Another 12 hour marathon......

 8:47 am - Saturday - July 11th - LPG&RVR - 75° F, humidity 16%, cloud cover 34%, wind 14 mph out of the southwest.....partially cloudy skies today with a forecast high of 94° F.  On this date in 2017 TLE and I were enjoying a 'spa day' at Chico Hot Springs....

....which is north of Gardiner, MT where we lived during the summer of 2017 whilst working at the General Store at Mammoth Hot Springs near the north entrance of Yellowstone National Park.

We awoke Friday, departure day, sometime after 7 am.  There was no rush as our first flight of the day did not depart until 3:40 pm from Ontario International.  We went downstairs initially to get our morning coffees, and then returned later to have a late breakfast.  There are no coffee makers in the rooms at the Holiday Inn Express where we stayed three nights, but I think that is a good idea, at least for us.  The coffee they give you to brew in those tiny coffee makers is NEVER very good, so what is the point, right?  On the other hand the coffee makers in the breakfast room downstairs grind the beans on the spot, and then make the coffee, and it was wonderful every single day.  The Continental Breakfast they offer at this location is one of the beast we have ever had in all our years of travel.  We were staying on the second floor of the hotel, so we could run downstairs, get our coffees, and be back in the room in less than 5 minutes.

After breakfast I took almost an hour nap knowing we would be in travel mode for another 12 hours once we left the hotel at 11 am, which is checkout time.  We were in the car a little before 11 am, and at Fox Car Rentals (an offsite car rental operation which serves Ontario International Airport) around 11:45 am dropping off our 2026 Nissan Sentra, then after a short shuttle ride back to the airport going through TSA around 12 pm.  Now only 3 hours and 40 minutes before our flight leaves....lol!  What to do?  Well, there was another FIFA World Cup match between Belgium and Spain.  There was a large flat screen TV at our gate, so we spent the next two hours watching the game....

....our flight on Frontier Airlines to Las Vegas departed slightly ahead of schedule, and was surprisingly empty....

TLE had a row to herself....

.....and so did I

These are the smallest tables I have ever seen in a modern jetliner!

.....in the past we have paid to pick our seats, but this time around we chose to let American and Frontier assign our seats on flight day, and it worked out just fine.  We probably saved close to $200 on all four flights.  Additionally, we used back packs for the first time, which are considered 'personal items' by both American and Frontier, so no charge, and no waiting for checked baggage which would have cost an extra $200 with Frontier.  In fact, Frontier differentiates between personal items, and carry on items.....carry one items are charged at $79/bag by Frontier if you do it in advance, but $99 on the day of the flight...yikes!

We arrived in Las Vegas at McCarron International Airport about an hour before boarding was to begin on our flight back to Reno/Tahoe International, so we had plenty of time to walk the short distance to our gate.  Each flight was just over 1 hour in duration, which is about the time I begin to get antsy, and want off the plane.....

Descending into Reno/Tahoe International just before 8 pm

.....we landed at Reno/Tahoe International a couple of minutes before 8 pm, and after a very short 10 minute walk were in the VW Beetle heading back north on US-395 to LPG&RVR arriving home just a couple of minutes before 11 pm.  We were understandably tired, but happy to be home in our own bed after three nights of sleeping in someone else's bed. To be fair, the large California King bed we had at the Holiday Inn Express was pillowed, and very comfortable, but we prefer our bed...who doesn't, right?

Thanks for stopping by!

Rock stars.....

 6:59 am - Friday - July 10th - Beaumont, CA - 70° F, humidity 39%, cloud cover 27%, wind 12 mph out of the west.....partly cloudy today with a forecast high of 96° F.  On this date in 2017 TLE and I were in Bozeman, MT.....

....having brews and lunch.  We were working at the General Store in Mammoth Hot Springs  (Yellowstone NP) that summer.

Tim and his kids (Crosby and Bowie) were scheduled to fly back to Georgia Thursday at noon out of Ontario International, so TLE and I drove over to Kate's home around 7:30 am to have breakfast with everyone, and say our 'until next times'....

Bowie

Crosby

.....we hung out until Tim and the kids left for the airport, and then headed back to the hotel to rest up before our marathon travel day back to Likely on Friday....it will be another long travel day getting home.  Nice to have an extra day to rest before the travel day.

