Newell Gurus

Time to update our timeline again.....after East Glacier we moved over to Kalispell and Columbia Falls for a week....spent 4 days in the Walmart parking lot in Kalispell, MT.......we were in a significant rain storm in East Glacier where the rain was going sideways and apparently some rain ingressed into the kitchen area under the cabinets, and then got under our wood flooring. We spent the 4 days in Kalispell drying everything out, and then reassembling the wood floor....it is Pergo interlocking, so it's just like putting a puzzle back together. From there we moved up to Columbia Falls and boondocked in the parking lot of Flathead Lake Winery for 3 nights. Over that time we re-entered Glacier National Park from the West Glacier entrance and from the Camas Creek Entrance. We really have enjoyed spending so much time around Glacier.

Then we moved down to Polson, MT and spent 6 days on the Flathead River at Flathead River RV Resort....a little pricey, but we really enjoyed the town, Flathead Lake, and the river.....very relaxing.....there is a great Mexican place (Fiesta en Jalisco) that we ate at twice, and a great little micro brewery called Glacier Brewing which we visited a few times. There is also a very cool museum there called The Miracle of America Museum.....if you are in the area this is a must see! Then it was time to move south to Missoula because we needed to drive south in the car to Salt Lake City to attend the wedding of my brother's daughter. We paid for 4 nights at the Missoula Fairgrouds....$17 per night including electricity, which is all we needed since we were just parking the coach there while we drove south. We had a great time at the wedding, and were so glad to be able to see my two brothers, and one of my sisters as well as my son Tim who flew in and surprised us....we had no idea he was coming......makes me happy to think about the great time we had catching up with him and his life.

Yesterday, August 20th, we drove 170 miles west to Coeur d'Alene, ID where we are going to spend the next 4 weeks. ....we found a great little RV park right on the Spokane River just where Lake Coeur d'Alene ends and the river begins.....got our full hookup site $470 for the month.....best deal we have ever gotten! We are about 100 yards from the Centennial Bike Path that goes all the way to Spokane, and only about 1.5 miles from the Lake Resort.

Life is good.....

Hard to believe it has been almost a month.....we got our call from the sugar beet harvest folks, and we are to report next Monday, so we are leaving tomorrow, Wednesday, to give ourselves plenty of time to drive 770 miles. Our time here in Coeur d'Alene has exceeded our expectations, but we are ready to roll again. Spent a lot of time with my Mom, and my sister and family. We'll head east to Missoula Wednesday, then join Tom and Darlene in Fairmont, MT Thursday.....we'll check out the hot springs, and then part company on Friday as they go south, and we continue northeast to Sidney, MT.

By the way, I went outside today to wipe 4 weeks of dust off the coach.......the Firecoat I applied immediately after the Newell Gurus rally, and then again in Cardston, AB sure makes it easy to wipe off, and polish up....looks like a million bux again

Clarke remind us where the Sugar Beet Harvest is located and what you guys will be doing?

Well, we've been here in Sidney, MT since September 21st. Elaine ultimately was assigned to work in the "Scale House" on the night shift (7 pm to 7 am). I am on the same shift but working on a piler unloading 106,000 pound trucks (fully laden). Elaine landed the cushy job sitting inside a warm, well lit, comfortable building. It's good that only one of us is suffering in the cold, sometimes wet, muddy, always dimly lit work environment. I haven't had any trouble keeping warm, even when it got down to 24 a couple of times. My problem has been getting too warm. This is very physical work, and I often find myself shedding a couple of layers after about 15 minutes. It's been hard on my hands, but they are getting used to it.

We only have a few days left and we will be on our way south to warmer, dryer climates. The past week has been rough due to a lot of rain. Until Wednesday we hadn't been on the job since last Friday morning when we clocked out due to wet, muddy conditions. Fortunately we get paid a minimum of 4 hours each per day when the weather is bad, or the conditions do not permit us to be on site, but we would rather work.

Elaine's job consists of printing off a weight ticket for each truck that enters the yard, and then a second one as they leave to determine the weight of the sugar beets delivered, less the weight of the truck. My job consists of keeping the area around the "piler" clean, which involves a lot of raking, and sometimes picking up spilled beets and throwing them on to the conveyor belt. Sometimes we "get" to clean the pilers which involves shutting down the piler, and locking out the electrical so we won't get squished when we are inside scraping off the beet residue that accumulates over the course of 24 hours.....some of the pilers run 24/7. We get time and a half after 8 hours each day, and again after 40 hours in a week, so the pay mounts up pretty quickly at $14.65/hour plus overtime. We'll probably gross close to $8,000 for our 21 days of labor.

So today is October 17th meaning we have just 4 days left on our contract. Looking forward to moving on.....we've lined up a camp host job near our home town for the two+ months we will be there visiting the kids and grand kids.....the same place we hosted at for a year before hitting the road. So, we'll be able to stay for free those two months.

For those of you who are interested in what a "piler" looks like and how the sugar beets are piled here is a YouTube video for your viewing pleasure.

That sounds too much like WORK Clarke. I thought you retired!!

We work a few weeks here and there, and then play the rest of the time. Really, the money is nice, don't get me wrong, but we are really enjoying the different work experiences along the way. This is our third workamping job in 20 months, and each one has been very interesting. This last job has been the hardest on me physically, but I have gotten used to it. I've learned how to operate the giant beet piler shown in the video, and a Bobcat on this job.....very cool. In two days we'll be heading south for the winter.

Our next workamping job will be as camp hosts, and we already know what is involved for that job.

(10-17-2013, 09:13 PM)Fulltiming Wrote: [ -> ]That sounds too much like WORK Clarke. I thought you retired!!

I agree this does look too much like WORK and not Retirement!

The difference between work and working an occasional job is that I get to play the rest of the year.....it's like I'm taking brief vacations from retirement to work. It's not for everybody, but it works well for us. Steve, we'll be back in Riverside, CA November 15th for two months.....let's get together!

(10-19-2013, 08:05 AM)whatsnewell Wrote: [ -> ]Steve, we'll be back in Riverside, CA November 15th for two months.....let's get together!

Will you guys be back at Jurupa?

Steve, yes we will....got back on as camp hosts for the 2 months we'll be in town.