Close, but no cigar.....

 5:53 am - Sunday - May 11th - LPG&RVR - 47° F, humidity 51%, wind 6.9 mph out of the south by southwest....clear, blue skies today with a forecast high of 69° F.  On this date in 2020 TLE and I were visiting the 'Valley of the Gods' near Goosenecks State Park in Southern Utah....

....with Glenn and Laureen during the Wuhan Flu scare.

Saturday was our biggest cart rental day of the season so far with 24 carts being deployed.  LPG&RVR was also hosting their annual 'Two Man Scramble' which used 8 of those 24 carts (there were 14 couples in all, six of whom had their own carts.  Needless to say I was busy staging carts, and then washing them as they returned throughout the afternoon.  In between all of that I did some a lot of mowing, and string trimming around the RV park.  It was also close to 81° F, which seems hot when you've been living in temps ranging from 50-70° F for the past few weeks.  Anyway, by 1 pm, just after TLE's lunch break, I had exchanged my long pants, and long sleeve shirt for shorts, and a t-shirt. Since I worked overtime on Friday I decided to clockout around 3 pm....there were still 6 golf carts out on the course, but I had cleaned and stowed 18.  I went home to clean up, and take a nap, then returned for the weekly putting contest at 4 pm.

As the putting contest began I had no expectations as I had not done very well last Saturday, but then I surprised myself by easily winning my first round, then winning 3-0 against my nemesis Greg Plumlee (the putting champ the past two years), whom I had never beaten in 6 previous attempts.  I won the next two rounds and found myself in the semi final round.  Through the previous four rounds I had made second putts consistently in the 3-6 foot range, but suddenly in the 5th round I was missing much shorter putts...doh!  Anyway, I came in third (tied for 3rd) out of 28 contestants, and out of the money, but was greatly encouraged by my improvement over last week.  That's the best I've done this early in the season going back 3 years.

By the time I the putting contest was over it was after 5 pm, and TLE was counting out her money drawer so I drove down to the 'Night Office' to flip the sign, and post the site availability for anyone arriving after 5 pm.  By the time I returned she had closed the office, and we were on our way home by 5:30 pm.  Two more days, and we are into our four day weekend.

Thanks for stopping by!

Straight forward.....

 5:46 am - Saturday - May 10th - LPG&RVR - 38° F, humidity 72%, wind 2 mph out of the south by southeast.....partly cloudy today with a forecast high of 81° F.  On this date in 2018 TLE and I were on a commuter train on our way into Boston for the day....

The first day back at work I usually spend more time than usual staging our golf carts in numerical order as whoever works opposite me, at least for the prior 3 years, does not put them away in a manner that makes it easy to do so.  TLE likes them in numerical order (lowest number to highest number), and so do I.  TLE shares the office job with Kathy, who doesn't care if the carts are in any particular order.....she just wants to now what carts are staged.  It's not a good, or bad thing, it just is what it is.  Once that is done the following three mornings are a breeze for me.

Each year the owners buy 8 new American flags which are installed at the entrance to the park (4), and by the restrooms (4), and the past four seasons it has fallen to me to remove the old, weathered flags from from the flag poles  from the prior summer with the new, fresh ones, and that is what I did Friday morning.  I had enough time to do the 4 flags at the restrooms, and will do the four for the entrance on Saturday, or Sunday.

I haven' been able to make a round of the course mowing around the tee boxes for which I am responsible this season yet, so around 10:45 I set set out on the Husqvarna 2 bag machine to mow around #3, #10, #15, #16, #17 and #18.  My intention was to get them all done by lunch time, but the grass was pretty long at the #3 tee boxes, and at #15 (blue tee) so by the time I finished with the tee boxes at #16 it was almost 12 pm, so I headed for the Clubhouse to give TLE her lunch break.  I'll have to finish 10, 17 and 18 in the next few days.

By the time TLE returned from lunch I had four golf carts to wash, and stow, so I got busy.  In all we rented 15 golf carts Friday, and the golfers continued returning them one, or two at a time all the way to 3:30 pm, so I never left the 'Cart Return' area.  By the time I was done stowing the final cart it was 4 pm, and well past quitting time, so I headed for home for an hour before returning to retrieve TLE at 5 pm.  It was a pretty straight forward, laid back day for me, but a very busy one for TLE in the office.  It is beginning to get busy here at LPG&RVR.

Thanks for stopping by!

Planting seeds.....

 5:47 am - Friday - May 9th - LPG&RVR - 40° F, humidity 61%, wind 2 mph out of the southeast.....partly cloudy today with a forecast high of 83° F.  On this date in 2018 TLE and I were in Cloucester, MA at Stone's Pub & Eatery.....

