From Puyallup to Pasco

We are in Pasco, WA. We actually arrived last night about 5:45 p.m. Pulled into the KOA and was set up by 6:00 p.m. $35 a night seems a little pricey but since we have not had to pay for camping the last seven months it will be okay and it is only for two nights.

Let me back up a little....Saturday morning found us straightening up the motor home and getting it ready to travel. We were not quite sure if we were leaving Saturday or Sunday. We were waiting to hear from Cory & Karen ~ Cory was Jamie's 3rd grade teacher at Dick Scobee Elementary in Auburn, WA. We have kept in contact with them through the years. Ron saw both of them at the Puyallup Spring Fair and then again at the Big Puyallup. Cory did surprise me one day at the Big Puyallup by coming by the Customer Service Window. Cory called and we made plans to meet for dinner at Applebee's on the South Hill. Here is a peak at what Cory & Karen are busy doing:Aren't they just the cutest little babies. Hmm...wonder if we could take one with us in the motor home?

So we finished cleaning up the motor home and then went to play for the afternoon. We went into Sumner and walked up and down Main Street. We saw lots of Halloween decorations, scarecrows and people. We enjoyed looking in antique stores, found a little book for Christopher about Halloween, and just enjoying being together with no demands.

In the evening we joined Cory & Karen for dinner. We had the 2 for $20. The guys each had a steak and Karen and I had the chicken w/spinach ravioloi. We also had spinach/artichoke dip with chips and mozarella (know it's spelled wrong but can't get my spell check to give me any suggestions) sticks. Here we are at the end of our meal. We had a good time getting caught up with each other and sharing memories of Jamie in 3rd grade. Cory mentioned how much of a reader Jamie was - he still is and I think he is passing that love for books onto Opal.


On our way home from Applebee's we got a text from Ron's brother, John, asking us where we were. Told him we were still in Puyallup. After texting back & forth found out John & Fawn were in Puyallup to see her mom. John asked if we were up to some company ~ any time to see family we are! So after a few minutes John was at the motor home. It had been since March since we had seen him. It was good to catch up with him and his family. We had a good visit and before we knew it, it was 11:00 p.m. and John had to get back to his m-i-l's. Thanks for visiting John we can't wait to connect with you and Fawn once we are back in Blaine.

Sunday morning we were up early and readied the motor home for our trip to Pasco. We made many stops along the way...first stop being Costco for gas for the motor home and the suburban. I had picked it up while in Blaine so that we would have a car for visiting and taking side trips while in Pasco, Lewiston and wherever else we stop on our way back to Blaine. It is great to have the car but also adds to our expenses of buying gas for two vehicles and we don't get to ride together. While in Salem we bought walkie-talkie's so we could communicate with each other while in separate vehicles. Well we found out Sunday morning that one had not been set into the charger correctly so it was a quiet drive for both of us.

After stopping at Costco we drove to Enumclaw to attend church. We went to

We got there in time for Ron to have a cup of coffee before the service started at 9:30 a.m. It was wonderful to be back in the house of the Lord and sharing in fellowship with other believers. To our delight they were only singing hymn's. We had mentioned earlier how much we both love hymns and wish that we sang more at Northwood (hint, hint) and here we were blessed to sing hymn after hymn. We were made to feel welcome by everyone we met. The sermon was from 1st John 2: 18 - end. I was reminded how important it is to remember what I have been taught and to keep the Lord's word hidden in my heart. There were many times while working/traveling with the carnival that God's word would come to mind. I am so thankful for the verses I had committed to memory as a child. Reminds me now that I should be memorizing more scriptures even today. We were also able to participate in the taking of the Lord's Supper. Communion and being with other believers is something I truly have missed the last seven months. As I have mentioned to a few - you really don't know what you have till you don't have it any more. Believe me, I will not be taking it for granted any more that I can go to church when and where I want to.

After the service we made our way back to the motor home. We had parked on the road across from the church. It was too sharp of a right hand turn into their parking lot with the motor home. So we parked the motor home and drove the suburban ~ thank goodness we have it with us. We then got back on Highway 410 and headed to Mt. Rainier. This is the view I had as I drove the suburban:

Ron is leading. The skies were overcast and it was drizzling a little bit. The following pictures were taken in the park...this is a picture of the river along one of the campgrounds. Once we were in the park we parked the motor home and took the suburban up to Sunrise Point. We were looking to see if we could find a place to camp for the night.

This is a picture of the lodge up at Sunrise Point. As you can see it was very foggy.

Another picture of another old building up there. It was so foggy that you could not even see the trees behind the buildings.

This is a small waterfall in the campground. We drove through it to see if we could camp there for the night BUT no vehicles over 27' and we are 37' so we continued back down the mountain.

This is a bridge we crossed leading out of the park. It was good to be out of the fog. The bridge was over Frying Pan Creek.
This is me following Ron after we left the park. At some points the fog was so thick it was like driving through a snow storm. We both commented how scary it was going up and then down the mountain pass.

Clear skies once we were over the mountain and safely in Eastern Washington.

We drove down the east side and passed many campgrounds along the river. I need to teach Ron how to check his mirrors once in awhile. For approximately 15 miles I flashed my lights, turned them on/off trying to get his attention to pull over. We did not have cell phone service so I could not call him. I was trying to get his attention to see if he wanted to stop for the night at a campground along the river. Once we had cell phone service I sent him a text saying "Stop when you can." He finally pulled over, said he never saw me flash my lights at him ~ we both said in unison "we need to make sure the walkie-talkie's work when we leave Pasco."

