones. That message, by the way, came when we were driving back to the resort after having our anniversary lunch.

After some brief discussion, we began the search for other opportunities knowing that the loss of income would negatively impact our situation. We both felt it was time she pull away from the demising opportunities as a medical transcriptionist (being replaced by new technologies in healthcare documentation) and take advantage of the opportunity to begin a new phase of our lives as work campers (called “workamping” by some people).

After looking for some open positions with Working Couples and Workamper News, we applied for positions at two campgrounds in Wisconsin. Within 24 hours we had heard from one, a KOA in Wisconsin Dells, and had communication from the other. We selected the KOA campground feeling that it would be a good fit for us and the employers.

Some of you may be asking: What is work camping all about? Well, not to bore you with the details, here are the basics. In some situations, couples may work about 15 hours each per week in exchange for a campsite at a state park and at some commercial campgrounds. In others, the couple works 40 hours each, with pay, and receive a reduced rate for the campsite. There are work camping organizations, as mentioned above that serve as clearing houses for positions. Couples post resumés and organizations post opening. The National Park Service hires retired personnel for a variety of positions at peak seasons. So does the Army Corps of Engineers as well as state park systems and, of course, KOA. In addition, Amazon has what they call Camperforce though they require 10 hours-per-day for five-days-per week. We have heard that many couples start but don’t complete a season so they don’t receive a bonus at the end of the work period (such as the Christmas shipping season). Duties vary from job to job and may include janitorial work, general maintenance and repair, camper registration and store operations, directing campers to their sites, delivering firewood, lawn maintenance, swimming pool maintenance, etc. In the case of Amazon package order assembly, packaging and shipping are involved. Pay goes from pure volunteer work to around $12 per hour. So, as you can see, it’s mainly for those who are fully or semi-retired with other sources of income. For standard camp hosting the season, of course, is generally from Memorial Day to Labor Day but can be up to six months in some locations. Amazon usually wants a 10-week commitment.

KOA Work Kamping gives us the opportunity to continue supplementing my retirement income while giving Martha an opportunity to continue working toward retirement. We’ll both be interacting with people which is one of the things we enjoy. At the same time, we’ll get to travel between locations and still get through our home base of Louisville where Jeremy and Candice live.

Now, for the rest of the story…

We enjoyed an anniversary lunch at Whispering Canyon Cafe in the Wilderness Lodge at Walt Disney World. Cast members receive a 40% discount so we took advantage of the opportunity to make a reservation, have some great food, and enjoy more of what Disney has to offer. In case you’re not aware, we married eleven years ago after meeting on eHarmony and celebrating each anniversary is a true blessing for many reasons.

Our eleventh anniversary celebration was lunch at a Disney resort lodge.

Since it was out anniversary, a cast member presented us with

a celebration button. Martha had a salad with shrimp while

Byron had the all-you-can eat meal of BBQ (ribs, chicken,

sausage link, and pulled pork).

The entrance to Whispering Canyon Cafe in the Lodge at Fort Wilderness Campground and Resort. The interior of the rustic-looking lodge is very similar to the lodge at Old Faithful in Yellowstone.

By the way, if you’ve never been to Walt Disney World (of even if you have), you may not be aware that only one-third of the property has been fully developed (resorts, parks, parking lots, golf courses, etc). Disney has a commitment with Florida to leave one-third undeveloped and in native condition. For the other one-third Disney has instituted a wilderness management program to aid in the control of the system of creeks and lakes which promotes wildlife habitat and the continued growth of native vegetation in spite of the roadways that link the various resorts and parks. In fact, one can travel by boat from many of the resorts and parks through the extensive system of canals and lakes.

On Sunday, April 12, our Sunday School class had a brunch hosted in the home of one of the members. It was an enjoyable time though it served as a reminder that we would be leaving our Christian friends for several months. We look forward to returning in the fall and picking up where we left off, as friends are known to do. We have counted it a joy to affiliate with members of First United Methodist Church in Kissimmee.

After getting things cleaned up, checked out, packed away, and taxes filed electronically, we pulled out Wednesday morning shortly after 9 AM and headed for Coastal Georgia RV Resort in Brunswick. We attended a rally there last year and are looking forward to spending the night there before heading on through the Carolinas to East Tennessee. We will be slowly making our way back to Louisville after visiting a brother in Johnson City, TN and friends in Scottsville, KY.

Entrance to Coastal Georgia RV Resort. The office is in the background.

By the way, the Honda Element we bought in Florida and equipped for towing followed along just fine. The Accord, which we once had, was easy to tow if we remembered to put it in neutral (it had a manual transmission), release the parking brake, and turn the key to the first position. The Element with  all-wheel drive and automatic transmission is a bit different and we were concerned that we had followed the correct procedure to prepare it for 250 miles of travel. We did OK because it made a trip to Winn-Dixie and back after parking at Coastal Georgia RV Resort.