Same old, same old.....

 5:52 am - Sunday - May 3rd - LPG&RVR - 55° F, humidity 37%, cloud cover 93%, wind 9 mph out of the northwest.....very cloudy today with a forecast high of 70° F.  On this date in 2017 TLE and I were in Lake Tahoe for our 4th summer working at Tahoe Valley Campground.  The snows from the just ended winter were epic, and the result was the flooding of the Truckee River in Tahoe City....

.....the river was so high the bicycle path was covered, and would remain so for another month.

Since one of our customers had scheduled an 8 am tee time TLE and I were at the Clubhouse by 7:30 am.  I initially staged 10 golf carts, and we ended up renting 11....not bad for our second day.  The weather was delightful with temps in the low 70's and very little wind.  After staging the golf carts I picked up the two barrels of hoses and distributed them around the park, then began watering the grass around the 'Night Office', and the parking lot grass for the first time in 6 months.

Around 10:45  am I fired up the 2 bag Husqvarna and headed out to the golf course mow the tee boxes at 3, 10, 15, 16, 17 and 18.....

.....after finishing the tee box at 15 I snapped a couple of pictures....the golf course in in wonderful shape right now.  I was back to the Clubhouse around 11:55 am, and sent TLE on her lunch break.  The hour passed quickly, and soon I was back on the Husqvarna heading up the hill to the three residential lawns which haven't been mowed in 6 months.  Over the course of the afternoon I continued to move the sprinklers I had running, and washed 5 of the 11 carts we had rented (the Club Car electrics).  Soon it was 3:30 pm, and time to head home to change clothes and return for the weekly putting contest.

I putted well in the first round winning 3 out of the 5 holes, and I putted pretty well in the second round, but after 5 holes we were tied so we went to a one hole 'putt off' where each person takes one putt at a designated hole, and whoever is closest after the one putt advances.  I putted first (about a 35' putt) and left my ball about 2 feet from the hole.  My opponent then putted leaving his ball 18" from the hole...doh!  Ultimately, last year's over all champion, Rich Samco, won.  As always it was a lot of fun.

TLE and I were home around 5:20 pm.  Our second day was very smooth with no glitches, which is always nice.  Saturday night was 'hump night'....just two more days left in our 4 day shift.

Thanks for stopping by!

Opening Day.....

 6:03 am - Saturday - May 2nd - LPG&RVR - 47° F, humidity 33%, cloud cover 84%, wind 3 mph out of the southeast....heavy cloud cover today with a forecast high of 70° F.  On this date in 2013 TLE and I were overnighting at the Hagerstown, MD Walmart Supercenter.....

....so we could drive over to Gettysburg the next day to tour the battlefield.  We stayed there two nights, and spent a whole day at Gettysburg.  One of the giant items on our bucket list.....

Little Round Top

.....one of the most unforgettable places we have visited.  That night after returning to Hagerstown we watched the entire 'Gettysburg' movie, finishing around 2 am.  After having been there, the movie was that much more meaningful.

So, at last, we arrive at May 1st, opening day for Likely Place Golf and RV Resort.  Since we knew the day would not get too busy until the afternoon as customers began to arrive in their RV's, we didn't report for work until just before 8 am.  I staged the five Club Car electrics, and then spent time redistributing all the hoses I had coiled up in trash cans last October.  In all we rented just four golf carts Friday, and they were all back before 4 pm.

Late morning I washed the three Yamaha gassers that were returned late Thursday, and then took a ride around the course to check on those tee boxes for which I am responsible to mow.  The consensus?  They all need mowing.....now.

After giving TLE her lunch break I retrieved the 2 bag Husqvarna, my favorite mower, and mowed the employee sites.  As I was finishing the final site I had to get off the mower to move some lawn furniture, and when I got back on the mower it would not go forward, or backward.  Well, that's never happened to me before.  I called Jose to let him know my problem, and he was there within 10 minutes to help me figure out what was wrong.  As it turns out, the drive belt had come off its pullies, so we tipped the mower on its side so Jose could reach in and reseat the drivebelt onto the pullies.  It took a while, but within 20 minutes he succeeded, and I was able to continue mowing.  Next up was the grass down by the night office, which took about 30 minutes.  By the time I finished it was after 3 pm, and there was not enough time to mow the tee boxes, so I headed back to the Clubhouse to await the return of the 4 Club Car electrics.