Day four of our four day weekend dawned clear with a high promised to be in the mid 70's, and for the third day in succession TLE and I took our favorite 2 mile out and back walk covering the distance in just over 37 minutes, again.....

I know, I forgot my 'bucket' hat

You can see Eagle Mountain in the distance

....TLE and I are beginning to round back into shape walking wise, and my arthritic knee is doing fine as well.

After returning to the Newell we almost always sit outside on the 'lido deck' to cool down from our walk, and talk about our plans for the day.  TLE bought a bunch of wildflower seeds in town Wednesday, and she wanted to plant them as soon as possible so we can have flowers in around a month in our flower beds.  Additionally, she created a new flower bed on the far side of the 'dining/gaming deck'.....

The new flower bed....yup, we've added a little 'yard art'

More 'yard art'

....the flower beds in the 2nd and 3rd pictures have some wildflowers coming back from last year already.  The pots in the foreground are onions, aloe and chives which we have carried back and forth with us as we make our semi annual migrations north and south.

I spent time trying to revive one of our 20 ton bottle jacks.  I mentioned in yesterday's post that when we were jacking up the trailer ramp door at the Bishop Fairgrounds TLE unscrewed the bleeder valve too far, and all the hydraulic fluid leaked out.  I bought some more hydraulic fluid in town Wednesday, and refilled the bottle jack, but there must be an air bubble in there, as it is still 'inop'....I'll figure it out eventually.

For the first time in over 7 months I did my trailer workout utilizing my 'back machine. where I do modified pushups, lower back exercises, and sit ups.  I also use an 8 pound dumbell for various arm exercises, and a spring loaded hand exerciser to strengthen my grip.

Around 5:15 pm I fired up the Sea-B-Que to grill a beautiful London Broil we bought at Holiday Market Wednesday for 1/2 price.  It was so tender, and flavorful. TLE added roasted potatoes and carrots for the side.  For our evening entertainment we watched recorded episodes of 'Survivor' and 'Amazing Race', and were in bed by 9 pm.....Friday is a workday, so we'll be back in work mode for the next four days.

By the way, I haven't mentioned our Starlink service in quite a while, and that is because it just works day after day providing high quality internet.  It handled the winter conditions at TWW, and each day when we stopped on our way north to LPG&RVR, and continues to work quite well here at LPG&RVR.  I don't know how we every got along without it.....well, that's kind of a lie, we do know what we did, and it wasn't easy.  Having decent broadband always proscribed where we would travel in the last 14 years.  Now it is not even a consideration as we always have great broadband.

Thanks for stopping by!

20/20 again.....

 8:05 am - Thursday - May 8th - LPGRVR - 51° F, humidity 59%, wind 2 mph out of the east.....crystal clear, blue, sunny skies today with a forecast high of 77° F.  On this date in 2014 TLE and I were overnighting at the Walmart Supercenter in Rock Springs, WY.....

.....we've overnighted there at least 3, or 4 times over the years, most recently back on May 31st of 2020 when we were traveling with Glenn and Laureen during the summer of the Wuhan Flu.....

....that's their 1984 Newell in the background.

Wednesday was our second consecutive day without wind, so were able to do our 4th two mile, out and back walk of the season....

.....the weather is getting warmer as we edge closer to our first 80° F day of 2025.  We managed to cover the 2 miles in just over 37 minutes, so another minute less than the last time.  Wednesday was also the day for our annual ophthalmologist appointments at Modoc Family Optometry in Alturas at 1:30 pm.  Since we haven't been grocery shopping for over 10 days we headed into town around 11 am to do all of our shopping before our eye appointments.

Our first stop in Alturas is almost always ACE Hardware where we bought a new supply of bungy cords, some flower seeds, some hydraulic fluid (the fluid in one of the 20 ton bottle jacks leaked out when we were jacking up the trailer ramp door in Bishop), and a few other necessities.  Then it was over to Dollar General, Grocery Outlet, and finally Holiday Market on the west side of town.  Holiday Market is an employee owned chain of stores in Northern California, which are very well run, and always well stocked with extremely fresh produce, and meat.  We were done by 1 pm, and on our way over to Modoc Family Optometry.  We were taken back to the first small room as a couple, and that is how our entire appointment went.  Both of us were given a clean bill of health eye wise, and my distance vision is right at 20/20 again.  It was a little off last year due to dry eyes, and my left replacement lens needing a little polishing.  The dry eye syndrome I had last summer has gone away, and with the lens polishing having been done near the end of last summer my vision is the best it has been in years.  TLE came in at 20/20, also.

