Fall is here......

5:44 am - Monday - September 16th - LPG&RVR - 45° F, humidity 88%, wind 2 mph out of the west by northwest....rain today with a forecast high of 54° F.  On this date in 2020 TLE and I were taking the first of many walks on Seal Rock Beach (Seal Rock, OR).....

TLE and I did something Sunday we have not done for quite a while....in fact, not since August 22nd.....we did our 2 mile out and back walk.....

.....so, that makes 43 of those walks we have done now, and if we stay vigilant, we can still reach our goal of 100 miles before we head south in less than a month now.  We managed to average 3.2 mph, and my knee did not bother me, even a little.  And 37:34 is the fastest we have walked it since I began having problems with my knee.

It was cold Sunday....cold enough that we had to bundle up for our walk, and cold enough that we did not spend a lot of time outdoors.  A weather front is moving into the Pitt River Valley, and it appears we will have rain starting around mid morning (Monday), and lasting into the early hours of tomorrow morning (Tuesday). This week we work Monday through Thursday, and not one single one of those days will involve temperatures above 69° F.  We were supposed to begin 'punching' the greens Monday, but with rain forecast for most of the day, I think we'll be starting Tuesday instead....we'll see.

Thanks for stopping by!

Football, dinner and raffles......

8:33 am - Sunday - September 15th - LPG&RVR - 53° F, humidity 51%, wind 3 mph out o of the north by northwest......partly cloudy today with a forecast high of 66° F.  On this date in 2012 TLE and I were in Cheyenne, WY having lunch at 'Shadows Pub & Grill'.....

 I watched a lot of college football Saturday, because I could.  Most games were pretty one sided as is often the case early in the season, but there was one between LSU and South Carolina that went down to the last field goal attempt, which South Carolina missed.  For the first time this summer I did not participate in the weekly putting contest.  

Around 5 pm we headed into Likely for the annual Volunteer Fire Department dinner/raffle.  The donation per person for dinner (large Rib Eye steak, baked potato, salad, dessert) is $30, plus we bought a dozen raffle tickets, and 8 separate raffle tickets for the 3 grand prizes....1) a scoped rifle, 2) a $200 gift certificate, and 3) a $100 gift certificate.  It must have been our day, we won a rifle case with one of the dozen raffle tickets, a shot gun sleeve, and two extremely large Margarita glasses with our meal tickets, and the $200 gift certificate.....I really wanted that rifle....at least I've got something the case.....

The rifle case will hold two 'scoped' rifles

....we were home a little after 7 pm with our spoils.  By the way, the Rib Eye steaks (donated by local cattlemen) were delicious!  All of the local cattle are grass fed.

Thanks for stopping by!

Would you like to own a Newell?

8:02 am - Saturday - September 14th - LPG&RVR - 50° F, humidity 36%, wind 2 mph out of the south by southeast.....partly cloudy skies today with a forecast high of 81° F.  On this date in 2020 TLE and I were overnighting at 'RV Park at the Bridge' on the Washington side of the Columbia River....you can see the Astoria-Megler Bridge, which connects Washington with Oregon, in the background (right).....

 .....we would arrive in Seal Rock, OR the next day where we would live for the next 12 months.

We were up just before 7 am Friday, which is kind of against my 'religion' on non work days, but I had an 8:45 am haircut appointment at Kaleidescope in Alturas.....who made that appointment, anyway!?  We left around 8:20 am, and arrived, without incident, a 8:40 am.  I was in the chair 2 minutes later, and by 9 am we were back in the VW headed for Rite Aide. 

I'm sure you have heard that Rite Aid has been in bankruptcy proceedings, and for a while we thought the Alturas Rite Aid would be closing as the shelves got pretty bare for a while, but they seem to be restocking, and the pharmacist told TLE that they will be remaining open....there is no other pharmacy in Alturas....the nearest would be either Reno/Sparks, NV< or Lakeview, OR.  From Rite Aid we headed over to Holiday Market for our groceries, and were home by 10 am.  

Ever since we took down the 'dining/gaming deck' I've wanted to try and make that area more level, so about an hour after we got home I set about to do just that using just a rock rake I keep on Club Car Villager #20.  Below is the 'before' picture, which I always seem to forget to take, but did not forget this time.....

Before.....

