Busier than I thought.....

6:28 am - Tuesday - May 31st - Likely, CA - 31° F, humidity 76%, wind - CALM....crystal clear, blue, sunny skies today with a forecast high of 68° F.  On this date in 2016 TLE and I were having dinner at the Classic Cue in South Lake Tahoe....some of the best fish tacos ever!....↴

It was back to work Monday, and what we thought might be a slow day on the golf course turned into a very busy day.  It was in the 30's at 8 am, and I only put out the 5 electric Club Cars to start the day as TLE only had 5 people signed up for tee times.  As it turned out we rented 17 golf carts during the day with the last one being returned at almost exactly 5 pm.  In between all of that I shut down the driving range to do the bi-weekly ball pickup, cleaned golf balls, and did some mowing and weed whacking.  It seemed like I never stopped moving all day.

Since a number of carts were not returned until after 4:30 pm I was busy doing that cleaning them, and putting them away until almost 5:20 pm.....my first overtime day since we arrived.  I would imagine as things get consistently busier, now that we are past the Memorial Day weekend, and the sun goes down later, and later, I might see a few more of those late days.

In spite of the sunny skies I remained bundled up for the better part of the day. The temp didn't break 50° until mid afternoon so gloves, neckgaters, and watch caps were the order of the day.  By the time TLE and I arrived home around 5:30 pm all I could think about was a long, hot shower, but it had to be deferred as we had a dinner date with Charles and Phyllis at their Landmark 5th wheel.  We had salmon burgers and potato salad....both were scrumptious, and the conversation continued non-stop.  We were back home by 7:30 pm at which time I jumped into the shower for that deferred long, hot shower, and by 9 pm we were in bed headed off to dreamland once again.

Thanks for stopping by!

The winds of Likely.....

6:19 am - Monday - May 30th - Likely, CA - 31° F, humidity 81%, wind 3 mph out of the north by northwest......partly cloudy today with a forecast high of 57° F.  On this date in 2018 TLE and I hiked to the top of Cadillac Mountain in Acadia NP.....↴

 Originally we had planned to drive into Alturas Sunday to do some 'junking' and finish off the foray with a taco lunch at Rubios Taqueria, but TLE found out the thrift stores were closed on Sunday, so it seemed silly to drive 40 miles round trip just to have tacos.  As a result we aborted that plan, and stayed close to home.   It was also our second day of high winds, which kept us mostly indoors all day.  We did, however, take one walk around park doing our 1.25 mile loop.....

.....yes it was quite cold factoring in the  wind chill factor.  Other than that we had lunch with Charles and Phyllis at their Landmark 5th wheel.....they made tacos since we didn't get to go into town.....how sweet!  We spent time talking and laughing as we always do, and then headed home for the afternoon where I took a nap, and watched some of the Indy 500, and the 4th round of the Colonial PGA tournament in Dallas, TX.  We headed back to Charles and Phyllis' around 6 pm for a plate of St. Louis style BBQ'd pork ribs, and were they ever good....the meat just fell off the bones!  We're going to have to go on a diet after they leave, but wait....we're already on a diet....lol.

With the windy conditions we did not do much of anything else Sunday, and sometimes that is what life, along with weather gives you.  It was nice to have a day where we pretty much stayed inside all day, but, on the other hand, we did get to spend a lot of time with Charles and Phyllis.  

Speaking of diets, we are still maintaining our individual weight losses, still experiencing great sleep at night, and my blood pressure continues to be way lower than before we began the diet.  My biggest issue is clothes that do not fit me anymore, especially my collection of cargo shorts, which do not want to stay on my shrinking waistline, and my belts which are now too long by a few inches.  All that being said, there are worse problems than loose fitting closes, right?

The winds finally began to abate around 10 pm, and when we awoke this morning (Monday) there was virtually no wind.  It is, however, still very cold as you can tell from the temps I reported at the beginning of today's blog post....it looks like I'll be wearing pants and a coat to work today.

Thanks for stopping by!

Another world unto itself.....