On a side note, you might have wondered where Tim got those names for his kids.  Well, Tim is a fan of 60's music, so named his kids after two famous rock stars from the 60's.  Crosby is named after David Crosby of 'Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young' fame, and Bowie is named after David Bowie.

We watched the FIFA World Cup match between France and Morocco won easily by France 2-0, who is favored to win the 2026 edition of the World Cup.  Around 5 pm we drove to the local In 'N Out Burger to meet Nick, Kate, Jolene and Levy for dinner.  We haven't had an In 'N Out Burger fix in a long time....

.....TLE and I always order their #2 Combo (cheeseburger, drink, and fries).  I neglected to take pictures of everyone else, but they were there.  Around 6 pm we bid adieu to Nick, Kate and the kids until next time, then headed back to the hotel.  While we were still at In 'N Out Burger Kate got a text from Tim advising they had arrived home safely.

I was able to watch the replay of Stage #6 of Le Tour de France, and what a stage it was!  Tadej Pogočar (Tădā Pogatcha), the winner the last four years, began the day 7 minutes and 53 seconds behind the leader, usually considered an insurmountable lead.  At the 36 mile mark (36 miles left in the Stage) he began an 'attack', and with a performance for the ages not only overcame that almost 8 minute lead, won the 6th Stage, but ended up back in the lead by over 2 minutes and 30 seconds!  A performance for the ages.  I have never seen anything like it in Le Tour de France....never.

We were headed off to 'slumberland' a little after 10 pm.  Our flight out of Ontario International departs at 3 pm, so we will be getting back to Likely around 11 pm Friday night....thanks for stopping by!

Love, hugs, laughter, and conversation....

 12:44 pm - Thursday - July 9th - Beaumont, CA - 95° F, humidity 18%, cloud cover ZERO %, wind 14 mph out of the west.....crystal clear, blue, sunny skies today with a forecast high of 96° F.  On this date in 2020 TLE and I were in Keystone, SD having coffees and pastries....

....at 'Grapes and Grinds'....I love TLE's turned down smile in this picture.

The day we arrived in SoCal our kids (Nick, Kate, Tim and their kids) were at Disneyland, and didn't return home until after 11 pm so we were able to have a leisurely morning before heading over to Nick and Kate's home around 10 am to spend the day.  We knew it would be a day filled with wonderful conversations, and interaction with our kids and their kids....

Grandkids playing dress up

Left to right: Levy, Bowie, Brayden, Jolene, Caleb, Scarlett and Crosby

Seven of our eleven grandchildren

.....in the picture above is a rare picture of our 'honorary' granddaughter, Scarlett, daughter of Amanda our honorary daughter, and best friend of daughter Sharon.....

Grandpa and Caleb (Sharon's son)

Brayden (Sharon's son) and Jolene (Kate's daughter)

Sharon and Caleb

Our daughter, Kate

Bowie (Tim's daughter)

Levy enjoying his 'Michael Jackson' phase....lol!

.....Wednesday was filled with love, hugs, picture taking, laughter, and much conversation.  By 6 pm we called it a day and headed back to our hotel for the evening, exhausted, but filled with love and satisfaction....just as I saw our day going.

Thanks for stopping by!

Heading to SoCal......

 7:41 am - Wednesday - July 8th - Beaumont, CA - 75° F already 😞, humidity 18%, cloud cover ZERO %, wind 13 mph out of the west.....cloudless today with a forecast high of 99° F.  On this date in 2020 TLE and I were in Hot Springs, South Dakota.....

....visiting Evans Plunge.....they were not really hot springs, but warm mineral springs kept at a constant 87° F year round.  We were looking forward to actual HOT springs, but we had a nice time, nevertheless.

I had 'planned' to sleep in until 7 am Tuesday, but TLE had other ideas.  I'm usually the one out of bed first, but she got the jump on me Tuesday.  This was a big travel day for us.  Our flight south out of Reno was scheduled for 12:50 pm, and Reno is about 2.5 hours away from Likely, so we were on the road by 8:30 am.  We're not rich folk, so when we fly we try to get the best price, which means there will be a least one lay over before we reach our destination.  That usually results in a long travel day.

The drive south on US-395 was smooth, and pleasant.  We came across 100's of acres of blooming daisies.....

