Friday was the beginning of the Memorial Day 2015 weekend.....last year on this same day the crowds were rolling into TVC*, but of course it was dryer and warmer this time last year. With the uncertain weather forecast for the current weekend we have not yet seen any 'tenters' arriving, although a number of our tent sites had reservations none have yet checked in........last year the tent sites near us were full by Saturday morning, but this year I can see all the way to the restrooms.....not a soul in sight. Friday was also a banner day for the office staff....we all got our usernames and passwords......up until Friday we were all having to use Eric's and Duane's to access the reservation system. Nevertheless, this year has been a vast improvement over last year when it took us over 6 weeks to begin working, and another couple of weeks to get our usernames and passwords.
My duties as Ranger also slightly expanded.....instead of just checking to be sure those scheduled to depart did so, and checking to be sure all the sites we show as occupied were so, I was tasked with checking all the vacant sites which had reservations beginning Friday to be sure they were ready for occupancy. Our new policy here at TVC* is to rake the pine needles to the borders of each site giving them definition, which helps the customers see the entrance to their site. In the past the policy was the opposite as the owners wanted the park to have a 'natural' feel so pine needles were not raked up anywhere, including the streets, and pine cones were left where they fell. The problem that arose from that policy was many customers felt we just didn't care about the park, and many were confused as to where their sites began and ended, or even where the entrance to their site was. With a change in policy we have been able to change the perception, and reduce the confusion about the boundaries of each site.....we are now getting compliments on the appearance of the campground.
Our arrival list showed just under 70 RV's coming into the park on Friday, and at one point the arriving RV's were backed up all the way to the entrance at Melba Drive.....that only happened one time for a few minutes, but was a reminder of how crazy things will get when that becomes the norm over the 4th of July weekend.
Around 11 am we had our first staff meeting of the summer, which included a pizza lunch paid for by the campground, then we were back out into the ever changing weather which went back and forth from sun showers to rain sprinkles and back to sun showers over and over throughout the afternoon.
Once I had finished my second round of site checks I went back to my job of inspecting each site to be sure everything is in order....I finished section 'E' and got half way through section 'A' before the rain came again and chased me back inside for the last 30 minutes of our shift. We were home a little after 4:30 watching as the RV's continued to pull into the park, and specifically section 'E'.
Hoping for more sun and less rain this weekend......thanks for stopping by!
*TVC = Tahoe Valley Campground
Still Heading East and Slightly South
1 week ago
Isn't it interesting how peoples perceptions are so different? I too would think that if pine needles were all over that the 'owners' wouldn't care about things too...yet the 'owners' were trying to give people a closer feeling to nature, which, once you see it from their point of view, isn't that bad....except for being a bad business decision. My undergrad is in Marketing, and I think the park owners would do good if they had one "focus group" of average park users, one (or two) couples who have visited only once, two who have been there a few times, and two who have been there many times. Give them a free weekend after Labor Day and all it cost them (focus group) is a 4 hour group session in which the owners could ask for their perceptions. Just a thought....
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