Campground life.....

5:48 am - Sunday - June 30th - LPG&RVR - 51° F, humidity 79%, wind 1 mph out of the north by northeast.....crystal clear, blue, sunny skies today with a forecast high of 81° F.  On this date in 2015 TLE and I were enjoying happy hour at Tahoe Valley Campground with fellow workers.....happier times there for us.....

.....a great bunch of hard working people.

When I left work Friday afternoon at 3:30 pm there were zero carts in the CART RETURN area, but when I arrived at 7:30 am Saturday there were 11 awaiting my attention.  After staging the 5 Club Car electrics I got busy washing the left over Yamaha gassers so I could stage 15 carts to begin the day.  Eventually we rented 18 carts.  I spent most of my day 'marshaling' around the course, but didn't really have to take any action as there were no bottlenecks, and everyone was keeping their  carts on the 'green stuff'. 

When I wasn't driving around the course 'marshaling' I was watering grass, which required numerous return trips during the day to move sprinklers. Additionally, I turned on the tree irrigation just before noon intending to let it run overnight.

In my multiple rounds of the course during the day I found several sections of gravel path that were getting 'washboardy' so around 1:30 pm I hooked up the large metal screen to drag those paths.  Some I've never dragged before, including the long path connecting the 6th hole with the #7 tee boxes....it was really bad!  By the time I returned to the Clubhouse it was going on 2:30 pm leaving me with just 60 minutes to wash as many carts as possible.  By the time I went home to change for the putting contest I had washed 9 carts, leaving 9 more to clean in the morning.

Ahhhh, the putting contest.  I was coming off a good performance last Saturday where I finished in 2nd place.  My confidence was high as the contest began at 4 pm.  I managed to make it to the final four (32 folks began the the contest) before I was bested by DeWayne.  After 3 holes we were tied, but I missed a short putt when the ball barely lipped out of the hole, and he won 1-0.  

By the time TLE and I got home it was almost 6 pm.  While I took a shower TLE grilled some chicken strips for a very good crispy chicken salad.  Soon it was 9 pm, and time to go to bed to get my 8.5 hours of 'beauty sleep'.

By wait, there's more....lol.  The large ATV group in the large pavilion suddenly cranked up their music, which we had heard earlier, but it was not too loud then.  We knew 10 pm was coming, and were sure they would turn it off as is the rule here.  When it only got louder, and louder TLE (who hadn't come to bed yet, so was still dressed) drove down to tell them to turn it off.....she came upon a large group of intoxicated adults who insisted it was okay to play loud music because it was Saturday night...wait, what?  She ultimately prevailed, and they turned it off.  It was 9:45 pm.  

Shortly after she returned we began to hear loud yelling, and laughter down in the tent area, so out she went again....she was still dressed, and I was in bed.  About 10 minutes later she returned sans the cart....she had run over a large rock in the dark on her way down the hill to quiet the second group, so we had to walk over to the 'Caddy Shack' to retrieve a floor jack, and one of the dirty carts to take down to our cart to jack it up, and remove the rock.  Once free of the rock we drove down to the tent area where a group of 'reefers' were inhaling large quantities of 'Mary Jane' smoke.  As is often the case with 'reefers' they were not argumentative, only apologetic, and complied quickly, so we once again returned home.  It was now 10:30 pm.

Soon we could hear more loud laughter coming from the large meadow where the playground equipment is, so I got dressed one more time and drove down to quiet them.  By the time I was home, and back in bed it was close to 11 pm, and now I was down to 6.5 hours of 'beauty sleep'....doh!  Ahhh....campground life.

Thanks for stopping by!

Busy time.....

 5:51 am - Saturday - June 29th - LPG&RVR - 52° F, humidity 68%, wind 1 mph out of the east by northeast......crystal clear, blue, sunny skies today with a forecast high of 86° F.  On this date in 2013 TLE and I were on our way to Alberta, Canada with good friends, who are also Newell owners.....

