1st workamper job

[Pamela]

Landed my 1st WK job!

Postby Pamela » Thu Feb 13, 2014 12:53 am

Well I am past excited about my quickly up and coming WK job at Vallecito Lake (Vallecito Resort) outside of Durango, CO. One of the reasons this opportunity appealed to me as my first adventure is because I am familiar with the lake area and resort. My late husband and I lived in Durango and spent time there. My contract is for May 1-Oct 3. Now I have a million questions as I have not been in my RV for more than 1 week at a time and that was staying in families' driveways.

I am definitely going to bring my car and now have to get a tow package which shocked the "bejeebers" out of me. I am looking at the Blue Ox base plates, Stay N Play braking system, lighting kit and power cable. The place I am considering having it done is in Kerrville, Tx. where I live. I have gone online and managed to trim down the cost of the parts by $418.00 (same as what they will use) by shopping around. The labor will cost about $920.00. The braking system is what drove it over what I thought it would be as I didn't realize you had to have that. It sounds like an important item if you are traveling in the mountains where I will be and is now required by most states. I have also thought about renting a tow dolly just for this trip. $185/each way.

I own a 24' 2001 Chinook Destiny which does not have a slide. I don't have a lot of under cabinet storage space, have a larger than usual "wet bath" with a small medicine cabinet but no other storage in there. I keep my towels and wash cloths in a basket on the shower seat area. I am thinking more about the kitchen, what I will eat and the best kitchen appliance to cook things in without taking too much space. I do have 3 burner stove and microwave. I've thought of a toaster oven and looked at them tonight but they take up quite a bit of space and there's not much place to store it except on the counter top by the sink or across on the stove cover. I will be about 35-40 minutes from the grocery so can't and don't want to be running into town often. So I am asking for storage and cooking ideas. I do like to eat clean and am not one for a lot of processed foods.

Cuddos to this great group of women who help many of us hold onto our dream of RV'ing. I love all of the blogs and thank each and every one of you for all the support and love you show to each other.

Pamela

[BarbaraRose]

Congratulations! What will you be doing there? I want to visit Durango someday. I lived in Denver for awhile but didn't get a change to explore the state too much.

I know a lot of the gals on here have crock pots and use them a lot. I guess it all depends on what type of cooking you do and what type of food you like to eat. If you bake a lot, a toaster oven might be important.

Good luck!

[Pamela]

I will be doing housekeeping.
they have 13 cabins on the premises. I imagine it will include the showers as well. The cooking thing....I go in spurts as to what I eat and generally don't do a lot of cooking. Recently I have been on a red beans and rice kick. I have a large6 qt. crockpot but know it is too big to take. I've also noticed when I have cooked chicken dishes in it that I wasn't real crazy about the flavor. Oh well I'll figure something out. I lived in Durango for 2 yrs. and we vacationed there many yrs. I've traveled all over the state and love it! I was trying to figure out how I could spend part of the summer there without it costing me much in site rent though there are many BLM sites in the state that are free. I like being around people so this is going to be a good fit for me for now.

[gypsyrose1126]

Pamela - congrats on the upcoming work camping job, it sounds great.

Here is a crock pot chicken recipe that my entire family enjoys - it makes a lot and I freeze the leftovers -
put 3 frozen (boneless & skinless) chix breasts in crock pot, can of black beans (or whatever kind you prefer) can of rotello ( did I spell that right?) salsa (your favorite kind and as much or little as you want) cook on low all day or high for part of the day. Hour before done, add a block of cream cheese, shred chix and mix it all together. You can always add anything else you want.
This is great on a bun, in a salad, as a dip or alone.

[Lopo]

Sounds like a decent workamping job, Pamela. I owned a small resort on the beach for 21 years so have done my share of cleaning and then some. There are lots worse jobs than cleaning, I think!

As for "cooking," I have a very small crockpot, and a really simple chicken recipe you might like. I keep a bag of frozen (organic if I can find them) chicken breasts in the freezer. Just throw a couple of chicken breasts and a small can of salsa verde into the 1 qt. crockpot, and let it cook while you work. When ready to eat, open a can of seasoned black beans, put some on the plate, and sprinkle some monterey jack cheese on the beans and the chicken-in-salsa, microwave for a half minute to melt the cheese and heat the beans. Pretty decent. The trick to avoiding the weird taste a crock pot can give food is to get it out of the pot as soon as it's cooked, and not try to keep it warm in it, in spite of how tempting it is to do that. And sometimes I put in a small piece of sirloin and just let it cook, with a couple of T. of water, til it falls apart, and have French dip for a couple of days.
I also like my egg cooker/toaster combo as the least messy, least work way to cook an egg or two. With English muffins, you can make a nice homemade "Egg McMuffin" with it.

I also keep a juicer in my motorhome, but unless I can clean it up outdoors, it's a PITA to clean up in my little sink.

Lopo

[Pooker]

Good for you! As for food: I bought a teeny tiny toaster/oven/broiler at Family Dollar. It's about the size of a Easy Bake Oven! Just large enough for two slices of bread. I also have the small size crockpot. It has 3 settings and cooks real fast on High!

I buy boneless chicken breasts, boneless pork chops, steaks, hamburgs, etc. and repackage them individually in sandwich size zip lock bags. Flatten and freeze. You can store quite a few in your small freezer. Just broil in the toaster/oven/broiler. (Make sure the one you buy also has the broiler!) I haven't noticed a different taste in the crockpot. Pouring a small amount of Italian dressing on the chicken gives a nice flavor.

As for towing: I've done both types. Blue Ox is a good choice in my opinion. Just remember to do all the steps necessary - your vehicle's owner's manual should tell you if you need to pull fuses or whatever. As for tow dollies - I rented one in New England and drove to California. Works fine, except there is a potential problem at some RV parks and campgrounds if you have to back into the site. You have to unhook the tow dolly and manhandle it into the site and then back your rig over the tongue (perhaps). In any case, you will have to unhook the thing at some point and manhandle it - not a job for weaklings.

Good luck!

Pooker

[Pamela]

Thanks ladies for the great recipes. I am a sucker for anything rotel and black beans. Do y'all use the 6 qt. or the 4qt. on the road?

[cookiemom]

Pamela,
Congratulations!
That sounds like a great workamping job. It is so beautiful there by Vallecito Lake. I live in Cortez, so I have been there a few times over the years.
Have fun!
Debbie