This is the life....

7:40 am - Friday - May 31st - LPG&RVR - 55° F, humidity 44%, wind 1 mph out of the north.....crystal clear, blue, sunny skies today with a forecast high of 81° F.  On this date in 2014 I was riding a section of the 'Flume Trail' in South Lake Tahoe....at one point the trail overlooks the iconic Sand Harbor some 1,300 feet below......

I was riding the 'Flume Trail' with friends Mark and Michelle

As I begin to record the events of Thursday (yesterday) it occurs to me that tomorrow, June 1st, we begin our 147 month of nomadic life....that's over 12 years of traveling, and over 159 months of living in the Newell full time.  It does not feel that long to me, but we are so far removed now from our former sticks and bricks workaday lives that it feels like we have always lived this way.  While we are both aging, now well into our 70's, we both still feel young, healthy, and vibrant.  Our lives are no longer filled with the stress of living in a congested urban sprawl, crawling along at a snail's pace on over crowded freeways, wasting hours of our precious lives sitting in a car wishing we were somewhere else.  Well, now we are somewhere else....in RURAL America where there are no traffic jams, and rarely, if ever, is a siren of any kind (police, fire, ambulance) heard.  Just the sounds of nature.....the wind, rain, coyotes, birds, cows, and muted conversations of neighbors enjoying the great outdoors...this is the life!

While today is real Friday, Thursday was OUR figurative Friday this week.  It never seems like I have worked 4 days here at LPG&RVR.  The days fly by so quickly, and now I find myself sitting here at my laptop on Friday, the first day of our four day 'weekend', leisurely writing about the final day of the past four days of work.

Before making my first round of the golf course I staged 10 golf carts (5 electrics, and 5 gassers).  Some readers might wonder why we only stage 5 electric carts.  Well, that is because we only have 5 electric carts.  With new batteries these Club Car electrics can run for around 45 holes before they MUST be recharged.  The Yamaha gassers, of which we have 10 (1 is on the disabled list right now), can go for 90 holes on one tank of gasoline, which is around 3-4 gallons.  After three years of use we had to replace the batteries in the electrics at a cost of $1800 per cart, or $9,000 plus tax.  We paid around $50,000 for those five carts originally, so now we're close to $60,000 invested in 5 golf carts.  The 10 Yamahas cost us $4,000 each (used) in 2022, and other than changing the oil, and filling them with gasoline once a week, that has been the total expense.  The gassers are just more practical, and cost effective for a small operation like LPG&RVR.

I headed out to do my first round of the course around 8:30 am....it was a beautiful day in our neighborhood....

.....the goose/duck leavings report is as follows.....a lot on the blue tee box, and a moderate amount on the two white tee boxes.  Three of the four sand traps needed raking, including #18, below......

....the four sand traps (4, 12, 15 & 18) rarely come into play, so I only rake them when there has been obvious human activity in them.

By the time I returned to the Clubhouse 8 of the original 10 carts had been rented, so I staged the rest of the Yamahas, and by the end of the day all 14 had been rented.

When we have the Monday through Thursday four day shift I must clear the driving twice during that time (Mondays and Thursdays) so it may be mowed by DeWayne.  Monday I cleared three full 5 gallon buckets of balls, but on Thursday I had half as many to clear, and was able to get them in buckets soaking by 12 pm.....TLE's lunch break time.

Usually on the final day of my 4 day work week I mow around those tee boxes for which I am responsible.....3, 7, 10, 16, 17, & 18, and it takes me two hours to get to them all.....most of that time is spend driving from hole to hole in the ever so slow John Deere riding lawnmower....we are still awaiting parts for the 2 bag Husqvarna I prefer too use for this task.  I left right at 1 pm, and was back at the Clubhouse by 3 pm....in time to begin the daily spa treatments for the carts which had been returned.  By the time I was off work at 3:40 pm (I worked 8 straight hours) 5 of the 14 rented carts were still on the course.

I headed home to get a shower, and change clothes before heading back to the Clubhouse to hone my less than adequate putting skills, hoping to have a better showing at this Saturday's putting contest than the one last Saturday.  TLE was done closing the books on Thursday around 5:20 pm at which time we headed for home to begin our four day 'weekend' sitting on the 'lido deck' enjoying the early evening breezes....