Left to right: Cindy, Forest, Tom, Darlene, TLE

The Newells - 1982, 1999, 2002 - left to right

Ahhhh....back to work.  Thankfully our four day work week this week will have temps in the mid to low 80's.....our four day weekend, however, will see temps in the 90's.  When I reported to work I had 6 carts not yet washed....there, apparently, were a lot of late golfers out Thursday afternoon.  In all we rented out 22 golf carts Friday with 10 going out rather late in the day.  Those final 10 did not return before I went home at 3:30 pm, so I'll have them with which to deal Saturday morning.

The temp Friday got to 84° F, but it did not feel quite that warm.  Most of the mowing had been done in the last four days, but there was a lot of weed trimming remaining in the areas mowed, so after making my first round of the course removing goose/duck leavings (still more than expected), and raking all four sand traps I retrieved a Stihl string trimmer around 10 am, and got to work down in the 10 Meadows sites, then all five of the employee sites.  Within an hour I had all 15 sites looking finished.  It was around 11 am, so I put on my marshaling hat and took a long run around the course before it was time to give TLE her lunch break.

I found one group playing pretty slow.  By slow, I mean it was taking them about 30 minutes per hole, and they were playing 18.  At that rate it would take them 9 hours to finish....lol.  I encouraged them to speed up their play, and let any golfers catching up to them 'play through', then went on  my way.  There were a few other golfers driving their carts into the brush, which is a 'No No' here, so I reminded them about keeping their carts on the green stuff (grass).  Other than that everything was going fine on the course.

By the time I returned 45 minutes later there were a couple of carts in the 'CART RETURN' area, so I washed them, and then headed inside to give TLE her lunch break.  There were a number of people arriving between 12 pm and 1 pm to check into their reserved RV sites, so I took care of them.  This is the beginning of the 4 of July week, and we will be very busy for the next 7-10 days, then things will calm down.

I was off by 3:30 pm, as the heat of the day arrived.  By 3:50 pm I had taken a hot shower, and was relaxing in my recliner, enjoying the cool confines of the air conditioned Newell.  TLE was home around 5:20 pm, and that was another day in the life for us.

Thanks for stopping by!

The follow up round....

 5:53 am - Friday - June 28th - LPG&RVR - 44° F, humidity 72%, wind zero mph out of the east by northeast......crystal clear, blue, sunny skies today with a forecast high of 86° F.  On this date in 2013 TLE and I were in Keystone, SD visiting Mt. Rushmore for the first time....

I can't explain it, but by the end of our four day weekend each week I am ready to go back to work.  Often I look forward to going back to work...weird, huh?  TLE  and I got back to our 2 mile out and back walk Friday morning averaging 3.2 mph.....

.....after finishing my 18 hole round so well on Wednesday I wanted to get back out Thursday to see if the magic would continue, as well as to see how my back would tolerate back to back days of golf.  The answer to both questions was a resounding YES!  By the end of the 3rd hole (#12 on the back 9) I was just one over par....I bogeyed the first two holes, and then birdied the 12th hole.  I then shot par on 13, and 14, so after 5 holes just one over par...WOW.  The 15th hole, as you know, is a hard dog leg right enabling one to cut the corner if he dares, and I dared again Friday hitting another great tee shot to within 50 yards of the hole.  Regrettably, I hit a poor second shot just off the green, but a good 3rd shot, and bogeyed the hole, so 2 over par after 6 holes.  On the par 3, 16th hole I hit a 7 iron that just found the front of the green, and then two putted for par.  Next up was the par 5, 17th hole.  I hit a good drive, and a good second shot.  My third shot was just off the green to the left.  After a good chip, I two putted for my bogey.

Finally, the 18th hole, and just 3 over par, where I hit another long drive that landed about 60 yards out, and then hit a chip that went over the back of the green....TLE took pictures of the sequence.  I was just off the green about 2 feet and noticed the grain of the grass was laying toward the hole, so I chose to putt....I managed to lag the ball to within 5 feet of the hole, and one putted for my par...what a great way to end the week....3 over par....1 birdie, and 5 pars....cool!

