It's in the bag......

 6:29 am - Tuesday - May 24th  - Likely, CA - 38° F, humidity 69%, wind - CALM.....crystal clear, blue, sunny skies today with a forecast high of 76° F.   On this date in 2012 TLE and I were having appetizers at The Iron Horse Bar and Grill in Missoula, MT......↴

Monday was a busy day.  Once again we put out every cart we had, and one went out twice.  On top of that it was time to pickup all the golf balls on the driving range.  I had to empty the barrel first thing to get enough balls to fill 5, or 6 baskets for the driving range, plus I had to walk the near third of the driving range with the 'shag bag' to gather some more balls in case we ran out before I was able to sweep the driving range.  I didn't want to to it too early this time to avoid getting all that wet grass on the balls, which means it takes much longer to clean them, and was aiming to start that process round 10:30 am.

I'm glad I waited to sweep the driving range, because this time the balls I picked up were dry, and grass free.  It took me about 90 minutes in all to to the job, then I drove the machine up to the club house to disgorge the 6 full baskets of golf balls onto the back porch where I left them until later in the day to make sure they were completely dry.  By the time I was finished with that task it was time to relieve TLE for lunch, and take a break to read my book, then it was off to lunch for moi.

By the time I returned from lunch there were 16 golf carts at the wash station requiring my attention, and I spent the rest of the afternoon washing carts, fueling them as required, and putting them back in the cart shed.  I didn't finish that task until 4:30 pm, and then it was time to empty those 6 baskets of golf balls into the large barrel in the Club House store room....letting them sit all afternoon worked as they were completely dry, and had no grass sticking to them.  

I also took delivery on my new to me cart bag for my golf clubs.  I found it on eBay.....it is a Datrik 1999 Ryder Cup souvenir bag.  In 1999 the Ryder cup was held at The Country Club in Brookline, Mass, and, ironically, this year's U.S. Open is being held there, also.  The bag is in mint condition, and only cost me $75.....

.....it has 14 separate dividers for golf clubs, so they all fit in there pretty nicely.  Once I had the old bag emptied I transferred the second set of clubs I have into it.  I'm hoping to get TLE to take up golfing.  Now it is time to start playing golf!

It was so nice outside when we arrived home we decided to sit outside with some adult beverages, and another charcuterie tray for dinner....of course there was a nice cigar smoked, and a great time was had by all.  The cool of the evening chased us inside around 7 pm.

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The vacuum didn't work.....

 6:21 am - Monday - May 23rd - Likely, CA - 37° F, humidity 78%, wind CALM.....crystal clear, blue, sunny skies today with a forecast high of 73° F.  On this date in 2014 TLE and I were celebrating Taco Friday at Steamers Bar and Grill in South Lake Tahoe with Bill and Devi Kasson.....↴

You can tell the weather is getting warmer, and we are nearing the beginning of the summer season when Vacuum Sunday doesn't happen.....I think we had more people in the park at the end of the day than we did in the morning.  It was also a very busy day on the golf course.  We rented all 5 of the Club Car electrics, all 10 of the Yamaha gassers, and all 8 of the Club Car gassers, plus we rented out two of the electrics a second time later in the day for total of 25 golf carts rented out Sunday.

On top of that a very exciting finish to this year's PGA Championship was brewing throughout the day.  At one point Justin Thomas was 8 strokes down to the leader Mito Pereira (Chile), but when the dust settled at the end of Sunday he (Thomas) came out victorious in a three hole playoff with Will Zalatoris....Pereria faded from 1st to 3rd place on 72nd and final hole of regulation leaving Zalatoris and Thomas tied at 5 under par.  Thomas' comeback from 8 strokes down ties the PGA record for a come from behind victory.

In between all of that I engaged in a lot of weed whacking around the park, staged and washed a lot of golf carts, and refilled a lot of driving range buckets with golf balls for TLE.  Sunday was, by and far, the busiest Sunday we've had since we arrived April 12th, and the rest of the week should be the same as we have a large group (18 RV's) in the park, and they are all golfers!

