I spent yesterday practicing being lazy, and I think I’m getting pretty good at it. I did not do one bit of work all day long. I could get used to this life. Well, at least until the money runs out and I have to go back to work. But I think if we really cut corners and stretch it, I can hold out until Wednesday evening or even Thursday morning before that happens. 🙂
We slept in later than we have the last few days, which was really nice. Then I spent the morning answering e-mails, catching up on some of my favorite blogs, and looking for every excuse I could to do nothing worthwhile at all.
A little after noon I went up to the campground office to talk to manager Scott Woolley about upgrading our Thousand Trails membership to the Elite option. I’ve been kicking this around for a few months now, and I finally decided to bite the bullet and go for it. It gives us access to another 40-some campgrounds. Most of those campgrounds are in the mid-Atlantic states or the Pacific Northwest, both places we enjoy visiting. And instead of staying for two weeks in a park before we have to leave, with the upgrade we can stay three weeks. And twice a year we can buy a fourth week for just $29. It also has some other benefits, including frozen dues at age 62 (which isn’t all that far away for us), access to all Encore parks for $23 a night, and an upgrade to our RPI membership.
Scott is a nice guy and since he is not working on commission, there was no pressure at all. He explained the benefits of the upgrade and answered all of my questions fully. I like working with an upfront guy like that. Over the years we have run into some pushy salesmen, and I walk away fast from all of that nonsense.
Campground memberships are not for all RVers and I always tell new fulltimers to wait until they have been on the road at least a year before they invest in a campground membership, so they can define their traveling style. But, if you use them a lot, they will pay for themselves.
Just as with everything else in life, we have discovered that our needs have changed over time and our traveling style has evolved. There was a time when we thought nothing of boondocking for weeks on end. In fact, our longest stretch was seven months straight without being plugged into shore power anywhere. But we have reached the point in our lives where we prefer the luxuries of a full hookup RV site. We can still boondock when we need to, and we can get by quite well on just a 15 amp electrical hookup at an RV rally, but given our druthers, we’ll opt for a nice RV site in a comfortable campground these days.
After I got all that business taken care of, I came back to the motorhome and took a well-deserved nap. Naps are good. I like naps!
About 3:30 PM we drove into Cottonwood to do some banking and then found a yarn shop in the Old Town section, where Terry did some browsing while I sat in the Explorer and read a book on my Droid smart phone, since I had left my Kindle at home.
At 5 PM we met Dan and Jenny Sheppard at the Sizzler in Cottonwood for dinner. The food was good and the company was even better, and it was a good thing it was a slow night at the restaurant because we sat and chatted until 8 o’clock. The time just slipped on past and we never even noticed.
Back at the campground, we watched a little bit of TV, Terry was busy crocheting, and I resume my quest to perfect the art of being lazy. I think I’ve about got a handle on it. 🙂
Thought For The Day – If you lose one sense, your other senses are enhanced. That’s why people with no sense of humor have an increased sense of self-importance.
Nick Russell
World-Famous, New York Times Best Selling Author, and All-Around Nice Guy!
I think if laziness is “Art”, if it OK if I refer to myself as “Michaelangelo”?
Or maybe it’s a “Science”? I guess then I’d be Steven Hawking.
He don’t move much either.
(all grammar mistakes are intentional)
We worked with Scott when we hosted a Golden Spike rally there. Super nice and so accomodating. Enjoy those naps while you can.
Enjoy your blogs Nick. Good to see and learn the fine arts of fulltiming. Now I see I have to learn another thing about the fulltime life “Naps”. Its always interesting how one can learn these things in blogs and forums. Thanks for the headsup on naps Nick, now I don’t feel guilty!!!
Dave
Good to know Scott Wooley is still at Verde Valley. We SO enjoyed our stay there in 2007 and have wanted to go back ever since – maybe next year we’ll get west again. Other than Debbie Davis who was THE best Thousand Trails manager (Peace River 2006) – Scott is definitely our favorite. Say HI for us if you get the chance Nick. And tell us your decision on the TT upgrade.
TTN Verde Valley is our favorite. We got transferred to Phoenix just after joining TTN early last century, and Verde Valley was just being developed. We got to watch the growth, as we visited the park at least once a month. Hardly get to any TTNs these days, doggone it. As for being lazy, I am that, but I hate to sit and do nothing useful for more than about 5 minutes. That causes me much conflict, wanting to laze about and then not liking doing it. Is there a pill for that?
We enjoyed and used TTN when we were full timers, especially with staying 3 weeks in AZ & NW was great, Verdi Valley and Scott were the best. We now have frozen our membership now that we are off the road – bummer. Anyone want to buy a TTN?
Pat please contact me johneloc@yahoo.com
I hear you about being lazy. I had an emergency appendectomy 2 weeks ago and was out of work for 12 days. Best 12 days of my life! I got to write, watch the Price is Right, read, and nap.
Nick, so happy that you are perfecting your napping skills, you deserve it. Right now we are at a ‘ROD campground in Wheeler OR, it was a TT campground but sold out, not sure who the present owner is. We have been membership owners now for 8 yrs and have been happy with it. Because of our full time statues we use it all the time. It has paid for it self like you mentioned. We were sad when TT and ROD parted company for some reason since it cut down on on the places we can stay, but thankfully they are still RPI and we were saved, $10 a night is a deal. We still boon dock once in a while, but like you I like my comforts. Take care and when you do hit the road, be safe, please give Terry a hug from me.
I am working on perfecting my afternoon “Nappy Hours”. Practice, practice, practice
Thanks for the info on the RV memberships. We’re just starting out and I’ve wondered about that. We will take your advice and revisit the idea in a year.