'Home'

6:10 am - Thursday - April 18th - LPG&RVR - 29° F, humidity 67%, wind 1 mph out of the east by southeast.....crystal clear, blue, sunny skies today with a forecast high of 67° F.  On this date in 2013 TLE and I were walking the National Mall in Washington D.C.......

'First days' at any job can be challenging, but when this is your third 'first day' at the same job, it just seems routine.  TLE and I were on the job by 7:45 am....she returning to her familiar duties after a 6 month hiatus, and for me the same.  Not too surprisingly, there were no advance tee times booked for Wednesday, but I staged four of the Yamaha gassers anyway.  Eventually, around 1 pm, we had walkup customers who had just parked their RV, and wanted to get in 9 holes...they had the course all to themselves.

During the winter all of our running golf carts, including those used by staff, are crammed into the cart shed to keep them mostly out of the weather.  Each Spring they must all be pulled out, washed, refueled, serviced as needed, then rearranged in the shed so they are more spaced out, and easy to access.  That job fell mostly to me this year.  Dennis, the owner, had pulled out most of the Yamaha gassers over the weekend so they were ready to rent.  I continued the process pulling out all of the Club Car gassers to wash and fuel.  I had to change one flat tire, and air up a couple of other tires that were low.

Once that was done I grabbed a square point shovel and headed out to make my first round of the course.  What is the square point shovel for you might ask?  Well, you will probably remember that each Spring geese migrating northward for the summer stop off here for a few weeks before continuing their migration northward, and the tee boxes for hole #3 become their favorite places to relieve themselves, if you know what I mean.  Anyway, for those few weeks we need to clear their leavings from each of the three tee boxes there at least once a day.  On Wednesday it was not too bad, and I was done with that unpleasantness in 10 minutes.  I snapped a few pictures along the way....

Eagle Mountain in all her glory

Near the 15th tee boxes

.....even though this is our third season here at LPG&RVR I am still blown away by the natural beauty that surrounds the golf course.

Over the course of the day I repaired a couple of hoses, picked about 30 golf balls from the driving range left over from opening weekend, so DeWayne can mow it on Thursday, mowed the grass around the putting green in front of the Clubhouse, had a bacon, lettuce, tomato and turkey sandwich for lunch, gave TLE her lunch break, washed and fueled the Club Cars (early afternoon when it was warm enough= for the water not to freeze....lol), and didn't take off my jacket, or watch cap until late, late afternoon.  I'm not sure it got to 60° F Wednesday, but it was a beautiful April day, nevertheless.

I clocked out around 4:45 pm, putted for about 15 minutes, then took TLE home.  Our first of four work days was done, and we were both happy to be 'home'.

Thanks for stopping by!

Getting there.....

5:54 am - Wednesday - April 17th - LPG&RVR - 33° F, humidity 87%, wind 1 mph out of the north by northwest.....mostly cloudy today with a forecast high of 60° F.  On this date in 2014 TLE and I were touring Natural Bridges, Canyon Lands, UT......hiked to all three natural bridges in one day....

Tuesday was our last day before we begin the 4 days on, and 4 day off cycle here at LPG&RVR, so we needed to get a lot more done in setting up our 'lido deck'.  Before we could set up the dining/gaming deck we needed to haul some gravel, pull some weeds, and do some raking.  A little after noon time we were ready to lay down the artificial turf, then set up the dining canopy.....

Added gravel between the trailer entrance and the 'lido deck'....the green patch on the right will be the 'viewing deck'

Added a couple of concrete steps down from the 'lido deck' to the 'dining/gaming deck'

....by 3:30 pm we were tired, and done with the 'dining/gaming deck'....there's still more to do, but we are getting there quickly!

The day began with heavy overcast, and temps around 30° F, but by mid afternoon we had a lot of blue sky overhead, and it was a delightful, albeit, cold afternoon (high 50's).  I wore pants, a long sleeve shirt, gloves, and a vest for most of the day.

