SEPTEMBER 24 - NOVEMBER 2: Poppell Farms, Odam, GA

We arrived at Poppell Farms on the afternoon of September 24 after a 2-day drive from Huntsville, AL for our 3rd workamping job.  Although we hate driving near Atlanta, saving time was important and going by Atlanta was the quickest way to get to Odum, GA. We took the I-285 bypass around the west side about 4 P.M. and luck was on our side as  we only had a short slowdown near I- 75 and again when we started on to I-75 southbound.

Poppell Farms is  a family-owned working farm in southeast Georgia, just outside of Odum, and about  75 miles southwest of Savannah.  In the spring and summer, vegetables of all kinds are grown and sold.  On August 1, set-up began for the 19th annual Fun Farm, which started on September 28,  2019.



Fun Farm is an Agri-Tourism event with a lot of family activities including the following -
 a corn maze
 hayrides to the pumpkin patch
 a large playground with jumping pillows
 a petting farm that included a very large cow, several ponies, 2 donkeys, rabbits, a llama,  and many goats, chickens and  pheasants
basketball
cornhole
a cow train
a fish pond
duck races
hay maze
pumpkins of all sizes for sale

There are 10 very large tents with tables and benches to provide seating in the shade, and  a place to enjoy lunch or a snack.

Lots photos here: https://www.poppellfarms.com/

Our arrival at Poppell Farms was memorable to say the least. When we arrived, the only place we could find to get off the road was in a large parking area across the road from the farm center.  Unknown to us, it was freshly graded sandy soil that had lots of moisture on it, so we quickly became bogged down.  After meeting Mr. Poppell, he said he'd have no trouble getting us back on the road using one of his large tractors to tow us backwards and that is what he did. He then took us to our parking area with full hookups in a grove of trees, where 3 of the  other workampers were set up.  (The backward tractor tow resulted in a bent drop hitch adapter, so we got a replacement during our stay)

The next 3 days, we helped with final preparations for the Farm Fun event   Daytime highs were near 100 degrees with high humidity, and we soon found out the importance of drinking lots of water and taking frequent breaks, which the owners  encouraged us to do. The farm workers had started setting up for this event on August 1st, but now it was crunch time to get everything done for the opening.  Hank's work started on Wednesday, which included moving lots of large bales of hay and various other heavy items.  I didn't start working until Thursday afternoon, helping to sort and fold hundreds of t-shirts, and that job was in the A/C cooled gift shop.  Friday, the ladies were assigned  to various clean-up tasks on the grounds. With the heat, we  were both worn out by the end of those work days.

Saturday, September 28 was the official beginning of Farm Fun and the work week included all 7 days.  Hank was assigned to one of the concession stands as a grill and fryer cook in a screened kitchen area. There were 3 large fans for air movement, but with the very high temperatures, it was a hot, although not too strenuous, job.  My job on weekends was to drive a golf cart in the parking lot to transport those who might need some help on getting to the ticket office - elderly, disabled, moms-to be, or families without strollers who had young children.  During the week, I worked in the gift shop handling sales, answering phone calls, and keeping things neat. Compared to the set-up work, our jobs were easily learned and easy to handle.

Monday through Friday, we were open for pre-arranged field trips from schools, day care facilities and special needs programs from 9 A.M. to 1:30 P.M with reduced admission charges. Often there were over 300 children scheduled to attend, and many were accompanied by parents, young siblings,  and grandparents. Each group was assigned to a large tent and many brought lunches with them for the children. The concession stand and gift shop was usually busy.

 Fun Farm was open to the public on Saturdays from 10 to 5, and on Sundays from 12 - 5. The weekend events attracted thousands of people, many driving several hours to get there.  On a few weekends there were also nighttime activities including a Haunted Trail that was run by a youth group as a fund-raiser, but we never worked at the evening events.

The weather remained very warm until the last week.  We had to cancel  events on two weekdays and one Saturday due to heavy rainfall, but we were spared any damage from Tropical Storm Nestor. (The owner said 2 years ago, they had to dismantle the big tents 4 times because of predicted hurricanes). Fall temperatures have finally come to our location, and we like that instead of  the extreme heat . There's even a little bit of fall color showing in some of the hardwoods.

