The unexpected......

 7:04 am - Sunday - September 27th - LPG&RVR - 54° F, humidity 47%, cloud cover 90%.....very cloudy today with a chance of rain, and a forecast high of 67° F.  On this date in 2017 TLE and I were in Yellowstone National Park.....

.....visiting Canyon Falls for the first time.  The river is the Yellowstone, of course.  We had to wait until well after Labor Day to be able to get into the parking lot.  During the summer the wait to find a parking spot was over an hour....sometimes more.  Well worth the wait!  I wrote about that here.

Kathie Smith's (TLE's counterpart in the Clubhouse Office) husband, Richard, had to be taken down to a hospital in Reno for tests, unexpectedly, early Thursday morning, and was not back yet on Saturday, so TLE had to open the office Saturday morning.  As a result I was left to my own devices for a few hours in the morning.  That gave me time to retrieve the rest of our tables, etc. from the large gazebo and move them back to our site.  It was around 34° F at 8 am Saturday morning when I dropped off TLE at the Clubhouse, and there was a frost delay until 9 am for golfers as the greens had a coating of frost, of course.   Once I had everything back at our site, I just left everything on the cart until it warmed enough to spend any more of time outdoors.  It took me less than 15 minutes to get all that done.

One of our permanent residents, Cindy Golden, has been training under TLE and Kathie for this summer for just such an emergency, so she came into the office around 9 am, and TLE was home by 10 am, only to return later around 4 pm to help Cindy close out the day.  As it turned out they had 45 golfers, rented a lot of carts, and she did a great job with the register balancing right to the penny at the end of the day.  TLE will open again on Sunday if Kathie has not been able to return, with Cindy coming in at 9 am to 12 pm, then TLE will handle the afternoon.  Kathie and Richard should be back sometime Sunday afternoon.

Of course Saturday is NCAA Collee Football day, and I had both the Salon TV and outdoor TV tuned to whatever game I was watching at the time.  Around 11 am it was warm enough to begin putting away the stuff on the cart.  We used the table on which the Sea-B-Que normally resides, so I set that back up first, and then returned the numerous chairs and recliners to their spots.  We still have three ice chests full of beer, and melted ice water to deal with, and I'll do that on Sunday, or Monday, weather permitting.

I spent the rest of the day watching football, napping and reading.  It was a perfect first day of our four day weekend.....thanks for stopping by!

The 'Pub Crawl'......

 7:13 am - Saturday - September 26th - LPG&RVR - 32° F, humidity 34%, cloud 68%, wind 11 mph out of the south....mostly cloudy today with a forecast high of 74° F.  On this date in 2015 TLE and I were in Cape Blanco, OR.....

....walking on South Cape Beach (south of the lighthouse) for the last time before heading north to Springfield, OR to have some solar panels added to our rooftop array at AM Solar (no longer in business).

Friday was jam packed with with things to do.  We rented at least 20 golf carts throughout the day.  I did some string trimming of the large gazebo, and the 15 pull through sites I had mowed the day before, ran a couple of sprinklers on dry spots around the Clubhouse wood deck, and down at the 'Night Office'.  Soon it was time for TLE's 90 minute lunch break.  I sent out a couple of golfers, and checked in a few RVs, but otherwise it was not very busy.  

After lunch I spent time hauling tables, and chairs over to the large gazebo where the our first annual Pub Crawl was to take place at 5:30 pm, and hauled more ice to keep all of the craft beer were were going to serve cold.  By 3 pm there were 8 golf carts to wash, and by 3:45 pm I had washed 12 carts in all.  Then it was time to head for home, take a shower, then finishing setting up our 'Pub Crawl' station.  It turned out pretty well....

Our 17 craft beer offerings

I strung some of our solar Edison lights

.....in all we offered 17 craft beer choices.  You can see our 'High Forest Pub' banner in the foreground.  In all we had about 20 stations offering whiskey, tequila, scotch, wine, beer (us), and a lot of pub food.  The first annual 'Pub Crawl' was deemed a resounding success, and folks where still hanging out when we headed home after 8 pm.  We left most of our station there overnight, but did bring home all the chairs, and ice chests.

