Shortest passing lane.....

 7:50 am - Tuesday - June 16th - LPG&RVR - 66° F, humidity 19%, cloud cover 11%, wind 12 mph out of the northwest....partially cloudy today with a forecast high of 95° F.  On this date in 2020 TLE and I returned to Gardiner, MT to visit with Kristen Dodge with whom we worked at the Mammoth Hot Springs General Store back in 2017.....

....she was working at the 'Two Bit Saloon' in Gardiner.  We had a great reunion which included a couple of brews, and a Ruben sandwich.

Between Likely, CA and Alturas, CA there is what I believe is the shortest passing lane in the USA.  This is not hyperbole.  It is so short that as soon as you can enter the passing lane there is a sign right there saying 'DO NOT PASS'.  All of the signs announcing the passing lane to the 'DO NOT PASS' sign are within 100' of each other....here is the sequence.....

In this photo you can see the series of four signs....you can see where the passing lane begins ahead on the left side of the picture 

.....I'm not sure why this passing lane is even here. By the time it is legal to enter the passing lane you see the 'RIGHT LANE ENDS' sign, and a few feet further the 'DO NOT PASS' sign.  This passing lane is located about 2 miles north of Likely, CA on the southbound side of US-395.  I thought when they repaved this section of highway last summer they would eliminate this passing lane, but they did not....lol.

Once again, on day two of our four day weekend, I did not leave out site.  TLE and I watched four more FIFA World Cup matches.  All of them were ties (0-0, 1-1, 1-1 and 2-2).  The 0-0 match was between the SMALLEST country in the World Cup, Cape Verde (never heard of it---population is 530,000), and Spain, the team favored to win the 2026 World Cup.  Spain could have scored 5 goals in the first half, but the Cape Verde goalie repelled every shot on goal.  Because of the 'David verses Goliath' feel to the match it was one of the best matches we have ever seen.  Spain controlled the ball 76% of the time, basically playing the entire game inside Cape Verde's third of the field, and yet this tiny country somehow earned a point (each team in a draw gets one point).  Most of the matches in this World Cup have been competitive with only two, or three being one sided affairs.

I was able to remain outside on the 'lido deck' until almost 2 pm when the temp hit 88° F on its way to a high of 91° F.  We'll probably head into town on Tuesday for our weekly shopping foray, but for now just hanging out at our site is perfect.  Today, Tuesday, we will see the highest high of the week....95° F, and then by Friday we'll be under 80° F again.

Thanks for stopping by!

'Lido deck' time.....

 7:58 am - Monday - June 15th - LPG&RVR - 69° F, humidity 16%, cloud cover 7%, wind 10 mph out of the north by northwest......crystal clear, blue, sunny skies today with a forecast high of 93° F.  On this date in 2017 TLE and I arrived at the RV park in Gardner, MT where we would spend the summer living....

....while working at the General Store in Mammoth Hot Springs, WY.  It was about a 15 minute drive to work.  The park is right on the Yellowstone River, which you can see in the right background.

When the weather allows I pretty much spend the first day of our four day weekend ensconced in my anti gravity chair on the 'lido deck', and Sunday was no different.....

.....there were 4 televised FIFA World Cup matches on Sunday, and we watched them all.  I watched them all mostly on the 'lido deck'.  Of course, there were 2, or 3 nice naps thrown in for good measure.  As is also often the case TLE and I slept in until well after 7 am.  I do not believe I left our site the entire day, or even interacted with anyone from the park.  After four days of almost non-stop social interaction on the job I need at least a day to decompress, and clear my head.

We're finally in the part of the summer when we no longer need to turn on heaters first thing in the morning to make the Newell interior hospitable.  In fact, we leave all the windows open all night.  The only time they get closed now is when we turn on the A/C.  The high temp Sunday was 91° F, and the next three days will get progressively hotter until Friday when it drops back into the low 80's for a few days.

Around 5 pm TLE had me light the Sea-B-Que so I could grill another steak.  While the steak was grilling I rolled out our new, red perimeter rope lights.  We've been using bright white rope lights for the past several years, and they are really bright at night, which is their purpose.  They keep the rodents at bay, and literally out of the various basement bays we have.  That being said, they are really too bright for our neighbors so I am experimenting with rope lights of the red variety to see if that mutes the brightness somewhat.  We ate our dinner in the airconditioned confines of the Newell as it was too hot at 5:30 pm to be outdoors.