I left Club Car Villager #20 with Bob for a couple of hours while I borrowed one of the 2 seater carts, and a dumping trailer to haul a couple of loads of gravel to our site, plus haul away the weeds we had pulled.  By the time I returned he had finished installing the new air intake tube, and my cart was ready for another summer of extensive use.  Within an hour TLE and I will be on our way to work for the first time since we arrived last Wednesday.

Thanks for stopping by!

Taking it to the street!

7:41 am - Tuesday - April 16th - LPG&RVR - 34° F, humidity 84%, wind 0 mph out of the southeast.....98% cloud cover with a forecast high of 62° F.  On this date in 2014  TLE and I were at a National Forest Campground, which sits at 7.200' elevation, just north of Blanding, UT.  I grilled a couple of filets for dinner, and with the addition of a couple of side dishes courtesy TLE, proceeded to enjoy a 'fine dining' evening in the Newell....

We've been at LPG&RVR 5 days as of Monday morning, and we haven't driven into Alturas yet, so we set our sights on 11:30 am to make the 25 minute drive into town do do an extremely small shopping (we just did a big shopping a week before near Carson City, NV), and to stop off at Rubio's Taqueria for some of their amazing street tacos (carne asada for moi).  Our first stop was at the U.S. Post Office to drop off some mail, then over to Rite Aid to freshen our supply of band aids.  It seems we go through a lot band aids between TLE and I as our skin continues to age.

Our next stop was our favorite Holiday Market on the west side of town where TLE bought some produce, and a few other items.  Once that was done we made a bee line for Rubio's Taqueria, where we arrived at the perfect time....no line!

That's Jose's (course superintendent) wife, Rosa, in the background

Usually we take our orders to the local city park and eat them alfresco, but it was barely 50° F outdoors, and TLE was having not of that....lol...so we ate them right there at the restaurant.  We always add a few jalapenos to our tacos for a little extra 'kick', if you will.  Their refried beans, and Spanish rice are also top notch, and very fresh!  Note, I am still wearing my jacket completely zipped up, inside the restaurant....it was a cold, cold day!

We were home before 2 pm, and by 2:30 pm I was outside doing a little more work getting our 'lido deck' setup, along with the 'dining deck' and 'viewing deck'.  I did a little weeding....there are a lot of weeds this year....and will do more Tuesday before we bring out the dining canopy, and umbrellas.  I also managed to get the final two tool bags on the tool tables, but still need to deploy the Black & Decker Workmate, and my back machine, plus move the bicycles to the back of the trailer.  Also, I neglected to mention that before we went into town I dumped, and flushed the black tank for the first time since Salton City on April 6th before we headed into town.

Before we knew it the clock was reading 4:48 pm, and it was time to put things away, and head inside for the night as the outdoor temps were beginning to plummet.  Since we had a late lunch we just had snacks for dinner, which consisted of popcorn, and sliced cheese.  For the evening's entertainment we watched episode 3 from Season 13 of 'Vera' on BritBox.

Well, one more day (Tuesday) until we report for work for our first 4 day shift of the 2024 LPG&RVR season, so time to get cracking and finish the 'lido deck' setup!

Thanks for stopping by!

Winter has returned....

7:54 am - Monday - April 15th - LPG&RVR - 37° F, humidity 93%, wind 2 mph out of the northwest.....heavy cloud cover today with a forecast high of 55° F.  On this date in 2015 TLE and I were boondocking with Steven and Linda Dempsey at Goosnecks State Park in southern Utah....Steven took some great pictures of our encampment with his drone....

The rain fell most Saturday night, and into Sunday morning, and it was clear there would be no golf being played on this day...at least in Likely, CA.......

Yup, we were up early watching the 4th round of The Masters

....eventually, as forecast, the rain turned to snow....

....and the snow continued pretty much unabated until around 4 pm.  Very little stuck, and what did was on the VW, the Club Car, and the grass (real and artificial...lol)...

....I went outside briefly two times during the day, to do what I cannot remember, and that was it.  The temps never got out of the 30's, and the high only got to 37° F (2° lower than forecast), so there was no compelling reason to be out there doing anything.  As has been the case the prior to years we have arrived at LPG&RVR in mid April, winter seems to still have a grip on the Pitt River Valley, where LPG&RVR is located.