TLE and I continue to lose weight, and inches. We continue to be asymptomatic to the Wuhan Flu, we continue to love our jobs, and living in rural America.  We are still looking forward to the morning when we wake up and don't have to turn on the heaters.  I know the time will come later in the summer when we will look back fondly on these days of chilly mornings, and chilly afternoons, but for now it would nice not to have the heaters running every morning.  

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Beautifying......

 6:30 am - Sunday - May 22nd - Likely, CA - 36° F, humidity 69%, wind 1 mph out of the north.....mostly sunny today with a forecast high of 68° F.  On this date in 2020 TLE and I ate inside a restaurant for the first time in 3 months (think Chinese flu).......↴

Saturday morning was another chilly one, but that didn't stop me from washing the Beetle, and while I was as it, washing the Newell for the first time in a few months.....

.....isn't she purdy?  And, by the way, wasn't Saturday a spectacular day once it warmed up?  Yes, indeed, it was!

While I was so engaged TLE made a trip into Alturas to do some grocery shopping, and arrived back home just as I was finishing beautifying the Newell.  All the while the PGA Championship was playing on the TV in the background.  It was a bad day weather wise in Tulsa, OK, and the golf scores reflected that.  Very few golfers shot under par, while the majority bogeyed hole after hole.

Around 1 pm I drove cart #20 over to the driving range to hit a bucket of balls, and then worked on my putting.  Nothing seemed to go right for me in either venue.  I think about 50% of my tee shots were acceptable, and the same for my putting.  I just didn't have the touch Saturday.

One of the prizes TLE brought home from Alturas was a beautiful filet mignon, which I grilled on the Sea-B-Que around 5:30 pm after we returned from the weekly putting contest where I faired poorly again, not getting out of the first round, but we had a good time, nevertheless, talking and laughing with everyone who was in attendance.  The filet, however, came out perfectly.....a beautiful medium rare, melt in your mouth steak......

.....TLE added sides of a baked potato, and sautéed mushrooms, and onions.  What a great way to end Saturday!

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Walking, riding and watching.......

 7:39 am - Saturday - May 21st - Likely, CA - 44° F, humidity 40%, wind 2 mph out of the northeast.....crystal clear, blue, sunny skies today with a forecast high of 66° F. On this date in 2013 TLE and I were watching the sun rise at gate #2 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway....↴

At 6 am Friday morning it was 30° F....I'm really glad I didn't remove that heat tape the other day....lol.  We hadn't walked in a few days so when it finally warmed up into the 40's we did our typical loop walk around the park.....

....we both wore gloves, and I a watch cap to stay warm.  I felt so good after the walk that within an hour I was on my Haibike SDURO taking a ride around the perimeter of the golf course.......

i 

....you can tell by my average speed (9.8) that the ground is firming up now that it has stopped raining/snowing making the trails firmer, but I'm also getting used to the altitude.  My last loop ride I averaged around 7.6 mph.  I managed to do the entire ride in assist level #1, which, essentially, compensates for the weight of the bike ( 60+ pounds), making it feel more like a 20-25 pound bike.

We took a final loop walk around the park around 4:30 pm at the end of the 2nd round of the PGA Championship, which we pretty much watched all day, and was pretty entertaining.  All during the day TLE ran a few more loads of wash getting us almost current.

It looks like the weather will begin warming again beginning Saturday, and by the time Charles (brother-in-law) and Phyllis (TLE's sister) get here it will be back into the 70's, with at least one day in the 80's.  We haven't seen them since early March, and it appears things are still going well for them as they navigate their renewed relationship 40 years after their divorce.  It will be great to see them again!

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Out and back.....

07:15 am - Friday - May 20th - Likely, CA -  35° F, 47% humidity, wind 6 mph out of the northeast.....crystal clear, blue, sunny skies today with a forecast high of 60° F.  Got down to 30° F overnight.....brrrrr!  On this date in 2014 it was snowing in South Lake Tahoe......↴

We had planned to 'sleep in' Thursday morning, but we went to bed at 9:30 pm the night before, and were up before 6:30 am....oh well!  In spite of that we did not check out until almost 8:30 am.  The Grand Sierra is 1 block from US-395, and within a minute we were heading up the hill out of the Reno/Sparks basin.....