Besides our daily work details during our stay, Hank corrected a water bay leak problem with the help of another workamper, and replaced our tow hitch and two of the Tire Pressure Monitoring System sensors. We made weekly trips to Jesup, GA about 10 miles from the farm, to get groceries and enjoy a dinner out.  Odum only has about 500 residents with one gas station, a small restaurant, liquor store a very small laundromat, post office, city hall, and volunteer fire department.

Our last work day is Tuesday, November 5, and we plan to leave here on Wednesday, November 6 to start our journey to the Louisville, KY area to visit with family and friends.  Overall, we enjoyed our latest workamping adventure.  We were treated well by the owners, and our fellow workampers quickly became friends as well as co-workers.  Our work situation included hourly wages and a free camping spot with full hookups.  This past week, the Poppells treated us to a delicious farewll dinner at Reedy Creek Restaurant, near Odum, as a thank-you for our efforts.

SEPTEMBER 22 - 24: Celebration Time, Then On the Road Again

Sunday, September 24 found us with our 5 children for the celebration of our oldest son's marriage.  Hank's brother and his wife were also there from Virginia. It's rare that we're all in the same place at the same time, and our family time is always special whether for a few days or a few hours.

David and Heather were married in a beautiful setting at Chapel on the Mountain in Huntsville, AL. The ceremony was outdoors by a waterfall.


Our son, David, and our new daughter-in-law.

A reception followed indoors, then 18 of us went out to eat a late dinner at Carrabba's.  Too soon it was time to for hugs and good-byes  until the next time we could be together.


During the summer, we had applied for a workamping position in Odum, GA for the month of October.  We were notified that we didn't get the job, but were asked to be kept on the "interested" list, which we agreed to.  As we were driving from Wisconsin to Huntsville, we got a call from Odum informing us that a couple had to withdraw due to illness and asking us to fill in.. Because we were already going to be in the south, we agreed to head to Odum after leaving Huntsville.  So the plans we had originally made for after the wedding were changed and new plans were made, which meant arriving in Odum on Sept. 24. (Our travel plans are always written in pencil!).  It was going to be nice putting a few more dollars in the bank, while facing the challenges of working at a farm festival in the southern summer heat that was lasting well into fall. Life had new adventures in store for us once again!

Silver Lake, MI to St. Ignace, MI to Superior, WI

September 4 was a sad and exciting day.......sad because we were leaving the friendly family that we had been working for all summer  ....and exciting.......because it was time to hit the road for new places and adventures.



We drove a few miles to a local service center to have the rest of the troublesome wiring  over the right rear axle protected  from road wash and dirt. They plugged us up to a 50 amp connection for the night, and started the repairs the next morning.  At 12:45 P.M. on Sept. 5, we said good-bye to the Silver Lake Dunes area and headed north, over the Mackinac Bridge and into the parking lot of the St. Ignace Kewadin Casino.

  All of the RV hookup sites were taken, so we parked at the edge of the parking lot to 'dry camp' for our two night stay.





 During our visit, we won a  few dollars from the penny slots. We treated ourselves to a delicious fish dinner at the nearby Moose Lodge, where we sat with a couple who started fulltiming a few months back.. It was a great dinner with interesting people.

Saturday, Sept. 6, we drove across the Michigan upper peninsula  toward the casino at Baraga, MI. However, trouble raised its ugly head once again as the infamous Stop Engine alarm came on as we were going through Ishpeming, MI. Hank could restart the engine after we sat for a few minutes, but that restart only lasted about 3 miles, where we took refuge in a Pizza Hut parking lot.  An employee came out to ask how long we intended to be there, and after learning of our troubles, he told us there was a campground just down the road.  Since it was Saturday, our efforts to reach local help was not successful. Hank called the campground and they confirmed they had a site available.  The Country Village RV Park in Ishpeming became our home for 3 nights.



