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!

Eight days a 'week'......

 5:49 am - Tuesday - July 28th - LPG&RVR - 50° F, humidity 27%, cloud cover 0%, wind 11 mph out of the north by northwest....crystal clear, blue, sunny skies today with a forecast high of 91° F.  On this date in 2013 TLE and I were hiking to 2 Medicine Lake, and Aster Falls.....

Aster Falls

2 Medicine Lake

.....in Glacier National Park, Montana.

It comes around once every 8 days.....the final day of our four day weekend, and then we begin another 8 day cycle, or 'week', if you will.  The work days are pretty much the same (stage carts, wash carts, stow carts, water, mow, wash, rinse repeat), they just occur on different days each week.  The days off are pretty much the same (shop one day, work on a simple project each day, nap, relax on the 'lido deck', wash, rinse, repeat).  It might seem boring to many, but there is this kind of gracious rhythm to which we dance each 8 day cycle, or week.  Our current 8 day cycle will take us to August 4th leaving less than 8 weeks in our 5th season here at LPG&RVR. Time marches relentlessly forward, and there is not one thing we can do about it, except enjoy the ride.

As you will recall, our East Oak dining canopy succumbed to a micro burst wind event about 10 days ago, and we actually received the new one (same brand) early in our previous 8 day cycle.  We avoided unpacking, and setting up the new one as we had pretty strong breezes the firsts three days of our four day weekend, but Monday proved to be the perfect day with almost no wind.  We were not afraid of the new one being damaged, but did not want to fight with it in breezy conditions.  Once I had finished my latest missive TLE and I went outside to do the deed.....

.....the new East Oak dining canopy has some new features which we like.  The previous iteration of this model had only one attachment point for the lines which attach it to a stake in the ground, whereas the new ones have two......

.....additionally, the new version has a loop at the bottom of each of the six corners through which to drive another stake into the ground further securing the structure to the ground....

....which we believe will keep it from moving around in strong winds causing damage to the fabric.  In all it took us around an hour beginning to end to install the new East Oak dining canopy.

Once that was done it was time to spend some quality time on the 'lido deck' enjoying the balmy breezes on a day where the forecast high would be 90° F.  In spite of that forecast I was able to comfortably lounge on the 'lido deck' until after 3:30 pm before I headed indoors to the cool, air conditioned interior of the Newell.  I listened to music, smoked a cigar, read, and napped for about 5 hours.

Well, it is Tuesday morning, and time to get ready for another 8 day week, and four days of work. As I finish today's entry I can see the sun's rays peaking over the eastern horizon with NO clouds in sight.

Thanks for stopping by!

Reflections on our nomadic life......

 7:41 am - Monday - July 27th - LPG&RVR - 62° F, humidity 18%, cloud cover 10%, wind 14 mph out of the west.....mostly clear, blue skies today with a forecast high of 90° F.  On this date in 2012 TLE and I were on the Olympic Peninsula in Washington State.....

TLE standing by the Hoh River

Moi, standing in front of a 200' tall Sitka Spruce in the Hoh Rain Forest

.....and were visiting the Hoh Rain Forest.  We had been on the road for just a tad over 5 months at the time.  Following the path of US-1 through the Olympic Peninsula was one of our 'bucket list items'.  We've now done it 3, or 4 times; never gets old.

I've been thinking a lot lately about how our nomadic life has changed over the 14 years since we took on that moniker in 2011.  Our first couple of years on the road we acted like we were on a perpetual vacation crisscrossing the USA 4 times, rarely staying anywhere for more than a week.  Other than our 5 week sojourn in Cedar Key from late December of 2012 to early February of 2013, that was our pattern.  We rarely remained in one place to really get to know the area, or the people.  By the time we spent three weeks traveling through Alberta, Canada in July of 2013, and re-entered the USA we were ready to spend more time in one area, so we spent the next month exploring Glacier National Park, and the surrounding areas.  