So Ron was on the lookout for a place to stay for the night. Deciding that Wine Country RV Park was too expensive we just drove on to Pasco. We pulled in at Shady Point RV (aka KOA Pasco), paid our $70 for two nights of camping and settled in. Realized I didn't have Gayle's phone number so left a message for Brandy on her cell phone and then sent Facebook messages to Gayle, Brandy & Lindsey to call us when they got the message so we could catch up with them. Brandy called in the evening and we made plans to get together for lunch on Monday.

All in all we had a great day: celebrating with other believers, enjoying God's creation even though it was scary at times and had an uneventful trip to Pasco. Talk to you all again soon.

Being in Blaine for a Couple of Days

Hi Everybody! I have decided to do blog posts every couple of days of where we are and what we are doing along with adding in blogs of our life, thoughts, pictures from our time with the carnival along with a blog with Ron. Thanks everyone for the questions...will be getting to that one in a couple of days once we are settled in at Lewiston, ID.

Tuesday Gerald & Sandra drove to Puyallup to pick me up. They arrived just as lunch was winding down for the tear down crew so they were able to see Ron for a few minutes. And then we were off for Blaine. As we got close to Bellingham, Charles called Sandra. She mentioned they were on their way home from Puyallup and that I was in the car. Charles asked her if I had to be taken by handcuffs ~ I think he thought I was being held by captives. First stop in Blaine was at Nichole & Marquez' to pick up the Suburban. As I was pulling out of the driveway, 3 yr old Julian started crying "No, don't let it go! No, you can't take it!" It was sad to watch him cry. I am sure he thought the Suburban was theirs as they had used it for the seven months we were with the carnival. Sure hope he didn't cry too long.

I went spent 2 1/2 days in Blaine at Gerald & Sandra's. Enjoyed their hospitality which included delicious dinners, lots of laughter and great talks...what was missing was Ron. The three of us promised Ron that we would include him next time.

Here is Sandra & Gerald putting the final touches on dinner. We had grilled/roasted chicken with a seasoned rub along with baked potatoes and salad. It was delicious.Sandra putting the final touches on our salad.

A picture of the chicken fresh off the grill. The chicken cooker (for lack of a better name) is a pottery dish kinda shaped like an angel food cake pan but the center is not hollow. Gerald put seasonings and lemon juice in the center for cooking on the grill. Sorry for cutting Gerald off in the picture.

Here is a closer picture of the chicken. Makes me drool just thinking about how tasty it was.

Another view of the chicken.

And this is what is left...maybe a good thing Ron wasn't there :)

Wednesday I had lunch with my friend Dee (forgot the camera on my jaunts on Wednesday) at Bob's Burgers and then we walked over to Wood's Coffee to continue our visiting. Late in the afternoon I met Kristen, Jade & Coral at Peace Arch Park. In the evening I joined Gerald & Sandra over at Bud & Kay Dee's for another delicious dinner and great conversation. It was a fun day to be visiting with friends and seeing familiar faces.

I could not wait for Thursday morning. Getting to spend time with Opal, Jamie & Suzanne. We met at Big Al's for breakfast. Well I had breakfast and they had lunch. Here is Opal taking a nap on the bench. She actually only stayed down for about 30 seconds. I was so amazed at how tall she has gotten. Was told when she was measured at age 2 they said she should be 5'9" or so. Jamie thinks she got some of Brandon's tall genes.

Another cute picture of Opal.

Jamie & Opal inside Big Al's.
Here is Grammy, Opal and Jamie. Can you see how much Opal looks like her daddy.

Here we are again. Can you believe the sunshine in October? So thankful for whom ever ordered up the beautiful weather.

And here she is checking out Grammy's little pink pig.

After a delightful time it was time for Jamie to head to school and Suzanne & Opal had an appointment in Bellingham. Too short a visit but glad I was able to spend that time with them. I think Ron was a little jealous ~ he will see Opal the end of October once we are back in Blaine.

I then went and spent a couple of hours sharing with Charles about our time with the carnival. Of course, his question was when are we coming home? I told him we will be back in Blaine between the 25th & 31st of October. We will be looking for work and praying for God's leading. Ron would like to travel somewhere, I am ready to settle in one place. We need to figure out what we are going to do in the future ~ are we going back to the carnival next year? Will Ron reopen Alion Plumbing & Home Repair. I am looking forward to being back at the church doing my secretary thing. Feel free to pray for us in the coming days/weeks as we reflect on the past seven months and contemplate our future. Then it was off to see Marla and then back to G & S's for a little down time. As we were getting ready for dinner Ron called to say they were done with tear down. Everyone was surprised that it was Thursday and they were done. Fini! Usually they don't finish up till late Friday evening or Saturday morning. Ron sounded tired, so I was glad to hear he could rest on Friday. In the evening we all went to Bible study. Watched a movie on the Book of Ruth. It was so good to share in corporate prayer with other believers.

Friday morning found me sharing a great breakfast of poached eggs & toast with Gerald & Sandra before heading to Bellingham and then Puyallup to rejoin up with Ron. First stop was an appointment with Dr. Moore. He needed to see me before he would renew my prescriptions. Funny how doctor's can be about those things. I was eager to get on the scale. I thought I had lost about 15 lbs since joining the carnival. I was pleasantly surprised to find out I had lost 22 lbs! Dr. Moore was also pleased to hear that Ron had lost over 30 lbs in 7 months. Now to keep up the walking and adding in some Wii bowling & tennis to keep up the losing. Then off to Puyallup. By the time I arrived Ron had moved the motor home over to the fair campground. It was definitely time to dump the tanks! We had gone 24 days without dumping!

We just relaxed Friday evening and called it an early night. It was good to be together again and think about our next adventure.

Before, During & After

Greetings Everyone

Just a quick note to share some pictures of us before, during and after our time with the carnival. Hope you enjoy this pictorial look of us.