Around 9 pm I went outside to see how the new red rope lights looked....

.....in the first picture you can see the contrast between the new red rope lights and the bright white section that runs under the VW to keep out pack rats.  In m opinion, the red lights are less glaring, and the light does not carry as far as the bright white lights, but should provide the same rodent repelling qualities as the brighter lights....we'll see.  All in all, the first day of our four day weekend was pretty much perfect.

Thanks for stopping by!

Le Tournament....

 8:06 am - Sunday - June 14th - LPG&RVR - 66° F, humidity 17%, cloud cover ZERO %, wind 10 mph out of the north by northwest.....crystal clear, blue, sunny skies today with a forecast high of 91° F.  On this date in 2017 TLE and I awoke in West Yellowstone to our first sunrise....

....we would spend the morning in an orientation meeting for our jobs working for Delaware North at the General Store in Mammoth Hot Springs (near the north entrance to Yellowstone NP).

Saturday was the day of the annual Likely Fire Department Tournament here at LPG&RVR.  We were expecting close to 90 golfers, and expected to come close to renting every cart in the cart shack.  You will recall that I spent time Friday afternoon staging every cart in the cart shack for the tournament, and I am glad I did.  Trying to do that Saturday morning would have been a nightmare.  All I had to do first thing Saturday was wash the four carts which had not yet returned Friday afternoon, and then stage them.  Soon it was time for the participants to head to their assigned beginning holes.....

.....we ended up renting 31 of the 33 newer golf carts.  Once the golfers had left the staging area it became a ghost town.  Claude and I split marshalling duties with Claude taking the front 9, and moi the back 9.  I made two rounds of the back 9 before it was time to give TLE her lunch break, but before I could do that I needed to mow the grass around the large gazebo which had just become vacant.  We had another group arriving early afternoon, so I could not wait until after TLE's lunch break.  It only takes about 10 minutes to mow the grass at the large gazebo, so I was only 10 minutes late for her break.

After lunch I turned on the sprinklers at the large gazebo to water the grass before the new group arrived, and also ran the sprinklers at the large grass area next to site #30.  It was around 1:30 pm when I returned to the Clubhouse, and get ready for the mass influx of returning golf carts.  Typically I receive returning carts in rows of three wide to avoid them backing into the parking lot, but that is when they returned piecemeal over a few hours.  On this day I had them parked 4 wide.  Very quickly there were 5 rows, so Claude and I began to wash and stow them.  We got the first 20 done pretty quickly, and then the second onslaught arrived.  We were able to wash and stow 31 golf carts in a little over an hour....not too bad!

By the time I put things away it was almost 3:30 pm, and time to head for home.  I didn't participate in the putting contest for the first time this summer as it began at 3 pm (one hour earlier than normal), and besides that I was tired, and ready for a long, hot shower.  TLE decided to walk home arriving around 5:20 pm, and thus began our four day weekend.  The day could not have gone more perfectly.  Claude and I make a good team.  Without him it would have taken me closer to 3 hours to get everything done....thank you Claude!

Thanks for stopping by!

A new record.....

 6:18 am - Saturday - June 13th - LPG&RVR - 54° F, humidity 24%, cloud cover ZERO %, wind 10 mph out of the north....crystal clear, blue, sunny skies today with a forecast high of 89° F.  On this date in 2018 TLE and I were in Southwest Harbor, ME.....

....having dinner at Cafe Drydock.

I don't recall a Friday anytime in the prior 4 summers where we emptied the cart shack before 10 am....in fact I don't remember any day of the week the last four summers where that has happened, but that is exactly what happened Friday.....

.....that one cart way in the background hasn't moved since April, but within minutes of this picture being taken it was moved out to be washed so it could be rented....that is 35 carts rented before 10 am.

I often refer to our older Club Car gassers as either round noses, or square noses to differentiate between them.  The square noses are our oldest carts which were bought new back in the late 90's.  The round nose Club Car gassers were bought a couple of years later....

Square nose Club Car gasser

Round nose Club Car gasser

.....now you will know to what I refer with those terms.

As I do most days, I staged an initial 10 carts, then kept adding them as needed.  In between staging carts I began washing those six 5 gallon buckets of range balls so I could refill the large trash can in the Clubhouse in advance of the tournament on Saturday.  There will be close to 80 golfers wanting to hit range balls before the tournament begins at 9 am.