Sunday, Hank called Coach-Net (roadside assistance) and they said they'd find help for us first thing  the next morning. Monday, they connected us with a mobile Cummins technician who was close by, and shortly after,  he was with us, reading the engine codes and diagnosing our problem.....a bad heat sensor.  First thing Tuesday morning, he returned with the new sensor and by 11:15 A.M., we were rolling down the highway once again. We had to cancel plans to visit Baraga, so our next destination was the Head of the Lakes Fairgrounds in Superior, WI.

The rest of our trip to Superior was uneventful, with fall colors apparent in many trees and beatiful views of wind-whipped  Lake Superior as we neared the state line. Below is our view when stopped for lunch at a roadside park.

Our trip to Superior was because we were attending the RV Radio Network fall rally.  Hank is Deputy Net Manager and Webmaster for the group.  The rally was being held at the fairgrounds with water and electric hookups, and a very nice building for our use.



Two-thirds of the Curling Club Building is a summertime large event room, or a wintertime curling rink. The rest of the building (where we were)  contained a large meeting room, a full kitchen, and restrooms.



 We were warmly welcomed by the rally attendees already on site.  It's a good thing we had an inside facility to meet in because it became VERY cold as the days went by, with a strong 20-30 mph wind blowing off of Lake Superior. We had to pull some winter clothes out of a storage bin.

The 4-day rally was filled with meetings, seminors, sight-seeing time, prizes,  and plenty of  food.  The sun finally came out on the last day of the rally and it warmed up a little. There were 27 attendees with 3 of them local residents and 11 of them were rally first-timers.  The first night, we had  4 special guests - the mayor of Superior, the County Board Chairman, a Councilor, along with a reporter from the local newspaper. (Our rally hostess is the Douglas County Board Supervisor and the city supported the rally in a big way) . The reporter interviewed several members and Friday's edition contained a front page article about our rally complete with pictures.

https://www.superiortelegram.com/lifestyle/travel/4658433-RV-Radio-Network-rolls-into-Superior

On Sunday, September 15, we said good-bye to old and new friends, emptied the grey tank at the dump station and started our long journey south.

Our Summer Season, and Our Jobs, are Over!

We've been workamping at Sandy Shores Campground at Silver Lake, Mi for almost 4 months. It has been a great summer overall as we worked alongside good people at a scenic location, and learned a lot about campground operations, and the vehicles used to ride the dunes.  We averaged 34-38 hours per person per week with plenty of free time to enjoy our hobbies and run errands.  Overall, the weather has been great, after May & June's very cool and rainy days. My job ended yesterday and Hank finished with his duties today. Since we've had no TV reception here, we quickly became accustomed to finding our entertainment on the internet and  in the activities going on around us in the campground. With the exercise involved in our jobs, we've both lost weight and gained conditioning.

As always, there were a few RV problems to deal with.  There were some lights that were operating on their own, but that turned out to be dirty contacts in the control board.  There's been an ongoing low battery problem for over a year when we sit for a few days, but Hank finally found the loose connections in the battery bay that apparently was causing that, and all seems to be well now in that department.

The biggest problem came about two weeks ago when we tried to start the motor and run it for awhile as you should do when sitting still for long periods.  The tranmission control panel didn't light up and the motor wouldn't start. That problem took a lot of research by Hank, with multiple phone calls to REV (RV manufacturer), Spartan (chassis) , and Allison (transmission).  A damaged wiring issue was suspected like we had back in December.  Since we're in a remote area, finding a mobile tech to come help us was a challenge and we thought we might have to be towed out of here.  But finally, with the help of a local car/truck repair facility, we found a tech who came to us last week. After over 3 hours of work, discussions with Hank on his theories, more phone calls to Allison and Spartan, and much testing, it did turn out to be the same corrosion problem once again in the wiring over the rear passenger axle due to road water and oils being thrown up on multi-pin connectors and another wire had to be spliced and bypassed around the connector. What a relief to finally hear that diesel engine come to life and run like it should!