When we had spent those five weeks in Cedar Key, FL we got a taste of the sometimes stationary nomadic life.  We met many people in Cedar Key, two of which were Devi and Bill Kasson.  They were originally from Lake Tahoe before they began their nomadic journey, so being life long fans of Lake Tahoe we had a lot in common with them.  Over those 5 weeks we spent a lot of time with them, and learned of a summer long camp host opportunity at Tahoe Valley Campground.  Spending an entire summer at Lake Tahoe seemed like an unattainable dream.  When ever my family would visit Lake Tahoe for two weeks each summer back in the 50's I would never want to leave.  

Through Devi and Bill we were introduced to the manager of Tahoe Valley Campground, and by May of 2014 we had secured summer positions there.  Our first summer we lived there, working, from May to Labor Day, and the same in the summer of 2015.....

Left to right: Moi, TLE, Devi and Bill

......each fall (2014 and 2015) we spent two months being docents at the Cape Blanco Lighthouse just north of Port Orford, OR.  We found out about this volunteer position through Chris and Cherie Dunphy, whom we also met at Cedar Key, FL.....

Chris and Cherie Dunphy

.....we spent four summers at Tahoe Valley Campground, our longest stay being 2016 when we arrived in late April, and did not leave until November 1st.

After four summers at Lake Tahoe we decided we needed to get back to exploring new places, so our next summer job was in Yellowstone National Park, then a winter at the Grand Canyon, followed up by a summer working near Bar Harbor, Maine.   Being able to spend months in a place gives you the opportunity to get to know people, and experience that place on a whole different level.   Following our travels to and from Maine we spent 9 months working at Ramona Oaks RV Resort where we met, and became good friends with Rich and Marnie Aaron.....

Left to right: Moi, Rich, Marnie and TLE

.....we've met up with them several times since then, including one of our favorite boondocking places, Borrego Springs, Keystone, SD, Glamis North Hot Springs, and Yuma, AZ a couple of times.

Many of the people we met over the years have had an influence on our nomadic lives, and we will always be forever grateful to them for their friendship and influence upon our nomadic lives.  In late 2021 we began discussing slowing down, and slipping into sort of a 'north/south' arrangement where we would spent summers in the northern regions of California, and the winters in Arizona.  We found, through Workamper.com , a summer job working at Likely Place Golf and RV Resort (Likely, CA is about one hour south of the Oregon border) in late 2021, and began our first summer working there in 2022.  We are now in our 5th summer there working 5-6 months each Spring/Summer.  We now have roots in this cattle country community, and have made lasting friendships.  We cannot imagine being anywhere else each summer.

In February of 2024, when we were working our second winter running the side by side rental operation for Colorado Outback,  Charles and Phyllis acquired a piece of property near Seligman, AZ, and by October of that year we began to spend our winters there, and The Wilson Wilderness then became the permanent 'south' part of the 'north/south' pattern we have adopted.  We are slowly incorporating ourselves into that rural community, and love the time we spend there each winter.....

....over the past 15 years our lives have been immeasurably changed forever.  How we view the world has changed, and what we hold as valuable has changed significantly.  We find our selves somewhere in the 'shoulder season' of our lives caught somewhere between Fall and Winter as we edge toward the end of our 77th trip around the sun.  We have slowed down our pace considerably.  We love returning to familiar places each Winter and Fall.  We are learning to live 'off grid', and immersing ourselves in rural America.  We are still able to change our view without going through escrow, but do not do it as often as we have in the past.  We have now lived in our 1982 Newell Classic for 15 years, and cannot imagine living in a sticks and bricks home again, but I'm sure that time is somewhere just on the other side of the 'shoulder season' in which we now find ourselves.  I haven't taken the time to get philosophical lately, so today, Monday, July 27th seemed like a good time do do that.  Thank you for indulging me!

Oh, and by the way, the 21st Stage of the 2025 Le Tour de France concluded on Sunday.....

The podium winners left to right: Remco Evenepoel - 2nd place, Tadej Pogacar - first place, and Isaac del Toro - 3rd place

.....two of the three podium finishers were from the UAE team (Tadej and Isaac).  It was an amazing Tour de France with twists and turns that no one could have ever seen coming.

Thanks for stopping by!