....and after

......I worked on leveling that 10' x 10' pad, on and off, until mid afternoon, but finally got it level, or what passes for level in site #55.  It was high on the right side of the picture, so I raked dirt from the right side down to the left side, and moved one of the umbrellas down there after I finished watering the loose dirt so it will compact over time.  We'll be getting rain all day Monday, so that should put the final touches on the compaction......

....I also rolled up a couple of pieces of carpet, and stowed them in the trailer.....

......and while I was at it I installed a decal on the side of our trailer....I've always liked this motto, "Live Free or Die", which is the motto of New Hampshire.....the "Don't Tread on Me" part comes from the Revolutionary War, and the Gadsden Flag.....both mottos are associated with the independent spirit of early Americans......

.....TLE had me grill a couple of filet mignons for dinner to which she added a side of roasted potatoes......red skin, and sweet, with some onions for good measure.  We ate inside, but retired to the 'lido deck' around 6:30 pm to watch the sun set, while once again employing the portable propane firepit.

In closing I would like to announce that my good friend Steve Ward is selling his 1982 Newell Classic 38' motorcoach (2 feet longer than mine).  As I have written here (many more pictures of the interior) back in 2019, this Newell is one serial number different than mine.  They were both delivered to their original owners in March of 1982, and both owners had the same last name, so we are assuming they were related.....

Steve and Patti Ward....current owners...at a Newell rally in Creede, CO back in 2009

.....the coach has spent its life in the western USA, and the past 30 years in the southwest.  It is currently in Hemet, CA.  Steve found this Newell in Yuma, AZ back in 2008, where she had been sitting unused for about 10 years, and brought her back to life.  There is no deferred maintenance, and all systems work as they should.  It has a basement fridge/freezer like we do, plus an ice machine in the kitchen.  The rear A/C will have to be replaced as it has quit working recently.  The tires are around 7 years old.  It has a Detroit Diesel 6v92 TA (turbo aftercooled, 350 horsepower), and an onboard diesel generator.  The 6v92 is a mechanical engine, meaning there is NO computer, or electronics.  He is asking $20,000....that is way below the market for Newells of this vintage.  As you can see, it looks almost identical to mine.  If you are interested, please leave a comment in the comment section.  This Newell will go fast, so don't hesitate too long to contact me.

Thanks for stopping by!

A few repairs......

 7:21 am - Friday - September 13th - LPG&RVR - 38°F, humidity 68%, wind ZERO mph out of the northeast......crystal clear, blue, sunny skies today with a forecast high of 79° F.  On this date in 2018 TLE and I were on Cadillac Mountain on Mount Desert Island (Bar Harbor) in Maine watching the sun rise....

Sun rise here in the Pitt River Valley is around 6:40 am now, and within a couple of weeks it will be around 7 am.  During our four day work shift each week it is still very dark when we get up to get ready for work, so sleeping past sunrise is a pretty big deal on days we don't work.  I'm looking forward to waking up with the sun every day this winter.  Oh, and by the way, we have just one month as of today (Friday) before we roll our wheels southward.

Thursday morning we finished taking down the 'dining/gaming' deck, but first TLE needed to make a few repairs to the dining canopy top, as well as the 'lido deck' sun shade, so I pulled her sewing machine out of 'moth balls', and put it on a table between the rear of the Newell, and the trailer.  It's been a little windy of late, and a few of the snaps, and grommets on the sun shade had failed, and there was a small tear in the dining canopy.  Once she had repaired the sun shade I reinstalled 4 snaps, and all 7 grommets.  The top of the shade attaches to the Zip Dee awning roller via snaps, and we secure the bottom with 7 bungy cords attached to metal stakes.

Additionally, I packed away our 'dining/gaming deck' TV, and then the Ozark Trails metal framework/canopy for the trip south.  I then reattached the sun shade to the patio awning, and things were back to normal.....

New grommets

New snaps

The 'dining/gaming deck' is now empty

....I continued working in the trailer to begin moving things around, and stowing other things in preparation for VW insertion in a month.  If I start now I'll have plenty of time to get everything done without having to put in hours of work over a two, or three day period of time.  On the other hand, the BBQ deck is still open for business!

For the first time in a few months we turned on the portable propane fire pit around 5 pm, and sat on the 'lido deck' until sunset, which arrives here at LPG&RVR around 7:05 pm now as the sun dips below the western mountains.....

.....we'll e heading into town in about 30 minutes for my monthly haircut, and our weekly grocery shopping, so time to wrap this up, and bid you adieu for another day.

Thanks for stopping by!