Of course, the main event of the day was the final round of the 88th edition of The Masters in Augusta, GA.  Scottie Scheffler began the day at -7, with a one stroke lead, and never relinquished the lead.  He was tied once, or twice, but always seemed to be able to sink a birdie putt, when it counted most, to pull back into the solo lead.  It was a close match until around the 9th hole when Scottie began a run of 3 consecutive birdies, while his closest competitors faltered, hitting their balls in the water, and suffering double bogies.  The outcome was never in doubt after the 11th hole as Scottie finished strong to win by four at 11 under par.....

Those three guys at -4 'only' got $1 million each in prize money...Scottie earned over $3 million

....there is almost something magical about how the crowd rallies around the winner each year.  To be fair, there were 5, or 6 players who had a chance to win had they not made mistakes when things were on the line, plus failing to sink birdie putts when they presented themselves, and that is really what The Masters is all about....minimizing your mistakes, and taking advantage of scoring opportunities.  Scottie Scheffler did both of those things to perfection Sunday, and that is why he won. There were only 8 players UNDER par, out of 60 when Scottie finished his 72nd, and final hole.  TLE and I are both grateful we had the opportunity to watch all four days this year.

There are only three RVs in the park as I write, and no one played golf Sunday.  It appears we have cloudy, but dry weather in the forecast for the next 2 weeks, so I'm sure the number of RVs will increase rapidly.  All that being said, it is kind of nice to have the park all to ourselves right now.  

Thanks for stopping by!

More deployment.....

 7:32 am - Sunday - April 14th - LPG&RVR - 34° F, humidity 89%, wind 3 mph out of the southwest......cloudy, with snow flurries right now with a forecast high of 39° F.  The view this morning....

...on this date in 2019 Tiger Woods won his 5th Masters green jacket.....

....the win was so improbable in that he had spent over a year recovering from back surgery, and many thought he would never play again, let alone win a Major like The Masters, but he did in true Tiger Woods fashion.

The forecast rain for late morning was pushed off to late afternoon Saturday so TLE and I got busy setting up the 'lido deck'.  For the first time in over 6 months we deployed the patio awning, and the window awning on the passenger side of the Newell.....

....and along with the awnings we deployed the Adirondack chairs, rope lights, and green tables.  We've got a long way to go, but we are making progress.  Next we focused on getting the trailer more levels using my 18 ton bottle jack.  Once we had the passenger side raised enough make the trailer level we added a few Lynx leveling blocks to keep it there....

....once that was done I deployed the 4 steel piers, one for each  corner, to stabilize the trailer, and we were leveling the trailer.  The interior continues to look better and better, but there is a ways to go...need to deploy more stuff to make more room in the trailer.....

....all the while The Masters was playing on all our TV's (Salon, bedroom, outdoor, and trailer), so we wouldn't miss a minute of play.  Saturday was not kind to Tiger as his score ballooned from 1 over par after two round, to 11 over par, with him finishing the day with a 10 over par round (82)....not exactly Tigeresque, but he had only plated 24 competitive holes prior to The Masters, so the road back will take more time, just like after his back surgery.  The good news is he is playing, and walking 18 holes four days in a row for the first time in a couple of years.

As the day wore on it became steadily cooler, portending the rain and snowy conditions forecast for Sunday when the high will only make it to 39° F.  By 6 pm the rain began, and it rained on and off all night.  The power went out around 2 am, but came back, as it usually does here, in about 30 minutes.  By 7 am Sunday it began to snow.

Thanks for stopping by!

Getting settled.....

7:48 am - Saturday - April 13th - LPG&RVR - 47° F, humidity 63%, wind 1 mph out of the east by northeast.....cloudy today with rain coming in the afternoon, and turning to snow in the afternoon.  Forecast high today is 62° F.  On this date in 2021 TLE and I were enjoying a sunset fire at Seal Rocks RV Cove on the Oregon Coast.....a magical evening....

