The smoke has arrived.....

 8:04 am - Tuesday - August 4th - LPG&RVR - 64° F, humidity 13%, cloud cover 7%, wind 10 mph out of the north by northwest.....clear skies, but smokey today with a forecast high of 96° F.  On this date in 2013 TLE and I were in Kalispell, MT.....

....overnighting at the local Walmart Supercenter.  Kalispell lies just a few miles north of Flathead Lake, and about 20 miles to the southwest of Glacier National Park.

We awoke Monday to smokey skies.  There are numerous wildfires in Oregon and Washington contributing to our currently smokey conditions here at LPG&RVR.  You may have heard about the catastrophic fires burning on the northside of Spokane where entire neighborhoods have been burned to the ground.  Reminds me of the Pacific Palisades fires almost two years ago.  My sister lives on the south side of Spokane, and is fortunate to have downtown Spokane, and the very large Spokane River between her home and the fires.  This is the first time this summer LPG&RVR has been impacted by wild fires smoke wise.  

Around 9 am TLE and I headed into Alturas to do our weekly shopping, and the smoke is much, much worse there (Alturas is 20 miles north of Likely).  As we neared Alturas the hazy skies reminded me of driving into the L.A. basin on a smoggy day; not much difference.  We made our usual stops at ACE Hardware, Dollar General, Grocery Outlet, and Holiday Market before heading back south to the much less smokey LPG&RVR.  Sometimes a little perspective on how bad it could be if we were living 20 miles further north helps.

We were home a tad after 11 am, and once the car was unpacked I headed out to the 'lido deck' to spend the rest of the day.  I did set one of our sprinklers to water a dry patch of grass next to the coach, but that was the extent of my physical activity for Monday.  I read, smoked a cigar, drank ice coffee, and napped until after 4:30 pm in spite of the 92° F high for the day.  There was just enough breeze to keep the 'lido deck' comfortable.

Our good friend Claude Banker, who works, and lives here at LPG&RVR, had to make a run up to his mother's home in Oregon last Thursday as she had been admitted to the hospital unconscious.  I believe she was either 105, or 106 years old, and has been in failing health for a couple of years.  Anyway, we got a text from him Sunday that his mother had passed without regaining consciousness.  So he and his family have been in our thoughts and prayers since then.  I'm sure he and his family would appreciate your thoughts and prayers right now.  She had a very long, and full life.

I just took this picture towards the Warner Mountains, and Eagle Mountain....

....you cannot even see the mountains, or Eagle Mountain because of the smoke.

Thanks for stopping by!

Slowing down time....is it possible?

 7:55 am - Monday - August 3rd - LPG&RVR - 61° F, humidity 20%, cloud cover 0%, wind 8 mph out of the north....crystal clear, blue, sunny skies today with a forecast high of 92° F.  On this date in 2017 TLE and I were in Yellowstone National Park.....

.....doing a 5 mile hike at the Glen Creek trailhead near Swan Lake Flat.  Interesting fact....there are a lot of swans living in Yellowstone National Park....a lot.  We hiked over 100 miles that summer.

It was after 7:30 am when TLE and I finally pried ourselves out of bed to begin the second day of our 4 day weekend.  As soon as I stepped outside I could feel the coolness in the air.  When you can still feel the coolness in the air it means the heat of the day will be 2-3 hours later than it has been the past few days.  By 12:30 pm Saturday it was too hot to be outside, but on Sunday I enjoyed the 'lido deck' until after 2:30 pm before the rising temps chased me back into the cool confines of the air conditional Newell for the balance of the day.

On our days off TLE can spend extended time in the morning watering, and tending to her many plants and flowers....

....of which there are many.....

.....the day passed slowly, just like you want a weekend day to pass.  I think how quickly time seems to pass is more of a state of mind, right?  Now matter how quickly, or slowly you perceive the passage of time there are really still 60 seconds in a minute, 60 minutes in an hour, 24 hours in a day, and 7 days in a week.  Sitting on the 'lido deck' enjoying the sights and sounds of the day, and clearing my mind of the yesterday and tomorrow thoughts seems to work for me.  Notice in the pictures above how deep blue the sky is.  Often, on days I work, I don't even notice that.  Oh, and by the way.....no smoke here from any of the fires raging in Oregon and Washington.

The park remains quite empty as I write, but by Friday it will be full again as the annual Rich Hamel Golf Tournament will be kicking off on the 8th.....

....starting tomorrow, Tuesday, the daily high temps will move up to 97° F, then up to 99° F through Sunday when they will begin a slow decline to 89° F by next Wednesday, the 12th, further declining to 85° F by the 17th.  We work Wednesday through Saturday this week when those three 99° F days arrive.  By the time we go back to work on the 12th we'll be out of this heatwave!