.....within an hour we were pulling into the Rest Area just before the Standish cutoff, and had just over an hour of driving left.  We hit the same construction area again, but just as northbound traffic was beginning to move again.  The only problem was we had to pass about a dozen semi trucks before we could get back up 70 mph.  Nonetheless, we still arrived at the entrance to Likely Place Golf and RV Resort (LPGRVR) at 11 am with most of the day still ahead of us.  Unfortunately, the wind was blowing in the mid teens, and got up to 20 mph a few times, so outdoor activity was limited by that, not to mention it was only 55° F.  Thank goodness we had the good sense to stow our patio awning in case the winds returned while we were gone......

There was very little traffic Thursday, which makes for stress free driving....just set the cruise control, and hang onto the steering wheel.

.....TLE spent the afternoon running one load after another through our splendid Splendide washer/dryer.  While our fellow employees make multiple trips down to the laundry to do their wash each week, we can do it in the comfort of the Newell without ever stepping out the door.  We are so thankful we have an onboard washer/dryer.  

While the Splendide was doing its thing, TLE and I watched the first round of the PGA, one of the four major golf tournaments each year, which also includes the Masters, US Open, and The British Open....officially called THE OPEN.  I didn't feel that tired when I got home, but, apparently, I took a couple of naps during the long afternoon.

Whenever we take a trip of any kind we always pray for 'uneventful', and that is what we got for our overnight trip to Reno.  In all we covered about 400 miles in two days of driving (310 round trip to Reno, plus the extra 65 round trip from Reno down to Carson City, and 25 round trip to have dinner with my cousin), but it did not feel like we drove that far.  Nothing like driving lonely, mostly empty highways in rural America to reduce the stress level of travel.

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Reno interlude....

11:51 am - Thursday - May 19th - Likely, CA - 59° F, humidity 73%, wind 14 mph out of the west..... forecast high today is 61° F.  On this date in 2012 TLE and I were visiting Craters of the Moon NP.....↴

A few pictures from our drive down to Reno Wednesday..... haven't had time to write the blog today,  but will get it done soon.......well, soon was a few hours later, but here we go.

I had an appointment in Reno, NV at Quest Diagnostics for 11:40 am Wednesday, and the drive was supposed to take 2.5 hours so we left LPRV&G around 8:15 am to be sure we would be there no later than 11 am......

....the drive south was mostly uneventful, but we did have to stop at a construction area for about 10 minutes south of Standish........

.....but we were first in line when things began to move again, so no trucks, or other cars to pass....

....there are along stretches of US-395 where it is straight as an arrow for 10-15 miles.....

....the Standish cutoff is about half way to Reno, so we had about 70 miles to go at this point.....

Just passing Bordertown, and about 30 miles from Reno 

....we arrived at Quest Diagnostics just a few minutes after 11 am, and I was taken into the back to have my blood drawn a few minutes later.  I was in and out in less than 5 minutes.  We had a number of other errands to run before we checked into our hotel (Grand Sierra Resort), which included a stop at In 'N Out Burger for some 'Animal Fries'......

The 'Animal Fries' (fries covered with melted cheese, special sauce, and sautéed onions....not on the menu....you have to ask for them) are almost gone!

....we had an early dinner (4:30 pm) with my cousin, so we just needed a snack.  Next up was a visit to Trader Joe's to buy some wine, carne asada, and a few other things we only buy there.  TLE had an eye appointment at COSTCO at 2:20 pm, so we headed there next to do some shopping before her appointment.  Once we were done with shopping we headed to the Optometry Department so she could pick out new frames, which I'm glad she did, because the exam took until 3:15 pm to complete, and it was going to be a 30 minute drive back to Grand Sierra Resort, and then another 25 minute drive up to Red Hawk Golf Resort in Sparks....a rather tight schedule....lol.