Friday was literally our 'Friday' this four day work cycle, and it was a good week full of a lot of things I have now done for the last time this season....mowing, and string trimming among those final things.  I'll be clearing the driving range one last time next Thursday, and washing/stowing my last golf cart on Saturday.  I was able to spend time talking with a number of people who call LPG&RVR their home each summer, just as we do.  Life is good!  Now it's time to relax, and watch some NCAA College Football.

Thanks for stopping by!

A few last things.....

 5:49 am - Friday - September 25th - LPG&RVR - 55° F, humidity 39%, cloud cover 32%, wind 13 mph out of the west.....partly cloudy today with a forecast high of 69° F.  On this date in 2015 TLE and I were in Bandon, OR.....

.....at Tony's Crab Shack having their amazing fish tacos (TLE actually had their Salmon Alfredo).

We rented 4 Club Car electrics and all 6 EZ-GO gassers for a total of 10 carts Thursday, and it really didn't even seem that busy.  I had 5 carts leftover from Wednesday.  By the end of the day six of the ten would return leaving four to wash Friday morning.  Speaking of Friday morning, with the arrival of Friday we have just 5 work days left in our summer season, including Friday.  We'll have a four day weekend after Friday, and then the final four work days.  By next Sunday we will begin to take down our site.  Where has the summer gone?

When we arrived at the Clubhouse there was a balmy breeze blowing out of the southwest.  The temp would hit 84° F late afternoon, but it felt warmer than that all day.  Overnight it will plunge just to 69° F on Friday, then stay in the 70's for the rest of the time we are here.  By 10 am I was mowing the large gazebo grass, then 13 of the 15 pull through sites (21-35) before it was time to clear the driving range for the second to last time this summer.  Not many range balls had been hit over the past week, and I ended up harvesting about 2/3's of a bucket of balls.  Combined with the almost 1/2 bucket of balls I picked Wednesday, there were just over 1 bucket of balls cleared over two days.  By the time I finished with that it was almost time for TLE's lunch break.

After TLE's lunch break I washed the range balls (didn't take long), and then washed the four Club Car electrics which had been returned.  Two more of the EZ-GO carts would return before 3:30 pm.  I managed to mow one more of the pull through sites leaving just the large grass area next to site #30.  From there I headed over to the group fire pit area to mow there, and I was done.  I'll do a little more mowing Friday, and that will be the last I mow this season.  The grass is really not growing that quickly now, and Steve will probably take care of the 10 back in sites over his four day shift.

I was home before 3:30 pm relaxing for about 1/2 an hour, then out in the trailer organizing the many craft beers for the 'Pub Crawl' Friday evening.  I filled three ice chests half full with ice at the restaurant, then began to insert the beer bottles, and cans into the ice to get them all cold for Friday night.  By the time I finished with that it was time to go pick up TLE and head home.  

Thanks for stopping by!

I was wrong.....

 5:49 am - Thursday - September 24th - LPG&RVR - 47° F, humidity 24%, cloud cover 33%,  wind 16 mph out of the south by southwest.....partly cloudy today with a forecast high of 84° F.  On this date in 2021 TLE and I were in Seal Rock, OR.....

.....for our last sunset fire....a cloudless, windless evening....sunset 7:08 pm.

As we wind down our 5th season here at LPG&RVR the sun is now setting before 7 pm (6:55 pm), and within a week will be rising after 7 am.  While the park is relatively active right now, there are not many golfers.  Wednesday we rented just 7 golf carts, and by 3:30 pm 5 of them had been returned leaving just two for Thursday morning.  I only put out our five Club Car electrics if we know they will all be rented by 10 am.  Why?  Well, when a customer rents a cart for 18 holes he has 5 hours to complete the 18 holes, which means if they tee off at 10 am the cart must be returned by 3 pm, or 5 hours later.  On this day the 5th cart was to go out at 10 am, so I staged them.

I washed the two left over carts a little after 8 am, then headed down to the 'Night Office' to turn on the sprinklers again.  I had done a lot of watering on Tuesday, and felt I could get the rest of the grass watered by Wednesday afternoon.  On my way back to the Clubhouse I also set out two sprinklers on the parking lot grass. During the rest of the morning I string trimmed all of the employee sites, and the small gazebo, cleared range balls from the woods on either side of the driving range garnering 1/2 a 5 gallon bucket to wash later in the morning, moved the sprinklers down at the 'Night Office', and parking lot grass, then mowed the small gazebo grass, and the employee grass.  By the time I fueled, and cleaned the 2 bag Husqvarna it was 12 noon, and time for TLE's lunch break.