7:25 am - Sunday - May 29th - Likely, CA - 39° F, humidity 65%, wind 13 mph out of the northwest.....heavy cloud cover today with a forecast high of 55° F....a 30° drop in temp since Tuesday!  On this date in 2017 TLE and I were giving Tim and Laila (son, and daughter-in-law) a tour of our Lake Tahoe......↴

The much needed rain came down most of Friday evening, and into the early morning hours of Saturday, and although it was not raining when we awoke, it was cold, blustery and threatening rain most of the morning.    By about 10 am we decided to just head out to explore Jess Valley, and its two main attractions with Charles and Phyllis.....Mill Creek Falls, and Blue Lake.  We've heard a lot about these two places from locals, but had been saving them to visit for the first time until Charles and Phyllis arrived.  We all bundled up and headed east on Jess Valley Road a little after 10 am.  

First on our list was Mill Creek Campground where the trailhead of Mill Creek Trail resides.  We were told it was about 1.5 miles round trip to the falls, but it was actually .49 miles round trip.  We reached the falls in less than 10 minutes......

....Mill Creek Falls are about 50' in height, and after the overnight rain they were flowing close to their maximum flow rate.

Jess Valley is like another world unto itself, and the views are large.......you can see rain falling in the distance wherever you look, but we would not encounter it until we arrived at Blue Lake....

....after our brief interlude at Mill Creek Falls we drove to the southern end of Jess Valley to find Blue Lake...just as we exited Charles' Ford pickup it began to sprinkle, but we still got some pictures.....

.....Blue Lake is not very large, but one can see the potential for a nice place to escape the coming summer heat on our four day weekends.  The lake sits at about 6,000' elevation, and motorized fishing boats are allowed upon the lake.  We only saw people kayaking on this day.  I admire their fortitude as it began to rain much harder within a few minutes of our arrival.....

.....our final stop for the day was West Valley Reservoir located just a few miles from LPG&RVR.  The reservoir is quite large, and we found a lot of Memorial Day weekenders living off the grid along the shores....

....in spite of the cold temperatures there were people riding jet skis (above), and people in power boats (below) enjoying their time on the lake.....

....by the time we decided to head back to LPG&RVR it was getting quite windy, and colder by the minute.  We were back home by 1:30 pm, and heading for our respective abodes to get warm.

The cool thing about our exploration is the abundance of things to do within a short drive of LPG&RVR.  TLE and I will be planning a few hikes in Jess Valley once we get a trail map, and I can see us kayaking at Blue Lake to escape the summer heat in the near future.

You might remember I mentioned yesterday that I heard TLE and Phyllis talking about a rump roast for dinner Saturday evening, and that is what we got.  Phyllis had it cooking for 23 hours, and did it ever turn out tender, and delicious.....I had seconds.  TLE and Phyllis also provided sides of roasted potatoes and squash (TLE), and two salads.....carrot with feta cheese, and cranberries, and a kale/brussel sprouts/pistachios slaw.  Now, to be fair, I am not a fan of either kale, or brussel sprouts, or even pistachios....in fact I normally avoid them like the plague, but I did not know what was in second salad until after I had taken a few bites, and asked what was in that salad....was I ever surprised....it was quite good!  Of course, there were a couple of bottles of wine consumed during the evening....maybe even 3...Charles pulled out some extremely fine 12, and 16 year old Zinfandel vintages from his 'cellar'.

We had a lovely evening with Charles and Phyllis, bid our evening adieus around 9 pm, and headed for home, and sweet dreams....thanks for stopping by!

The in-laws.....

7:18 am - Saturday - May 28th - Likely, CA - 49° F, 64% humidity, wind 3 mph out of the southwest.....heavy cloud cover, rain most of last night, and is forecast again for later today, along with a forecast high of 61° F.  On this date in 2011 TLE and I were having breakfast at Simple Simon's in Riverside, CA after a bike ride.....↴

.....our view this morning.....↴

Began raining around 9 pm Friday evening, and rained most of the night

Friday morning we headed into Alturas for our weekly shopping run, and since it is 40+ miles round trip we make lists of everything we need, and usually make stops at Ace Hardware, Rite Aid, and Holiday Market to cross things off our lists.  Friday was no exception.  Our first stop, however, was at the Indian Casino to fill up the VW fuel tank where we found the price of Premium Unleaded had risen 50¢ since our last fill up to $5.99/gallon, but that was still a dollar lower than prices in town.  Next up was Rite Aid where I needed to buy tooth paste, and dental floss, and TLE some lotion.  We also stopped off at the seasonal aisle to look at the Market Umbrellas we had checked out last time.  Then they were listed at $69.99, but there was a sale sticker this time around advising all umbrellas were on sale for 60% off.....wow....$42 off....we'd be stupid not to buy one, so we decided not to be stupid....the cost came to $27....what a killer deal!  We had wanted an umbrella to keep sun off the picnic table if we chose to eat outside, and it is perfect.....