By the time I finished washing and drying them, and putting them back in the Cart Shack it was 4 pm, and time for me to head for home.  As I did last season, I worked 8 straight hours including the 1 hour lunch break for TLE.  I took a long, hot shower, and then took a short nap before heading back to the Clubhouse to retrieve TLE at  5 pm.  Friday was the first night dinner was being served in the restaurant, and there were at least 6 people taking advantage of that.  By the end of the day the park was about 40% full, and should fill up sometime Saturday.  It was a good first day, and everything went as planned.

Thanks for stopping by!

More site setup......

 5:55 am - Friday - May 1st - LPG&RVR - 39° F, humidity 30%, cloud cover 36%, wind 4 mph out of the southeast......partly cloudy today with a forecast high of 73° F.  On this date in 2013 TLE and I were visiting the National Portrait Museum in Washington D.C.....

Benjamin Franklin

.....this portrait of Abraham Lincoln intrigued me.

After spending almost 5 hours working on golf carts Wednesday I rededicated myself to working on the setup for our site.  TLE wanted the main sunshade deployed, so that was our first task of the day....

....next we spent time finishing the weeding on the 'dining/gaming deck', then raked it level before moving our picnic table in, and then setting up our brand new umbrella....

....eventually we'll buy some more artificial turf for the 'dining/gaming deck', then set up our dining canopy, but for now it is ready for use.

Around 1:30 pm I met Claude over at the Clubhouse putting green to work on our putting for the upcoming putting contest this Saturday.  The green was just mowed Wednesday, and now the speed is perfect.  I prefer faster greens.  We putted for about an hour, or so, and Claude steadily improved winning our final 5 hole contest 2-1.

Last summer I removed 3 windshields from three of the Yamaha gassers that had been so damaged by UV rays that they were barely functional.  We had just been discussing what to do with those windshields Wednesday when Jose suggested we see if we could install them on some of the employee carts.  Kathie, who is the office manager, wanted her cart to be the first, so I took her cart, and one of the windshields over to my trailer to see what I could do.  In their original new condition the top piece of the windshield could be folded down, but the hinge connecting the upper and lower windshields (plastic) had broken, so I used 6 self tapping screws to firmly affix both pieces of the windshield to the frame.  The upper piece can no longer be folded down, but it will provide some protection from rain, and the cold morning air.  I'll take a picture today (Thursday) of the installation and post it Friday.

Around 5 pm I lit the Sea-B-Que to grill a couple of steaks for dinner.  We invited Claude to join us, and he brought is own steak.  We sat down to eat around 5:30 pm, and enjoyed an nice hour of conversation and food.  TLE provided a side salad.  It was nice to sit outside with balmy breezes blowing, and NO mosquitoes.  We know they'll arrive soon, but Thursday there were none.

Time to get ready for our first day of work.....thanks for stopping by!

Two days left.....

 7:57 am - Thursday - April 30th - LPG&RVR - 46° F, humidity 30%, cloud cover 49%, wind 1 mph out of the east.....partly sunny skies today with a forecast high of 70° F.  On this date in 2021 TLE and I were having lunch at Calapooia Brewing Company.....

....in Albany, OR.  TLE had an eye appointment at the local COSTCO earlier.  A Porter for moi, and a Stout for TLE.

As Wednesday dawned we had just two days before opening day on May 1st, so Claude and I headed over to the Clubhouse to pull all of the carts out of the Cart Shack to inspect them, and to wash them.  There are over 35 golf carts jammed in there over the Winter, and most of them have not moved in 6 months.  All but 4 carts started and ran initially, but after a little coaxing those four came to life, and ran just fine.  I did have to put a charger on one of them for about 30 minutes, but then she finally ran.  Claude worked with me until noon time when he needed to leave to drive into Alturas to pick up his dog (Jax) who had to have knee surgery.  By the time I finished it was almost 2 pm.  All the carts had been washed, and dried, and put back in the Cart Shack.  In all I  worked about 4.5 hours, but now we are ready to rent golf carts on Monday.  I don't think I stopped moving for the entire 4.5 hours.

