When we realized today is April 15, tax filing day in the US, Tom commented on how we are halfway through our time in Apache Junction, Arizona. Initially, we planned to stay two weeks longer, although we only paid for April in advance. We figured we could easily add two weeks to our rental agreement if necessary, with the weather heating up resulting in fewer renters staying in the RV park.
Knowing we were waiting to hear from Cleveland Clinic for my soon-to-be-arranged appointment, we decided to move along more quickly. With Tom’s sister Rita here now for the next two weeks, we wouldn’t go to South Dakota, which we intended to do to visit her on our way to Minnesota.
Thus, once we leave California to see my sister Julie for three nights, we’ll head to Utah to see Marylin and Gary for lunch or dinner and then get back on the road to Milwaukee to see Tom’s sister Betty in Milwaukee, in a medically assisted retirement home for nuns, staying only one night and then make our way to Minnesota the following day. Most likely, we’ll arrive in Minnesota around May 10.
Our hotel reservation in Minnesota begins on May 23, based on our original plan to arrive later, but we won’t worry about that. We can easily book the added days we’ll need. at either end, depending on my Cleveland Clinic appointment date.
This morning, we’re busy making chicken salad with leftover chicken I’d frozen a few days ago when making the dish to share with the family for Saturday night. Since we have no idea when we’ll get together with everyone, chicken salad is an easy meal to have on hand, with no additional preparation necessary other than to add a lettuce salad, if desired.
There’s a fabulous microwave here with excellent settings for defrosting frozen meats. In no time at all, the chicken cubes were defrosted. Meanwhile, Tom is busy peeling the hard-boiled eggs for the chicken salad. Once he’s out of the way in the kitchen, I will chop the onions and celery to go into the chicken with the diced hard-boiled eggs and also make a green salad to go with it.
With our Boost grocery delivery service contract (from Las Vegas, also used here) ending on April 19, I am putting together our last online grocery order. We’ll head to Fry’s Market to shop when we need more groceries. All we have left in the freezer is ground beef, for which we’ll make taco salads, enough for three dinners, and a small turkey breast roast, enough for two dinners.
With all the upcoming planned meals, we have enough to get us to April 23, with only one more week to prepare meals. It will be easy going forward to plan simple meals using the ingredients we have on hand.
We’ll have lightened our load when we leave here in 16 days. Soon, we’ll drop off the two old laptops at a recycling center in Apache Junction, and we will eliminate one of our suitcases, which has broken wheels and won’t be necessary going forward. Traveling on the road for the next several months by car makes traveling much more accessible.
Since we stay in holiday homes or hotels anyway, those we book on the road trip won’t be an extra expense, nor will dining out at the end of each day. The only additional charge we’ll incur on the road trip is the fuel for the rental car and the rental car, although, in most locations, we’ll have a rental car anyway. Even with the high fuel cost, we’ll still be ahead when we won’t incur expenses for flights and baggage.
That’s it for today, folks.
Be well.
Photo from ten years ago today, April 15, 2014:
Oscar Mayer is looking for someone who would relish the opportunity to get behind the wheel of one of America’s most iconic vehicles.
The processed meat giant has launched a nationwide search for its next crew of Hotdoggers — paid spokespeople who drive the brand’s famous hot dog-shaped Wienermobiles around the country.
The company is hiring 12 drivers to get behind the wheel of the 27-foot-long vehicle, which is equivalent in length to 54 wieners laid end to end.
The Hotdoggers’ main responsibility is to represent Oscar Mayer daily as they drive the 87-year-old Wienermobile around America between June 2024 and June 2025.
“It’s like they’re running a PR firm on wheels,” says Ed Roland, who runs the Wienermobile program. “They’re key content contributors to all of our social media channels. It’s some of the highest performing content for all of [parent company] Kraft Heinz.”
Oscar Mayer has a fleet of six Wienermobiles. Hotdoggers will travel in pairs and be expected to host over 200 pop-up events over the course of the year. They will be responsible for “pitching and appearing on local television, radio or newspaper media,” according to the job listing.
If you want the gig, be ready to present your driving record. The average driver travels 20,000 miles each year, Oscar Mayer says, visiting at least 40 cities.
“It’s a lot like an RV,” Roland says. ”[Applicants] do not need a CDL or any special driver’s license.”
The role will require Hotdoggers to work on major holidays and spend the majority of their year away from home.
The listing says that the one-year assignment will pay a base salary of $35,600, with an additional weekly allowance of $150 for meals and personal travel. Hotdoggers will receive health benefits and 18 days of paid time off, and their hotel expenses will be covered.
In a typical year, the Wienermobile program receives between 1,000 and 1,500 applications for the 12 open slots but has gotten as many as 7,000 in a single year.
Oscar Mayer will accept applications through the end of January and says that bilingual candidates, in particular, are encouraged to apply.
You can apply for the role here.”
This might be a fun experience for retirees who want to supplement their income, although the pay isn’t much, and see the US at the same time. However, it was quite a task to set everything up to cook the hotdogs, prepare the toppings at every stop, and clean up after the event ended, only to get back on the road again to the following location.
Enjoy our Weinermobile photos, which bring back memories from our youth.
Be well.