A few fingers of single malt Scotch were enjoyed by moi, along with a cigar

....we remained on the 'lido deck' talking with Sirius/XM's Classic Vinyl playing in the background until after 7:30 pm, when our shorts and t-shirts attire was no longer compatible with the quickly descending temperatures.  A nice way to wind down our the final day of our work week.  Let the weekend festivities begin!

Thanks for stopping by!

A new low......

 6:08 am - Thursday - May 30th - LPG&RVR - 37° F, humidity 60%, wind 1 mph out of the north....crystal clear, blue, sunny skies today with a forecast high of 75° F.  This morning will be the last day of sub 40° lows for a long time.  On this date in 2018 TLE and I hiked the north trail to the top of Cadillac Mountain near Bar Harbor, ME.....

As busy for me as Wednesday was I was still able to clock out at the 8 hour mark, something which I have only been able to to one other time during this two week pay period.  I began by staging 10 golf carts, then headed out to make my first round of the golf course.  I stopped off at the tee boxes at the 15th hole to take a few pictures.....

It was a cold, blustery Wednesday....had to wear the heavy duty jacket again

.....then headed over to the 16th hole (the elevated tee boxes) to look for lost golf balls between the tee boxes, and the hole.  After a long holiday weekend with lots of golfers I usually find 10 balls in a few minutes.  On this date I found 18 in about 10 minutes....that's a new record for me.  By the way, there were very few goose/duck leavings at the #3 tee boxes.....maybe a sign that the geese are beginning to head northward....I hope.

I returned to only 5 carts left on the lineup, and that is the way it remained until just before lunch.  I continued watering the large grass area around the Night Registration office, mowed the grass around the large pavilion before the next group arrives, ran its sprinklers for one cycle, mowed around the putting green, then down the left side of the large grass area between the putting green and the #1 tee boxes, mowed 4 of the 5 water/electric sites, dragged the carts path between holes 9 and 18 and the Clubhouse, plus the cart path which runs up the hill from hole #4 to the restroom....and that was just the morning....lol.

After giving TLE her lunch break I jumped upon the ever so slow John Deere riding lawnmower and made my way down to the tent areas.  The grass had gotten so high there (about 12" high) that it took me over 1.5 hours to mow it before heading back to the Clubhouse around 2:45 to begin washing, and parking the carts we had rented....we rented 8 in all....kind of a slow Wednesday, but that allowed me to get a lot done.

Miraculously, I was off work, and heading home by 3:40 pm.....an 8 hour day...finally....lol!  Upon arriving home I decided to dump the black tank, which was overdue by a day, before heading inside for my long, hot shower.  That was a busy day!

By the way, I finally cracked the 187 pound barrier, weighing in at 186.8 pounds....the first time I've been below 187 since 2014 when I had my double hernia operation....a 10 year low.....

....not a bad blood pressure reading, either!

Thanks for stopping by!

Intermediate goal achieved.....FINALLY

6:08 am - Wednesday - May 29th - LPG&RVR - 43° F, humidity 70%, wind 7 mph out of the north by northwest......cloudy today with a forecast high of 69° F.  On this date in 2018 TLE and I were at Thurston's Lobster Pound near Southwest Harbor, ME....

 Tuesday was a day of irrigation for me.  For the first time this season we flooded the Meadows back in sites, which is how they are watered.....

Water flowing from the pond up the hill....

....into each site...there are ten in all

....additionally I set two sprinklers at the night registration office to water the large grass area which surrounds it....there is no sprinkler system for that area so we do it manually.  I spent most of the day bouncing between those areas moving sprinklers, and checking on the progress of the irrigation water as it slowly filled each site, then flowed through a pipe under each site to the next grass area.  Since the ground has not been irrigated for 6 months it takes a while for the water to soak into the soil, then pool, then flow into the next grass area.

In between that I mowed the small Gazebo area, and trimmed around the Gazebo in preparation for the next group to arrive on Thursday, and mowed the one Meadows back in site, which I had not done last week, before the irrigation water got to it.

We rented 14 golf carts in all Tuesday, and all but one had returned by 5 pm....not too bad.  By the end of the day I had only been able to irrigate 6 of the 10 Meadows back in sites before it was time to shut off the flow.  Now that the ground is saturated in the first 6 sites, it will be easier to get all 10 next week.

