Our RV and home. The RAM 3500 turbodiesel dually - a nice car when not towing - a powerhouse that pulls the 16,000 lb rolling house up a 10% grade hill at 50 MPH. Above the bedroom area is the broadband internet dish.

Shelburne Camping Park - Shelburne Vermont

Shelburne Camping is not a place we would have chosen, but we saw advertising photos which seemed quite nice.  However, these photos did not say 1,000 words; they kept the truth hidden.

At first, it seems somewhat rundown.  The sites are small even though they say "Big Rigs Welcome."  They may be welcomed, but these are tight sites for big rigs like ours.  There are 78 sites here of which about half seem to be occupied by permanent rvs.   There is a tent section that does not have electric hook ups and then the rest is for rvers who are vacationing or part time to full time rvers.  The owners are a husband and wife in their 40s with two small children.  One mother-in-law works here along with another lady and two maintenance men.  They seem very hard working and constantly trying to make improvements, but there is much needed to be done here.

We have been in campgrounds where there were permanent occupants and for the most part, they have a well maintained unit and grounds.  This is not the case here.  At first, we wanted to leave, but then decided that part of this adventure was to see America in its many different ways.

The permanent folks here are varied.  We felt a little uncomfortable at first as these folks are not people we are used to being with.  Many of them are very poor and living a really marginal existence.  The first day, as we were trying to get into our very tight spot, a man in his early 30s came over to help us as he had 6 years experience driving tractor trailers.  He was very helpful, and we have gotten to know him a bit over our first week.  He lives in a fairly run down small rv trailer that is about 20 feet long which equates to 160 square feet of living space.  He has no telephone and a very old minivan. 

There is a single women, maybe in her 30s, who has a slightly larger rv which gives her maybe 180 square feet of living space.  This is an old trailer with no slideouts and small windows by the bedroom area, one small window in the back, a door on one side with a small window, and two small windows on the other side across from the door side.  We have waved to her, but not talked to her.  She was right behind us until she was moved to another spot the other day.  Not sure why.

Behind us and one space over was a fellow in his 40s in a small travel trailer with Florida plates.  He apparently, was here for contract work and lived out of the trailer.  He left this morning.

Another fellow across the street from us, in his 30s, has a small travel trailer.  He keeps his motorcycle there during the day and uses his truck for work.  He is gone from Friday after work until Sunday evening.  Seems to have been living here for some time.

All of these folks are people we are not used to being around in that they are truly folks without safety nets.  They all work everyday, full time.  They come home to these very tiny marginal homes where their existence is very tenuous.  If they get sick, or their car breaks down, they could lose their jobs.  If they lose their jobs, that is the end of any income.  These are folks with no savings and no insurance.  They have a job and work hard, the American way, but still they live on the edge.

There are others here too that live like the above group.  Some are parents with small children, some are single moms with children, and some are single dads with children.  School is still in session here so most of the children are gone during the day.  I start seeing them in late afternoon.  I am not sure if anyone is home when they get home from school.  Our site is next to the small pool that is available here, and I notice the children always seem to have a parent with them in the pool area.  These parents seem to be trying to give their children quality time, but everyone looks like they are really struggling.

When I walk around the campground with Wubie, just by the nature of an outing with a cat, the going is slow.  I notice that when these folks are home, they are inside their unit, and I can hear the television.  Most camps we have been in, folks are out and about either walking or sitting outside or visiting with the other folks, but these folks, other than when they are outside with their children, come home from work and stay in their unit.

This campground is behind a 1950s type motel that is laid out in a wide V shape and behind it are small one room log cabin type buildings and behind that is the campground.  The motel is not a motel.  It is home to very low income folks as are the cabins.  I don't see folks there at all during the day.  Again, I think they are at work.  In the evening and on weekends they are there.  This is housing that I can not imagine anyone dreaming of having.

The other day one of the men was working on his car, and I suspect until he gets it fixed, there is no way to get to work.  I think the interior of these units are still set up as they were for a motel and any cooking facility or sink is make-shift at best.

People I have know in the past that were struggling with bills, getting cars fixed, buying clothes for children etc seem, to me now, that they were well off compared to what I have seen here.  We are known as the wealthiest country in the world, and I wonder, how what I see, can be.  I do not know their history, but what they want and work for is no different than anyone else.  I do not believe there is anyone who would want to live like this, and I can not imagine the fear and worry these folks live under where an unexpected health problem or car problem could be financially disastrous. 

When I lived in other places, I guess I just assumed that people I met in the things I did, lived like me.   We see folks, they seem like us, so they must live like us, but of course, that is not so.  I wonder how many Americans live in this terrifying way that I see these folks living.

tg

 

 

 

Kentucky My Old Kentucy Home

May 2005

Rolling hills, green green grasses, and fragrant meadows of jasmine.  South Central Kentucky is rural with many family farms on acres and acres of land.  There is a vastness to this land that is populated by few. 