 Now it's time to get Little House ready to roll after sitting in one place for so long. All of the tire pressures have been checked and adjusted, engine oil, transmission fluid and coolant levels checked, items are getting put away, and we'll soon say our good-byes to our campground family   We hope to leave the area on Thursday for a leisurely drive through Michigan's Upper Peninsula to Superior, Wisconsin for an RV Radio Network Rally which starts on September 11. After that event, we'll begin our journey to the southern USA for the winter.

SUMMER IS FLYING BY

Time seems to pass by quickly here at the Sandy Shores Campground at  Silver Lake, MI.  We've become very comfortable in our jobs, and feel fortunate to be working here.  Sandy Shores Campground will continue to be full every weekend until after Labor Day, and openings for weekday sites are going quickly.  A full campground means the grounds crew must do thorough but quick cleanups to get ready for new check-ins at 2 P.M. everyday.  Hank is part of that crew 3 days a week.

Selene is feeling much more confident with the office work she does 3 days a week.  The office has large windows on all walls, so it's easy to feel a part of all the activity that is constantly going on, both inside and outside.



  The  coming and going of people and vehicles is entertaining in and of itself as they walk to the beach across the street with water toys and boats, or drive off to the dunes with their colorful vehicles, or just go out for a stroll down the road to shop and explore. Sunset is late here (currently 9:13 P.M.) so there's plenty of  daylight time for after-dinner activities.

The two days we have bathhouse/pool duty from 10 to 6  pass by quickly as we do hourly checks. The biggest job is keeping the floors dry inside the entrance  and the shower dressing areas.  Sometimes it's so busy you just can't do a good job, but we do what we can.  Hank can't do much pool cleaning as the 82 degree pool is very busy all day long.  We also do 3 ride-arounds in the golf cart picking up lawn debris from the seasonal sites and deposting it in a compost area in the woods. Selene checks the laundry room each hour  to make sure its neat and clean . Every night,  Hank  does a late-night Quiet Hours walk around the park.

On one of our off days, we usually go to Hart or Ludington for shopping and a meal  There aren't many restaurant chains  in this area, but there are  a lot of longtime family owned places. A few weeks ago, we went to the Country Dairy for lunch. It's a nearby  family-owned  dairy farm with a restaurant  and store that is known for their good sandwiches, bottomless cups of white or chocolate milk, cheese products,  ice cream and related treats in many flavors and forms. We didn't take the dairy tour because it was rather warm that day, but we've heard that it's quite interesting.






Most of the time, the weather has been warm with only 2 short hot spells so far.  It cools off quickly at night.  Most of the rain has fallen overnight, and even if it heavy, the sandy soil absorbs it well and there haven't been any flooding issues in the park.  Whenever we're in the RV, we have continuous entertainment with all of the pool activity that takes place right in front of us.  We have plenty of free time for ham radio, computer use, reading and watching DVD's, and we've enjoyed a couple of campfires.  Life here is certainly not boring!

SILVER LAKE, MI: The "Season" is Here!!

The Silver Lake area is a tourist destination and the major part of the "season" is here.  The campground has been full the last few weekends, and with the 4th holiday in midweek, it was the same most of this week and will continue until mid-August.

We've settled into our jobs and we are enjoying our experience here at Sandy Shores Campground.  On Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday, Selene works in the office where there's always something going on, and Hank does mostly outside work that's needed to keep the grounds clean and neat - a trademark of this campground. On Thursday and Friday, we both take care of the bathhouse/laundry/ pool area right next to us  for 8 hours while the regular crew gets some time off.  We check things about every hour or so to make sure the floors are dry, and the facilities are clean.....average time  20-30 miutes  per hour on busy days.  The seasonal campers are responsible for their own yard work, so we make a few rounds in the golf cart picking up bagged yard waste and depositing it on the compost pile in the woods.  Monday and Tuesday are our off days. Hank also does the nighttime security walk  at about ll:30 P.M. each night to make sure everyone is observing Quiet Hours which start at 11 P.M., and that job usually takes about an hour.