The temp only got to 75° F Tuesday, but by June 7th we'll be in the 90's, it appears.  Not looking forward to that, but it is what it is.  That being said, I am adjusting to the warming temperatures more quickly than last year.  

By the by, I'm now down to 187 pounds.  The last time I was that low was just after my double hernia surgery back in 2014.  You may recall I was on the 'Subway diet' then, and lost about 30 pounds.  This time I'm just moving more, and eating way less, plus I've cut out alcohol on the four days I work, and I only have an adult beverage once, or twice on days I don't work.  So, I've finally gotten to my intermediate goal of 187, now I'm going for 177 by the end of the summer.  I haven't seen that territory since the early 90's.

Thanks for stopping by!

A Day of Memorial.....

6:05 am - Tuesday - May 28th - LPG&RVR - 46° F, humidity 73%, wind 2 mph out of the southeast......crystal clear, blue, sunny skies today with a forecast high of 77° F.  On this date in 2017 TLE and I were at High Camp in Squaw Valley, CA....home of the 1960 Winter Olympics with Tim and Laila....

 It is rare that Monday is actually our first workday in this 4 days on, and 4 days off work schedule.  Being that it was Memorial Day meant it was still busy at LPG&RVR.  In all we sent out close to 30 golf carts with 59 golfers.  There were still 7 golf carts left over from Sunday that needed a spa treatment, so I took care of them after staging the initial 16 golf carts. While we had 20 RV departures, we also had 16 arrivals.  I initially staged 16 golf carts even though I knew we would need at least 22 just to cover those who had signed up for a tee time.  Once the lineup got down to 4 carts I staged at least 10 more.  I made 4 rounds of the course, turned on the irrigation for the trees, cleared the driving range of golf balls using the ball picker machine for the first time this season, garnering 4 full five gallon buckets of balls.

TLE was very busy in the office, as well.  Every time I went in she was on the phone, or with a customer, so I think the summer season has finally begun.  The high temp was forecast to be 81° F, and I believe it got there.  Surprisingly, I was still wearing long pants, and a long sleeved shirt, and wasn't bothered at all by the warmer temps.  With the warming weather we are beginning to see the ubiquitous mosquitoes.  Once again it was a one day heatwave, and temps will drop into the low 70's, high 60's until early next week in the first week of June.

I was kept busy in the afternoon washing golf balls, and golf carts, but did manage to throw in two rounds of the course.  There were people on most of the fairways, but there were no bottlenecks observed.  By the time I left work at 4:15 pm there were still 6, or 7 carts out on the course, so I'll take care of them Tuesday morning.

TLE walked home from work allowing me to take a long, hot shower, and take a nap before she arrived.  We had some of that beef stew she was preparing on Sunday, and it was well worth the wait.

In closing I would like to thank all of those who have served in our military for their service.  My father was in the Navy during WW2.  Sometimes I think we as a nation are not currently worthy of the sacrifices you, and your families have made over the years, and continue to make now, but I thank you just the same.

Thanks for stopping by!

Sometimes you need that....

6:10 am - Monday - May 27th - LPG&RVR - 47° F, humidity 68%, wind zero mph out of the north by northwest.....crystal clear, blue, sunny skies today with a forecast high of 81° F.  On this date in 2012 TLE and I were riding our bikes along the shores of Lake Coeur d'Alene....

I didn't really leave site #55 all day long Sunday, other than to take a 2 mile out and back walk with TLE.  Was I outside? Yes, of course.  I did a little weeding on the downhill side of the dining/gaming deck in preparation for the receipt of our new Ozark Trail dining canopy Monday.  Additionally, I put two more coats of clear coat on the 2' x 4' piece of plywood upon which the Sea-B-Que sits.  I've had the new clear coat for over a week, but hadn't applied it yet.  Other than that I spent a lot of time on the 'lido deck' in the shade on one of our warmest days in a couple of weeks watching the 4th round of the latest PGA event.

TLE and I did take the aforementioned walk around 10:30 am....another of the 2 mile out and back variety....our 14th of the season putting us at 28 miles walked so far.  I think we'll get over 100+ miles pretty easily this summer.....

.....TLE did a lot of food prep in preparation for our upcoming 4 day work week.  I think there is going to be some great beef stew this week!

