Join us now that we have retired and are now fulltiming in our 1982 Newell Classic Motorcoach, and traveling across the width and breadth of the USA. I know, it looks like a bus conversion, but it was built from the ground up to be a motorcoach!! (Photo by Steven Dempsey)
6:03 am - Monday - May 18th - LPG&RVR - 34° F, humidity 35%, cloud cover 52%, wind 2 mph out of the north by northwest.....partly cloudy skies today with a forecast high of 64° F. On this date in 2020 TLE and I were riding our bicycles along the Animas River.....
......in Durango, CO....there is a place where one can 'surf ' the river in Downtown Durango.
We didn't go to work until 7:45 am Sunday morning since no one was signed up to play golf until after 9 am. The temperature at 8 am was around 37° F with a blustery wind which I am sure made it feel a few degrees cooler. I staged 5 of the Yamaha gassers being pretty sure no more than one, or two of them would see action Sunday. Then began the task of sorting out all of the golf carts.
We have a new guy, Steve, who now works opposite me, who started work Thursday, and he did a really great job of clearing the driving range of those 55 gallons of golf balls, and washing the 14 carts left over from Wednesday. Unfortunately, he didn't know we were going to move 6 of the very old Club Car square front golf carts out of the shed to make room for the 6 new EZ-GO golf carts we acquired in the off season, so all the carts were packed into the shed like sardines. It took me the better part of an hour to remove the old carts and park them over by the 'Caddy Shack', but finally, around 9 am, order was restored.
That is about the time it began to snow.....
.....that lasted for about 30 minutes, and then the sun came out for a few minutes. Then it began to snow sideways.....
....for the next 3 hours it went from this to sunny, then back to this over and over again. I could only spend 10-15 minutes outside at a time before returning to the warm confines of the Clubhouse to get warm again.
The restaurant was busy all morning, and into the late afternoon serving customers. When you get weather like this at a rural RV park people get a little stir crazy sitting in the RV's, so they take a break and head to the restaurant to order a meal, and kill some time. I managed to stay somewhat busy all morning, and then gave TLE her lunch break at 12 pm. I sold one sweat shirt, checked in a couple of people, and took a phone call, but that was the extent of it. Instead of going right back to work at 1 pm, I headed home to take my own lunch break, returning at 2 pm for the final 3 hours of my shift.
Upon my return I found the only two carts we rented had been returned, so I washed and stowed them, and I was pretty much done with my day. It was too cold, and damp to mow, or do anything out on the golf course, so I watched some of the final round of The PGA. It wasn't until around the 13th hole that one player began to separate himself from the pack....Aaron Rai from Britain. Ultimately he won by 3 strokes finishing at 9 under par, and was the first one to get to 7 under par in four days.
TLE and I were on our way home by 5:05 pm. It was still very windy, as it had been all day long. We had all three heaters running for several hours to keep the Newell interior warm, and cozy. An thus ended the very wintery day of May 17th....will it be the last?
6:10 am - Sunday - May 17th - LPG&RVR - 35° F, humidity 41%, cloud cover 60% (looks like 100%), wind 11 mph out of the north by northwest.....heavy cloud cover this morning with a forecast high today of 56° F. On this date in 2020 TLE and I were in Durango, CO with Glenn and Laureen ordering food from the only open restaurant....
No sit down dining
.....as you will recall, this was at the beginning of the Wuhan Flu scare, and you could not eat inside restaurants....only take out. We found a table down the street and ate our food....almost normal, right? The view this morning....
.....in two days we have gone from idyllic weather back to winterish conditions.....it will only get to 56° F today, and there is a slight chance of SNOW! Winter will just not let go!
Saturday began cold, and remained cold all day long. I do not think it ever reached the forecast high of 61° F. I had visions of sitting outside watching The PGA, but they were quickly dashed when I stepped outside around 9 am to breezy, chilly winds. We spent the better part of the morning inside the warm confines of the Newell with the front electric heater running continuously.