Time to get dressed for our weekly shopping foray into Alturas, so have a great Monday wherever you may find yourselves today, and thank you for stopping by!

Daily routine contrast.....

 8:17 am - Sunday - August 2nd - LPG&RVR - 64° F, humidity 21%, cloud cover 0%, wind 13  mph out of the north by northwest.....crystal clear, blue, sunny skies today with a forecast high of 92° F.  On this date in 2018 TLE and I were in Southwest Harbor, ME.....

......hiking to the top of Acadia Mountain in Acadia National Park.  The view this morning.....

....I haven't done "the view this morning" for a long time now, but I thought I should today.  Why?  Well, for two reasons. Look how good those ZipDee Awnings look after 44 years!  Number two, look at the hillside across from us....there are NO weeds, and NO bushes; just trees.  I'm thankful it was not I who cleared that hillside, because that was a lot of back breaking work for Romero, who is the one who did all of that. He also cleared the weeds, and brush behind our site....

We did not stir from our slumber Saturday morning until close to 8 am.  One might think that altering your daily routine on your four day weekends so dramatically from the four days you work would be a little difficult, if not down right disorienting, but we look forward to contrast of getting up well after 7 am on our 'weekends', as opposed to when we work....the days we work we arise at 5:30 am, and go to bed at 9 pm each day.  On our weekends we get up no sooner than 7 am, but usually closer to 7:30 am, and go to bed after 10 pm most evenings.  It seems to work for us, but am I ever looking forward to sleeping in until after 7 am every day this winter.

I spent a good portion of the morning outdoors working on small projects, such as installing the new lighting in the new dining canopy.  Before the original canopy was destroyed by the micro burst wind event a couple of weeks ago we used those solar powered Edison lights, but they were difficult to install, so I opted to buy the same solar light we use on our 'lido deck'.....

Bright mode

....when activated by detected movement it turns completely on and is very bright (above).  Otherwise, when the sun sets it comes on in 'dim' mode (below), and remains in 'dim' mode all night unless it detects movement.....

Dim mode

.....before it got too hot I also did some weeding out in front of the coach, then settled in to watch golf.  TLE has done a wonderful job of creating a green environment on the 'lido deck'....

Peppers

Alovera

Geraniums, lavender

....when I sit on the 'lido deck' I am surrounded by greenery.  These are just a few of the plants TLE tends to each day, and she is doing a marvelous job of keeping them healthy, and vibrant.

I remained on the 'lido deck until close to 1 pm when the rising temperatures, and lack of any breeze to mitigate those rising temps drove me indoors for the balance of the day....that is until we made our weekly appearance at the weekly putting contest.

As bad as I was last week, I was that much better this Saturday.  I got through 6 rounds before my own mistakes eliminated me from getting 'into the money'.  I've had a really dry spell this summer.  I was just two matches away from being in the final.  This was probably the hottest putting contest (temp wise) in the five years we have been here.  Usually we are getting nice breezes in the park by 4 pm, but Saturday there was no breeze.  If there had been I do not think we would have noticed how hot it was.

Upon our return home TLE pulled out a couple of filet mignons for me to grill on the Sea-B-Que.  Spending time on a hot 'lido deck' grilling steaks was the last thing on my mind Saturday, but the alternative was even less attractive; grilling them indoors, and raising the temperature of the interior, which was 70° F when we returned at 5:30 pm.  TLE added sides of green beans, and a black bean, tomato/ corns salad....

.....after dinner we watched an Amazon Prime movie called 'Redemption' staring Jason Statham.  It had a 4.5 star rating out of a possible 5 stars on Amazon.  It was good, but TLE and I would put it at 3.75 stars.

Thanks for stopping by!

When real Friday collides with metaphorical Friday.....

 7:49 am - Saturday - August 1st - LPG&RVR - 67° F, humidity 18%, cloud cover 29%, wind 14 mph out of the northwest.....partly cloudy skies today with a forecast high of 96° F.  On this date in 2018 TLE and I were in Bar Harbor, ME.....

....taking in a movie at Reel Pizza Cinerama....we got the real big bag of popcorn.  Looks like a shopping bag, no?  We didn't get pizza, but that is the whole point of this place....order a pizza, and watch a movie....great concept.

At last, the final day of our four day work week arrived.  Every four day shift seems to go fast, and then we must shift gears, and try and slow down the four day weekend.  I knew when I egressed from the Newell Friday morning that it was going to be hot.  There was no coolness in the air, just an uncomfortable warmth portending much suffering later in the morning, and into the afternoon for those of us who work outdoors.  About once a month real Friday coincides with our four day work week metaphorical 'Friday', which isn't really a Friday much of the time, but feels like a Friday.  Friday was one of those double Friday's which happens once a month.  I hope I'm not being too obscure....lol.