Other than the weeding and spraying clear coat, not much else was accomplished by me....TLE got a lot done, and good for her....lol.  It was just a lazy Sunday for me, and sometimes you need that....thanks for stopping by!

Saturday in the park, but it wasn't the 4th of July

8:10 am - Sunday - May 26th - LPG&RVR - 49° F, humidity 48%, wind 1 mph out of the north by northwest....crystal clear, blue, sunny skies today with a forecast high of 74° F.  On this date in 2013 TLE and I were directing traffic at Gate #2 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway....Race Day!.....

 Surprisingly, it rained overnight.  Thought we were done with rain for a while.  It rained just enough that TLE did not have to water her wild flower seeds Saturday.  As is most often our custom on our days off work we took a 2 mile out and back walk.  It was chilly at 10 am, and a little breezy so we bundled up somewhat....

....that flannel shirt TLE is wearing is a Carhartt she found at the Goodwill when we were in Klamath Falls....virtually brand new for $12.  At any rate we managed to average 3.2 mph again over the 2 mile course for the 36 minutes we were moving.  Always a good way to begin a day.....

....upon our return to the Newell I made the mistake of sitting in my Adirondack chair, forgetting it had rained, and there was a pool of water on the cushion....TLE did not make the same mistake....lol.

We spent about an hour trying to figure out how we will deploy our sail shades to shield the front of the Newell from the summer sun, and heat, which is coming.  I bought a couple of 8 foot long 4x4 posts a while back to plant in the ground to which we will attach at least two of our 3 sail shades, so it was a matter of figuring out where the two posts would be placed to get the maximum shade benefit from the shades.  We're planning on installing them on our next 4 day weekend, and figuring out how to configure them takes way more time than digging the post holes.

We had planned to grill a London Broil steak we purchased at Holiday Market on Thursday, but TLE noted that it was going to be windy at 5 pm, so I lit the Sea-B-Que around 12:30 pm to grill it ahead of time.  TLE had been marinating it for about 24 hours.  Once that was done I settled in to watch some of round 3 of the latest PGA event.

Being that it was Saturday meant that at 4 pm the weekly putting contest would be held at the Clubhouse....

It was a beautiful afternoon at LPG&RVR's weekly putting contest

.....if you think I've lost some weight, your are correct.  I'm down to 191....a number I've not seen on the scales for a long time.  As far as putting went I was out in the first round, not being able to sink a single second putt.  It was just one of those days, but a good time was had by all.  We had 40 putters signed up for the event....not too surprising as it is Memorial Day weekend.

TLE did not join me at the putting contest as it was still breezy, and her allergies were affecting her eyes.  At any rate, she had dinner ready to serve shortly after I arrived home.  The London Broil was delicious and oh so tender.  She added sides of a side salad, and stuffed mushrooms to the perfectly medium LB.

Saturday in the park - Chicago, 1972

Thanks for stopping by!

Edging into the holiday weekend......

7:34 am - Saturday - May 25th - LPG&RVR - 49° F, humidity 63%, wind 2 mph out of the west by northwest.....mostly cloudy today with a forecast high of 67° F.  On this date in 2013 TLE and I were at work at sunrise doing traffic control at Gate #2 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway....worked 16 days in a row 6 am to 6 pm, up to and including race day......

....one of the coolest non RV park jobs we've had over the years.

Before we got too deep into Friday TLE and I took another 2 mile out and back walk averaging 3.2 mph.  The air in late May still has that crisp fall weather feel to it, and it is nice.  I know in a few weeks the 60's and 70's temps we've had the past month will be gone until late September, early October, so we're enjoying, and appreciating them now....

At the end of each walk TLE likes to slow down, and cool down....I keep walking at my usual pace

The wind event Wednesday afternoon resulted in damage to two of our three wind chimes, so I spent part of Friday repairing them for redeployment......

The repairs were made using some white nylon string I've had for years for just this purpose

We've had this wind chime for 9 years now, so I've repaired it many times

 .....my work bench in the trailer was the perfect venue for these repairs. I cannot picture nomadic life on the road without the trailer, and frankly, even if we no longer had a car, I would still tow the trailer everywhere we go.   

