Short strokes.....

6:14 am - Thursday - May 24th - Southwest Harbor, ME - 41º F (9º colder than yesterday morning), 100% humidity, wind 2 mph out of the northeast.....clear blue skies....forecast high for today is 54º F.

When I got up Wednesday morning the weather report was forecasting rain for 3 pm.  I would say, so far, the forecast for Southwest Harbor has been correct less than 25% of the time, so I really didn't know what to expect.  At least 3 pm is the end of our workday, so we had that going for us.  

We began our workday getting all the trashcans in the campground turned right side up, and lining them with plastic bags.  Next up was the first cleaning of the bathrooms this season.  They employ a very different cleaning system here at Smuggler's Den than I have seen in the past.  It is a three step system.  First we spray (using a hose) a soapy solution on everything......sinks, toilets, the floor, shower walls and floors, urinals.....everything gets a coat.  Once that is done we use brushes to scrub the sinks, showers, toilets and urinals.  Next up we rinse everything off with fresh water, and then, finally, we spray a fine coat of disinfectant on everything.  Once that is done we wipe down (dry) the sinks and toilet seats.....that's it.  Normally, before washing everything, we would vacuum, but that was done last week.  In all it takes less than an hour to do each bathroom (men's/women's).  Once the park opens this is done once per day at exactly noon for the women's, and 1 pm for the men's.

Our next task was to deploy 6 picnic tables in the entertainment area (right next to the pool)......there is a stage there for performers.  Then we moved 2 more picnic tables over next to the playground.  By the time we finished with that it was 11 am, and time for lunch.

You can tell by the kind of things we did Wednesday that we are on the home stretch to getting ready for opening day on Friday.  The campground is looking great, and now it is just a matter of taking care of a few small things to make her sparkle.....we are definitely down to the short strokes.  

After lunch Tony and I were assigned to paint a small shed on the back of the restrooms where the restroom supplies are kept.  When we first arrived Smuggler's Den back on the 12th Todd had dismantled the front of the shed to reinforce the floor.  He was finally able to get to putting it back together, which involved some fresh lumber which needed a coat of paint.....since we were painting the raw wood, we went ahead and painted the entire shed.....it needed it.

 Before

After.....kind of a robin egg blue

......next up.....we got some rock rakes from the 'garage' and spent about 30 minutes smoothing out the new gravel that was dumped in 5 sites right across from our site to make them more level, and remove any low spots.  Todd had spread the gravel out pretty well with the front loader, so it was just a matter of getting rid of a few high spots and removing all the tractor tire evidence.

By the time we finished with that task it was closing in on 2:30 pm, and we were becoming aware of the big, dark clouds moving in from the west.  I still wasn't convinced it was going to rain, but then I heard the thunder....okay, maybe it is going to rain.

Since we had 30 minutes left on our shift, Tony and I made a dump run.....we loaded up the company pickup with our trash from the day and hauled it over to the 'transfer' station, which is less than a mile away.  Just as we were pulling out of the transfer station it began to sprinkle.....I looked at my watch to note that it was exactly 3 pm.

We were back to the campground in a couple of minutes clocking out for the day.....as TLE and I began our walk back to the Newell it began to rain a little harder so we began to trot toward the Newell.  By the time we were rounding the back of our site it began to rain harder and our trot had turned into a full out run....we had just gotten under the patio awning when skies just opened.  The rain came down in torrents as we entered the Newell.  Whew!  We made it just in time.

It only rained hard for about 25 minutes and then we were seeing the sun again, and by 3:45 pm it had stopped completely.   I took the opportunity to deploy most my rope lights, and our wind chimes, so I guess it's official....we are staying for the summer....lol.  More lights will be deployed Thursday after work.....once they are all out I'm not planning on putting them away for 5 months.

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