This is us Spring 2010 just days before we headed off to join the carnival.



Alice selling tickets in Lacey, WA



And Ron in the comfort of his seat in the ticket box in Lacey,WA

Us in Portland, OR for the two day Hispanic Festival

Us after a long weekend in Graham, WA for the Pierce County Fair. Click on the picture to see the sign we had made declaring us the "Wandering Workentins." We are finally beginning to look like true carnies!


Ron sporting his "do rag" - all the guys wear them for tear down. Notice any thing new?

Here's a better picture of his new tatoo (and his first and last one too!).


I wanted one to, all the gals have them. I got mine where it only shows when I want it to. Would love to have gotten purple ones but pink will do.

And here we are the first night of tear down. We, along with Dani, Tom, Danelle and Kerry shared a delightful dinner at Olive Garden to celebrate we finished the season with a bang. Dani, Danelle and I were the Customer Service workers for the Big Puyallup Fair. Was told we did a fantastic job!

Hope you enjoyed this glimpse of us during the past six months. I will be posting more in the next few days - pictures, thoughts, and happenings of our time with the carnival in 2010.

The Carnival is Done!

The carnival is done for the season! I have one day of tear down and Ron has a week or so. Was told tonight by Ron B. and Rob R. that this was the smoothest Puyallup Fair in Customer Service they have ever seen. Usually the Customer Service people quit on them. Best compliment I could have been given.

I have lots of blog posts that I want to do about the carnival along with some pictures. It may take me a couple of weeks to get them all done ~ hope you can be patient with me. My schedule for the week is:

Monday ~ tear down & clean the blue unit and white unit show offices, catalog all the scan guns. In the evening, Ron & I, Danell & Tom along with Dani & Kerry are going to Olive Garden for an end of season dinner. Danell, Dani and I were the Customer Service workers for the Puyallup. Danell did a great job giving breaks and allowing us to get off early a few times. Though the 17 days went fine, yesterday all three of us were ready to walk ~ I think the tiredness settled in, we were missing our families and tired of hearing complaints BUT we stuck with it and made it to the end!

Tuesday ~ Sandra and Gerald are making the drive from Blaine to Puyallup to pick me up for a few days in Blaine. While in Blaine I will pick up our Suburban, get a few things from the storage unit, see Jamie, Suzanne and OPAL!, hopefully sleep in one morning, have coffee with Dee and just plain relax, ending with a doctor's appointment on Friday and then returning to Puyallup.

Ron will be doing tear down each day. Have been told it should take about a week to get everything down. Over 70 rides need to be taken down.

Ron has agreed to be interviewed (by me) for a future blog. What I need from you are questions ~ what do you want to know from Ron about our season with the carnival? Post a comment, send me an email or post on my wall on Facebook. I hope you have lots of questions for him. I think it will be interesting to hear his take on things.

I know this has been short but it is time to go to bed. 7:30 will be here before I know it.

Talk to you all again soon.

Love, Alice

Sunday Morning Thoughts

Good morning on our next to last Sunday at the carnival.

We have had a long and busy week ~ Ron had Wednesday off but spent two and half hours at the laundromat doing 4 loads of laundry. Now we each have enough white t-shirts to make it through the 26th. After that I don't think either of us will be wearing a white shirt for quite a while :)

What we are doing? Ron is one of the circle supervisors in Sillyville (Kiddie Land). He gets to wear a radio! He has to make sure each of his rides has enough operators, that operators get their breaks and lunches, troubleshoots problems before they become big problems and walk around a lot! Pat, the head guy over Sillyville said he was going to knock another 20 lbs off Ron by the end of the Puyallup. You go Pat! Dr. Moore will be so happy. Ron has to be there at 8:30 on the weekends and 9:30 Monday thru Friday. He gets off each night somewhere around 11:00/11:30.

I am at the Customer Service window in the Majors. I am right across from the Matterhorn (with lots of blue lights, ride operators asking the customers if they want to go faster ~ which they in turn yell YES!) next door to the Jumping (these big circles with seats in them that go up and out, has loud music and many multi flashing colored lights) and across from Sinbad (my favorite ride! Hope I get the chance to go on it again before the Puyallup is over. It is a giant magic carpet that goes sideways and then up in the air in huge circles). I will try to get pictures of them at night one night this next week. I have had a couple of afternoons where I got off at 5:00 or 6:00 and one day I didn't have to go in till 4:00. That was when we had 4 customer service workers. Jaylene had to go off to school so now we are three: Dani 1 and Dani 2, they both work in Sillyville and me. Dani 1 is the breaker. So for the next week I will be opening every day which really isn't that bad. Monday thru Friday we don't open till noon so I don't have to be there till 11:30. Every third night I will get off early (between 7:30 & 9:00).

Work is busy and tiring but never dull and we only have 7 days to go after today. Plus of course tear down for Ron. The week Ron is doing tear down I am going to sneak home for a few days to pick up the Suburban, grab a few things from the storage unit, SEE OPAL, Jamie & Suzanne, hopefully sleep in ~ well as late as I can at Gerald & Sandra's, have a cup of java with my mail lady and hopefully see a few friends and then heading to the doctor's (nothings wrong - just need to check in so I can get my prescriptions refilled) before heading back to Puyallup to meet back up with Ron. I will let you know where and when I will be at in Blaine.

Have had a few characters at the Customer Service window: "my bracelet fell off. Well where is your receipt? Ummm I didn't get one....Ummm that doesn't work for me ~ no receipt, no new bracelet." That is one trick they like to pull so they can get a bracelet for free.

