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Is this having good luck or what!


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Not sure if this thread truly qualifies for this category of topics or would be better suited in "Working on the road" since we truly aren't on the road in the sense of the RV concept:

As I sit here thinking, it was a year ago today that we gave up the "pay to play" aspect of the RV lifestyle as paying guest at the campground/RV resorts we frequented, to become "paid to play" employees of the campground we would soon be residing in on a year round basis. One year ago today, we moved our rig into the space we now occupy in the state trail-head and campground we manage as Lead Host here in Florida for the State. Our official start date as employees soon followed on the 1ST day of May, 2016 when we went on duty for the first time. In my opinion as the full-time Host in our household, I had just landed the dream job for a near retirement age male like myself. My wife didn't do to bad either by landing a part-time position as a Host, which allowed her to keep her full-time job located nearby. Yet neither of us had ever done anything like this before in our work lives. Managing a campground that is.

All we had to bring to the table as potential Campground Host was our experience in living the RV lifestyle, along with having owned and managed our own highly specialized trucking business for many years, to the law enforcement background of many years in the wife's resume, and finally an insider who knew us and could act as a good solid reference to help get our feet into the door. From there we just needed to be taught and molded into the ways the state wanted us to run their property. Which wasn't that hard. I remember a fellow RVer whom we bought our first 5er from telling us how one large national chain of campgrounds prefers to hire non-experienced folks. They feel that a fresh mound of clay is easier to mold the way they want it rather than to remake one that has already been molded. We have since seen the wisdom of that concept firsthand, and I believe that in many ways they just might be right. So to go from absolutely no background in campground management straight to being the Lead Host [manager] was never what I expected as we began this journey of workkamping, yet it happened for us.

Then, talk about luck:

Where are most state campgrounds located? Typically out in the woods far from the conveniences of civilization (shopping, medical care, etc.). So if something like an on-going health issue comes up, it can mean the difference of whether you are able to stay in your assignment at the campground, or are forced to move closer to your nearest health providers. So here I am going along in my new job as a live-on Lead Host that I absolutely love and thinking I'm set for the next 7-10 years before I fully retire, only to be diagnosed with extensive Stage 3 Squamous cell cancer of the neck and throat. Wasn't expecting that kind of news shortly after I had turned sixty and especially on the day before Christmas Eve. Yet from that moment forward, fighting cancer became my new reality. But how was I going to be able to do this, keep my position with the state and run our campground while dealing with daily radiation treatments (1 treatment 5-times/wk for forty sessions) along with nine treatments of chemotherapy once a week. My God,  just scheduling the treatments alone and seeing to it that the campground is staffed while I'm at the doctor's office was a chore. Much less than having to work the rest of the day  when I returned from the treatments. Oh, and the sickness that goes with the cancer treatments. I could see this "dream job" of mine possibly ending up to come crashing down around me if a plan that worked could not quickly be implemented. In all fairness, I truly thought that no sooner had my new career in campground management begun, I was about to have to end it so someone  healthier and more capable at the time could step in and take over. But I wasn't about to give it up that easy. So the inner fight was on and I quickly resolved myself to make it happen to where I could handle it all.

Remember my question about, "Where most state campgrounds are located?" Well it just happens that ours is literally two miles from a major hospital and medical complex offering every type of healthcare one may need including oncology related needs. Plus multiple major chain food stores, restaurants, retailers, etc. So I was able to find two of our area's top oncologist who just happen to have offices located two miles from our location to do my in office chemotherapy and radiation treatments. Daily radiation treatments were able to be scheduled early enough in the morning during my wife's morning duty at the campground which enabled me to be gone during the treatment times. The much longer ((3-4 hr/session) weekly chemotherapy treatment were scheduled on one of my two days off that I have during the work week. On top of that I was able to drive myself the short distance to and from those treatments. Even though many a day was not exactly what I would call a "feel good" day.  OMG!!! How did I get that lucky. Honestly I hadn't thought about close proximity of healthcare facilities if needed when I accepted the job, yet it quickly became obvious the importance of that very thing when my need arose. 

So here we are today, a mere three weeks out from our last chemo and radiation treatments, still enjoying our position at the campground we manage and looking forward to life while tending to our guest and the campground itself. Oh, I've not been able to do as much of the physical aspects of caring for the property as before I became sick, but I just keep telling myself, "In time, it will come back in time!"

Lead Campground Host at Ross Prairie Trailhead and Campground on the Cross Florida Greenway

Retired business owner

Author

2013 Redwood 36FB Fiver

2001 Volvo Vnl 420 HDT Toter

!958 Harley Davidson Sportster XLH [survivor bike]

Proud dad of Abby the Boston Terrier

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  • 1 month later...

There is an old saying, "When it looks like Life has given us Lemons, God turns them into Lemon Pie."

We just had a lady from church, a friend of mine, this morning that gave her testimony.  Five years ago, she had gone to the doctor who told her that she had stage 4 cancer, and that it was his belief that she had about two weeks to live.

She has been fighting it and fighting it.  Going uphill and downhill, but she said that last week her NEW DOCTOR told her that as far as he could determine, she was, at this point, totally free from cancer!

I believe that God is the only one with the scorecard and the playbook, and that it is up to us to keep in touch with HIM to find out what the score is, and to thank him for loving us.

Sounds like to me that in YOUR case, he had things worked out pretty well for you!

 

Blessings to you, and keep checking on the score.

 

MW

Traveling America in "God's Grace"

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On 4/27/2017 at 8:27 AM, Gary Hage said:

Oh, I've not been able to do as much of the physical aspects of caring for the property as before I became sick, but I just keep telling myself, "In time, it will come back in time!"

It is great news to hear that you are winning! I too am a cancer survivor (melanoma) and the experience does give one a better view of what is really important. 

Good travelin !...............Kirk

Full-time 11+ years...... Now seasonal travelers.
Kirk & Pam's Great RV Adventure

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