It was a typical end of the year lunch break.  I checked 4 RVs into the park, and sent a few folks out to play golf; otherwise it was pretty quiet.  By the time I headed back outside four of the 5 Club Car electrics had returned, and I was sure the 5th one would return well before 3:30 pm, but I was wrong.  As 3 pm came and went I drove around the entire LPG&RVR campus in search of the cart, but it was no where to be found.  Finally I asked TLE to call them and request they return the cart ASAP.  Finally around 3:30 pm it was returned, but with an angry customer.  Why was he angry?  Beats me.  He and his wife had taken 5.5 hours to play just 18 holes.  I'm not a very good golfer, and I can play 18 holes in under 4 hours, and that's playing two, or three balls per hole.  As it turns out they didn't tee off until 10:20 am after picking up the cart at 9:40 am.  Had they teed off on time they would have been back well before 3:30 even taking as long as they did to play 18 holes.  Anyway, I quickly washed and stowed that cart and headed for home about 3:45 pm.

When I returned at 5 pm to pickup TLE from work she advised me one of our EZ-GO carts had quit working about half way to the 17th green, so after dropping off TLE at home I picked up Claude and drove out to retrieve the cart (#83).  I was hoping we would not have to tow it in, and that it would just start and run making it an easy rescue, and for a change I was right.  Why it quit working is a mystery as it had 1/2 tank of gas.  We'll have to check it out Thursday.  I was back home eating dinner about 25 minutes later, and my work day was finally over.

Thanks for stopping by!

And the countdown begins....

 5:50 am - Wednesday - September 23rd - LPG&RVR - 42° F, humidity 34%, cloud cover 20%, wind 8 mph out of the southwest.....partly cloudy today with a forecast high of 83° F.  On this date in 2015 TLE and I were in Gold Beach, OR.....

.....taking a ride of Jerry's Jet Boats on the Rogue River.....what a day!!!

As one might expect, our first day back to work on a Tuesday was pretty quiet.  In all we rented 12 golf carts.  There were two Yamaha gassers left over from Monday to greet me when we arrived at the 'Cart Return' area at 7:30 am.  The tee time sheet showed a need for just 4 carts, but we all know that will grow throughout the day, and as I reported above it did.  With the sun rising later and later each day it is still pretty cold at 7:30 am, so I wait until well after 8 am to wash any carts now.  I'm sure before the end of the season that I will be taking a lunch break each day after I give TLE hers, and working until at least 4:30 pm  since golfers are not really teeing off until 9 am, or later now.

I was planning to do some mowing Tuesday, which I haven't done for over a week as Steve has done most of it, however, as I drove around the park first thing Tuesday I could see that the grass at the 'Night Office', the parking lot grass, and the three residential lawns needed attention.  In order to mow the 'Night Office' grass I have to roll up the very long four hoses we use to water the large area to make it easier to mow, so I did that, and then around 10 am I retrieved a string trimmer from the 'Caddy Shack' to trim around the residential lawns, and the 'Night Office' lawn before mowing them.  By 10:30 am I was on the 2 bag Husqvarna mowing first the three residential lawns, then the 'Night Office' lawn, then the parking lot grass.  By the time I finished mowing, refueling the Husqvarna, and blowing the grass clippings off the mowing deck it was time for TLE's lunch break.

It was relatively busy  in the Clubhouse office for the 90 minutes I was there.  I checked in a couple of RV's, sold some merchandise, and sent a few golfers out on the course.  By the time TLE returned there were several carts awaiting their daily spa treatment, which kept me busy for the balance of my shift.  I was off by 3:30 pm, and on my way home for a hot shower, and a nap.  Now there are just 7 work days remaining, and as I write, only 6 more early mornings before our season ends on October 3rd....the countdown has begun!

Thanks for stopping by!

'Pub Crawl'......

 5:52 am - Tuesday - September 22nd - LPG&RVR - 48° F, humidity 40%, cloud cover 27%, wind 11 mph out of the northwest......partly cloudy today with a forecast high of 80° F.  On this date in 2016 TLE and I were in South Lake Tahoe, CA....