.....at Ace Hardware we bought some weed killer to kill the dandelions that infest our grass area, and some grass seed to fill in some of the bare spots near our artificial turf.  Our final stop was Holiday Market where wre spent $173 for a small basket of food....let's go Brandon....thank God we don't need baby formula.

We were home before noon time, and awaiting the arrival of Charles and Phyllis.  We got the call about 1:30 pm that they were about a mile from the Likely Place Road, so I drove the Club Car down to the entrance to meet them, and lead them to their site, which is right next to ours here on the employee row......

....Charles knows his equipment pretty well, and had their Landmark 5th wheel ensconced in site #54 within a few minutes.  After exchanging hugs, and talking for a few minutes we left them to get setup for the next four nights.  

Around 2 pm we took them on a Club Car tour of the facilities which included a drive along the perimeter road around the golf course, and were back by 2:45 pm.  We were planning on light dinner fare Friday night at the 5th wheel, so TLE headed over to assemble several charcuterie trays with Phyllis whilst I remained home taking a nap.  Dinner was planned for 4 pm, and I woke up around 3:50 pm, and headed over to the Landmark to find everything just about ready.....

Phyllis and TLE consulting about culinary stuff, and possibly about our Saturday night dinner fare....I think I heard the term 'rump roast' mentioned a few times.

....we snacked, talked and laughed until after 8 pm before bidding our evening adieus and heading home.  Charles always carries a large selection of wines with him on his summer trips, and we were blessed to sample some Sauvignon Blanc with the charcuterie fare, and later a splendid Malbec with dessert.  I think there was also some Bourbon sampling as the evening came to a close.  We are looking forward to some sightseeing Saturday, weather permitting....I say that because it appears we may have more rain Saturday afternoon, so we'll see about that.

Thanks for stopping by!

Nine, or eighteen?

 7:41 am - Friday - May 27th - Likely, CA - 53° F, humidity 53%, wind 3 mph out of the south...overcast today with a forecast high of 69° F.  On this date in 2012 TLE and I were visiting friends George and Brenda in Coeur d'Alene, ID....we 'courtesy parked' in their driveway.....it took me a while to shoe horn everything into that driveway....lol....↴

Thursday wasn't nearly as warm as Wednesday, but it got up to 80° F, and was quite sultry and muggy (humid).....it was also mostly windless until mid morning.  Nevertheless, it was a shorts and t-shirt kind of day, and I love those days!  And what would be a better time to head out to the golf course and play 9, or even 18 holes?

One of the nice thing about being a staff member is we can just show up and snag an open tee time.  We (TLE was my chauffeur) decided to begin the day with the back 9, but before I teed off I headed to the driving range to hit a few balls with my driver.  After hitting just two balls around 200 yards I decided to quit while I was ahead, and just head to the 10th tee to start my round.  I actually was pretty consistent off the tee for the first 9 holes, but my short iron game stinks.....I seemed to have no touch, or feel for those shorter 50-70 yard shots.  Oh well, one thing at a time, right?  I did, however, putt pretty well, so I just need to clean up my short game.  Additionally, in spite of the winds that freshened as we played, it didn't seem to affect my shots at all unless I was hitting directly into the wind.

We were back at the Clubhouse just in time for lunch, so we stopped off and ordered a BLT and fries to share.  My back was doing pretty good after 9 holes, but I should have just been satisfied with playing pretty well for 9 holes, and headed home, but I was a little greedy, and wanted to see if the magic would continue.....well, it didn't.