Friday was our third day back at LPG&RVR, and we've hardly put a dent in setting up our 'lido deck', 'dining/gaming deck' and 'viewing deck'.  We did manage to drag the artificial turf out of the trailer, and got it positioned where we want it.  We had to move a few of the rocks which form the border of our site, and remove a couple of small bushes, but it looks great now.  I spent time inside the trailer setting up the two tool tables, and deploying a few of my tools.  It is still kind of a mess in there, but by the end of the day it was looking manageable.....

....we also unpacked the Rubber Maid box so we could remove it from its perch atop the aluminum tool box on the trailer tongue, and then deployed it on the 'lido deck'....not sure it it will stay there, but for now it will stay....

....you can see where we had to move the border rocks to fit in the artificial turf.....

....around 2 pm our first RV customers of the season arrived....Duke and Cindy, who are also members.  We played golf with them several times last summer, and consider them good friends.  They brought their own golf cart this year.....

.....of course, we spent a good portion of the day watching The Masters, 2024 edition.  We had rain for about an hour during the early afternoon, but by 5 pm all was dry again.  We've got rain coming this afternoon, which will be with us into the early morning Sunday when it turns to snow for the rest of the day.  The forecast high Sunday is just 39° F, so I'm pretty sure no golf will be played that day.

When we left LPG&RVR last October my golf cart (Club Car Villager #20) needed a new clutch, drive belt, air intake hose, and air cleaner.  Bob didn't work on it this winter, but ordered all the parts. He was able to finish servicing it, and replacing the aforementioned items by early afternoon, and it runs great again!

The winds reeked havoc at Augusta National, and by the end of Friday only 13 players were under par, with the leaders at 6 under par.  Tiger Woods finished Friday shooting even par for the day, which was a great score considering how bad the wind was blowing.  He begins Saturday at 1 over par for the first two days of the tournament.  The good news is he made the cut for the 24th consecutive time....a new Masters record.  This is just the 88th edition of The Masters, and he has played on the weekend in 24 of them.  The list of top players, many of them past champions, who did not make the cut is startling, and the 'cut line' was 6 over par!

Thanks for stopping by!

At last!

9:55 am - Friday - April 12th - LPG&RVR - 63° F, humidity 33%, wind 17 mph out of the south.....partly cloudy today with wind, and rain, and a forecast high of 65° F.  Here is the forecast for the next week.....

 ....look at Saturday and Sunday! 

On this date in 2014 TLE and I were hiking a slot canyon near Wire Pass, UT.....

Sorry for my late posting of events from Thursday, but I decided to watch Tiger Woods finish his first round, which was suspended after he finished the 12th hole Thursday at the Masters due to darkness.  Anyway, here is what happened Thursday.

As you know we parked in site #25 when we arrived here on Wednesday to give us time to rake out the gravel Jose had dumped in site #55, and get everything level before moving the Newell and trailer into the site.  Finally, around 11 am TLE and I both felt we had everything as level as possible, so we moved promptly moved the Newell and trailer.  It took a little bit of maneuvering before we were happy with our positioning, and here is what that looks like today (Friday).....

....for the third time in as many years we have changed it up once again.  Last year we had no view out the front windshield as the trailer was parked there, plus the Newell was so far away from the utilities that I had to use 3, or 4 sewer hose sections, my longest water hose, and a 20' extension on my 50 amp cord to reach them.  This year we reached the electrical pedestal with one length of cord, a short 20' water hose, and just 2 sections of sewer hose, plus the sewer drains much better than last year.  Our 'lido deck' is slightly smaller, but the artificial turf piece fits the space perfectly.  We'll be deploying more of our furniture, and other 'lido deck' stuff after the weekend.

Once we had the positioning the way we wanted it I connected all the utilities, and we both called it a day.  Why?  Well, this weekend the 88th edition of The Masters is being played in Augusta, GA, and as has been the case for many years, life stops when The Masters is being played.  

Our first work days will be next Tuesday through Friday, which is nice, because the weather this weekend is going to be less than desirable with rain, and then snow in the forecast, plus high winds on Friday, so we'll be hunkering down, whilst watching The Masters....perfect!

We had a nice sunset Thursday evening....a nice start to the summer....

Thanks for stopping by!