Acclimation......

6:19 am - Friday - 49º F, 68% humidity, wind 4 mph out of the east southeast....partly cloudy with a forecast high of 89º F.....it's going to be hot in the General Store!

What a day!  Thursday was the hottest day so far at Mammoth Hot Springs General Store with inside temps hitting just over 90º F.  I am, however, finally getting acclimated to the higher temperatures of summer once again.  But, I get slightly ahead of myself.

In our original site here at YRVP we had a clear, unobstructed view of the southern sky, however, in our new site there is a tree off the left front corner of the Newell that partially blocks that view.  I thought I could live with a satellite signal in the 69-70% range, but after a month the tree has leafed out more, and my signal was down to 49-50%, so it was time to address the 'growing' problem.  On Tuesday I had actually gotten out my portable Winegard 'Carry Out' dish to see if I could find a better view of the southern sky within the two sites I occupy, but was not successful in getting any signal, so Wednesday I was determined to try another solution......move the Newell forward 2+ feet to get a better angle around the offending tree.

I had to disconnect the sewer, and take off the wheel covers before moving the Newell, and then figure out how far forward I could move without intruding into the 'street'.....that ended up being just about 2 feet.  After moving the Newell, and re-leveling I dialed in the Winegard crank up dish once again......victory!  I was able to get the signal up to 79-80%!  That is a big improvement!  How long until the offending tree's growth causes a problem again?  We'll see.

We left, as is our custom, for work at 1 pm.  We have been running our rear A/C on the Newell for about an hour each day as we get dressed for work, then shutting it off and opening up all the windows.  By the time we get home at 10 pm it is relatively comfortable inside.  Sometimes, however, we have to turn on the A/C when we get home for about 30 minutes to cool down the interior, but we don't see any point in leaving the A/C on all day while we are gone.

As I have written previously, there is no A/C in the General Store where we work.  There are 10-12 ceiling fans scattered throughout the store, and another half dozen portable fans to keep air moving on the main floor, but the last week, or so, it gets pretty warm from about 2 pm to 6 pm.  In the 'Fountain' we are surrounded by heat generating equipment.....two hot dog rollers, a chili cooker, a nacho cheese heating machine, an ice making machine that puts off heat, the main ice cream freezer which puts off heat while keeping the ice cream from melting, and finally the pretzel machine......we are encircled in this wall of heat that seems to cling to our corner of the store.  We have been gradually adding fans trying to disperse that heat......we now have 3 fans in our corner of the store, and it is now getting more tolerable.  Of course, as I mentioned earlier in this missive, I am also gradually acclimating to the higher daily temps.

We emptied 19 tubs of ice cream in the 'Fountain' on Thursday, and the line in front of the fountain did not begin to dissipate until 5:30 pm.  It was never a long line, but there were always 8-10 folks in line from 1:30 to 5:30.  TLE and I took our 'lunch' at 5:30 just as things were quieting down.  It never got super busy again, but the time still passed quickly.

Once again at 9:45 pm we were on our way down the Gardiner River gorge carving the turns, and enjoying the cool night air rushing in through our open sunroof.  Life is good!

As has often been the case with the numerous workamping jobs we have worked in the almost 6 years we have been nomads it always comes down to the people we work with that make each job worthwhile.  We are thoroughly enjoying the folks we work with each day, and that kind of pushes the hot temps into the background of our thoughts.  It is the new friendships that we take away from this current work experience that will hold a special place in our hearts for years to come.

Thanks for stopping by!!

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