My back began to stiffen up after a couple holes on the front 9, which meant I wasn't able to turn enough in my back swing, and I began to hit one bad shot after another.  Being the stubborn kind of guy I am I continued to forge on, but things just got worse.  By the time we reached the 6th hole on the front 9 my back was really affecting my game, so I finally called it quits, and we headed back to the Clubhouse to stow my clubs in my locker, and then head for home, where I took a hot shower, and then had TLE apply some Tiger's Balm to my lower back.  As I sit here tapping the keys on my laptop this morning my back is feeling better.  I just need to know when to quit, right?

My take away from Thursday was I hit a lot of good shots off the tee, and just a few good shots from the fairway, but my putting was much better, so I'm happy with my progress.  I just need to spend time working on my iron play, and stick to 9 holes at a time for now until my back gets stronger.  

After my shower I sat down to watch some golf, but within 10 minutes, apparently, I fell asleep, and didn't wake up for over an hour.  When I sat down I had no intention of napping, but my body had other ideas.  As the afternoon progressed the winds blew a little harder, but never bad enough to stow the patio awning.  As long as the wind is out of the west, or even southwest it doesn't affect the awning too much.

Well, that's it from LPG&RVR* for now....time to head into town to do our weekly shopping!  Thanks for stopping by!

*LPG&RVR = Likely Place Golf & RV Resort

Outwit, Outplay, Outlast.....

 7:13 am - Thursday - May 26th - Likely, CA - 51° F, 41% humidity, wind 6 mph out of the south......partly cloudy today with a forecast high of 81° F.  On this date in 2013 TLE and I were working traffic control at Gate #2 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.....one of the coolest jobs we've had in the last 10 years...we worked 16 consecutive 12 hour days, up to, and including race day, beginning at 6 am each day.....↴

Wednesday promised to be the warmest day since we arrived at LPG&RVR (Likely Place Golf and RV Resort.  By the way, previously I have referred to this place at which we live Likely Place RV and Golf Resort, but I had Golf and RV reversed).  It was to be a warm day with a high of 86° F....you notice I didn't say 'hot' day....hot will come later.

I started out the day staging just 8 carts, but ultimately 13 carts went out.  After staging the carts I headed out to to do 'poop' patrol at the tee boxes for hole #3, then raked out the sand traps on holes 4, 12, 15, and 18.  I love this part of the job as I get to drive around the entire golf course on a very beautiful day.....

.....there were several 'firsts' for me Wednesday, and they all revolved around mowing areas I haven't mowed previously.  I began by mowing the grass along the employee row (sites 51-55...we are in 55)....

....the first picture is our site (#55), and the second one is site #54, which is where Charles and Phyllis will park their 5th wheel when they arrive on Friday.  I used the Husqvarna riding lawnmower to do all 5 sites, and while I was dumping out the grass catchers I saw a giant plume of smoke to the north.  I found out a little later from DeWayne (local volunteer fire department Captain) that this was a 'proscribed' fire, which means it was a controlled burn to eliminate undergrowth, and reduce future fire hazard.....

....in addition to the employee sites I mowed 5 of the pull through sites, plus mowed for a second time the large grass area in the Club House parking lot before washing, and putting away the Husqvarna, then turned my attention to the returning golf carts.  As most days go here, Wednesday passed quickly, and before we knew it TLE and I were heading home to begin our 4 day 'weekend'.  We sat outside again enjoying the beautiful evening skies, and balmy weather......

....it's rare that a picture captures the beauty, and feeling of a moment, but the first picture above is exactly what it looked like to my human eyes.

We remained outside until almost 9 pm, which was new first for us, and we are looking forward to many more just like this.  At 9 pm we began to watch the  3 hour season finale of 'Survivor' after it had been recording for an hour so we could fast forward through all the commercials.  We both liked the way it played out, and were pleased Maryanne ended up taking home the $1 million dollar, winner take all prize by 'Outwitting, Outplaying, and Outlasting' the other contestants. 

Finally, I must share that I have at last achieved my weight loss goal of 30 pounds.....

.....I have lost so many inches off my waist that my size 34" cargo shorts are falling off my hips....for the first time since the early 90's I have purchased a replacement pair of work shorts (Wrangler Cargo Shorts) with a 32" waist.  Ultimately I want to lose about 5 more pounds, and settle in around 178, and stay there.  I  no longer recognize the fellow in the mirror....lol!