I headed home, changed clothes, had a snack, then a nap, and then a long hot shower.  All things being equal my body held up pretty well to my first day of work.  There are still a few things to do around the Clubhouse, but I can work on those Friday before customers begin to arrive later in the day.  I'll spend Thursday working around our site to pull out the Sea-B-Que, and to begin to install our sun shades.  While I was over at the Clubhouse TLE used the Toro blower to clean off the artificial turf, and blow a Winter's worth of leaves out of the flower beds.

That is really all I have to report for Wednesday.  TLE and I did watch another episode of 'Survivor Season 50', which we thoroughly enjoyed.  There have sure been a lot of 'twists and turns' this season that no one was expecting.

Thanks for stopping by!

Three days until we open for the season.....

 7:40 am - Wednesday - April 29th - LPG&RVR - 39° F, humidity 38%, cloud cover 9%, wind 1 mph out of the east.....crystal clear, blue, sunny skies today with a forecast high of 66° F.  On this date in 2018 TLE and I were having lunch at The Shaved Duck......

....in St. Louis, MO....we were on our way to Maine where we would spend the summer working at Smuggler's Den in Southwest Harbor.  The Shaved Duck was featured on an episode of 'Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives'.

Times passes quickly, and suddenly we were waking up in LPG&RVR on a Tuesday...our fourth day back.  As I was composing my blog entry for the day I saw Dennis, Jose, John and DeWayne moving picnic tables to the individual sites.  When they got close to our site I headed out for a few minutes to say 'HI' to them all.  As of Tuesday morning we have just 3 days left before the May 1st opening, so there will be a flurry of activity between now and then putting the final touches on the park before the season begins.

Once I was done with my blog I got dressed, and headed over to the Clubhouse to have coffee with Claude, and anyone else who showed.  Ultimately Dennis came in so we had a chance to talk with him for a while.  While there I discovered that my new wheel covers for the Newell had arrived so I took them home with the other mail we had received.  Now that the trailer was organized I needed to install the small jack stands I use to stabilize the trailer.  Because the trailer is suspended on leaf springs it can get a little 'bouncy' when you walk from the front to the back of the trailer....

Needed three 2 x 6's pieces to raise the jack stand up high enough to make contact with the right rear corner of the trailer, which is pretty high off the ground

.....to keep the small jack stands from sinking into the gravel over time I cut out small 3/4" plywood pieces for them to sit upon, plus a few 2 x 6's pieces to put under them where needed due to the slopping terrain where the trailer sits.

Around 1 pm TLE and I headed over to the Clubhouse to partake in a taste test for the milkshakes Art and Sunny will be selling this summer.  They were delicious.  They will also be making pizzas.  We were back home by 2 pm at which time TLE and I did some weeding around the Newell using a Hula Hoe....

I weeded the dining/gaming deck in preparation for setting up our enclosed dining canopy

TLE weeded the area at the front of the coach

.....there is a little more to do, but we're almost there.  I, next, installed not only the new wheel covers for the Newell (the old ones were at least 5 years old, and had begun to get brittle, so we tossed them when we left TWW), but also the ones for the trailer, which are only a year old....

.....around 5:30 pm we walked over to Claude's Wanderlodge to share a fire, and drink some whiskey.  Jose stopped by for a couple of 'pops' before he finished mowing the RV park.  No one works harder, or longer every day than Jose, who is not only the course superintendent, but also the General Manager of LPG&RVR.  TLE and I bid our adieus around 8:30 pm, and headed home.

Thanks for stopping by!

A new iteration.....

 7:54 am - Tuesday - April 28th - LPG&RVR - 38° F, humidity 28%, cloud cover 28%, wind 1 mph out of the east.....clear, blue, sunny skies today with a forecast high of 61° F....at last...a day over 60° F.  On this date in 2011 I wrote the following....

"There comes a time in life, when you walk away from all the drama and the people who create it. You surround yourself with people who make you laugh, forget the bad, and focus on the good. So love the people who treat you right, and pray for the ones who don’t. Life is too short to be anything but happy."

....more meaningful now than ever....Abraham Lincoln famously said "You are only as happy as you decide to be". Decide to be happy....

This makes me happy!

....picture taken at the Salted Pig in Riverside, CA in 2015. The view this morning....

....as you can see, the window awnings have been deployed.

