Sunday, March 20, 2011

Geocaching While Work Camping at Escapees CARE

While work camping at Escapees CARE Assisted Living RV Park I was surprised to find a Geocache within walking distance from the building.

On 3/19/2011 I perused the area and found the cache near a gigantic red ant hill. As soon as my hands went close to the hill where the cache was stashed, red ants came out in full force waiting to capture another victim. My thoughts were this may be a challenge and I needed to conquer those ants.

I went back to our motor home located on Work Camper row and my husband, Chuck, graciously volunteered to pour some ant poison on and near the mound. We waited one day and returned on 3/20/2011 to find most of the ants dead. With rubber gloves in hand he opened the hiding place, stuck his hand down the tunnel and grabbed the cache with full force.

I was looking forward to finding a CARE Bear but they were gone and it looked as if people had not left replacements for the bears. I inserted my replacement, a cute little yarn bookmark that was handmade by one of the CARE residents; closed the container; put it back in it's original hiding place; signed my Geocache name,Wheel Estate Travelers; and left feeling I had not only won the challenge of the geocache but had also conquered the red ants head on.

Picture clues of cache located at Escapee's Care and good luck:

Happy Trails!



Friday, March 18, 2011

Trade Days in Livingston, Texas

While work camping at Escapees CARE, Inc. in Livingston, TX in March 2011, we went to Trade Days located at Pedigo Park in Livingston. This is a monthly event that occurs Friday thru Sunday before the 3rd Monday of the month throughout the year.

Livingston Trade Days opened in 1999 as part of an initiative to promote tourism to the area. This monthly event is managed by the City of Livingston and receives support from the Livingston Specialty Merchants' Guild. There are two covered pavilions and open-air lots that are host to a variety of food, arts and crafts, and antique vendors.

We went on a Friday, and the hours through Saturday are 9:00 am - 5:00 pm and Sunday is 9:00 am - 3:00 pm; Parking and Admission is free.

There was a variety of trade booths and I have listed some of them below as pictures. I found that most of these vendors had excellent prices and very unique items to sell.

After perusing and buying some great things, we treated ourselves to a delicious homemade banana pudding with vanilla crust that was to die for and is pictured below, but the best part of this deal was it was only $1.00 for a nice size serving.

With an eclectic selection of wares, there was something for everyone. If you're ever in Livingston, Texas during Trade Days this is an event you cannot miss.

Happy Trails!

Click on each picture to enlarge and view details:



































Saturday, March 12, 2011

Work Camping at Escapees CARE in Livingston, Texas

Work camping at Escapees CARE in Livingston, Texas has not only been a privilege, but it has allowed Chuck and I to learn more about how much volunteer services are needed. The residents who were former RVers, many of them full timers, and some going through recovery of a major illness, always come up to us all and tell us how much we are appreciated and thankful that there are volunteers out there willing to help with the much needed assistance that contributes towards their staying here at minimal cost.

This is the only facility in the country like it and with the work campers helping out, Escapees CARE continues to run smoothly. You can participate in this worthwhile cause for 1 or 2 months, and some stay for longer. For more information and contacts on work camping at CARE please follow this link http://www.escapeescare.org/Volunteering.asp. Jobs that we have performed include helping out in the kitchen; taking meals out to residents' rigs, if they are unable; "On Call" where you work throughout the day helping with count for meals, call residents if they do not arrive for meals, follow-up on incidents that might require ambulance or the nurse on duty; and at times help dump their tanks. During the year helping out with holidays, Health Fair, Garage Sale, and other activities is also performed.

Most of us meet at the round table near the door where we can greet the residents as they come in. They love to interact so we are also allowed to interact and talk to them about their RVing experiences and boy do they have a lot of fun and interesting stories. Many of them work camped here years ago and have fond memories of their experiences.

Work Campers
Work Camper Linda Pondering Over Key Lime Pie Disaster


Carl the Cook Telling his Daily Jokes

Residents Enjoying Their Meal



One of the Board Members at CARE
Chuck and I started March 1st and will continue work camping through April 1. If you are interested in work camping here at Escapees Care, you can contact the number provided on this link http://www.escapeescare.org/Volunteering.asp. Since we'll still be here in April, maybe our paths will meet.

Happy Trails!