As I wrote above, we had emptied the cart shack before 10 am, so I began to pull out the square nose Club Cars...

....which I park between the kayak trailer, and the fuel station.  Ultimately we rented all but 4 of the square nose Club Car gassers, so we came close to 'selling out'.  After giving TLE her lunch break I took a rare hour lunch break as I wanted to be on hand to wash all the carts before our 5 pm closing time.  The carts began to return during TLE's lunch break, so once I returned at 2 pm from my lunch break I began to wash them, and then stage them for the golf tournament on Saturday morning.  No point in putting them all away just to have to pull them out and stage them  again.  

I finished washing and staging the final carts which returned before 5 pm (there were still 4 on the course at 5 pm) and headed for home.  TLE was going to be a little later than normal in closing the office, and suggested I go home, and she would walk home when she was done.  She was home around 5:40 pm.

The first games of the FIFA World Cup were played Friday, and the USA played Paraguay in L.A.  I haven't really following US soccer for quite a while, and had no idea what to expect, but the US team won their first match handily 4-1.  They've never scored more than 2 goals in any FIFA World Cup match ever, so that is a good sign, but we'll see if that scoring prowess continues.

Thanks for stopping by!

Averages going up.....

 5:54 am - Friday - June 12th - LPG&RVR - 49° F, humidity 32%, cloud cover ZERO %, wind 10 mph out of the northwest....crystal clear, blue, sunny skies today with a forecast high of 88° F.  On this date in 2013 TLE and I were riding the La Cross River Trail to Sparta, WI....

....Wisconsin is the home of 'Rails To Trails'.....an organization which coverts old railroad right of ways converted to bicycle paths around the country.

There is a new trend developing this summer at LPG&RVR.  Last summer we averaged 15 rented golf carts a day mid week, but this year we often exceed 20 rented golf carts per day, mid week.  Of course that means more work for moi on the days I work, and usually more carts left over to wash the following morning, but that is a good thing for LPG&RVR.  I began Thursday staging the 5 Club Car electrics, then the 5 Club Car gassers (round nose).  Since the Likely Fire Department tournament is Saturday, and we may have to use all 44 carts, I next staged all 9 of the Club Car square front gassers to be sure they are all working for Saturday.  Once all of the old carts were rented I began staging the much new Yamahas.  By the end of the day we only had 5 Yamahas left in the Cart Shack.....that's well over 30 golf carts rented Thursday.

Around 10 am Claude and I began to clear the driving range for its bi-weekly mowing.  He took the left side, and I the right.  I needed his help because almost the entire ball barrel of range balls was empty meaning there were a lot of balls out there.  For the first time this summer I decided to use the 'ball picker', but first we had to clear the balls along both sides of the driving range where the picker cannot pick the balls.  The netted us two and one half 5 gallon buckets of balls.  Next I hooked up the ball picker to the Club Car we use to push it around the range and netted another three and one half 5 gallon buckets of balls....by and for the most I've picked this summer in one day.  By the time I finished it was time for TLE's 90 minute lunch break.

The rented carts began to return after lunch, and I spent the rest of my shift washing and stowing golf carts, and never got around to washing the range balls.  By the time I headed home at 3:30 pm I had washed over 20 carts, but will have another dozen to wash first thing Friday morning.

I took my usual hot shower, then a nap before returning to the Clubhouse to give TLE a ride home.  For dinner TLE prepared hard shell tacos, and we invited Claude over to eat with us for our second meal in the 'dining/gaming deck' canopy.  The tacos were great, and we talked until almost 7 pm before bidding adieu to Claude, and heading inside for the night.

Thanks for stopping by!

Getting busy midweek....

 5:52 am - Thursday - June 11th - LPG&RVR - 42° F, humidity 30%, cloud cover ZERO %, wind 9 mph out of the north by northwest.....crystal clear, blue, sunny skies today with a forecast high of 84° F.  On this date in 2014 TLE and I were in South Lake Tahoe.....

.....sitting on the beach enjoying the lake.

Tuesday was a relatively slow day, apparently, as there were only two carts left for me to wash Wednesday morning.  The first golfers were not slated to begin their rounds until after 9 am, so I was able to get 10 carts staged, wash the two left over carts, and relax a little before the onslaught began.  We ended up renting over 20 carts Wednesday which is a lot for mid week, and a good sign for the weekend.  In spite of the number of carts rented all but 6 were back before 3:30 pm.  Some folks played 36 holes.