We actually rented 9 golf carts Friday....the most in one day all 'week'.  I didn't need to stage any carts as I had left the older, square nosed Club Cars staged overnight.  I had one cart to wash, and dispensed with that pretty quickly.  Now, what to do?  Well, since Claude went to visit his mother (106 years of age) in Oregon I made a round of the course in his stead to be sure all was well, and then later in the morning to rake three of the four sand traps.  I usually use the phrase 'sand' trap metaphorically, but one of the four now (the fourth hole) actually has sand in it.  Claude reshaped the sand trap, cleaned out all the small rocks, and all the weeds, and Jose put a bucket (loader bucket) of white sand into it to turn it into a real sand trap....lol!  It is really confusing our golfers.

For the third day in succession I watered the dry spots in the 'Night Office' grass, and the parking lot grass.  They are now all green for the first time a long time. I  also watered the grass between the Clubhouse deck and the putting green, so it is all green, too.  Additionally, I mowed the employee lawns, which Claude so kindly trimmed before leaving for Oregon.  There was the usual 90 minute lunch break for TLE, then the final two excrutiatingly hot hours left before my four day weekend began, and at last it was time to head for the cool confines of our 1982 Newell where I took a long cool shower, then a long nap before heading back to the Clubhouse to assist TLE in beginning her four day weekend.

There are 12 days remaining until temps dip back into the 80's, and we only work 4 of those days....YAY!  Typically, after the middle of August it begins to cool off here in Modoc Country, and by early September we're usually back into the 70's.  We'll see if that past trend continues this year; I sure hope so!

Thanks for stopping by!

The Dog Days of Summer......

 5:48 am - Friday - July 31st - LPG&RVR - 53° F, humidity 25%, cloud cover 1%, wind 12 mph out of the west......crystal clear, blue, sunny skies today with a forecast high of 95° F.  On this date in 2018 TLE and I were in Southwest Harbor, Maine.....

....which is about 15 minutes from Bar Harbor.....we were having dinner at Beale's Lobster Pier.  Wonderful Lobster rolls, and Allagash White (Belgian White); the best Belgian White I have ever tasted to this day.

I had one cart left from Wednesday to wash/stow Thursday morning.  I didn't have to stage any carts as I had left the 8 Club Car square front carts staged overnight.  So, on Tuesday we rented just 4 carts, and Thursday we rented three.  It's hot, the park is almost empty, and its late July....aka: The Dog Days of Summer.  Speaking of late July, Saturday is August 1st.  It seems like it was just June 1st, but here we are 3 months into our 5th season here at LPG&RVR with just 2 months remaining.  

After washing the lone cart left over from Wednesday I spent about an hour troubleshooting an issue with the 2 bag Husqvarna that is my weapon of choice when mowing.  There are two belts the engine uses to spin the cutting blades in the mower deck, and to propel the mower forward (the drive belt).  The drive belt appears to have stretched over the years, and there seems to be no way to tighten it.  When going uphill it feels as if the brake has been applied, but it is just the belt slipping.  Jose has ordered a new drive belt, which will be 'fun' installing.  Anyway, I was able to get it running a little better, so took it out for a spin to mow around the two gazebos, the group fire pit lawn, and the large lawn by the 'Night Office'.  The area around the 'Night Office' has a lot of ups and downs, and the mower did not like that, but I got it done.  Hopefully, by the next time I need to use it we'll have the new belt installed.  The mower has almost 1200 hours on it, and it is about 14 years old.

Of course, Thursday is 'clear the driving range' day, so around 10 am I did that garnering just a third of a bucket of balls....five of the balls were found in the driving range proper, and the rest were in the trees on both sides of the range.....

The five from the driving range

The rest from the trees/brush

I did a little string trimming around the Clubhouse deck, and then spent the rest of my day watering dry areas  around the park.  Over the course of the morning we rented just the 3 carts, I mentioned earlier, and that was it.  After TLE's lunch break I washed the three carts, and put them back on the line for Friday.  We need to get those carts run, and I'll leave them there until they have all been run at least once around the golf course.

By the time 3:30 pm rolled around I was hot, tired, and sweaty from the 94° F day.  I took a cool shower, took a nap, and then returned to the Clubhouse to retrieve TLE.  Just one day left in this four day work week, then our four day weekend begins anew.

Thanks for stopping by!

The real hazard.......

 5:50 am - Thursday - July 30th - LPG&RVR - 52° F, humidity 32%, cloud cover 3%, wind 14 mph out of the west by southwest.....crystal clear, blue, sunny skies today with a forecast high of 94° F.  On this date in 2012 TLE were in Long Beach, WA....

