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| by Arline Chandler |
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Romance and RVing Lead to New Life as Workampers
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Life hands out some tough times. A single mom for 15 years and widowed in a second marriage, a woman less spirited than Terry Paul might have slumped into the shadows of existence. Before native Texan Wayne Paul ended his career with General Motors, a car crash claimed his wife. Plans for retirement died with her. Yet, romance between Terry and Wayne sparked one of life’s new beginnings down the RVing road and straight into Workamping.
Terry had RVed since 1985 when she lived with her late husband on Bainbridge Island, a thirty-minute ferry ride from downtown Seattle, Washington. With plans to full-time RV, the couple bought a 40-foot American Eagle. But three months later, his very breath depended on a 100-foot hose connected to an oxygen bottle. He continued to drive their rig while Terry managed the hooking up chores. Instead of traveling the countryside, the couple moved to Texas and lived for three years in an RV park. Limited to short trips, their lifestyle fell short of their retirement dream. Wayne Paul happened to live in the same park. Terry walked her little dog past his trailer and they exchanged pleasantries. She learned that his wife had died. Wayne knew that Terry’s husband was seriously ill. But he left the park and they lost touch with each other. After her husband’s death, Terry purchased a fifth-wheel trailer and set it up permanently in a mobile home park. Some months later, Wayne contacted Terry through mutual friends. Friendship turned to courtship. They married in 1999.
Terry had the fun of introducing her new Texas husband to the RVing lifestyle. Their first summer together, the newly-weds traveled 11,000 miles from Texas to Maine and back again. During the brief years Terry had full-timed with her late husband, she corresponded with Barb and Ron Hofmeister, authors of Movin’ On, Living and Traveling Full Time in a Recreational Vehicle. The Hofmeisters’ set her thinking about Workamping.
At White Buffalo Resort, a bit northwest of the junction of Arkansas’s White River and the National Buffalo River, Terry and Wayne took their first job. “I thought the experiences would be great and the extra finances would help,” she says. “Plus, Workamping places us in an area long enough to explore. However, unless we travel till our hearts are content, I doubt that Wayne and I will stay several months in one spot.” So far, the Pauls have not found limited stays to be a problem in the campgrounds where they choose to work. At White Buffalo Resort, they agreed to work for six weeks. One of their perks was a full-hookup site on the river bank. Others included White Buffalo tee-shirts, laundry facilities, use of boats for floating the Buffalo River or fishing the White, and pay for extra hours over the minimum 20 hours per week. “It was a wonderful place to spend our work and leisure time,” Terry says, describing the resort with ten cabins and RV and tent camping alongside the clear river slicing through the Arkansas Ozark Mountains.
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To get ready for the day’s fishermen, Wayne cleaned the river boats and canoes. He shuttled guests and canoes upriver for their float trip back to the resort. While customers snagged rainbow trout from the dark green moss swaying beneath the river’s current, he painted and varnished, trimmed trees, and cut bushes. Terry cleaned cabins, washed and folded linens, worked in the office, cleaned the swimming pool, beautified the yard, and helped Wayne with the painting. Wayne and Terry admit to working hard. But leisure was doubly sweet. They had time off when their children and grandchildren visited. An additional perk was the use of a boat to cross the White River to a path that led up a 660-foot cliff. “The challenge of the climb was extraordinary,” Terry recalls. “But the view from the top was spectacular. Our grandchildren told their classmates that the hike was the best thing they did all summer.” The Pauls had time to see the surrounding area, including the nearest shopping center at Mountain Home, Arkansas, just 13 miles north of the resort. Mountain View to their south, home of The Ozark Folk Center State Park, merited three visits. On each outing, they tapped their toes to bluegrass music, purchased handmade Ozark crafts, and took in the local music shows. However, Terry says with a laugh, a certain cucumber, cream cheese, and walnut sandwich discovered in one of the unique eateries around the Courthouse Square influenced their triple trips.
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The following summer, Terry showed her Texas-born husband the beauty of the West Coast. Teasingly, she said, “Wear your boots and hat so everyone will know you’re from Texas.” Wayne replied, “As soon as I open my mouth, everyone will know anyhow!” For six weeks, the couple worked four days on and four days off at the beachfront Silver Spur RV Park, located between Los Angeles and San Francisco. Their duties included painting, washing windows, cleaning laundry rooms, and scrubbing bathroom tile. Four other Workamping couples shared duties at the Silver Spur. “We were the only ones who stayed a short time,” Wayne says. “The owner didn't want to hire us on a short term, but another couple had quit and no one else applied. Our acceptance proves that it never hurts to present to an employer what you are willing to do. Rules are often bent for the circumstances.” The Pauls admit that they work at places as though they were owners. “When we arrived at the Silver Spur, we noticed the expensively tiled bathrooms with brass faucets,” Terry says. “Due to their hard water, everything was covered with soap scum. Wayne and I worked for days to make the bath houses gleam again. Fortunately, the park had switched to soft water, so we knew our hard work would stand for awhile. “The park maintains a livery stable,” Terry continues noting that the $25 an hour horseback riding was one of their perks. “This is one of the few places along the coast that allows horseback riding.” On their days off, Wayne and Terry drove along the famous Highway 1 to Carmel and Monterey. While they shopped, they spotted Clint Eastwood sitting on a bench outside the store. They saw the Missions in San Luis Obispo and in Carmel. During other days off, they visited Hearst Castle.
From the East Coast to the West Coast, and places in between, Wayne and Terry Paul share their love of travel with each other. They count their blessings in experiences, the beauty of the land, and their good fortune in finding each other. “The whole United States seems smaller and more familiar because we RV,” Terry states. “Growing up in North Dakota, I dreamed of seeing the world. Now I’m thrilled to have the whole of North America as a playground. Workamping is an added bonus.”
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