Just four on Wednesday......

7:56 am - Thursday - September 12th - LPG&RVR - 47° F, humidity 79%, wind 1 mph out of the north by northwest.....partly cloudy today with a forecast high of 69° F.  On this date in 2014 TLE and I were watching another Cape Blanco sunset.....

 In 24 hours we went from 85° F Tuesday to 69° F on Wednesday here in the Pitt River Valley, and with the drop in temperature came 6 hours of rain beginning at 3 pm....that was not expected, but much appreciated.  For the first time in a few weeks I wore pants, and only took off my hoody sweatshirt once for about 30 minutes.  There was this unmistakable chill in the air, which never left all day.

After 3 days of renting out the older golf carts we returned to renting the newer Yamahas, but I only staged 5 to begin the day, and we only rented four of those.  All four carts had been returned by 1 pm, and for the first time in months there was not one single person working on the course, or playing golf....I had the entire place to myself....

....with a lack of customers there was little to do so I decided to spend some time doing a deep cleaning of the forest on each side of the driving range.  I've done several deep cleanings this year, so there aren't a lot of unfound balls out there, but I did manage to garner half of a 5 gallon bucket of the errant balls.  I also managed to mow large grass area at the large pavilion after the current group departed around mid morning, and then spent the rest of my morning mowing tent sites 4-10.  The only area left un-mowed are sites 11-20....the back in sites, plus the grass around the Night Registration Office, and I'll leave that for my counterpart.

By 1:30 pm I had the four Yamaha gassers washed, and stowed along with the 5th Yamaha, which did not get rented.  This was probably our slowest day since last April when we first arrived.  As I wrote previously, the rain began around 3 pm, so my day was over.  I headed for home, took a nice, long, hot shower followed by a nap of suitable duration before returning to retrieve TLE from the Clubhouse a little after 5 pm.  Our days off this week are Thursday through Sunday, and on Monday (if it doesn't rain) we'll begin punching the 18 greens, the putting green, and the 'sod farm' green, which is a strip of putting green type grass about 20' wide, and 150' long out by the 8th hole.  There is also a comparably sized swath of fairway grass right next to it, but we don't 'punch' that.  We should be done punching the greens by October 1st, and then there are just two weeks left in the season.  The golf course and RV park will officially close for the winter on October 13th, and we'll be on our way south to begin our winter adventure.

The rain which began at 3 pm finally tapered off around 9 pm, and left the park nicely watered, and the dust settled.  It appears we may have more rain early next week, in which case the beginning of the green punching may be delayed a few days, but it will begin, for sure, next week.  And with the end of the season comes to an end the weekly irrigation of the trees which border the upper pull through sites, as well as the lower gravel pull through sites.  I didn't mow around the tee boxes for which I am responsible for the first time in weeks, so I may only mow them one more time before we leave.

Thanks for stopping by!

Order is restored.....

5:39 am - Wednesday - September 11th - LPG&RVR - 50° F, humidity 67%, wind 2 mph out of the west.....cloudy today with a chance of rain this afternoon, and a forecast high of 69° F. On this date in 2017 TLE and I were watching the sun set over the Grand Tetons near Jackson, WY.....

 Tuesday was the last of the 80 degree days here at LPG&RVR.  I'm almost back to normal energy wise, and am rarely blowing my nose now.  It's amazing how one day you're wondering if you will ever return to normal, and the very next day you can finally say you are.  

Once again I only staged the older golf carts, and it is making a difference.  The ones that were hard to start, and ran a little slower than normal, are now starting much more easily, and running at a normal speed now.  They just needed to be exercised.  Let's  face it, our tendency is to stage our best golf carts first, and only use the older ones when we are at maximum capacity, but all mechanical things have one thing in common....they must be used on a regular basis to work properly, and I had not been doing that.

The growth rate of the grass all over the park has slowed significantly.  We are only mowing the rough once per week now, and have only been mowing the driving range once a week for a long time now.  Nevertheless, things do need to be mowed at least once a week, so I continued my mowing Tuesday, and managed to get the large group area mowed, the parking lot grass mowed, and the only pull site I missed on Monday (it was occupied), as well as trimmed around all the grass areas which I had mowed on Monday.

I continued to make rounds of the course as marshal, and found repeat offenders who were still not keeping their carts on the green grass.  A third warning will result in termination of their round, and not being allowed to play golf here in the future.  We take fire very seriously here at LPG&RVR, and golf cart abuse always poses a fire risk, especially right now when everything is so, so dry.