After putting away my clubs TLE and I ordered a couple of Bloody Mary's and sat on the deck in the cool shade enjoying the early afternoon breezes for about 30 minutes before heading for home.  We played the back 9 in around 1 hour and 40 minutes....time goes fast on the course when you're hitting fairways.  By the way, I did not lose one single ball Thursday....a first for me, and a testament to how well I'm hitting my tee shots.

Naturally, after 9 holes, and a Bloody Mary I was ready for a nap.  While I was napping TLE made me some ice coffee, which I enjoyed when I awoke.  After the nap I headed out to the trailer to do my strengthening workout, then vacuumed the trailer interior, which I haven't done in quite a while.  

TLE made BLAOT's for dinner (bacon, lettuce, avocado, onion, and tomato), which were delicious, and then a little after 7 pm we headed back out to the 'lido deck' to watch the sun set, and enjoy the cool evening breezes.  No A/C was needed on this 79° F day.

Thanks for stopping by!

Another 18.....

7:37 am - Thursday - June 27th - LPG&RVR - 55° F, humidity 50%, wind 2 mph out of the north....crystal clear, blue sunny skies today with a forecast high of 79° F....will this be the last sub 80° day this summer?  On this date in 2016 TLE and I were spending the day with friends at Incline Beach, NV (Lake Tahoe)......

 I was expecting to play golf with John and Mike around 11:30 am Wednesday, but when I got up I found a text message on my phone indicating we had a 9 am tee time....there goes our 2 mile out and back walk....doh.  I managed to get my act together, and after posting my latest blog post I headed over to the Clubhouse to retrieve my clubs and Callaway golf shoes from my locker.  I managed to reach the 1st tee right at 9 am.

Wednesday was a mixed bag for me as I started slow with a lot of bad shots.  About the only bright spot in my game was I was putting pretty good, but everything else was a shambles.  Finally on the 6th hole (long par 5) I began to put together some good shots.  I drove the ball off the tee about 200 yards down range, then hit a fairway wood just shy of the creek.  My third shot was another good fairway wood coming up around 80 yards short of the green.  Unfortunately I miss hit my first chip, but made up for it on the second one.  I managed to salvage a 7.  On the next hole (7th) I hit a great drive, and a great second shot to within 10 yards of the green, then hit a pretty good chip, and ended up with a 5 by one putting the green.

The 8th (par) and 9th (bogey) holes were similar, and I felt like I was getting into the swing of things again.  I hit a good drive to begin the back 9, but messed up my second shot, and finished with a double bogey.  On the 11th I hit my tee shot in the water, but my retake landed just off the green.  Anyway, because of hitting my first tee shot out of bounds (water) I had a triple bogey.  

Finally, the 12th hole.  I hit a great tee shot, and a good 2nd shot.  I was on the green in 3, and got a bogey.  On the 13th I hit another great drive around the corner on this dog leg left par 4 hole.  I hit my second shot to just off the green, and bogeyed the hole.  On the 14th, long par 5 hole I hit a good tee shot, and a good second shot to clear the creek, then a third shot (7 wood) to within 20 yards of the green.....another bogey.

The 15th of one of my favorite holes.  It is a par 4 severe dog leg right, meaning if you can cut the corner, and end up on the fairway you can cut 100 yards off the hole.  I hit driver over the corner landing in the middle of the fairway less than 50 yards from the hole....

There (above) is the 50 yard marker, and (below) my ball in the fairway

.....another par for me.  I managed a bogey on the par 3, elevated tee 16th hole, but then came the 17th, par 5.  I hit a booming drive, then a 5 wood, then a 7 wood to land my ball, in regulation, on the green about 10 feet from the hole....yup, I got my par!

Click to enlarge

.....my good play continued to the 18th hole with another long drive off the tee.  I messed up my first chip, but hit a good second one, and then 2 putted for a bogey.  Don't know why it took me 5 holes to get my act together, but after that I had a lot of fun.  We finished the 18th hole around 12:40 pm, so 18 holes in under 4 hours.  As I write, my back feels a little stiff, but no pain.  I've got two more Wednesdays when I don't work, so I'll continue playing with John and Mike for another two weeks.