Over the course of the day I spent quite a bit of time in the trailer working on this and that, including using 8 stainless steel bolts to properly affix the new flag pole mounts to the side of the trailer.  I had used stainless steel sheet metal screws initially, but was certain they were not the long term solution, and I was right.  When we were in Susanville the other day I visited the local ACE Hardware store next to Safeway when TLE was doing her shopping to buy the new bolts.  When I went to remove the sheet metal screws in order to drill the holes all the way through the side of the trailer so I could insert the new bolts they were already becoming loose after just a few days of windy conditions....

New stainless steel bolts installed

.....over the course of Friday I spent several hours in the trailer working on small projects I've been putting off for much too long, which included putting away the TV I used to watch the PGA Championship while I worked around the golf cart return area.  It will come back out when the US Open is played in a couple of weeks, but for now it needed to go back into its cubbyhole.

Over the course of Friday the weekend revelers continued to flow into the park, and by nightfall there was maybe one, or two sites still unoccupied.  All day long we saw golf carts running hither and yon around the park, so I'm pretty sure the golf course was doing great business.  I make it a point not to play golf on the holiday weekends as it is just too busy for me.  I love being able to play golf with no one in front, or behind me.....I'm spoiled...lol.

Thanks for stopping by!

Only 2 miles away.....

 8:13 am - Friday - May 24th - LPG&RVR - 52° F, humidity 35%, wind 2 mph out of the west.....crystal clear, blue, sunny skies today with a forecast high of 69° F.  On this date in 2011 TLE and I had just finished our fourth month of living full time in the Newell at Rancho Jurupa Regional Park....our first workamper position....life was, and is still good....

Miss that T-Bird

.....we would have our buddies from Integrity Mobil Detail come out once a month to wash, wax and detail the Newell, the trailer, and T-Bird.  Does not seem like 13 years have elapsed since that day.

We began our first of four days off work by restoring order to our wind swept 'lido/dining/gaming/viewing decks', which initially involved completing the demolition of our beloved Ozark Trail dining canopy begun the day prior by the 'wind event'.  Within 40 minutes we had disassembled what remained of it, and after setting aside a few components, which might be used to repair our future canopy, we tossed the remainder of the debris into the local dumpster.  

Once that sad task was complete, we redeployed the patio awning, and the sun screen, as well as the two market umbrellas to provide some shade for the picnic table until our new Ozark Trail canopy arrives this Monday....

......our lawn is looking wonderful after doing a lot of watering to get everything green again....

....after completing our cleanup we took another of our 2 mile out and back walks....TLE wore shorts, but I stuck with Addidas track pants, and a long sleeve shirt.  The views were stunning....

....in the distance you can see smoke from another proscribed burn up in Jess Valley.  Some use the term controlled burn, but as DeWayne Matthews (Likely Volunteer Fire Chief) says, there is nothing controlled about it....you just hope the wind doesn't freshen, and that it doesn't break out of its boundaries.....

.....there is a new eatery in Likely.....a food truck....Cuatro Palomas Taqueria.  They are on site serving great Mexican food Monday through Friday 10 am to 6 pm. Since we were driving into Alturas to do our weekly shopping we decided to check out the cuisine.  I had two asada street tacos, and TLE their chicken burrito.....the burrito was ginormous, and will provide at least two additional meals....lol...the street tacos were wonderful, too....I neglected to take pictures of the food.  We ate our entrees across the street at the General Store picnic tables.....

The Likely Volunteer Fire Department is in the background

   .....additionally, some time before the end of the year they will be turning this large parking lot into a Rest Area complete with restrooms, so this will be a great way to get people to pull of the road and bring a little business back to Likely.....the General Store is right across the street from the parking lot, so they will, hopefully, get more business, too.  It is nice to know that good Mexican cuisine is just a couple of miles away now.  There was a steady stream of people pulling off the road to check them out while we were there, and that is good news!

We were back from our shopping trip by 2 pm, and it was time to relax after all that early morning work.  For dinner, TLE served me another portion of her large chicken burrito, and there is still some left....lol! For our evening entertainment we watched two more episodes of 'Welcome to Wrexham' (Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney).

As I sit her composing this latest missive the park is about 90% full, and you can hear a pin drop.  This is one of those amazing things about LPG&RVR.  Even on holiday weekends the customers are so respectful of their neighbors, and really keep noise to a minimum.  We've never worked at any campground that was this quiet, and it is one of the numerous reasons we have returned to LPG&RVR for our third summer season.

Thanks for stopping!