I was home a little after 3 pm in anticipation of the receipt of our new Starlink system via FedEx.  Their website promised delivery between 11:50 am and 2:50 pm, but it actually arrived at 3:15 pm, so not too bad.  I had just finished taking down the old Starlink dish when the FedEx guy arrived, so I just transitioned to installing the new one, and within 10 minutes we had internet once again, and order has been restored at Site #55.....not only Starlink wise, but health wise, too. 

I hit a new low on my weight loss journey.....177.6.....at 4:o2 pm Tuesday....

Thanks for stopping by!

Writing checks......

 5:45 am - Tuesday - September 10th - LPG&RVR - 48° F, humidity 50%, wind 3 mph out of the south by southeast......partly cloudy skies today with a forecast high of 85° F.  On this date in 2012 TLE and I were overnighting at a Walmart in Rock Springs, WY.....have overnighted there several times over the past 12 years.....

....taken across the street from where the Newell was parked, at a local Starbucks during a rain shower.

Sunrise is now around 6:40 am, and sunset is now at 7:18 pm....the days, they be gettin' shorter rapidly.  As I sit here at my Microsoft Surface laptop at 5:55 am composing my latest missive it is pitch black out side.....still 45 minutes from sunrise.  Six weeks ago I would have been seeing the sun over the Warner Mountains to the east already.

With advancing age healing comes more slowly, and deliberately, and that is the case with my summer cold.  When I began taking the ZICAM 10 days ago I was sure I would be over this cold in days, but here I am still blowing my nose.  I do feel much better, my energy levels are increasing, and I'm sleeping great at night.  It is what it is.  My 75th birthday is just a few weeks away now.  That is a number I was sure I would never see.  I remember a line from a 60's Who song, My Generation, where the lyricist writes "I hope I die before I get old"....when you're 17 years old you never think you're going to get old.  It is just an abstract concept then.  Then, one day, you wake up and you are old.....at least I'm pretty sure 75 qualifies as old these days.  I guess the key here is that maybe I'm old in body, but I'm still young in my mind.  Unfortunately, my mind keeps writing checks my body can no longer cash.....lol.

We rented 14 golf carts Monday, which surprised me a little, but that is good for the golf course.  My biggest issue as marshal these days is getting our customers to keep their carts on the green grass.  These are gas golf carts with hot mufflers and tail pipes, and we don't want them starting a fire by driving through tall, dry grass looking for an errant shot, but they keep doing that, and I must keep reminding them that they do not want to be 'the guy' who starts a fire here.

Being a Monday I was able to do some mowing utilizing the 2 bag Husqvarna.  Between 10 am and noon I managed to mow the 3 large grass areas in the permanent resident section up the hill, the large grass area around the small pavilion, the large grass area next to site #30, and 14 of the 15 pull through RV sites....not a bad two hour stretch.  After lunch I marshaled, with occasional washing and stowing of returned golf carts, as well as did some hand watering of dry spots in the various lawns around the park.  By 3:30 pm all but 2 of the 14 carts had returned, so I called it a day, and headed for home.

I received notice from Starlink Monday afternoon that our new system has been delivered to FedEx, and will be delivered to us Tuesday afternoon...again, not bad service.  As I conclude this missive I can see the sky lightening over the Warner Mountains with the actual sunrise still 30 minutes away.

Thanks for stopping by!

Milestones......

5:41 am - Monday - September 9th - LPG&RVR - 48° F, humidity 43%, wind 4 mph out of the south by southeast......clear, blue, sunny skies today with a forecast high of 87° F.  On this date in 2020 TLE and I were cruising through the Olympic Peninsula toward Forks, WA when we pulled up behind a 1969 Newell....small world.....

You can see our '82 parked just behind the '69

.....love serendipity!  Oh, and by the way, HAPPY BIRTHDAY to The Lovely Elaine!  Today is the 35th anniversary of her 39th birthday.

I always say how tough the first day back at work after 4 day off is, and when you are getting over a cold, well that just adds another layer of tough.  Thankfully, it was a Sunday, and Sundays are more laid back than most days, however, we did manage to rent 18 golf carts over the course of the day.  Apparently, we are not the only ones who have come down with colds...I would say half the staff here at LPG&RVR have colds right now.

