Category Archives: Workamper Rendezvous

Tuesday morning was the beginning of our Rendezvous experience and we were looking forward to it.  Up to now, we had really not met any other Rvers and we hoped we would meet lots of people here.  We got into the room for the opening session and put down our books to get some coffee.  When we got back to the table, our campground neighbors were sitting at the same table where we had placed our books.  It had to be fate!  Fred and Danette were from Washington state and had just sold their home and moved into their RV full-time.  Workamper was new to them as well but they were hoping it would help them live the lifestyle.

For anyone who never heard of it, Workamper is an organization that promotes and supports full-time and part-time workers  (paid and volunteer) traveling by RV to employers and sightseeing opportunities.  Their support includes making opportunities known to its members, as well as placement training. We have met many couples who made the decision to sell their home and live full-time in their RV travelling all over the country and either volunteering (in return for a free campsite) or getting a salary to augment their budgets.  We heard about an opportunity with Amazon that has three hubs around the country and uses Workampers to get their Holiday shipments out from November 1st to December 23rd.  There are amusement parks, National Parks, State Parks, fish hatcheries, and all types of businesses who have learned about this resource for short-term employment.

It was fun meeting experienced Workampers and hearing their stories of successes and some not so successful jobs, as well as meeting other RVers who were only thinking about the lifestyle.  We met some people who have travelled the entire country, including Alaska working part-time for six weeks at a time and getting to do all the sightseeing they wanted in these areas.  Sounds like a neat way to travel.  We also learned a lot about RVing like driving tips, maintenance tips, security tips, etc.  All in all the three days was very well spent.

We were leaving AR on Sunday right after church, so on Saturday night Jim started the checking you do before you pull out, only to find out we had a flat tire on the RV.  Here it is 6pm on Saturday night in a small town that rolls in the sidewalks at 6pm.  When an RV tire needs changing, you don’t have any options but to call in the professionals.  There is no way to safely jack up an RV by yourself.  By 8pm we had the nicest service man show up with all the right POWER tools to get the job done and a wonderful attitude to boot.  We had picked up a screw or nail somewhere along the way and it leaked all the air during the week we were parked.  With our spare in place, we were on our way to Texarkana, Texas by 12:30pm on Sunday.

What in the world is in Heber Springs, Arkansas!  Why would you take all those small back roads to get there!  As we drove into town, we saw the sign that said, “Population 7,823” or something like that.  We started driving very early this morning to get here before dark and it was now early evening and we were tired.  It’s not that “good” tired from physical work, but a drained tired from the stress of driving with semis and bad roads.

About 4 miles outside of the city, we find our campground and its never good when the first thing you see is a For Sale sign.  We pulled in and found site #1, which was supposed to be ours, but the office was about 1/4 mile away.  Rather than pull in and have to move, we just left the rig in the drive and walked to the office.  That gave us an up close look at rundown cabins and old campers with enough stuff around them to qualify as a mini junk yards.  It was Sunday, so the office was closed, (the office is on the dock of this old fishing camp) but the owner lives in a home close by and he met us in his yard.  He welcomed us and told us to just to pull in and come back later to pay.  There was cable but no internet.  He is a Nascar fan!

We backed in giving us a view of the river behind us and started to hook up all the necessities for camping like water, sewer, electric, and cable.  Everything is old and rusted and kind of iffy and we can’t find the cable.  I’m not staying a week without cable, bad enough there is no internet.

Jim called the owner, and he was at our site in what seemed like seconds (he drove down).  He made sure all the hook ups were working before he left and then he said, “You are my guests.  Don’t hesitate to call me if you need something”.  The impressive part was he meant it sincerely and had already proved it by his actions.  We were parked next to a Redwood fifth wheel that was also new and just as big.  Judging from the slides, we guessed it had a similar floor plan as ours.  They even had the same 2012 Ford 250 Diesel Pickup truck as us.  It would be Monday night before we ever saw anyone to speak to and he seemed like a nice guy.  We were surprised to find out they were going to the Workamper Rendezvous as well.

Because we left so early on Sunday, we were hoping to get settled early enough to go to church services Sunday night.  We dressed and hurried off to find something to eat and the building.  All we found open on the way towards the church was a Subway and we were their only customer.  Unfortunately, when we found the church building, we were their only customer as well.  We double checked the sign, and there was supposed to be a service, but no one was there.  The cornerstone said, “Church of Christ, Established 33 A.D.” which I thought was really cool.

As we always do, we scoped out the town on Monday and found an assortment of fast food restaurants including McDonald’s which is good.  Not because of the food, but they always have free internet.  We had lunch and sent emails and took care of all the things that you do on internet.  Oh, the other thing I found out was that Sprint has no data towers in the entire state of Arkansas and my fancy cell phone was worthless!

I’m already over 600 words so I’ll stop here.  I don’t want to put you to sleep.