One lost little boy ~ AJ. What a cutie. He is 3. We reunited him with his momma and papa and cute baby sister after only about 10 minutes. Found out the parents were a bit frantic as he had been gone for over 30 minutes. Walked from Sillyville down to the Sinbad by himself before a kind citizen found him sobbing and brought him to me. Made me think of Christopher and what would he have done if he gotten separated from Brandon or Danalyn. A good reminder to parents ~ teach your children as soon as they can talk your name, your full name. And next time you are in a big crowd put your name and cell number on a sticker in the center of the little one's back so you can be found quickly.

We have had many cell phones, wallets, credit cards and even a few drivers licenses turned into the lost and found. Most have not been reunited with their owners ~ secure your belongings before going on bouncy, flying rides!

I have found a good place to get a taco salad here at the fair. Pancho's under the grandstand. $6.28 for a great chicken taco salad, the ground beef one not so good. I will be splurging next weekend and getting an elephant ear, some corn on the cob, and of course a fair burger! I am hoping Ron and I can have some time off together - I think that will happen Wednesday - he has off all day and I get off early in the evening ~ so that we can share an Earthquake burger. I have heard they are scrumptious.

One issue we have developed is a leak in the window of our bedroom on MY side of the bed. It has rained hard here for a few nights...and the rain water just flows in through the top of the window, down the window and onto the floor. We have bath towels drying in the bathroom, over the passenger chair and of course one on the floor on my side of the bed. Of course I never know how wet it will be in the morning - it's a surprise every day! Hopefully it will not be raining on Wednesday and Ron can reseal it.

Prayer Request ~

Rob has asked us to return next year. We have not given him our decision as we would like to sit down with him for a few minutes to discuss a few things ~ like what will we be doing? who will we be working for? compensation? We are asking for prayer that God will give us clear direction and a peace in our hearts as we plan for next year.

Also, we are still looking for work for this winter. I will be back at Northwood as secretary sometime in October. But that is not enough for us to live on. Work for this winter is also dependent on our decision for next year. I think you get the picture.

Well I hate to cut this off but the timer just went off and I need to finish getting ready for work and walk over to the fairgrounds. I will catch up with more news soon.

Love and miss you all! Alice

Thanks to Kimberly I now know how to import my pictures with a watermark on them.


This is Debbie in our Blue Unit Show office. We were the team while Theresa was away getting treatment and surgery.


This is Eric at the Derby game. He and Diane hate to get their pictures taken. We took his and her pictures from the hole in the ticket box while we were at the Hispanic Festival in Portland.


And this is Diane in front of the Pop 1 game. We were pretty sneaky weren't we.

This is Tommy making a face. He left us after we finished in Hillsboro, OR. He is now going to school in Tacoma. We will him lots of luck.


And this is Michail. He is quite a character and also works with Diane and Eric.

This is Mike Presler relaxing outside of our motor home while we were in Portland. The bone yard was at the Funtastic Shows lot in Portland.




This is the covered bridge in Portland. Ron and I found it via Maggie, our GPS system.








This is Ron holding a sign about men and BBQ's. I think if you click on it, it will get bigger but I am not sure. This was taken Saturday at Lakefaire in Olympia when we didn't have to go to work till 5:00 that day.








That's all for now. I was just so excited that I figured out how to do a watermark that I had to do it with some more pictures.

Alice

Some Much Awaited Pictures

Here are a few random photos. I am trying to figure out how to put a watermark on my pictures. But so far no luck in figuring it out.


This is Kollin waving to us as she was heading out to go to the store. Kollin and her sweetie, Ruben, are one of the couples we have had share a meal with us. They both work in the Ride Department.









This picture of us was taken towards the end of July when we were in Portland for the Hispanic Festival. We were goofing off with our camera.








This is us in front of our Yellow Sub (also known as the ticket box). Isn't Ron looking good after losing 30 lbs?







This is a picture of my hair after Kollin fixed it. She does a great job doing French braids. She asked me if I wanted it tight. I said sure and the next thing I knew my eyebrows were almost above my forehead :)







This is a sign we had made while in Graham for the Pierce Co. Fair. We think this is a good statement of our new motto.









Here is a picture of the Super Loops at night. No way will you find me on this one.





And introducing the newest member of our family: CB Jr. Isn't he the cutest little thing. He never gets out of his bed, doesn't bark at strangers, doesn't cry or even make messes in our motor home and doesn't ask to be let out in the middle of the night.





He likes his bed right where Charlie Brown liked to sleep when we were watching TV.




Guess that's all from here. I still can't figure out how to get to Picassa to upload pictures to my blog so can't figure out how to get a watermark on them.

Talk to you all soon.

Alice

Almost Done in Salem

Whew! What a week it has been here in Salem. I am done here in Salem but Ron is busy working tear down as I write. His first job of the night was to tear down the ticket boxes. There were 7 in total. That means 18 monitors, printers, scanners need to be put away. Some go to the White Unit, some to the Blue Unit and the rest to the Red Unit. They will be tucked away till next season as we don't use these while in Puyallup. They have their own monitors, printers and scanners. I am sure he will also be doing garbage detail in those ticket boxes because the sellers just don't seem to know they can empty the garbage. After Ron is done with all the ticket boxes he will see where Brian or Kenny want him next. Ron is kinda hoping they say they don't need him for any other tear down so he can come back to the motor home and get a few hours sleep before we head to Puyallup.

I guess I should reflect on how the past 10 days have been here in Salem for the Oregon State Fair.

One change this spot was that Rob was gone to New York for a week and then Puyallup to get things ready for our arrival on Tuesday and opening day on Friday, September 10th. My boss this spot has really been 4 ~ Kevin, Rick, Ron Jr, and Mr. B. Each told me at different times that I did a good job. I was told by Rob on the phone on Saturday that our time in Eugene was the best Customer Service they have had their in a long time. Only had two nasty customers ~ I blogged about them under "Musings from the Customer Service Window."