Our relationship with the owners, their sons and our co-workers continues to be very positive .  The family as built this campground from the ground up and they have every right to be proud of it.  The weather finally warmed up to daytime highs in the low 80's which is average for this time of year.   Our first two months here were very wet, but sunny days are in abundance now.

We have a full hookup site on a concrete pad.  This is our view from our front window.

The pool is heated and is used  from 10 A.M. to 9:30 P.M.

.  The biggest draw to the Silver Lake area is Silver Lake itself and the huge sand dunes that surround part of it.  "One of Silver Lake’s most popular features is its 450-acre off-road vehicle area. Visitors may cruise up and over the expansive dunes in their own 4x4s provided they’re outfitted with an ORV sticker and a ten-foot orange flag. Alternatively, travelers can rent off-road vehicles specially equipped to handle the unique challenges of driving on sand. The Silver Lake Sand Dunes are the only sand dunes east of the Mississippi River where visitors are allowed to drive private motorized vehicles over the shifting landscape. Silver Lake’s ORV area operates from April 1 through October 31."


                                                      
                                                                                                         
 

 Lake Michigan is on the west side of the dunes.  The "dunies" love riding their jeeps, dune buggies, various bike, and other 'off road vehicles (ORV) up and down the steep hills, or even climbing up on foot  to enjoy the view from the top.

 The campground has a private beach on Silver Lake along with a small marina.


The water is fairly shallow almost to the end of the marina and then drops off pretty quick.  The summertime water temperature is warm compared to that of Lake Michigan.

This past Thursday night, Thunder on the Dunes was held with a fireworks display from the dunes.  Dusk comes late here and this event didn't start until about 10:15 P.M. so Quiet Hours started later that night.



Two  personal events have taken place in the last month.  Selene got her first smart phone a few weeks ago.  Her old flip phone was a 3G phone, and the nearest Verizon tower is 4G.  A new phone was in order and she decided to join the modern generation.  It continues to be a learning experience for her.

The other event was not pleasant.  Hank's main laptop crashed after a series of events attempting to correct a small problem.  The final result was that the hard drive had to be reformatted and the operating system reloaded from external media back to original factory condition, then updates to bring it up to current standards, and all user software and data re-installed.  HP worked with him, and after a couple of order snafus, he received a new one overnighted at no charge ( savings of about $50).  The last 10 days he's been gradually getting things back in order, although some old applications and some data stored in inaccessible Microsoft data spaces will not be recovered. HP stayed in touch a couple of times with offers of help if needed.

That's our life for the last two months in a nutshell.  We'll be here until right after Labor Day.

MAY 9 - JUNE 9: Our Summer Home

It's hard to believe we/ve been at Silver Lake for a month already.  Our schedule is easy to handle and leaves us plenty of free time as well.  Our off - days are Monday and Tuesday.

The campground was full for Memorial Day weekend.  Attendance will pick up again in a week or two when school will be out. The week of Fourth of July has been sold out for several days.

The first weekend in June was the 2019  Silver Lakes Sand Dunes Jeep Invasion, an annual event that brings thousands of visitors to the area for a full weekend of events. One of our campers said there were over 1400 Jeeps ( all kinds and sizes) registered for the gathering.



There was a little excitement last week when one of the workers noticed a tree limb about 50 feet off the ground showing a fresh crack and threatening to fall on a seasonal park model.  The campground owner quickly contacted his favorite tree service, who arrived soon, and then spent 3 hours removing the threatening branches and cleaning up. Since the campground is in a wooded enviroment,  this may be a common occurance. We've  had some high wind gusts a couple of times during our stay.

We've  seen black squirrels for the first time. There are large fish in Silver Lake so fishing is a common pastime along with riding and walking the dunes.  As always, we have plenty of computer actiities to keep us occupied, which is good since we don't get any TV reception.  Daytime temperatures are usually in the 70's so it's  pleasant to sit outside and maby even enjoy a campfire. The seasonal residents are friendly and have made us feel welcome.



We're on site 94.

MAY 9: Off On a New Adventure!

With our annual first quarter events over and done with, it was time to head for our summer stay at  Sandy Shores Campground on the shore of Silver Lake near the famous Lake Michigan Silver Lake Sand Dunes.