We arrived at Grand Sierra just before 4 pm, but they could not find our reservation....the first glitch of the day.  I had made it through Booking.com and apparently they added the 'A' from my middle name to my last name resulting it the reservation being under 'Ahockwald'.  It took a while for them to sort it out, and as a result, we did not have time to take our luggage to our room, so we just got our keys, and headed up the golf course for dinner at David's Bar and Grill getting there about 10 minutes late.

We had a lovely time with Lois (my cousin.....daughter of my mother's brother Bob), and John.  They've lived in Sparks for about 40 years, and every time we come up, or down US-395 we try to stop in and see them.  I almost always forget to take an 'usie', but this time we managed to get two pictures......

Taken by our waiter

The 'usie'

....we ate and talked until almost 7 pm before we said our 'until next times', and headed back down the hill to the Grand Sierra.....

The Grand Sierra in the distance....almost home for the night!

.....our room ended up being on the 9th floor (there are 17 floors), and we had a nice view of Reno at night (The Grand Sierra is located right at the intersection of I-80, and US-395)......

.....we managed to find a parking spot in their very small parking lot (there is a lot of construction going on, and a big chunk of their normal parking lot is off limits), and up to our room in time to watch the latest episode of Survivor, Season 42.  Once again, there was another beautiful 'blind side'.

Thanks for stopping by, and thank you for our patience in waiting for this blog post!

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Gimme a break.....

6:52 am - Wednesday - May 18th - Likely, CA - 41° F, humidity 59%, wind - CALM....crystal clear, blue, sunny skies today with a forecast high of 76° F.  On this date in 2014 TLE and I were riding our bikes in South Lake Tahoe....one of our favorite places on earth.....↴

As TLE and I were arriving at the Club House for work Tuesday morning I noticed a lone green plastic basket sitting at the tee area for the driving range.  As you know I had spent a good part of my Monday morning cleaning golf balls off the driving range so it could be mowed.  Normally DeWayne mows the driving range early afternoon on Mondays and Thursdays, but he had a doctors appointment Monday, so he could not do it until Tuesday.  This meant we had to keep the driving range closed until he mowed it.  Well, someone hit a bucket of balls after hours Monday, which meant I had to walk out there and pick about 50 golf balls up manually using the 'shag bag'.........GIMME A BREAK!....

The view from the back of the driving range looking back toward the Club House

....wasn't able to get to picking the balls up until I had deployed 12 golf carts for TLE, but by 9:15 am I had both tasks completed, and it was time for me to head out to tee box #3 to do my poop patrol.....the geese love to defecate on the those tee boxes for some reason.  Then it was on to holes 4, 12, 15 and 18 to rake out the sand traps.  By the time I returned to the Club House TLE was calling for me to deploy more golf carts....another busy day at LPRV&G for sure....

My new Likely Place sweatshirt

My new work shirt.....I have four

The view from the 15th hole

.....after lunch I retrieved the John Deere riding lawnmower to head out to the teem boxes for hole #15 to mow them , and then work my way back through 16, 17 and 18....it is a long, slow ride out and back, and I did not return to the Club House until around 3 pm....

My office

Waiting for golfers to tee off so I can mow the tee boxes at #18

The 'Caddy Shack'

......I finished washing the final golf cart, and parking it back in the cart shack around 4:30 pm, and finally had a chance to take a breath.  Around 5:15 pm TLE and I headed for home, and some adult beverages on the 'Lido Deck' to celebrate the end of another work 'week'....now for our four day weekend....

A wonderful evening to sit outside by the fire

....on Wednesday we'll make the 2.5 hour drive down to Reno so I can get my blood drawn for my annual check up, and TLE can attend her eye appointment.

Thanks for stopping by!

When you shop Amazon, please use our link (below) to access their website.......we will appreciate every purchase you make using our Amazon Affiliate link, and  remember, using our link will not add one penny to your purchase, plus we will receive a small commission which over the course of a year adds up to enough to buy a tank of diesel for which we thank you very much!