I drove over to the Clubhouse around 12 pm to practice my putting for the upcoming putting contest at 4 pm, and it paid off to some degree as I made it through four rounds before being ousted. The previous two weekends I only made it to the second round, so this was a big improvement. On top of that I did not beat myself for a change....I lost to a better putter. Instead of my usual Hawaiian shirt and shorts I wore long pants, a long sleeve shirt, and a puffy jacket over that to stay warm. I wore the jacket for most of the putting contest.
TLE and I stayed until the end of the putting contest, which we don't usually do if I have lost, but she needed to be there to pickup the cash drawer as we go back to work for another four day shift beginning Sunday (we work Sunday through Wednesday this week). We were home by 5:20 pm.
7:48 am - Saturday - May 16th - LPG&RVR - 44° F, humidity 33%, cloud cover 37%, wind 9 mph out of the north by northwest.....partly cloudy today with a forecast high of 62° F. On this date in 2020 TLE and I had just arrived in Durango, CO.....
....during our Summer of the Wuhan Flu. We spent the entire Summer travelling through rural America where life was pretty normal. The view this morning....
....a few clouds this morning, and the forecast high for the day down from 71° F Friday to 61° F today.
The weather Friday was so delightful. It had the perfect balance of warmth, balmy breezes, and clear blue skies. If the rest of the Summer featured those three elements I could die a happy man.....not that I am not happy....I am. It's just when conditions like those we had Friday come around it changes your whole focus from wondering if you dressed warmly enough, or not cool enough for the conditions. Instead you're just walking around outside in a t-shirt, shorts and flip flops enjoying the crystal clear views, and balmy breezes without a care in the world. Unfortunately, the month is May, and we are at 5,500' elevation in Northeastern California where one day it can be like this, and within two days the temp will dive into the 50's driven by cold, blustery winds, which is what is coming Sunday. The key is living in the moment, which is what I did Friday.
Of course, The PGA Championship was playing on the TV in the background until after 4 pm. I drove over to the Clubhouse mid morning in Club Car Villager #20 to turn in my time card, pay my $2 for the weekly putting contest, and pickup a FedEx package which contained the necessary elements to complete the hardline sewer connection I've been talking about since before we left The Wilson Wilderness. To complete the setup, and install the hardline I needed a 45°, 3.50 inch inner diameter PVC coupling. I had already acquired the other needed items....about 16' of 3" inner diameter PVC pipe, and 2 flexible 3.5" outer diameter rubber couplings, so once I had the 45° PVC coupling I was ready to go.
Upon my return I began to cobble together the assembly, and then install it. Unlike many projects I have undertaken over the past 15 years, this one went exactly as I had planned, and within 30 minutes it was installed, and ready for service....
.....this hardline setup will provide significantly better drainage, will not be damaged by UV rays, and cannot be crushed by a misstep while entering the 'lido deck' from the front. Remarkably, I did not need to cut anything. I had, quite by accident, acquired the EXACT length of PVC pipe to complete the connection...doesn't get much batter than that. We are now in a position both here and at TWW where we no longer have to use the flexible, UV vulnerable Rhino Flex sewer line anymore....
....every Summer I've had to buy new lengths of the Rhino Flex due to UV damage causing it to spring leaks. And with that I was done with my outdoor projects this four day weekend.
We watched The PGA all afternoon, and by the end of the round there were 58 golfers within 6 strokes of the lead. The tournament began Thursday with 152 (I believe) golfers, and by Friday evening only 72 made the cutline which was at +4. There are two golfers at -4, so there are 72 golfers within 8 strokes of the lead. I don't recall another PGA tournament in my lifetime with that many golfers so close to each other after 36 holes. They call Saturday 'Moving Day' in golf, so we'll see if anyone can separate themselves from the rest of the field.
7:38 am - Friday - May 15th - LPG&RR - 48° F, humidity 26%, cloud cover 4%, wind 1 mph out of the north.....crystal clear, blue, sunny skies today with a forecast high of 71° F. On this date in 2017 TLE and I were in South Lake Tahoe....
....having dinner at Sidellis Brewing and Restaurant after seeing Guardians of the Galaxy Volume 2. The view this morning....