I spent most of my time Sunday circling the golf course as marshal, but did manage to rake two of the four sand traps during my rounds.  While we were off work the prior four days the golf course took delivery on six new to us 2020 Yamaha EFI gas powered golf carts, which we were expecting.  I'll take pictures of them Monday.  During the past few weeks we've been selling off five of the older 2010 Club Car gassers, and actually sold the last one ($2,600 each) on Sunday.  Who knew 14 year old golf carts were worth so much?

It only got to 87° F Sunday, but it felt much warmer than that to me.  By the end of my shift I was feeling better.  All but 6 of the rented carts had returned by 3:30 pm, so I'll have those to wash first thing Monday morning.  After a delightfully long hot shower I settled down in my recliner to take a much needed nap.  Sunday also saw me hit another milestone in my weight loss.....the scales showed that I have gotten down to 178.2 pounds....I haven't weighed that little since the early 90's.  It took me quiet a while to break that 180 pound barrier, but I have finally done it!  Congratulations to me for that, and for keeping off the weight I lost earlier in the summer!

Thanks for stopping by!

Recuperating.......

 5:45 am - Sunday - September 8th - LPG&RVR - 52° F, humidity 56%, wind 4 mph out of the south by southeast.....clear, blue, sunny skies today with a forecast high of 87° F.  On this date in 2012 TLE and I were visiting Flaming Gorge, WY.....

It is hard to believe this, but Saturday was the second week of NCAA college football.  In fact this weekend, beginning Thursday, was the beginning of another NFL season.  And what better way to spend a day recuperating than watching one college football game after another, which is what I did Saturday.  My USC Trojans managed to 'eeek' out a win....48-0...lol.  I wasn't a total slug as TLE and I did spend time removing the picnic table from the dining/gaming deck, and then taking down the tent, and canopy cover before it got too warm.

Even though it was a little cloudy, the air quality was crystal clear.  I don't think I mentioned that when we drove down to Reno and back Thursday there was smoke from forest fires all the way, so having clear skies return to the Pitt River Valley was pretty nice.

We're still waiting to get the email notice that our new Starlink has shipped, but I didn't expect anything with the weekend, and all.  Should be on the way to us by Monday, or Tuesday...we hope.  When you get used to havin internet on demand 100% of the time you get spoiled.  We can still stream programs using my cell phone, which allows me to 'cast' the picture on the phone screen to our TCL TV and not use any data, but it is not as convenient as just turning on the TV....lol.

We attended the annual LPG&RVR Golf Club dinner at the Clubhouse, and received the schedule for the opening and closing of LPG&RVR in 2025, plus the dates of all the tournaments.  The park will officially open May 1st, and close October 1st, so just a 5 month season this coming year.

TLE and I both continue to recuperate from our colds, but we both feel much, much better, and it's a good thing since we go back to work this morning (Sunday) for four days.

Thanks for stopping by!

Resting and recovering......

8:04 am - Saturday - September 7th - LPG&RVR - 60° F, humidity 48%, wind 1 mph out of the east...high clouds today with a forecast high of 89° F.  On this date in 2022 TLE and I received our Starlink package, and within minutes we had internet.....

The router

The dishy

I don't know if I've mentioned it, but TLE came down with the same cold I have a few days after me, so she's a few days behind me in the recovery timeline.  While I never got a full blown cold, I have been blowing my nose on a semi regular basis the past few days, and have been taking a lot of naps.  It is mostly what I would call a 'head cold'.....no chest congestion, and very little sinus congestion....just the occasional sneezing fit, accompanied by nose blowing.  I don't feel bad, but I am definitely not back to 100% yet, either.  We are both grateful we've had these four days off work to recover.

TLE spent most of Friday resting, napping, and reading in the bedroom.  I ventured outdoors on occasion to begin the disassembly of our dining/gaming canopy/tent.  I managed to pack up the Edison lights, and put the TV back in the trailer, but that's as far I got before it got too hot to be outside.  Saturday morning TLE will assist me in removing the picnic table so we then take down the tent, and canopy.  I also pulled out my Toro blower to blow away a weeks worth of Fall leaves from the 'lido deck' environs.

It appears or last official day of 80 degree temps will be Tuesday.  From Wednesday on it will be 60's and 70's for the remainder of our sojourn here at LGP&RVR.  We begin punching the greens in about 9 days now, so time is short.  We got a few minutes of rain Friday afternoon, but nothing to write home about.

Thanks for stopping by!

Customer support.....