In speaking with Rob he had had no complaints about my work here in Salem. Made me feel good as I had a few rough days. Once being accused of doing something that I had not done and the person would not listen to my side of the story and twice when an employee said something about me that was not true. Those three incidents made me ready to leave after this spot. After a lengthy discussion with Ron, many prayers sent up on my behalf, an email to Rob followed by a phone call with Rob things began to look up. Since Saturday, when things kinda came to a head, things have gone much better. I also believe it will help to be back working directly with Rob as my supervisor. I was encouraged by my conversation with Rob. One of the things Rob said on the phone was that we do a good job, we work well with the bosses and fellow employees and he did not want us to leave as he needed us in Puyallup. Just the things I needed to hear after dealing with the person causing problems.

Customer service interactions went fairly well. We did have one lady who got slightly injured who came up to the CS window. Both Ron Jr and I dealt with the situation and we thought she left with good feelings. Later we found comments from her on Facebook/Oregon State Fair page that said she was treated rudely by the person in Customer Service. I was thankful that Ron Jr was at the window when I interacted with her. He had me document what had happened and how I handled the situation just in case something further comes up with her. I had a few lost children. One little girl, about 6, made it from the Dinosaur exhibit all the way to the midway (quite the distance) and we had to call the Oregon State Police to come take her and reunite her with her parents. We also had a 9 yr old girl come from the Les Schwab area where the magic show was held make it to the midway where a customer found her crying alligator tears saying she could not find her mom & dad. After calling her parents (she knew their cell phone number) they were also happily reunited. Our last lost children were two little ones 7 & 5 who got separated from their dad. They started out in Kiddie Land and ended up at the CS window. They were happily reunited with him after about 20 minutes. For awhile there I thought maybe I was going to get me a few more grandchildren. Am very thankful that with the help of the Oregon State Police all of them were reunited back to their families.

Had a few scams tried to be pulled on me. One was someone selling used tickets as new ones ~ we are able to pull up every transaction for each ticket card sold. Found out who the person was selling the cards and they were dealt with by the supervisor. Also had a little boy, about 11 years old, who tried to tell me his wristband would not work. Funny thing, I scanned the wristband and found out it had been sold for the Tuesday night special and we were having the Wednesday night special at the time. I said to him, "I think you tried to scam me for a new ride bracelet when actually the one you have on is from last night. I think you were lying to me. Now what would your mom say if I called her on the phone and told her what you were doing?" His reply, "I don't think she would like it." At that he stepped down from the CS window and went on his merry way. We alerted the ride supervisors to make sure the ride operators were scanning the bracelets because people were trying to use the ones from last night. Also reminded them that the color of the stamp was different for Wednesday night from Tuesday nights special.

All in all, customer service went fine this week.

Ron and I did get to have an afternoon and evening off together. We walked around the fair, borrowed Wendy's car so we could go do laundry and then we went to Applebee's for dinner. It was nice to get away from the crowds of the carnival for an evening. While looking around the fair we bought a couple of Christmas presents. I told Kevin the next day, that we spent too much money and maybe it is not a good thing for us to have time off together.

Our time off was on Thursday. On Friday morning Claudia called me and asked if I wanted her to do my laundry ~ told her thanks but it was done. Maybe while we are in Puyallup she can do it for us. She only works part-time for Kevin & Johnny and since we only get one or maybe two days off in Puyallup (we have a 16 day run there) and so she said she would be happy to do our laundry when she goes to do hers, her daughter's and her boyfriends. I am so blessed by some of the friends we have made here.

One issue we had here in Salem was that we decided to upgrade our Verizon wireless card to a MiFi card. What a hassle that was for us. Bought it Thursday, tried to hook it up Thursday night. Could not get it to connect. Spent 2 hours on the phone Friday morning with Tech Support. They could not figure out what was going on. Spent another hour on the phone with them Saturday morning. Still no connection. Finally Ron got on the phone with them, spoke firmly and finally got connected to a supervisor AFTER the person speaking to him on the phone hung up on him. The supervisor told us to take the MiFi card back to the Verizon kiosk where we bought it and get another one. So on Saturday night I spent another 48 minutes on the phone with John and we were successfully able to get the wireless connected. I was never so happy as there were a few things I needed to do on the computer and needed the internet to do it.

I paid a couple of bills that needed to be paid and then I sent off our resumes (that I did up on Friday night after working 11 1/2 hours) and a letter for a position selling Christmas trees in the San Francisco Bay Area. That position would start on 11/27 and go to 12/24. We are hoping to hear from Kevin tomorrow or Wednesday. Would appreciate prayers as we search for and apply for winter work. I am also working on applications for next years holiday season with Dollywood in Tennessee. We are trusting the Lord and know he knows what we need to be doing and where we should land next. We just want to open and willing to go where He wants us to go.

All in all our time here in Salem has gone well. What would life be without a few bumps in the road. Well I just realized it is now officially Tuesday morning so I had better close this post for now. Need to ready the inside of the motor home and get a few hours of sleep so I am ready to drive to Puyallup tomorrow.

The plan for Tuesday is that we will go to Costco for gas and groceries and then head North on I5. We will be stopping in the Portland area to see Melissa, Kyle and Kambree (Brandon's friends from college days) and have lunch together. Then I will be taking the wheel and driving us to Puyallup. Ron plans on sleeping while I drive. We will then get settled into the bone yard at the fair grounds and then get ready for work on Wednesday morning. Not sure what time I have to report, will find that out tomorrow evening when I connect with Rob once we are in Puyallup.

Set up in Puyallup will be Wednesday and Thursday with opening day on Friday, September 10th.