....at Tahoe Valley Campground.  Fall weather was already upon us.  We stayed that year until the end of October.  They had their first snow of the year the day we left.

This Friday (September 29th) LPG&RVR is hosting a 'Pub Crawl', and TLE and I are individually hosting a brew pub called High Forest Pub (our last name is German, and means High Forest).  I've been collecting craft brews all summer long in preparation for this event, and needed a few more to add to the collection, so we did something we do not normally do on our four day weekend; we headed into Alturas for a second time.  We left the park a little after 9 am, and after stops at Dollar General, Holiday Market, and the local fuel station, we were back home a little after 11 am.

We're going to be offering 'flights' of beer for people to sample more than one type of beer, so using a scrap piece of 3/4" plywood I cut out five 'flight' platters which can hold three samples each....

.....I used a 1 ½" hole saw to cut out the circles in which the sample cups will sit.  It didn't take more than 40 minutes beginning to end, but I put them together in stages over a few days.  They turned out well.  We're offering folks the chance to taste three different brews before making their choice.  There will be typical 'pub' snacks such as popcorn, mixed nuts, etc. offered, too.

After completing those platters, and buying the extra brews my work day was done, and I retired to the 'lido deck' to read for the rest of the afternoon.  I'm pretty sure a pretty long nap in my anti gravity recliner was had, also.

As I type this post we are about to begin our second to last 4 day work week, which will take us through Friday.  Then there will be just one four day weekend, and then our final four day work week before we head south for the winter.  I'll leave you with this Simon and Garfunkel song.....

.....thanks for stopping by!

'Lido deck' life.....

 7:53 am - Monday - September 21st - LPG&RVR - 57° F, humidity 48%, cloud cover 19%, wind 6 mph out of the west.....cloudy today with a forecast high of 82° F.  On this date in 2017 TLE and I were in Mammoth Hot Springs, WY....near the North Entrance of.....

.....Yellowstone National Park where winter came early that year.  This is the General Store where we worked for four months that summer.  I wrote about that here.

Time is marching forward day by day, and soon we will be offering up our 'until next times' to our family here at LPG&RVR.  The sun is noticeably lower in the sky as it repeats its daily arc across the increasingly southern sky from east to west.  In a few days we will be taking down the sun shade which has dutifully kept the summer sun from direct contact with our front cap and windshield these past months, and within 2 weeks we will begin to organize the trailer for VW insertion sometime near the beginning of the 2nd week of October.  That I am even mentioning the word October seems surreal, but it is undeniable that today (Monday) is September 21st, and our last work day is a mere 12 days in the future now.  Tonight the sun will officially set at 7 pm....it seems like it was setting well after 8:40 pm just a couple of weeks ago.  The sun isn't cresting the Warner Mountains until well after 7 am now, and within a week, or so the daylight portion of our day will be less than 12 hours.

With the overcast skies we had Sunday it remained cold on the 'lido deck' until after 12 pm, and that is when I moved out to the 'lido deck' to watch NFL football.  The main afternoon game (for me anyway) was the Raider vs. Charger game being played at SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles.  The Raiders have delivered one dismal season upon another for the past decade, or more, but something seems different this year.  They make very few mistakes, and have won two games in a row to start this season for the first time in 10, or 12 years.  My oldest son is an avid Raiders fan, as I have been since the 70's.  He and his wife often head to Las Vegas on weekends when the Raiders are at home, and as an extra treat they were able to attend the Raider vs. Chargers game in L.A. this past weekend.  It turned out to be a well played game by the Raiders who won 24-14.

I remained on the 'lido deck' well after 5 pm when TLE rang the dinner bell.  Sunday evening's dinner fare was a Cobb Salad, one of my favorites.  While we ate we watched the Sunday night game between the Indianapolis Colts and the Kansas City Chiefs.  We weren't expecting much of a game, but the Colts' offense showed on Sunday, and at the end of regulation time (60 minutes) the game was tied 27-27.  Overtime in the NFL consists of one 10 minute over time period with each team getting at least one possession of the football, unless there is a defensive touchdown; at least that is how I think it works.  Anyway, ultimately each team kicked a field goal to remain tied at 30-30 with 3 minutes to go in the overtime.  The Chiefs got the ball and marched down the field to kick the winning field goal as the overtime expired.  It was a good day for watching football outdoors.

Thanks for stopping by!