It's still winter here at LPG&RVR, but the show must continue. Before much else can be done around our site I needed to get the trailer organized, so I can find my tools, so it was to the trailer I headed first thing Monday morning. I've done this a few dozen times over the almost 15 years we've been on the road. It is never fast, or automatic. Each time we set up for a long stay the organization changes slightly, and most often for the good, and I think this setup is the beast iteration yet.....

The plants are kept in the trailer each night as we are still getting frost here.  TLE worked too hard this winter on getting them healthy to have 

them killed by frost

.....I only set up 2 of our larger tables, and two of the small ones to fit the space. TLE wanted her 'food' table setup nearer the back of the trailer, so I obliged her. All of the things, and tools I use on a daily basis are on the table nearest my workbench. She's only into her portable food pantry a few times per week, and sometimes less, so it works out well for both of us.

The trailer took most of the morning, so I took a break, then headed outside again with TLE to do some work on this year's version of the 'lido deck'.....

.....I failed to mention that while I was working in the trailer that TLE spent quite a bit of time weeding her flower beds, which are already brimming with growing flowers (not yet blooming). We still need to deploy the sun shades, but that will come a little later as it gets warmer. Right now we want lots of sun on the 'lido deck'.

It was a good day, and a lot was accomplished, but a lot remains to be done. It has been nice getting here almost a week early so we can take our time. Our first four day work shift begins Friday, May 1st, so we will soon be into our 4 days on, and 4 days off routine, and I am looking forward to that.

Thanks for stopping by!

In between the rain drops....

 7:38 am - Monday - April 27th - LPG&RVR - 39° F, humidity 54%, cloud cover 62%, wind 2 mph out of the north by northwest.....mostly cloudy today with a forecast high of 55° F.  Seems like we left mid Spring weather in Seligman only to return to late Winter weather here at LPG&RVR....lol.  On this date in 2013 TLE and I were visiting Mt. Vernon.....

.....the home of George and Martha Washington on the shores of the Potomac River in Virginia.  The view this morning.....

....so quiet here right now.

It rained off and on all night long here at LPG&RVR, and we awoke to the sound of rain pitter pattering on our riveted aircraft aluminum roof.  My favorite way to wake up on days I am not working....lol.  Rain was forecast to come and go all day, so not much got done outside, but TLE was like a 'white tornado' cleaning the Newell interior.  She even got a load of wash done in our splendid Splendide....first time it has been used in 6 months!

When we got a lull in the rain early afternoon I got dressed and headed outside to take care of two things.....level the trailer, and install the jack stands under the rear of the Newell.  As you all know if you have been reading for a while, in cold weather the Newell air suspension tends to settle over time making the Newell unlevel from front to back.  To counteract this last year I bought jack stands to place under the rear frame, and they worked quite well, but sank into the gravel over time.

The first order of business was the trailer.  Last year I jacked up the passenger side of the trailer, and built a gravel mound under the tires, and then inserted the 'Lego type' leveling blocks under the them before lowering the bottle jack I used to raise the passenger side.  The leveling blocks did not handle the weight well, so this year I wanted to utilize 2 x 6's, which I though would handle the weight of the trailer better (the trailer weighs around 4,000 pounds 'empty', meaning no car).  I mentioned to Bob Longacre that I needed to find some 3/4" plywood for the jack stands, and some 2 x 6's for the trailer.  He happened to have some scrap 2 x 6's and 3/4" plywood which he offered to me to use....

The scrap plywood and 2 x 6's in front of the trailer

.....I had 3 pretty good sized 2 x 6's so I cut them down, and ended up with them stacked two high and wide....came out pretty well, and now the trailer is level, and on a much more solid foundation.

Next I set the two jack stands on the 3/4" plywood piece Bob gave me and traced out two 3/4" pads for the individual jack stands to set upon....

....now they won't sink into the gravel.  With that I was done with outdoor activity, and it began to sprinkle again.....great timing!  Now that the trailer is level I can begin to organize it into my Summer mancave, and I hope to be able to do that Monday.

I spent the balance of the afternoon reading, and catching up on some of the YouTube channels to which I subscribe.  For dinner TLE unthawed some soup she had made a while back and served it with some cheese bread....a perfect winter meal.

Thanks for stopping by!