From there we headed over to Rubio's Taqueria on Main Street to get our first Rubio's Street Tacos in almost a year.  They are so good!  We got them to go, and headed for home where we arrived without incident at 4 pm....that was a long day in town!

Thanks for stopping by!

More little stuff.....

 7:50 am - Wednesday - May 7th - LPG&RVR - 53° F, humidity 51%, wind 6 mph out of the south by southeast.....crystal clear, blue, sunny skies today with a forecast high of 75° F.  On this date in 2021 TLE and I were enjoying another amazing Seal Rocks RV Cove sunset on the Oregon Coast.....

....we spent a year (October of 2020 to October of 2021) there, and loved it!

First thing Tuesday after I had posted my daily missive TLE and I set out to do our 2 mile out and back walk.  There was no wind, and clear, blue skies.....

.....about half way to our turn around point we caught up with Claude and his dog Jax....

.....so we took an 'usie' and I continued on while TLE walked more slowly with Claude.  I arrived back at the Newell about 10 minutes before Claude and TLE having covered the two miles in just over 38 minutes....another improvement in elapsed time.

I spent the rest of the day taking care of tasks around the site, which included dumping our black tank for the second time since our arrival (we dumped 7 days of effluent generated on our week long trip north) when we dumped immediately after parking in site #23.  I then returned to the trailer to finish what I had begun Monday.  I moved the two Stihl chainsaws back to the through bay along with our luggage, then began move my summer work clothes (LPG&RVR short sleeve and long sleeve shirts) into my hanging closet in the Newell, and my winter clothing into the trailer, which I hung in clothing bags to keep them free of dust.

Then I reorganized the 6 food storage containers we keep in the trailer by placing them on two 4" x 4" pieces of wood to keep them off the ground, and hung some more of my frequently used tools on the Black and Decker Workmate, moved my Haibike to the rear of the trailer, unloaded the Predator 5000 from the Newell passenger side engine bay, cleaned the dust off of it, ran it for a while, then moved it (with TLE's help) into the trailer, and, finally, hooked up the Bluetti AC200P solar generator to power the 12 volt Fantastic Fan ceiling vent fan when it gets warm later this summer.  It was a lot of little stuff, but now the trailer is organized, and ready for use....

My winter clothes

TLE's winter clothes....she has a larger selection than I, apparently

.....by the time I was finished it was getting close to 4 pm.  Our plans were to grill a salmon steak, and Claude would grill a hamburger for our communal dinner.  TLE provided green beans for a side, and Claude some leftover spaghetti.  I neglected to memorialize the food, or our gathering, but a good time was had by all.  We sat talking until after 7 pm, finally adjourning to our respective coaches for the evening.

Thanks for stopping by!

The benefits of rural living.....

 7:24 am - Tuesday - May 6th - LPG&RVR - 40° F, humidity 45%, wind 2 mph out of the north.....crystal clear, blue, sunny skies today with a forecast high of 69° F.  On this date in 2024 it snowed overnight at Likely Place Golf & RV Resort.....

.....it didn't really stick, but it did snow for the 3rd time since we arrived in early April.

After beginning our day at 5:30 am for four consecutive days we slept in Monday.  I was still awake at 5:30 am, but I didn't have to get up, and I didn't.  Instead I drifted in and out of consciousness for the next 90 minutes before deciding to begin the day a little after 7 am.  In fact I think it was exactly 7:07 am, which reminded me of my Dad waking me up....he would say "Clarke, its 707 and time to fly!"....funny the things you think about at 7 am in the morning.....good memories.  We were going to do our 2 mile out and back walk, but the winds had other ideas.  TLE doesn't like to walk in the wind, and with each passing year I like it less and less, so we didn't walk.

Around 9 am the UPS driver, Glenn, dropped off a package I was expecting from Amazon....a new polycarbonate folding windshield for Club Car Villager #20, so I spent the next hour, or more removing the old, tired, soft windshield and installing the new, very intuitive, polycarbonate windshield.....

.....I've wanted one of these ever since our first season here back in 2022, but the $120 price tag was a little off-putting at the time.  Not so much anymore, though.  I pulled the trigger and ordered it hoping it would fit, and it did.....perfectly.  Frankly, my day could have ended right there, and I would have been content with my accomplishment, but there was still the trailer interior needing some attention, so I took a break, then headed out to the trailer to work my magic.