A while back I ordered some of the old type spouts for my diesel/gas cans as I hate the new ones.  They are very hard to use, especially if you want to pour fuel into you car, or motorhome fuel tank.  I found these online, and they arrived a few days ago.  The ones that come with gas cans now have a self venting feature, so when you change over to the old style you need to drill a hole in each can, and install a manual vent cap

.....I've converted both of my diesel cans to the old style spouts, along with the manual venting hole (see top picture).  My main reason for this conversion is so I can pour diesel into the Newell tank to top off the tank while we are here at LPG&RVR.  It was virtually impossible with the modern style spouts.  With the old style I can pour 5 gallons into the tank in less than 1/2 the time.....

Out with the new style spouts!

......we had a quiet evening spent mostly reading.  I'm reading the latest Jack Carr book, 'Red Sky Mourning', the 7th book in the Terminal List series.

Thanks for stopping by!

'Lido decking'

6:59 am - Wednesday - June 26th - LPG&RVR - 67° F, humidity 45%, wind 5 mph out of the south by southeast.....partly cloudy today with a forecast high of 86° F.  On this date in 2017 TLE and I were at the Roosevelt Lodge in Yellowstone NP enjoying Elk Sliders....yum....

We had intended to take our 2 mile out and back walk earlier Tuesday, so when I didn't wake until 7:45 am I thought we had blown it....lol.  I told TLE what time it was, and added if we wanted to avoid a hot walk we should get up, get dressed and walk ASAP.  Surprisingly, she agreed.  We were out the door by 8:05 am walking.....no coffee, no blog posted.  We managed to average 3.2 mph for the course, and were back in 37 minutes......

.....we sat on the 'lido deck' cooling down from the walk for a while.  We think this year's version of our 'lido deck' is the best yet, and really enjoy just sitting our there in the mornings, and evenings.  

We needed to buy some groceries so we headed into town around 10:30 am reaching ACE Hardware around 10:50 am.  TLE wanted to buy a red clay flower pot for her recently acquired aloe vera plant, so she can transplant it in the next few days.  Next up was Holiday Market where we found 3 New York Strip steaks on sale for $31....before marking them down the price had been $61.  We've been able to get some incredible deals on meat there over the past three summers, and this was just another example.  

We were home by 12:45 pm with our spoils....while TLE put away the groceries I went out to the trailer to do my strengthening workout.  I'm not sure if I've mentioned this before, but I use one of those spring loaded things you squeeze with each hand to increase hand strength for the last 2 years.  I do 50 reps with each hand, and have really noticed less stiffness in my hands, plus a much stronger grip.  I'd wake up some mornings and not be able to form a fist, plus I was having more difficulty opening things with a lid.  All of that has disappeared over past two years.  Oh, by the way, I weighed in at 180.4 a few days ago, so I'm just a tad over 3 pounds away from my goal of 177.  I haven't been this low since the early 90's.

The A/C was on by 1:30 pm, and after my workout I retreated indoors for the afternoon.  Late afternoon the cloud cover got pretty thick, and it cooled down outside much earlier than normal so we turned off the A/C and went outdoors around 4 pm to sit on the 'lido deck' again.  By 5:30 pm I had lit the Sea-B-Que in preparation for the grilling of one of those New York Strip steaks....

....notice the great marbling.  Since it had cooled down so quickly Tuesday we decided to eat our dinner on the 'dining/gaming deck'.  I neglected to take a picture of the freshly grilled steak, but did get a picture of what was left after TLE and I cut off what we wanted....perfect medium rare.....

TLE brought out the A-1 Steak Sauce, but the steak did not need anything more....so, so tender....like cutter warm butter with a hot knife

.....the Copa America soccer tournament is being played right now in the USA, and a match between Argentina (current FIFA World Cup champs) and Chile was on Fox Sports so we turned on the 'dining/gaming deck' TV to watch it while we ate....very cool.  Argentina won 1-nil scoring the game's only goal in the 88th minute...