There is a Mennonite community around the countryside of Bailey's Point where we RVd for two weeks.  These folks do not use mechanized machinery and can be seen in horse and buggy as they get around the roads.  They farm with horse or mule to do the work that tractors do.  These are friendly folks who wave to you as you drive by.  At the local Wal-Mart, we saw a horse and buggy tied outside in the parking lot.  The men wear wide brim straw hats, long sleeved shirts and slacks or coveralls usually in brown or black.  The women where bonnets with full length dresses in brown or black with a white apron over the front of the dress.  Most of the men have long beards and the women long hair. 

There is a town called Scottsville that is a reminder of the 1950's.  The town is built around a town center square or plaza where parking is facing into the sidewalks.  Folks stop and talked to each other, and you see very few foreign cars anywhere in the area.  The public library has seven parking spaces in its parking lot.  There is still the old fashioned barber shop and shoe repair place.  They have a Sonic drive-in diner where each parking slot has a menu and you order your meal from the car and they bring it out on a tray for you to eat at your vehicle.

Our visit to this part of Kentucky has been very peaceful and a reminder of how America used to be.

 

tg

 

 

 

Tarpon Springs Florida

April 2005

 

Tarpon Springs is amazing.  It is just north of Tampa-St. Petersburg,but is a quaint town with much character.

My brother Frank lives there and on a visit with him and Mary, they took us downtown.  Downtown is a Greek town with wonderful bakeries and restaurants.  One side of Main Street is a waterway with sponge and fishing boats docked.  It is a working person's town with interesting shops for the tourists.

We had the greatest Greek food there.  Driving around, there are homes that are small and charming and then largest expensive homes all with lovely Live Oak trees galore.  There is beach access and lovely parks.

The most amazing thing we saw was a low income neighborhood that had been going quickly downhill as folks had jobs, but low income, unable to make repairs among probably many other things they needed, but had to forego for lack of money even though they have jobs and are working.  Tarpon Springs was able to get a grant from the government--prior to Bush--and this neighborhood is well along to being refurbished.  The houses that have been worked on have renovations that make them cozy homes with pastel painted outside, nice lawns and an overall sense of pride as the neighborhood moves towards being the kind of neighborhood everyone wants to have themselves. 

 

tg

 

Bailey's Point Recreational Area - Kentucky

May 2005

It feels like the 1950s.  Five loops of about 32 campsites around each loop makes for an intimate setting. The sites are arranged around a circle by a paved road with campsites on either side of the road.  The center of the circle is a grassy meadow with maples, oaks, black walnuts, and other hardwoods.

We are on a peninsula so Barren River Lake can be seen everywhere you go.  This is a U.S. Army Corp of Engineers project built in the 1960s to control flooding in the area.  The lake is 10,052 acres but from every vista looks like a large lake--not the massive waterway of 10,052 acres.  You can see across to the other shore which is covered by trees and coves.  Each of these coves leads to another section of the lake that cannot be seen from the shore you stand on.  When I look out at the lake, I immediately am reminded of the movie On Golden Pond.

Monday through Friday, there are only 6 or 8 of us on Loop A.  We become quite friendly and spend time each day talking to each other.  Two of the folks are farmers in the area.  One goes to hay his fields a couple of day s this past week and the other has a dairy farm.  The farmer who went to hay his field, told us he used to have a dairy farm and came quite close to being gored to death by his bull.  The bull had gotten loose and he went to secure him, but the bull charged him immediately.  He tried to make a run for it, but slipped in the mud being gored repeatedly in his upper legs.  With every ounce of strength he had, he hauled himself over the fence and that saved his life.

Another neighbor had the Cochlear implant which is a new device that actually restores hearing.  It is implanted on the scalp behind one ear with a battery pack attached to your belt like a cell phone.  This man had been completely deaf for a number of years and with the Cochlear implant, he has his hearing restored.  

Friday through Sunday the campground it full and it is quite wonderful.  This reminds me of my childhood in the 50s when neighborhoods were full of people outside their homes--sitting on front porches and talking to neighbors as they were on evening strolls.  Here families come on weekends.  Usually three or four sites are reserved by families and relatives--Grandma and grandpa, mom and dad, uncles and aunts, and many children and dogs.   Walking through the campground, we see folks sitting outside conversing, children playing outside, riding bikes, playing on the shores of the river.  Folks are cooking and eating outside.  At the end of the day, there are towels hanging out to dry from swimming or boating and folks sitting around the campfire.

I remember neighborhoods I lived in where Walter and I would go for walks and there would be no sign of life in the neighborhood.  There were houses and lawns, but seldom did we meet anyone on our walks.  So many of the houses in the neighborhood housed families that we had never ever seen or met in all the time we lived there.

Here there are people every where and very friendly--not just hello, but how are you, nice day, have you done this or have you done that.  It feels like a community should feel. 

tg