When I'm working in the trailer on a project, or just organizing into a workshop it so it can be used as such, the time just melts away.  In about 2 hours I was about 90% done.  All that remains is to move our two pieces of luggage, and the 2 Stihl chainsaws back into the through bay in the Newell.  At some point I'm going to take them into town to the local Stihl dealer and have them serviced for the upcoming winter season at TWW, but that is five months away, so for now they will reside in the Newell through bay, and further declutter the trailer interior.....

.....I kept hoping the winds would abate so maybe I could hit a few balls at the driving range, but it got windier, and colder as the afternoon progressed, so I headed back into the warm confines of the Newell to have a snack, and take a nap.

We've been back at LPG&RVR for just over a week now, but it feels like we never left last October.  Both TLE and I have slipped easily back into the four days working, and four days not working routine......we love those four day weekends.  Frankly, the work days aren't that bad....it's just the getting up at 5:30 am that we could do without, right?  The work isn't that hard, and it really feels like a vacation from the work we did at TWW this past winter.  We both love being able to access the electrical grid again were we have access to 100 amps of power 24/7, and can run our quiet, electric heaters.  We love being just 20 minutes away from town where we have a large hardware store, and three grocery stores at which to shop.  

As you might recall, we changed the addresses for all of our rolling stock, as well as drivers licenses to Likely last year, and we just got the renewal registration for our 2001 VW Beetle.  Usually we have to get the VW smogged every two years (the odd years), and that would have been due again this year, however, now that we live in this extremely rural area where air pollution is not an issue, we are no longer required to make that 6 hour round trip drive to Redding....YAY for our team!  NO SMOG CERTIFICATE REQUIRED!!!

Thanks for stopping by!

Everyone was playing for second place.....

 7:39 am - Monday - May 5th - LPG&RVR - 40° F, humidity 46%, wind 11 mph out of the north....crystal clear, blue, sunny skies today with a forecast high of 66° F.  On this date in 2012 TLE and I were at Granite City Brewing in Lincoln, Nebraska sampling some brews, and an appetizer.....

.....we settled on two pints of their Broad Axe Stout, and Asian Crispy Shrimp for the appetizer.....

....we were treated to a sublime sunset in Nebraska that night followed a few hours later by thunder/lightning and torrential rain.

Sunday was our Friday this week, and it began with very cold, overcast, breezy weather.  I wore two long sleeve shirts, my Levis, my hooded Carhartt jacket, gloves, and thermal socks....that was just about right.  With such cold, blustery, winterlike weather many golfers who had tee times decided not to play, and I don't blame them.  There were, however, 6 intrepid twosomes that did keep their tee times.  I staged 9 Yamaha gassers, and six of them saw action.....

The 3 which did not see action Sunday

......you've probably noticed I'm not making a rounds of the course, at least these first four days, and that is because we have a Course Marshal (Claude) who takes care of the goose leavings, and rakes the traps Thursday through Sunday each week.  Eventually I'll be doing that again, but not until this Monday when Claude is off work.

Every Spring, when we arrive for another summer season here at LPG&RVR I find the 'Caddy Shack' workbench is covered with tools, fasteners, irrigation parts, etc., and eventually, like Sunday, I spend time putting things away, and clearing the bench surface so one can actually find things, and perform small tasks on the now cleared workbench surface.  It only took me an hour, and soon the interior of the 'Caddy Shack' was useable again....

.....and the floor could be seen once again.....

.....I spent time cleaning golf balls Jose and Bob found out on the the course after a recent storm uncovered them, and re-parking around 10 golf carts in the cart shelter so I could once again walk in between the carts from the front to the back.   We resell those golf balls I cleaned for 50 cents apiece in the Pro Shop.  The really good ones go for $1.50.  I gave TLE her lunch break at 11:40 am as I was out of things to do.  I only had one phone call the entire hour.

Meanwhile Scottie Scheffler was lapping the field at the Byron Nelson Championship in Texas....at one point he was up by 9 strokes, and finally won by 8 strokes.  He led this tournament wire to wire for his first win of the season.  Everyone else was playing for second place.  He finished at 31 under par with rounds of 10 under par, 8 under par, 5 under par and 8 under par....a truly dominating performance.

After lunch I found 3 of the 6 golf carts we rented had been returned....

....so I cleaned them, and put them away....only three to go!

It was a slow afternoon, so I planned to clock out at 2:30 pm.  I took a few pictures of the Clubhouse area, and Eagle Mountain in the distance....

Everything is SO green right now

...around 2:45 pm I headed home to watch the last few holes of the aforementioned golf tournament, and take a nap before returning around 4:45 pm to wash the last three golf carts, and bring TLE home......

TLE toting a bag of trash from the office

....she's done for the day, and now our four day weekend begins.

Thanks for stopping by!