Guess that's all for now...thanks for stopping by and reading about us. Don't forget to leave a note. We love to hear who is reading about our travels/work/life with the carnival. Will have another blog post for you in the next couple of days.

Prayer Requests ~
1. For safety on the road as we drive to Puyallup tomorrow (really today).
2. For set up in Puyallup to go well.
3. For the issues that I had last week truly to be in the past and that my attitude will continue to be one of graciousness flavored with lots of positive thoughts.

Take care.

Alice & Ron

PS...Almost forgot to mention the newest member of our family. CB Jr, joined us last Saturday. As many of you know, we had to get rid of Charlie Brown to come work for the carnival. Well, last Saturday while walking through the fairgrounds with Claudia I found the cutest little puppy just looking for a home. He looks very similar to CB (that's how come he is known as CB Jr.) I paid $10 for him. He is the cutest little thing. If you watch him long enough you can even see him breathe. CB Jr was waiting for Ron to come home from work. He slept in his little bed right on the printer near where Charlie Brown liked to perch. Ron did not notice him till Sunday morning after we played the hot/cold game. I will get a picture of him in the next couple of days and post them for you. Right now he is snuggled in his little bed on the chair behind the passenger seat. He is such a good little puppy. He never cries, whines or jump on people.

PSS ~ can you figure out what kind of puppy he is?

Am hoping to be able to post pictures Wednesday or Thursday once we are done with set up in Puyallup.

Love you all!

What are we doing?

Good morning!

Whew! I think I can finally take a breath. Let's see last time I checked in we were still in Eugene. What a week we have had.

Jump from Eugene to Salem. The guys worked from Sunday morning at 9:00 till Monday morning at 11:00. As soon as the guys were done on Monday Ron and I got the motor home ready to head out to Salem. We left Eugene about 12:30 p.m. Ron drove to Salem 65 miles away. Our first stop was Winco. I was in there for an hour ~ Ron slept while I picked up groceries. Next stop was Costco. Never one to miss free samples Ron joined me on that errand. Then off to the laundromat ~ what an experience. Ron slept while I was doing the work ~ a much needed nap for him. First the washer didn't work. Then the second washer didn't start. Finally got the clothes clean but then the first dryer didn't start. After 1 hour and 45 minutes later and three trips to find the gal working at the laundromat I got that necessary job done. Woke Ron up so we could head to the bone yard. Found the State Fair grounds, found the bone yard and learned that we could take this big ole beast 4~wheeling. We are camped in a grove of big oak trees and the ground is bumpy to say the least.

We got parked and set up and then I remembered we did not stop and get propane! So we undid everything and went in search of a gas station. Found two right across the street from each other. One was $2.99 per gallon for propane and the other was $2.85 per gallon. Of course the one with the cheaper propane was not the one we were at so we had to drive around the block and then pull in. Got the propane and headed back to the bone yard. We had not gotten propane since the middle of May when we pulled into Portland for the Rose Festival ~ we were surprised we had been able to go that long between fill ups. Got back in the bone yard and set everything up again. Time for our usual jump day dinner: Costco rotisseri chicken, garlic bread and salad. Had a great dinner and then went to bed about 8:45 ~ it had been a long day.

Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday Ron did set up of the rides. He worked 8 hours a day and so we had some time to relax in the evening. One evening we spent talking with Eric & Diane until the mosquitoes arrived for their dinner. We didn't feel like serving them dinner so we retired to our motor home and headed off to bed. Tuesday I worked 5 hours and then just a couple of hours on Wednesday and Thursday.

The fair opened at 11:00 Friday morning. We had a pretty uneventful day as far as the carnival went. I did have one problem. I got reamed out by someone for something I did not do. She yelled at me for a good ten minutes. I held the phone away from my ear. Later I talked with Ron about the situation. We decided we are going to talk to Rob next week when he gets back from New York. We have decided if it happens again we will be quitting. I will not work in a place where I am treated like a little child and basically called a liar. On Saturday I was told by Mr. B that I would have off most of the day. I was pleasantly surprised and looked forward to having some time off to enjoy the fair.

Later I found out why I got the day off. Someone told Mrs. B that I was way into overtime so they pulled Debbie off of her job and made her cover customer service for the day. This was another lie as up to Saturday I had only worked 23 hours. Ron and I talked about what happened and decided we will be bringing this up with Rob also. On a positive note I did enjoy my time off. Another gal, Claudia, from the White Unit also had off so we spent the afternoon walking around checking out the exhibits. I bought a cool ice cube tray from the Tupperware lady ~ it has a flat top with an opening to fill it with water. Once the ice is frozen I can pull off the top and voila I have ice cubes ~ great for us for when we travel we don't have water spilling all over.

I also bought Ron a surprise. As many of you know we had to get rid of our dog, Charlie Brown, to come work for the carnival. I had seen these little dogs that sit in their own bed and run off a battery. When they are lying there it looks like they are breathing. Most places have been selling them for $20 - too much for me. But this one lady had about 20 of them left and is retiring after this fair season so she had lowered them to $10. I decided to buy one and put him on the top of the printer where Charlie Brown used to sleep. I told Ron I bought him a surprise but did not tell him what it was. He didn't find it Saturday night and was getting frustrated on Sunday when he couldn't figure it out. So I played the hot/cold game with him. He finally found it and just laughed. So now CB JR has a home on the front dash watching over our rig. It was a great way to spend $10 and get a big laugh from Ron.

Sunday was a much better day for the both of us. Ron is getting more responsibility now. He now breaks five guys on their rides, does maintenance each morning on two rides and checks the scan guns in/out each morning. Customer service is going well. On Sunday afternoon I got a great compliment from Mr. B ~ he said he heard that our time in Eugene was pretty uneventful and that there were no major problems at Customer Service. He thanked me for doing a great job.