Thanks for stopping by!

$50 per ounce!

 6:22 am - Wednesday - May 25th - Likely, CA - 42° F, humidity 68%, wind - CALM....crystal clear, blue, sunny skies today with a forecast high of 85° F.....wait, what?  Temps in the 80's?  Nice!  On this date in 2020 we had just arrived in Meeker, CO....we stayed four nights in the city park right on the Smith River....50 amp electrical.....↴

I don't know if you have noticed, but the temperatures have been steadily increasing each day this week, and there hasn't been any sleet, snow, fog, or rain.  I'm no longer wearing a watch cap, pants, and gloves to work, but short sleeved shirts and shorts instead. I wear a sweatshirt first thing in the morning until about 8:30, or 9 am, but after that it is perfect weather.

Tuesday was a much lighter day on the golf course....I only staged 13 golf carts, and only 9 were actually rented, and used.  It was a good day to mow around the tee boxes on 3, 10, 15, 16, 17 and 18, so I headed out around 9 am on the slow moving John Deere riding lawnmower to do just that, and I actually took a couple of pictures of my work for a change....

One of the 16th hole tee boxes (blue and white tees)

The yellow tee box on 16

....as you can see, it is way too tight in there for the fairway mower.   They need to be mowed at least once a week, and so far I have been the one doing them, but as time goes on it will fall to Walt for a period of time, just as mowing the RV sites has fallen to Walt until our next 4 day work week when I will be doing them.  This is one of the things I love about working 4 days, and being off 4 days....every week you work different days.  Next week we will work Monday through Thursday so it will fall to me to do the ball retrieval on the driving range on Monday and Thursday.

I took a shortened lunch break Tuesday as TLE and I were scheduled to join a group from the RV park in a tour of the Willow Creek Ranch Sturgeon Farm located about 15 minutes from LPG&RVR.  Dennis wanted TLE and I to go on the tour so we would be able to answer questions about it for future customers.  At any rate, when I returned from my abbreviated lunch all 5 Club Car electric carts had been returned, plus one of the Yamaha gassers, so I quickly cleaned them, and put them away....only 3 more carts to clean after our tour.

Pierce Flournoy's family has been ranching in the valley for several generations, and for the last 30 years they have been raising sturgeon.  They have a unique water situation on the ranch in that there is a spring which flows year round producing water at a consistent 65° F, which happens to be the ideal temperature for raising sturgeon.  The spring produces 3,000 gallons a MINUTE, and has the proper oxygen concentration for ideal sturgeon farming, so a company out of California contracts with them to raise the sturgeon from the age of 3 until they are 8 years old, and ready to produce their eggs (later processed into caviar), or at least the eggs suitable for caviar.  These are 'white sturgeon' (not their skin color, but the color of their meat).   They have no bones, just cartilage, and muscle.  They live to over 100 years of age, and one was caught in California years ago which was 21 feet in length, and weighed 3,100 pounds!  The sturgeon the Flournoys raise get up to over 100 pounds, and some 4-5 feet long before they are harvested.  The caviar they produce sells for $50/ounce.....each sturgeon produces eggs weighing in at about 10% of their total body weight, so you can imagine how valuable they are......

Pierce Flournoy, sturgeon wrangler

.....I think there are 9, or 10 ponds in all with the spring fed water flowing through them at a rate of 3,000 gallons per minute.  The tour began around 2:15 pm, and was over by 3:30 pm.  TLE and I were back at LPG&RVR by 3:45 pm to finish out our shift.  

TLE were on our way home around 5:05 pm, and sitting on the 'lido deck' with adult beverages a few minutes later.  The evenings are finally getting conducive to sitting outside, and Tuesday evening was so nice we even ate an actual dinner outside for the first time.

Thanks for stopping by!

It's in the bag......