Our lovely 'lido deck' in the distance

....by the time the match finished it was after 8 pm.  We were going to play a game of 'Phase 10', but by 8 pm we were a little the worse for the wine, and just went inside to wind down before bed time.  TLE was in bed by 9 pm, and I followed 30 minutes later.  

Around midnight the heavy cloud cover began to yield rain.  At first it was just a sprinkle, but eventually began to come down pretty heavily for about 30 minutes.  By the time I got up this morning (Wednesday) there was no evidence it had rained at all.

Thanks for stopping by!

One more sun screen, please....

9:46 am - Tuesday - June 25th - LPG&RVR - 76° F, humidity 18%, wind 8 mph out of the south.....partially cloudy today with a forecast high of 89° F.  On this date in 2012 I was having a couple of brewskies with my mother, Virginia, in Spokane, WA at McKenzie River Pizza.....

We were out walking our 2 mile out and back walk by 8:30 am, and we should have been on the road much earlier.  We managed a 3.3 mph pace for the course....will have to get out earlier on Tuesday.....getting warmer much earlier now.....

.....after a suitable cool down interlude on the 'lido deck' TLE and I got busy installing a new sun shade we had purchased to cover the front windshield of the Newell.  The afternoon sun hits that windshield for about 5-6 hours in the afternoon, and even with the A/C going it gets uncomfortably warm in the salon....below is the finished product....

....the new sun shade keeps the sun from hitting mostly the right front corner of the windshield, and I can tell you now that it works even better than we expected.  The salon temperature in the afternoon was 5-10° F cooler than before.  We had to add several additional grommets to affix the sunshade to the top of the coach, and it probably took around 2 hours, but we got it done after a few adjustments, and then headed indoors to enjoy the much cooler salon for the afternoon.

Later in the afternoon I spent time in the trailer putting together a shelf for the new wall cabinet we installed a month, or so ago.  There was too much stuff for the space, making it difficult to get at anything.  The shelf can be adjusted width wise, and height wise....it came out better than I expected....

....and that was the extent of my outdoor activity Monday.  The high temperature for the day was 91° F, and TLE and I were grateful we could spend the heat of the day in our much cooler salon.

Around 8 pm we went out to the 'lido deck' to watch the sunset, and enjoy the cool evening breezes....a perfect way to end the first day of our 4 day weekend.....thanks for stopping by!

I found the source......

7:32 am - Monday - June 24th - LPG&RVR - 64° F, humidity 32%, wind 5 mph out of the south by southeast.....crystal clear, blue, sunny skies today with a forecast high of 90° F.  On this date in 2020 TLE and I were overnighting at a campground near Devil's Tower with a great view of same.....

Pictures taken from our site...after all the campground is called Devil's Tower View Campground

I've written about how much I like Sunday's....no mowing, no string trimmers....no motorized equipment of any kind.  It's a good day to irrigate, so that is how I spent most of my day when I wasn't marshaling around the golf course.  In all we rented 18 golf carts Sunday, which is not too bad considering Sunday was the day after the big tournament, and so many people had already left to return to their workaday lives.

On my initial round of the course I found where all those pesky geese, who litter the #3 tee boxes on a daily basis, are living....at the pond just off the 12th fairway.....

....once again the goose/duck leavings were apocalyptic on Sunday.  After raking the sand traps at holes 4 and 12 I stopped off at my favorite golf ball honey hole between the 16th tee boxes and the 16th hole finding 11 golf balls in about 15 minutes....certainly not a record (current record for me stands at 18 in around 15 minutes), but pretty good, nonetheless.  Most of the balls I find get cleaned, and resold in groups of 10 for $10.  I tend to keep any Callaway balls I find, as that my ball of choice when putting, or playing golf. I have four Callaway woods (driver, 3 wood, 5 wood and 7 wood....they are metal, of course, but they are still called 'woods'), and a Callaway golf glove, and my putter is even made by Callaway.