Once the initial 10 carts were staged I headed up the hill to the residential area to pick up a load of weeds, and deliver them to the burn pile (we don't burn the burn pile until late October when it is safer).  Once that was done I headed over to the 'Nature Trail' trailhead to walk the one mile trail, and refresh the numbers at each viewing station.  There is a pamphlet we hand out to hikers which tells what they are seeing at each viewing station.  There are 9 viewing stations in all, and the numbers on the posts identifying them must be replaced each year as they begin to disintegrate.....

I think this is the largest pond on the property

From Jose's Point you can see our Newell and Claude's Wanderlodge

....it takes about an hour to make the walk, and replace the numbers.  I always forget how nice a walk it is.

After returning from the hike I decided to catch up on some weed eating, so I retrieved one of the string trimmers and headed up to the three large lawns in the residential area to trim around the trees, then down to the Clubhouse to trim around the deck, then over to the tents sites to clean up a drainage ditch, then out to the meadow area, where the 'stargazers' are setting up their telescopes, to trim around the numerous electrical pedestals we provide for them to plug in their telescopes.  I wasn't able to finish the meadow area before TLE's lunch break, so I headed back to the Clubhouse to do just that. Over the 90 minutes I was there the phone range three, or four times, and I checked in a couple of RVers, but that was the extent of it.  

After lunch I finished the trimming in the meadow area including around the children's playground equipment.  By the time I returned to the Clubhouse there were 4 carts to wash, so I washed them, then took a run around the golf course to see where the rest of the carts were, and counted 11 on the back 9.  They returned before 3:30 pm, so they got washed and stowed.  I'll have 6 to wash first thing Thursday.

I headed home to take a shower, and a much needed nap before returning to the Clubhouse around 5 pm to give TLE a ride home, and that was our first of four work days this week.  TLE reported that it was very busy in the afternoon in the office, too.

Thanks for stopping by!

Back to Alturas......

 5:50 am - Wednesday - June 10th - LPG&RVR - 40°  F, humidity 30%, cloud cover 1%, wind 13 mph out of the northwest.....crystal clear, blue, sunny skies today with a forecast high of 77° F.  On this date in 2013 TLE and I were in La Crosse, WI.....

.....having lunch at Bodega Brew Pub.  

We rarely pass through Alturas two days in a row, but that is exactly what happened Tuesday.  We passed through Alturas on our way home from Klamath Falls Monday.  I had scheduled a haircut at Kaleidescope on Tuesday with Sheila a month ago at 8:45 am, and I really needed a haircut, so we were on the road by 8:20 am, arriving at Kaleidescope at 8:42 am.  They are closed on Sundays and Mondays, so there you go.

We haven't visited Coffee Adventure in Canby since late last summer, and our schedule doesn't always line up with their days of operation which are Tuesday through Friday, but since we were back in Alturas Tuesday we decided to drive the 19 miles over to Canby to have some of their wonderful coffee and pastries....

....it was still a little chilly outside, but we still chose the alfresco option.  TLE also bought a dozen of their farm fresh eggs.

On our way back to Alturas we stopped at Landis Nursery (on the western outskirts of Alturas) to buy some more potting soil, and three more geraniums.  Their flowers are so healthy....

.....next we stopped in at Holiday Market to buy some produce.  We don't buy produce in Klamath Falls as we must go through an agricultural inspection station on the way home, and don't want to have to lie to the inspector.  From there we made a quick stop at Dollar General, then were on our way back to LPG&RVR arriving there well before noon time.

We threw some wildflower seeds into the planter to the right of the 'dining/gaming' deck, and then covered them with the potting soil we bought 

The new indoor/outdoor carpet piece we bought at Dollar General

The new geraniums sitting on the Rubber Maid

.....we scored a 1/2 price filet mignon at Holiday Market ($7) so we decided to grill it Tuesday evening.  I deployed the umbrella to provide shade against the late afternoon sun......

The beautiful, oh so tender filet mignon

Ready for consumption

TLE provided sides of green beans, smashed potatoes and vino

Our first meal since we setup the dining canopy

.....I spent a good portion of Saturday afternoon on the 'lido deck' napping, and listening to 60's music on Sirius/XM radio.  It was a delightful day with temps climbing back into the low 70's.  Time to begin another four day work week!

Thanks for stopping by!