 We've never been to this  part of Michigan before, so this opportunity gives us new territory to visit while we put a few coins in our pockets as workampers.

Sandy Shores Campground has been a family-owned campground for almost 40 years with  214 campsites - 147 seasonal sites and 67 overnight sites. There's a heated pool, bath house and laundry building, playground, and a private beach across the road along with boat docks. The campground is open from early May to late September. The upcoming holiday weekend will be very busy!



 The owners, Jerry & Chris, and their son Mike,  live in the campground for most of the summer.  Another son, Nick lives close by.  We are two of the seven workkampers here.

When we arrived on May 9, our first assignment was to get familiar with the area and the attractions that are nearby.  Since then, we've gotten better acquainted with our bosses and fellow workers, and started slowly on our individual jobs. Hank will be helping with campground maintenace and  and doing some nighttime security rounds. Selene will be working with reservations and check-ins at  the office.  Two days a week from 10-6,  we'll be responsible for keeping the bath house and laundry in good shape. Another couple does all of the pool work and most of the bath house work, including the heavy cleaning. We have a golf cart for our use.

Little House is parked right next to the pool and bath house/laundry with full hookups, concrete pad, and a nice side yard. We have good Verizon WiFi service, and the campground also has free WiFi which is better than most campgrounds, at least at our site. However, phone reception can be iffy,  and there's no 'over the air' TV reception.


Our campsite is on the right side of the building where the first camper is parked.






Michigan's spring has been very late in arriving, so daytime temperatures are pretty cool especially with a breeze off the lakes. Nights have been mostly in the 30's and 40's.  The natives assure us it will warm up for the summer!

We'll have more details in upcoming blog posts.  There are lots of  campground pictures here:
https://sandyshorescampground.com/the-campground/gallery/

APRIL 30 - May 8: 2019 Maintenace Session

 The Ramblin’ Pushers is an organization of Class A (DP) and Class Super C diesel motorhome owners who gather for an annual Maintenance Session, the MS, It is one of our favorite events to attend. The MS activites are done by over 200 volunteers  There are  approximately 100 seminars,  dealers/vendor/service personnel, and friendly motor home owners all providing knowledge, maintenace, and repairs in a friendly atmosphere for 6 event-filled days.  All brands under the REV ownership are welcome to attend, and this year that brought around 220 RV's to the Elkhart County Fairgrounds in Goshen, IN.

We were move involved than in the past.  Selene helped with assembling the goody bags, worked several days in the event office,


 and served as a seminar host several times.  Hank was the assistant to the leader of the seminar hosts as well as being a seminar host himself,  and served as a mentor for similar RVs to ours.  We were First Timer Guides to two couples which included phone calls before the event, meeting them as they arrived, and making sure they knew  how to find their way to  the different venues in the fairgrounds. With a large daily morning breakfast buffet,


 several lunches, two receptions and the dinner finale, along with the seminars and service appointments,  the time went by very quickly. In addition, there were  optional off-site activities including 4 factory tours, 2 Amish dinners, and one stage show.

The on-site motor home service was put to good use by most of the attendees as well as ourselves. On our way to Goshen, as we traveled the West Virginia Turnpike, the "check engine" light came on twice while climbing the steeper grades, but went off after stopping for lunch and fuel.  Cummins Sales and Service from Fort Wayne, IN is a huge sponsor of this event, and was providing many types of service for those with Cummins engines.  A tech was able to read the engine code from our pre-rally situation and determined that we needed a new crank case filter.  We also had an oil change and during that service, they found our serpentine belt was starting to show some wear.  Our Aqua-Hot also needed maintenance service as well as a replacement part which was handled by an Aqua-Hot specialist on site. Hank  bought some more interior LED lights There were other vendors changing out tires, repairing or installing satellite systems, washing and waxing coaches, and tackling many other issues that come up while moving motor homes down the road.



  There was coach-weighing available upon arriving and when departing.


 As usual, we enjoyed the event as well as seeing friends from past years, and meeting others for the first time.