 6:29 am - Tuesday - May 24th  - Likely, CA - 38° F, humidity 69%, wind - CALM.....crystal clear, blue, sunny skies today with a forecast high of 76° F.   On this date in 2012 TLE and I were having appetizers at The Iron Horse Bar and Grill in Missoula, MT......↴

Monday was a busy day.  Once again we put out every cart we had, and one went out twice.  On top of that it was time to pickup all the golf balls on the driving range.  I had to empty the barrel first thing to get enough balls to fill 5, or 6 baskets for the driving range, plus I had to walk the near third of the driving range with the 'shag bag' to gather some more balls in case we ran out before I was able to sweep the driving range.  I didn't want to to it too early this time to avoid getting all that wet grass on the balls, which means it takes much longer to clean them, and was aiming to start that process round 10:30 am.

I'm glad I waited to sweep the driving range, because this time the balls I picked up were dry, and grass free.  It took me about 90 minutes in all to to the job, then I drove the machine up to the club house to disgorge the 6 full baskets of golf balls onto the back porch where I left them until later in the day to make sure they were completely dry.  By the time I was finished with that task it was time to relieve TLE for lunch, and take a break to read my book, then it was off to lunch for moi.

By the time I returned from lunch there were 16 golf carts at the wash station requiring my attention, and I spent the rest of the afternoon washing carts, fueling them as required, and putting them back in the cart shed.  I didn't finish that task until 4:30 pm, and then it was time to empty those 6 baskets of golf balls into the large barrel in the Club House store room....letting them sit all afternoon worked as they were completely dry, and had no grass sticking to them.  

I also took delivery on my new to me cart bag for my golf clubs.  I found it on eBay.....it is a Datrik 1999 Ryder Cup souvenir bag.  In 1999 the Ryder cup was held at The Country Club in Brookline, Mass, and, ironically, this year's U.S. Open is being held there, also.  The bag is in mint condition, and only cost me $75.....

.....it has 14 separate dividers for golf clubs, so they all fit in there pretty nicely.  Once I had the old bag emptied I transferred the second set of clubs I have into it.  I'm hoping to get TLE to take up golfing.  Now it is time to start playing golf!

It was so nice outside when we arrived home we decided to sit outside with some adult beverages, and another charcuterie tray for dinner....of course there was a nice cigar smoked, and a great time was had by all.  The cool of the evening chased us inside around 7 pm.

Thanks for stopping by!

The vacuum didn't work.....

 6:21 am - Monday - May 23rd - Likely, CA - 37° F, humidity 78%, wind CALM.....crystal clear, blue, sunny skies today with a forecast high of 73° F.  On this date in 2014 TLE and I were celebrating Taco Friday at Steamers Bar and Grill in South Lake Tahoe with Bill and Devi Kasson.....↴

You can tell the weather is getting warmer, and we are nearing the beginning of the summer season when Vacuum Sunday doesn't happen.....I think we had more people in the park at the end of the day than we did in the morning.  It was also a very busy day on the golf course.  We rented all 5 of the Club Car electrics, all 10 of the Yamaha gassers, and all 8 of the Club Car gassers, plus we rented out two of the electrics a second time later in the day for total of 25 golf carts rented out Sunday.

On top of that a very exciting finish to this year's PGA Championship was brewing throughout the day.  At one point Justin Thomas was 8 strokes down to the leader Mito Pereira (Chile), but when the dust settled at the end of Sunday he (Thomas) came out victorious in a three hole playoff with Will Zalatoris....Pereria faded from 1st to 3rd place on 72nd and final hole of regulation leaving Zalatoris and Thomas tied at 5 under par.  Thomas' comeback from 8 strokes down ties the PGA record for a come from behind victory.

In between all of that I engaged in a lot of weed whacking around the park, staged and washed a lot of golf carts, and refilled a lot of driving range buckets with golf balls for TLE.  Sunday was, by and far, the busiest Sunday we've had since we arrived April 12th, and the rest of the week should be the same as we have a large group (18 RV's) in the park, and they are all golfers!

TLE and I continue to lose weight, and inches. We continue to be asymptomatic to the Wuhan Flu, we continue to love our jobs, and living in rural America.  We are still looking forward to the morning when we wake up and don't have to turn on the heaters.  I know the time will come later in the summer when we will look back fondly on these days of chilly mornings, and chilly afternoons, but for now it would nice not to have the heaters running every morning.  

Thanks for stopping by!