.....following the US-1 through the Olympic Peninsula.  The town claims to have the longest beach in the world, hence the sign, but I think the longest one is in Southeast Asia somewhere.

So far this summer I've only gone to work not wearing a sweatshirt once, or twice.  I thought Wednesday would be another of those days, but it wasn't warm enough.  I'm sure another of those mornings is coming as the temps climb slowly into the mid and high 90's.  So far there are no forecast daily highs in the 100's. I think the highest temp forecast for the next 10 days is around 97, or 98° F.  There's something about the temp being less than triple digits that is comforting.  I'm sure it is purely psychological.

Upon arriving at the Clubhouse Wednesday morning I still had those 5 carts leftover from Tuesday to wash/stow, but first I staged 5 Yamaha gassers thinking it would be enough for the entire day, and I was right.  We rented just 4 carts Wednesday.  Including members, who had their own carts, there were just 8 folks on the course Wednesday.  Certainly it was the slowest day since early May.

Once the 5 carts were washed, and stowed I made a round of the course to check the four sand traps finding no evidence of human habitation.  The last time they were raked was Sunday.  I've mentioned this before, but I will again.  The sand traps do not really come into play on our course.  The main hazards on our course are the very narrow fairways, and the mostly 'small', tabletop greens.  There is one real water hazard on the #3, par 3 hole where you hit over a pond, and there are several creek crossings (5 in all), but that's it.  Hitting the ball straight is paramount.

Upon returning to the Clubhouse I set four, or five sprinklers to water some dry areas, then did some string trimming around the 'Caddy Shack', then washed the six older, square nosed Club Cars so they can be rented over the next few days to get some 'run time'.  They've been sitting mostly unused for several weeks. 

Then it was time for TLE's lunch break.   Once I hit 12 pm I've only got 2 hours of work left outdoors in the heat.  The 90 minutes I spend in the office while TLE is lunching gives me a chance to recover from the heat before I make the final push from 1:30 to 3:30 pm.  By the time 3:30 pm came around 3 of the four Yamahas we rented had returned so I washed them, and then spent the rest of my shift watering, and moving sprinklers.  Thursday it will get to 94° F, but I'm ready for it.

Thanks for stopping by!

Acclimation.....

 5:54 am - Wednesday - July 29th - LPG&RVR - 52° F, humidity 28%, cloud cover 1%, wind 15 mph out of the west by northwest.....crystal clear, blue, sunny skies today with a forecast high of 92° F.  On this date in 2012 TLE and I were near Raymond, WA.....

With fog....

....and without fog

.....out on the Olympic Peninsula residing at a RV park on the banks of the Willapa River....early morning fog is beginning to lift.

Ahhh, back to work.  Upon arrival at the 'Cart Return' area I found just one cart needing attention....all the others were already stowed.  There were only 5 people signed up for carts in the daily tee sheet, so I staged the five Club Car electrics, then washed the aforementioned cart, and stowed it.  Knowing it was going to be a slowish day, at least that's the way it seemed, I spent time making sure all of 'sanding bottles' on the carts were full.  The sand, mixed with grass seed, is used to fill in divots in the tee boxes, and fairways.  People must be using them because many were empty and needed to be refilled.

By the time I had finished with the sanding bottles all 5 Club Cars had been rented, so I next staged the six EZ-GO carts, and then headed down the hill to our large gravel pile to fill a couple of buckets with gravel to fill in some thin spots in the gravel around the area where I wash the carts.  In all I hauled 8 buckets to the 'Cart Return' area on Tuesday.  There are still more thin areas, and I'll get to them over the next few days.

The time was 11 am when I finished spreading the new gravel, and time to head out to the golf course to mow around those tee boxes for which I am responsible.  It took me just about 55 minutes to get them mowed, and return to the Clubhouse to give TLE her lunch break.  It was a typical Tuesday after the 4th of July weekend, meaning I answered just a couple of phone calls, and sent out a couple of golfers for 9 holes.  Other than that it was very quiet.

By 1:30 pm there were 5 carts ready for their daily spa treatment, and as I washed and stowed those more returned.  Ultimately we rented 14 carts Wednesday, and by 3:30 pm 9 of them had returned leaving 5 to take care of Wednesday morning.  I find I am getting increasingly acclimated to the daily 90° + temp days, and not quite as waisted when 3:30 pm rolls around. It is a good thing, because the next time temps dip below 90° F will not be until August 9th, or 10th. TLE was home by 5:10 pm, and thus another day here at LPG&RVR has slipped into the past tense.

Thanks for stopping by!