From Oklahoma, ironically, we went back to Jim's home state of North Carolina for a two to three-month assignment. It felt familiar, yet it felt different. At this point Jim was still doing single assignments, which means there was only one surveyor in the area- him. Although in Oklahoma he did work for about three weeks with someone who had been trained at the corporate office in Atlanta, Georgia. He joined Jim just for hands on experience.

Back to North Carolina-he was actually assigned to our old hometown. So, we were able to visit old friends and family members. It was interesting because we were seeing the world from a campground rather than our former house.

In areas that are affected by hurricanes and flooding, do not stay in a coastal park during that season. You will be evacuated without a refund or your camper will be stuck there and probably suffer water and storm damage. You will not be able to access it. We had a little storm in NC, that dumped about four inches of water on the ground, which did not soak in for two days. Have you ever tried to walk a dog with a plastic shopping bag taped on each of its legs? Trust me it is an adventure you take at least four times a day. And if you can find the droppings, you will have to reach through the water. And if you don't have rubber boots you will be in flip flops in yukky water. Oh, the joys.

Now, before I forget, we attempt to go yearly, to one of the three big rig rallies, that are a week long. There is a large one in Hutchinson, Kansas in October. We had tried for three years to make it to that one and finally did so last year. There is another in Crossville, Tennessee in April, we made that one two years in a row and the third is in Caldwell, Idaho in June- usually the Father's Day weekend. These are for big rigs owners, but there are other educational and entertaining rallies all over the country at various times of the year. Check them out.

At one such rally, I learned to make homemade whiskey, a rather interesting talent. At another I dabbled in painting- pictures that I gave away as Christmas gifts- I will never be a Rembrandt but they were something I did. There is always something of interest for the ladies-how to use a convection oven correctly, folding ideas, open house tours for newbies and wannabes, craft ideas.

I usually set aside a couple of hours a day to do 'stone readings' or 'card readings', which people find interesting. This is one of my hobbies that I continue to do and have several followers, since I do offer and managed to do them online. Of course, my other hobby is FanStory. I enjoy reading, reviewing and writing.

I knit and crochet as well. I like working with stones, so I gather, crush, pack in tiny vials and sell quartz crystals. The other thing I enjoy is baking and making candies-Jim is gluten sensitive, so I make all of our baked goods, homemade Reesie cups and various barks. Me- mmmm, I avoid a lot of these for health reasons. But I do have hobbies to keep me busy.

For those who are interested I do attempt to answer questions in the next chapter from reviews, so here goes one. In most cases we are connected to a power source in the park. When we are travelling the camper is connected to the truck, both have battery sources if needed and, I think the camper batteries will run for 24 hours without hooking to an electrical source. During travel times only, the fridge runs off the batteries. We do have a small generator we use if we absolutely have to stop over-night and a park is not available. Yes, it is noisy, since it is on the back of the truck and the bedroom in the camper is in the 5th wheel hitch area. In our former camper, the fridge was operated on gas when electricity was not available, not so with this one. In most cases the parks provide both 50 and 30 watt services, we tend to go with 50 watts, we do have a converter box that allows us to use 30 watt if that is all there is. I cheat and let Jim deal with all that lol. Our agreement is he deals with outside stuff, although I did have to learn just in case, and I deal with the inside stuff. Yes, I know the fridge is inside, but the power is an outside system.

While I think about it, there is another insurance that you all need, if you become full time RVers- I know it is available in the USA, Canada, I believe Mexico and some countries in Europe. It is a policy that in the event of someone in your camper being involved in an accident or serious illness, such as heart attack, this company will fly you and your camping family back to your home base, as well as your pets. Then they will arrange to have a bonded driver bring your camper to your home base. If you are interested, I will provide the contact information via a private message.

Okay back to the rallies- the men tend to get together and discuss 'men things' such as campers and big rigs. It is interesting that if they open the hood to their rigs, then every man in the park will congregate around that truck and solve the issue.

Whew, now I can return to North Carolina, well actually I am done there.

To be continued........