....the trip south was totally uneventful, and with the blessing of light traffic we arrived at Reno/Tahoe Airport just after 11 am.  The multi day parking area is right across the street from the airport terminal, so it is a short walk to get into the air conditioning....it was already approaching 90° F as we entered the building.  Our flight's departure was scheduled for 12:50 pm, so we had plenty of time to get through security (we have TSA Precheck), which took just a few minutes, and required no body cavity/strip searches....lol.

On the way to our gate I bought a Mocha Frappuccino at 'Human Bean' to enjoy while we waited 1.5 hours for our flight, which did depart right on time.  Normally it takes 1 hour 44 minutes for the fight to Phoenix, but we were on the ground in 1.5 hours....making it 2:15 pm Phoenix time....

Phoenix Sky Harbor

.....our flight to Ontario (ONT) was scheduled to depart Phoenix at 5:00 pm so we had over two hours before boarding time....4:24 pm.  The flight departed on time.....

Descending into the Pomona Valley, and Ontario International

On the ground at 6 pm

.....our final flight of the day lasted just one hour so there was no beverage service.  We had no luggage checked as we used our new back packs TLE bought at Fred Meyers in Klamath Falls when we were there a few weeks ago.....much handier for short trips, and they are small enough to stow under the seats in front of our seats.  We were on the  airport shuttle over to the car rental agencies to pick up our reserved vehicle within a few minutes of landing, and on I-10 eastbound by 7 pm in 'our' 2026 Nissan Sentra.  It's less than a 40 minute drive to Beaumont where our daughter Kates lives with her husband, Nick, and their four kids, so we were checked into our hotel just before 8 pm, and unwinding from our 11.5 hour journey south to SoCal.  Looking forward to seeing our kids Wednesday morning!

Thanks for stopping by

Range balls, and other things.....

 7:39 pm - Monday - July 6th - LPG&RVR - 81° F, humidity 47%, cloud cover ZERO %, wind 9 mph out of the south.....partly cloudy this evening....the high was 87° F.  On this date in 2012 TLE and I were driving through the American Alps and took a rest stop....

.....on our way to Marblemount, WA.

Monday morning the park was pretty empty after the busy 4th of July weekend.  As is often the case, the park will be very unbusy for a few weeks, then business will pickup again.  We rented 16 carts, which is not bad for a Monday after a major holiday weekend.  After staging 10 carts I headed out to the 5th hole to empty the trash can, and on my way I stopped to take a picture of Eagle Mountain....all the snow is gone since the last rain storms....

....once I was back at the Clubhouse I headed out to the driving range to harvest range balls prior to its twice weekly mowing, and managed to collect 4.5 five gallon buckets of balls....

.....by that time it was time to give TLE her 90 minute lunch break.  By 1:30 pm 11 of the 16 carts had returned, but before washing/stowing them I began to wash those range balls.  It took me until about 2:15 to finish washing them, then I turned to washing and stowing the returned carts.  My final act of the day was to pour those 4.5 buckets of balls back into the 55 gallon trash can....

.....and with that I headed for home to take a shower and a nap before returning to the Clubhouse at 5 pm to retrieve TLE from the Clubhouse office.  With that our abbreviated 3 day work week came to an end.  Tomorrow, Tuesday, we will drive south to Reno to catch our flight to SOCAL.

Thanks for stopping by

Tournament time.....

 5:56 am - Monday - July 6th - LPG&RVR - 52° F, humidity 41%, cloud cover 23%, wind 11 mph out of the west......partially cloudy today with a forecast high of 87° F.  On this date in 2013 TLE and I were in Alberta, Canada...

....touring along the Kananaskis Highway through the Bow River Valley.  Seems like just a few years ago, not 13!

I usually do not look forward to the 4th of July week here at LPG&RVR, not because of the holiday, but because of the crowds, and the attendant rise in noise levels, but this time around it has not been bad at all.  Sunday was the annual Cattlemen's Association Red, White and Blue Golf Tournament.  As you will recall, I was able to get 19 carts staged Saturday afternoon.  When we arrived at the Clubhouse Sunday at 7:30 am I still had 7 carts to wash and then stage.  By 8 am they were staged, and it was just a matter of matching the keys with the carts, and half of my major work of the day was done.