Yesterday was our first special at the carnival. The tickets were $0.35 each instead of $0.75. We had a steady crowd all day till it completely died around 10:00 p.m. We close at 11:00 p.m. I did have to be rescued from a customer by Rick once and by Ronnie B once. It was after the special went off ~ the discount tickets were stopped at 5:00 p.m. The first time one lady came up very angry. While she was buying her tickets the sale went off, she was only able to buy 3 cards at the sale price. It was not fair. I tried to explain to her that the sale ended at 5:00 p.m. sharp and the computer is programmed to stop selling at that time and there was nothing I could do. She got real beligerant with me and finally after about 10 minutes Rick came up to the window restated what I had been saying and said there was nothing we could do. She just looked at Rick dumbfounded and stomped down the stairs.

About 6:30 the second incident happened. These two ladies came up to the window. One whipped out a wad of bills, a ticket card and two receipts out of her bra. She said they had a problem. She went on to explain that she bought two cards but the cashier only gave her one card and two receipts. I put the number of the card (got it off the receipt) that she said she did not get into the computer system so I could cancel the card. But wouldn't you know it. She bought the card at 4:16 and it was used at 4:24 by three people going on rides. Ronnie asked her how many kids were in her party. She said 3 and quickly said, no we have five people in our party. I showed her on the computer how the card had been used at multiple rides for three persons each. I explained there was nothing I could do. It had been over two hours since she supposedly was not given the card. Her story just did not make sense. She had three kids, each ride was done by 3 people and it had taken over an hour to do those rides. She got quite angry at me. Wanted to speak to the owner. Ronnie said he was the owner. She wanted his name. He told her Ron. She started yelling. She was going to the fair board, we had ripped her off of $42. She was calling her congressman, the newspaper and the TV news to tell them Funtastic ripped her off of $42. Now her kids would not be able to enjoy the fair. And then they both stomped off the deck of Customer Service.

Other than those two incidents Customer Service went well. Now to start another day at the fair.

Some of you have asked about Ron writing a blog post so you can get a taste of the fair from his perspective. I will try to get him to do a blog post sometime in the middle of next week while doing set up at the Puyallup Fair when we work just eight hour days.

Well, it's time for me to head out the door for work so I will close for now. Thanks for reading about our adventure.

Prayer Requests ~

1. We have a dear friend who's son was involved in a very bad motorcycle accident early last week. Colby was on the motorcycle when he was hit broad side by a van. He is now at Harborview with many broken and fractured bones. He is on a ventilator and a morphine drip for pain. Please keep him and his family in your prayers as he struggles to get well and the family surrounds him 24 hours a day. The Moulaison's are a strong God loving family and are trusting the Lord for healing for Colby. Please also pray for strength for Kris, Eddie and the rest of the family as they are there with Colby.

2. Continued prayer for us as we finish up here in Salem and make the jump to Puyallup on Tuesday, 9/7. We open in Puyallup on Friday, 9/10. It is a 16 day fair. Pray for strength and safety for us as we work long hours and 16 days straight.

Thanks for all your support and love during our adventure of working with the carnival. I will do another update either Monday night or Tuesday once we are in Puyallup.

Thanks for reading. Don't forget to leave a note and let me know you were here.

Alice

Musings ~ Customer Service at Lane County Fair, Eugene, OR

Thoughts while working the Customer Service Window at Lane County Fair, Eugene, OR

~ seeing the rainbow, not in the sky but someone's hair color; nicely layered in rainbow colors
~ teal blue hair
~ bright purple hair
~ a couple of near altercations, one was quite loud the other one was two groups of teenage boys
~ one super angry customer who through his military ID at me, asked me if I was going to apologize. Told him I had said nothing that I needed to apologize for. He then asked one of the managers if he was going to apologize. Nothing was said from either of us. Was told by same man, he served his country in Iraq and he should be treated better by me. His issue, supposedly told by someone that the ride bracelets were good till 11:00 pm when the signs at all the ticket boxes clearly state that the ride bracelets ended at 5:00 p.m.
~two gals who kept praising me for a good job. I told them to tell that to the guys in the white shirts and ties. Didn't realize they were standing behind me (on my left side). The gals started saying in loud voices "Alice is the best! She knows how to do her job! Alice really helped me!" and then as they walked down the stairs they turned around and came back up and said "Alice is the best customer service person we have met." Made my day, especially when the guys told Mr. B about the ladies.
~ watching a little girl, about 9 years old, win at the Ring Toss game right across from the Customer Service window. She won a bike. I don't know who was more excited the little girl who won or the game operator.
~ a little boy, about 7 years old, lost his card. Stopped the card from being able to be used, gave him back his money to go buy a new card. He told me thank you and had a huge smile on his face. His parents also thanked me. Felt good to help someone who appreciated it. And make a little boys day have a good ending.
~ being yelled at because the bracelet special ended at 5:00 p.m. and that it should not end till the carnival closed. Thought about Ron's statement "does your business have discount specials every day?"
~ seeing so many happy little children enjoying themselves and seeing the parents enjoying the happiness of their children.
~ watching twelve or so clowns running through the midway laughing and joking with passerbys
~ listening to the show managers joking around
~ being fortunate to get a break the same time as Ron; enjoying our time together working and wandering around the fair

Hope you enjoyed some of the thoughts and observations made from the Customer Service window.

Alice

Our Week in Graham

Good morning on this beautiful sunny morning.

First off, thanks for all your prayers for us this past week and your words of encouragement and comments. All were so appreciated.