We slept in again until after 7 am on day two of our four day weekend. We began watching The PGA tournament (second major of the year) around 9 am, and had it on until after 3 pm. In between I deployed the corner piece for our sunscreen so we can sit outside Friday watching The PGA, which is being played near Philadelphia this year....
....it was too cold and breezy to do that Thursday. The TV will sit upon the Rubbermaid outdoor storage unit. Eventually we'll deploy the sunshade for the front of the Newell as it gets steadily warmer.
As you will recall I showed up a day early for my scheduled haircut at Kaleidescope, so I had to drive back into Alturas Thursday for the actual appointment. TLE decided to remain home, so I left at 1 pm, and was back by 2:10 pm. This is probably the longest (7 weeks) I have gone between haircuts in many years. I was really getting shaggy, but order has been restored. Once again the round trip drive was uneventful....just like we like it. The VW is running like its old self, and the memory of the catastrophic coolant loss/broken turbo water pump is becoming a distant memory.
As is most often the case on our four day weekends we did not stray far from our site, other than the trip into town. I haven't been over to the Clubhouse since late Tuesday when I went to pickup TLE from work. The campground, at least what we can see from site #55, is slowly filling to capacity. All of the deciduous trees, which usually don't leaf out until late May/early June, are fully leafed out now portending a possibly warmer summer than usual....we hope that is not the case....lol!
7:44 am - Thursday - May 14th - LPG&RVR - 45° F, humidity 22%, cloud cover ZERO %, wind ZERO mph......crystal clear, blue, sunny, windless skies this morning with a forecast high of 77° F. On this date in 2015 TLE and I were in South Lake Tahoe.....
....working at Tahoe Valley Campground....it snowed overnight, and stuck....MAY 14TH! The view this morning....
As is our custom we did not break our slumber until after 7 am on day one of our four day weekend. Tuesday ended with wind, and Wednesday it continued unabated. The forecast high for Wednesday was 71° F, but it never got above 67° F. I spent some time in the trailer finally finishing the organization of my work bench small hand tools....
.....which I keep in two small containers. I use these tools on a regular basis, and don't want to have to dig into a bag of tools to find them. So, with that the work bench is finally more usable...you'll notice my three remote controls....one for the TV, one for the radio, and one for the Sirius/XM tuner.
I 'thought' I had an appointment for a haircut at Kaleidescope at 1:30 pm so around 11:50 am we headed into town in our recently repaired VW Beetle, which ran wonderfully again. We arrived in Alturas around 1:15 pm so made a quick stop at ACE Hardware to buy a full size hacksaw....
....I have a couple of very small hacksaws, but I need a big one for an upcoming task in our RV site. We pulled into the parking lot of Kaleidescope right at 1:27 pm only to find out my appointment was for Thursday at 1:30 pm, not Wednesday....DOH! Well, I'd rather be a day early than a day late....lol! Since we had time we headed over to Lazy 'B' to split their bacon cheeseburgers with fries....
....this is the best (as far as we are concerned) hamburger place in town, and the food is so consistent. Believe, it or not, the fries on my plate are just one half of the normal serving. As always, the food was great!
We didn't need too much food at the grocery store, since we had done a 'big shopping' the week prior, but we did stop in at Holiday Market to buy some produce, as well as check the 'on sale' meat section finding a wonder London Broil for half price (around $8.00). Last Winter we lived on meat from our freezer that we had bought at 1/2 price at Holiday Market all last summer.
We were home around 3 pm at which time I took a long nap. It was too windy to do much outdoors, so we stayed inside the warm confines of the Newell for the rest of the afternoon. Thursday promises no wind for much of the day, with some wind late in the afternoon, so we'll be able to watch a lot of the first round of The PGA outdoors on the 'lido deck'.
7:37 am - Wednesday - May 13th - LPG&RVR - 57° F, humidity 25%, cloud cover 1%, wind 4 mph out of the west by southwest.....crystal clear, blue, sunny skies today with a forecast high of 71° F....quite a drop from yesterday's 87° F, and quite appreciated! On this date in 2012 TLE and I were touring the Kennecott Copper Mine.....
....near Salt Lake City, UT. The view this morning....