In all I made around 6 rounds of the course, and found no miscreants on the loose.  Play was moving along at a good pace, and people were keeping their carts on the grass, and out of the bushes.  At 1 pm, after giving TLE her lunch break I turned on the irrigation for the Meadows sites once again....there were only 2 RV's down there, and no tenters, so our intent was to run the irrigation until Monday morning, hoping to get all 10 tent sites flooded, and we were successful.  I just returned from turning off the water flow (Monday morning), and all the tent sites are now flooded.

I was home around 3:50 pm after an 8.5 hour day.  All the grass needing additional water has been irrigated, and there are very few brown spots left.  Sunday was our 'Friday' this week, and now we'll be off work until this coming Friday.....nice.  The temp only got to 91° F Sunday, and as long as there was a breeze, which there was, it never felt too hot.

Thanks for stopping by!

When you least expect it.....

6:04 am - June 23rd - Sunday - LPG&RVR - 56° F, humidity 54%, wind 5 mph out of the southeast.....crystal clear, blue, sunny skies today with a forecast high of 92° F.  On this date in 2013 TLE and I hiked to the top of Lookout Mountain near Spearfish, SD with good friends, David and Denise Zonker.....

Saturday was the day of the annual Likely Volunteer Fire Department Golf Tournament, so I was on the job by 7:20 am t0 stage 24 golf carts for the participants....

.....there were still a few carts to wash left over from Friday night, but I was able to get them all washed and staged by 8:15 am at which time I left for my first round of the golf course.  The geese/ducks are mocking me, I'm sure, as all the tee boxes at hole #3 were covered with their leavings....what a mess!  I also raked all four sand traps, and was back just as the golfers were heading to their assigned starting holes....this is what is called a 'shotgun' start.  

I spent the rest of the morning marshaling around the course, and took a few pictures.....

12th hole....participants had to stand with their feet inside a ladder while driving the ball

11th hole....the participants had to wear a fireman's hat while driving the ball

....I probably made 7, or 8 passes around the course, finding everyone abiding by the rules, and moving right along.  As is my usual I returned to the Clubhouse at 12 pm to give TLE her lunch break.  At 1 pm I headed out the the CART RETURN area to await the returning golfers.  By 1:45 pm they began to return, and I just stood there washing one cart after another for about 70 minutes.  Suddenly I looked up, and they were all washed and put away.....20 golf carts washed, and stowed within 70 minutes.  The last 4 carts returned over the next 20 minutes, and by 3 pm I was done, and it was time for the weekly putting contest.  

Originally I was not planning to putt Saturday, even though I had entered, as I did not think I could get all the carts done before 3 pm, but I did.  By this time it had reached the high of the day....94° F, and I was hot and tired.  There were 40 putters on this day, so my name was not called for about 30 minutes.  I headed to the first hole with my opponent not having any idea of how I would do, but I beat him by winning the first 3 holes...I hit three good putts, and sank all three of my second putts. For the first time in a few weeks I got out of the first round.

The second round I was tied with my opponent after 5 holes, so we repeated the 5th hole to make one putt for closest to the hole, and I won.  So, into the 3rd round I go.  In the third round I was down 2 points as we putted on the third hole, and I sank my first putt to win the hole.  Down 1 point with 2 holes to play.  I managed to claw back another point on the 5th hole, so once again we returned to the 5th hole to see who could get closest to the hole, and I won again.  Wow, I'm going to the 4th round....uncharted territory this year for me.  Once again I had to got to a one putt playoff hole beating my opponent by just a few inches.  So, for the first time this year I was in the final, and in the money (1st and 2nd place split the pot 60/40).  Regrettably, I barely missed two second putts, and lost the final round, so I finished in second place, which will entitle me to putt in the grand finale in September....cool!  On top of that I still have the rest of the summer to actually win one!

It was around 4:45 pm when the putting contest ended.  TLE gave me the availability, and envelopes for the late arrivals, and I headed down to the Night Registration office to post them, then home for a long, hot shower.  What a long day, and what a great ending for me!  I had to win three playoffs to get to the final, and had my best putting day of the season, so far.  On top of that I had to get by 38 other people to get to the final....so cool!

Thanks for stopping by!