Got woke up to a text message at 5:23 this morning. Don't know what's with my cell phone service. Kollin sent the message at 10:30 p.m. last night. Couldn't go back to sleep so finally got out of bed at 6:30. Watched the news and got caught up on emails and Facebook. Thought I would let you know how our week went in Graham.

The weather was nice though it got quite hot a couple of days especially in the ticket box. The fair ran Thursday to Sunday. The carnival didn't open till noon each day so we were able to walk around each morning and check out the fair as the fair itself opened at 10:00 a.m. each day.

Found some cute things for the grands and also a new slim purse for me and a wallet for Ron. They are both leather. The gal who owns that booth is retiring this year so she had lowered her prices which was nice.

Wednesday we talked to Jamie and Brandon as well as Max. It was great to connect with them. Max was excited because they were flying home on Thursday from Hell, Michigan, where they had been for two weeks, and then Friday morning his PawPaw was picking him up in Lewiston and taking him to Boise for two weeks. Dan & Lynda (Danalyn's folks) have a pool and Max loves to swim. Plus he will be able to see his cousins during his stay. Brandon starts work today at his new school in Orofino. He will be teaching English this year as well as Head Coach for the Boys Basketball team. I think he is more excited about the basketball then the new teaching position :) Jamie says all is well on the home front with him, Suzanne and Opal. They are hoping to get her enrolled in a Special Needs pre-school in Bellingham. They should hear soon if she gets to attend there this year.

Saturday was not a pleasant day at work. I had computer problems from the get go. It would not connect to the server and once it did it would kick me off at random times. At one point Ron said I could not go on another break as every time I tried to log on after my breaks the computer would not work. At one point, I called Theresa and told her I quit and was crying...my computer did not like me. The funny thing is that on Sunday I had absolutely no problems. Who knows what was going on on Saturday.

Sunday & Monday was a better day than what we had anticipated. Work went well, tear down was done at 2:45 a.m. and we were on the road by 3:30 a.m. Ron drove to Tenino and then I drove to Vancouver where Ron took back over. He drove through Portland and boy was I glad...at 6:30 in the morning traffic was already a little crazy. I took over just south of Portland and drove the rest of the way to Eugene. I even exited off the freeway, drove to KMart in Salem and then got back on the freeway and continued on to Eugene. I had one small mishap. I had put the wrong address in Maggie (our GPS) and ended up on the wrong side of the fairgrounds. Plus I had one small bump in the road ~ I knocked over a garbage can. After I turned the corner and came upon a small round-a-bout Ron said he would drive the rest of the way to the fairgrounds. Geez...one little booboo and he takes over.

We got settled in Eugene. In the early evening, Albert needed to go to the store so we bummed along and they dropped me off at the laundromat to do the weekly laundry. Only took an hour to do two loads. Back to the bone yard and a raucous evening ~ and at our place no less. We had the awning out and people just gathered in the shade. At one point we were twelve people. We shared stories and heard stories about times past here in Eugene. The one downside to Monday was that Kenny did not get here till after 10:30 p.m. and so we had to use our generator to run the fridge and even the AC has it got to almost 95' in the motor home. We are now on city power and all is well in the rig.

Well I just noticed the time and I need to be at work at 9:00 so had better get off here and get ready. Sure hope everyone is having a great day. Talk to you all again soon.

Alice

Answered Prayer - Safely Arrived in Eugene, OR

Another quick post before I go crawl into bed for a much needed nap.

THANK YOU for your prayers. God is faithful and that makes us thankful.

I slept for about 4 hours though I was interrupted twice ~ the first time Eric was yelling at Diane he could not see her. He was backing their truck up to their fifth wheel so they could be ready to leave at 5:00 this morning. I was woke up with a start and jumped up off the couch and yelled out my door "Quiet out there. Some of us are trying to sleep!" It took me about 30 minutes to fall back asleep. About 12:30 a.m. I was woke up by Albert's car alarm that was honking with lights blinking. Rumor has it a raccoon tripped the alarm. I am not sure ~ all I know is that the alarm went on on on for over six minutes. It not only woke me up but also woke up Rick and he was six rigs down from the car. I was right next door. It took me another 45 minutes or so to fall back asleep. Ron finished tear down about 2:45 a.m. He took a quick shower, went and got Marva and we were on the road by 3;15 a.m. Ron drove from Graham to Tenino and then I drove to Vancouver. Ron then drove through Portland when I took over the driving. I drove to Eugene with a stop at KMart so Marva could pick up a ratchet for Terry. I picked up a couple of sun shades for the driver and passenger windows. I then drove to the street by the fairgrounds with only one mishap ~ I knocked over a trash can in the road. I will try to post that picture in my next post. Ron took over driving into the actual fairgrounds. We found the bone yard and where we were to park. Ron backed us right into our spot.

We then got the motor home level, the awning out, the rug in place, two lawn chairs out. I then went to McDonalds with Scott & Marva. While I was gone Ron got the TV set up and the satellite up and ready to hook up. We finished setting up the satellite after we ate lunch.

Ron is now napping, Marva and Scott are off to set up the games and I am getting ready for a much needed nap. I think I already said that. I just wanted to let everyone know that we made it safely. I drove the major part of the trip and Ron was able to sleep for about 3 1/2 hours of the trip. He must be getting comfortable with how I handle the motor home.

I will update again either tonight or tomorrow when I want to add some much over due pictures.

Alice

A quick post and prayer request

Good morning Everyone!

Just a quick note to ask for prayer as we finish up here in Graham with the Pierce Co. Fair. We work the carnival till 6 or 7 p.m. and then Ron has tear down all night. Once he is done there we will be getting right on the road to go to Eugene, OR for the Lane County Fair that opens on Wednesday.

I will be driving the first three or four hours so Ron can get some shut eye. Please pray for safety on the road for us.

Love to you all.

Alice