For the next hour we awaited the 'shotgun' start to the tournament, and then I helped Claude marshal around the course.  By 10 am I was mowing the employee lawns, and then continued to mow 14 of the pull through sites, and the small gazebo, which had just been vacated (many people began to head for their workaday lives on Sunday).  Most of the pull through sites were also vacated, so the mowing was easy.

By the time I finished blowing the grass off the Husqvarna mowing deck it was 12 pm and times for TLE's 90 minute lunch break.  The FIFA World Cup round of 16 match between Norway and Brazil began during her lunch break so I watched that until she returned.  Norway managed to beat Brazil 2-1, but led 2-0 until the last couple of minutes.  This was an upset to be sure.

All 20 of the carts we rented for the tournament were returned before 2 pm enabling me to get them all washed and stowed by 3:30 pm.  That is the great thing about tournaments, all the carts return withing a 30 minute period making the washing/stowing of them a quick, and efficient process.

I was home by 3:30 pm taking a shower, and watching the end of Stage #2 of Le Tour de France.  TLE was home a little after 5 pm, and then watched the 2nd round of 16 game of the day between England and Mexico.  Up until this match Mexico had won all three of their previous games without allowing a goal, but on this evening England scored two goals in a span of 1 minute 54 seconds, and held that lead until Mexico countered with a goal of their own just before half time.

In the 2nd half England and Mexico both scored goals on penalty kicks.  A English player received a red card with 37 minutes to go in the second half, but in spite of playing a player short most of the 2nd half hung on to win 3-2 over Mexico, one of the three North American host countries (USA, Mexico, Canada).  The USA, the only host country team remaining in the tournament, plays their round of 16 match Monday evening in Seattle against Belgium.  On a side note, the red card the USA player received in the last match was 'rescinded' by FIFA, meaning our top goal scorer can not play in Monday's game.

Thanks for stopping by!

Red, white and blue....

 5:59 am - Sunday - July 5th - LPG&RVR - 58° F, humidity 33%, cloud cover 56%, wind 13 mph out of the west by northwest.....partly cloudy today with a forecast high of 87° F.  On this date in 2020 TLE and I were in Hill City, SD.....

.....at 'Sick & Twisted Brewing Company' having a late snack.....two pints of 'Nut Hugger Brown Ale', and a meat/cheese platter.

Saturday, the 4th of July, was our first day back to work since last Monday, and the day got off to a roaring start.  Before I had a chance to wash the 7 carts left over from Friday we had already rented 10 carts, and by the end of the day we had rented 35 carts.  Twenty-three of them returned before 3:30 pm, so I'll have 12 to wash first thing Sunday before the annual Red, White and Blue Cattlemen's Association tournament.  Speaking of 'red, white and blue', all of our customers came to play golf adorned in their finest red, white and blue outfits.  I wish I had taken the time to take a few pictures....it was a quite a colorful day!

Saturday was the hottest day of the week topping out at 94° F, so I spent as little time in the direct sunlight as possible.  When I wasn't washing golf carts I was moving sprinklers at the parking lot grass area, and the 'Night Office'.  Otherwise I was staging carts, and washing carts.  Since there is the tournament on Sunday I did not return any of the carts to the Cart Shack, but staged them instead for the tournament.  No point in handling those carts twice....frankly, there is no point in handling most things more than once if you don't have to so.

I chose not to participate in the weekly putting contest Saturday as I knew I would be 'out of gas' by 4 pm, and I was right.  Two weeks ago I was pretty well acclimated to hot weather, but then it got cold for the next two weeks, not returning to the 80's until this past Thursday.  Now I'm having to reacclimate all over again, and that process seems to be slower and slower the older I get.  

By 3:30 pm I was home watching the final minutes of the FIFA World Cup match between France and Paraguay.  France is favored to win the championship this year, and up until Saturday had won all of their matches handily, but Paraguay gave them a fight, and the game was still tied 0-0 in the 70th minute.  If not for an awarded a 'penalty kick' which France converted for their only goal of the game holding on to win 1-0 in regulation.

Saturday was also the beginning stage of this year's Tour de France, so once the soccer match was completed I switched over to Peacock to watch a replay of Stage #1.  For the next two weeks I am going to be very busy watching soccer and cycling!

By the way, I just checked to see how many view my blog has had the first four days of July and find that we had over 1 million view yesterday, and a total of 5,505, 354 views now....we have over 5.5 million views now!  WT*!

Thanks for stopping by!