Tuesday we hosted the golf playoffs for Northeastern California High Schools which involved around 44 golfers from near and far. From this group of 44 players a set number will advance to the next round based on their scores. The course was closed to the public as the tournament would probably take all day, and it did. As we did two years ago we did not charge the players/schools for range balls. We just filled the baskets and set them on the railing that runs alongside the wooden deck on the north side of the Clubhouse where the tee boxes are for the Driving Range, and kept refilling them until all the golfers had hit as many balls as they wished. We started with a full 55 gallon barrel of balls, and ended up with less than 30 balls left in the bottom of the barrel. I'm not looking forward to picking up all those balls....lol!
When I left work on Monday at 3:30 pm there were still 18 carts out on the course, so that was my first task of the day. I washed 3 at at time, staged them, and then washed three more until I had all 18 staged. As the morning progressed we began pulling out more carts from the cart shack to keep up with the demand.
The players, coaches and parents began arriving around 9 am, and by 9:30 am the parking lot was packed. They began teeing off two foursomes at a time, one each at the 1st and 10th holes until all the players were on the course. Over the course of the day we rented all but two carts in the cart shack. Most of the rentals ($25/cart) were to parents who wanted to spectate around the course. I gave TLE her lunch break around noontime, and continued to rent one cart after another.
Meanwhile, the restaurant was putting out food and drinks at a rapid pace, and except for the Mother's Day dinner they served, this was the busiest they have been so far this season. Once TLE was back from lunch I headed back outdoors to begin washing and stowing carts, but there were none. In fact, not one cart was returned by my quitting time of 3:30 pm as all of the players were still on the course. Since my 8 hours were up, and the owners don't like to pay overtime (who can blame them) it fell to Jose (General Manager) to wash and stow them.
On a side note, we finally received the cart number decals for the 6 'new' EZ-Go Golf Carts purchased over the winter from a course in Idaho, so I spent the afternoon first washing the new carts, and then applying the number decals so we can now rent them. This will boost the number of carts we can rent to 40.
TLE was home by 5:30 pm, and thus began our second four day weekend since we arrived back on April 27th. The intervening 2.5 weeks have flown into the past so quickly. Later on today (Wednesday) TLE and I will head into town for my first haircut of the season at Kaleidescope.
5:56 am - Tuesday - May 12th - LPG&RVR - 55° F, humidity 26%, cloud cover 23%, wind 5 mph out of the southeast.....partly cloudy today with a forecast high of 87° F. On this date in 2020 TLE and I were touring Valley of the Gods in Southeast Utah....
.....near Goosenecks State Park with Glenn and Laureen (TLE's sister).
We had a slight break in the 'heat' Monday with temps dipping down to 83° F, but for me it was not noticeable. The morning was mostly windless while I spent the first 90 minutes of my day clearing the driving range after a very busy weekend with many, many balls being hit into said driving range. On Tuesday we are hosting the annual High School tournament for Northeastern California, so we need all the range balls we can muster in our large 55 gallon barrel for the young guys to hit in the morning, plus it is time to mow the range.
I staged 10 carts initially, and we rented close to 20, so Monday was a good day. Many of the carts were rented to golf teams who had arrived a day early to play the course in advance of the tournament Tuesday. Just before lunch I mowed the large Gazebo grass area, plus buddy sites 49 and 50. I then gave TLE her lunch break, then after lunch I mowed the employee sites, washed carts, and washed/dried the range balls. By 3:30 pm only 7 carts had returned, so I'll have a bunch to wash and stow first thing Tuesday.
We received good news Monday.....our employers have hired a person to work opposite me beginning Thursday. Up until now, as you know, Claude, TLE and I have been staging carts on our days off, giving Kathie a lunch break, and washing/stowing carts in the afternoon, so all that will end, and we can go back to regularly scheduled programing for the rest of the summer. I met Steve, and talked with him for about 15 minutes about the job. I think he'll fit in very well, here, but only time will tell. So, for now, we are once fully staffed.
I was off work by 3:30 pm, and in the shower by 3:40 pm. As is my habit, I took a nap, then returned at 4:50 pm to wash and stow the final electric cart, and then take TLE home. Just one day remaining now in our second four day work week.
