Flamingo on a Stick

Green River Lake We have settled in here at Campbellsville and are parked at Heartland Campground, a 10 minute walk to the entrance to Amazon’s Fulfillment Center where we have started working. Three years ago we worked for Amazon at their Coffeyville KS center. This facility seems a little better organized than Coffeyville and we are happy with our decision to come here.  We are working D shift which is 5:30 pm to 4 am. The first 2 weeks our days are Tuesday to Friday but next week it shifts to Wednesday to Saturday. First 2 weeks are also only 5 hour days but that jumps up to 10 hour days with the possibility of mandatory overtime of an extra 10 hour shift. We anticipate that from mid November to Christmas it will be 50 hour weeks. We did get our preferred job of picking so that is good. Picking entails lots of walking. Its not a hard job and John calls it being paid to lose weight, as we typically will walk at least 5 miles (sometimes as many as 10) in a shift....

We have arrived in Campbellsville KY and tomorrow we have our first day with Amazon. So for the next 2 months we will be back to the work world. On our pre-paper work it looks like we will will be on nights Tuesday thru Friday, and it looks like picking but we won’t really know until tomorrow. Whatever it is, we are ready to go. Campbellsville is actually a nice little town especially compared to Coffeyville KS where we previously worked for Amazon. This town actually has a decent selection of stores like Walmart, Lowes, JoAnn’s Fabrics, Penny’s and out our way is a new very nice Krogers. The campground is directly across the street from the warehouse so an easy walk. It really is just a gravel parking lot with hook ups but the family running it seems very nice and the laundry and community room are also in good shape. Most people camped here are working at Amazon so we are already meeting lots of nice folks.  Inside the visitors center of Wild Turkey Visitors cent...

Sunset on Lake Carlyle (new header photo also Lake Carlyle) Boulder Rec area Carlyle Lake After leaving the St. Louis area we drove a short hour plus to Carlyle Lake and Reservoir near Carlyle IL. Campgrounds here were beginning to close, several had their last day as we were driving in, so I first chose the Boulder Rec. Area on the east side of the lake. It was a little further from town than I expected but we were ready for some time away from the hustle and bustle. We enjoyed all our visits with friends and family but I was missing just easy laid back time for just the two of us. That is exactly what we got here. The weather was beautiful and we took walks and rode our bikes around the campground. I did some cooking which I also longed for, we had been eating out entirely too much. It was pretty much a perfect week to recover from a busy summer and get ready for our stint at Amazon. Nice sites along the lake The Boulder Rec. area is one of 5 COE campgrounds ...

Missouri Botanical Gardens Yep, one more post. I now have had more posts this week than during the whole summer. I think it just feels so good to be back on the road. It doesn’t hurt that the weather has been almost perfect.  Early in the week we got the bikes on the truck and took off to ride the Katy Trail. This is the longest rail trail in the US. I’ve heard a lot about it and wanted to get at least one day on the bikes. I found a good parking lot for us and then we rode both directions for awhile. I wanted us to stop and check out Trailhead Brewing near the St. Charles trail head. We had a hard time figuring out where it was exactly and before we found it we were hungry so we stopped at Hendricks BBQ for a bite to eat and a brew.  They had a great selection of craft brews that made it well worthwhile and a good brisket sandwich. Once fortified we finally found Trailhead brewing for just a brew. I have to say we were disappointed in the beers. The part of the tra...

You are in for a treat. In true John Dean style a special Captain's Log. Enjoy She's wise beyond her year and a half. This is what I've learned so far:   It's better to be outside if you can. There's lots of interesting stuff outside. If you're outside, you need to examine the ground. The best way to do this is to just squat down and get your hands into the dirt or water or whatever it is you're squatting in. It might help to taste things once in awhile. Walk when you can, but if someone offers to push you around in a stroller, that works too. If things aren't going your way, stomp your foot and make a noise. If nobody notices, then give it up; there are too many other things you could be doing. When it's nap time, take a nap. Everything else will wait. When eating, try everything on your plate. If you don't like something just remove it from your mouth and put back on your plate. If you're wa...