7:46 am - Friday - September 6th - LPG&RVR - 59° F, humidity 40%, wind 1 mph out of the east....crystal clear, blue, sunny skies today with a forecast high of 92° F.  On this date in 2016 TLE and I were hosting a beer tasting party at Tahoe Valley Campground......I miss those days....

 One of my least favorite things is to get up before 7 am on non work days, but Thursday was one of those necessary evils.  I had my 6 week follow up appointment with Dr. Fyda at Great Basin Orthopedics in Reno at 10:45 am, and we needed to be on the road by 7:30 am.  It only takes 2.5 hours to make the 140 mile drive, but we give ourselves a large cushion in case of unforeseen circumstances (construction delays, which there were, etc.).  As you will recall I saw him 6 weeks ago regarding my right knee.  XRAYS determined I had the beginnings of OA (osteoarthritis), and some 'bone on bone' in that knee.  He recommended (and I accepted) a cortisone shot, and then physical therapy. 

I was up around 6 am in preparation for our 7:30 am departure.  We had well over 1/2 tank of fuel in the VW so more than enough to make the drive down to Reno before needing to refill the tank.  We arrived in Reno right at 10 am....45 minutes before my appointment, so we spent 30 minutes doing some of our shopping at the local Smith's, arriving at GBO just after 10:30 am.  I wasn't taken into the little room until 11:05 am, and did not see Dr. Fyda until 11:30 am.  At any rate, he was pleased with my progress since he last saw me.  Then I could not straighten my knee, and walked with a noticeable limp.  The cortisone shot I received 6 weeks earlier was a great success, and that combined with the PT allows me to straighten my knee to almost full extension, and to walk 90% pain free now, and the pain is really more discomfort than actual pain.  He was there in the little room with me less than 5 minutes, at the end of which he announced he was releasing me, and recommended I transition from weekly PT appointments to home maintenance as he felt the in person PT had gotten me as far as I was going to go.

From there we headed to a local fuel station to add 11 gallons to our tank for the 140 mile drive home, then over to Trader Joe's for a few things, then COSTCO.  We were on our way home by 1 pm,  arriving back at LPG&RVR at exactly 3:30 pm....again, 100% uneventful....just like we like it.

I haven't written about some issues we have been having with our Starlink.  For the past 2+ years it has worked flawlessly, with the lone exception of the original cable going bad.  I had purchased a spare for just this possibility, so we were without service for less than an hour while I installed the spare one.  This past Saturday while I was typing the blog it stopped working, so I thought maybe there was an issue with the cable.  I turned off the power to the modem, then reseated the cable in the 'dishy', and service returned......for about 10 minutes then it was gone.  I thought another cable had gone bad, but it's only been 9-10 months since the last failure.  Anyway, I removed the old cable, and installed the spare I keep, and got service back for about 10 minute again, before it was gone for good....doh!

Starlink does not have a phone center you can call for help.  You must go through their website and 'open a ticket', and wait for someone to get back to you.  I've heard mixed reviews about their support, but was pleasantly surprised to hear back from them within a few hours.  They decided, based on the symptoms I had reported, that they would send me a new cable free of charge, and refund the money I had paid for the now, apparently, useless replacement cable.  The new cable was shipped via FedEx Tuesday morning, and I received it Wednesday afternoon, and quickly installed it.  Order was restored, and everything was working again, but within 5 hours it quit again, and would not come back.  I opened another ticket explaining what had happened that evening, and by 10 am Thursday morning (the time we arrived in Reno) I had an email from Starlink advising they were going to send me a brand new system (dishy, modem, and cable) free of charge....no questions asked, plus credit me one months service fee for my inconvenience.  All things being equal, I'm pretty impressed with their customer support system, and you will get no complaints from me.  Fortunately, we have decent broadband coverage here at LPG&RVR, so I can use my hotspot as needed to type my blog until the new system arrives in the next week, or so.

Thanks for stopping by!

Winter hiatus?

6:23 am - Thursday - September 5th - LPG&RVR - 54° F, humidity 44%. wind 1 mph out of the east.....clear, blue, sunny skies today with a forecast high of 94° F.  On this date in 2018 TLE and I were enjoying the view from the top of Cadillac Mountain near Bar Harbor, ME with Glenn and Laureen (TLE's sister)....Glenn took the picture.....

At last, a day for sleeping past 5:30 am!  As is the case with many workamping jobs we've had over the years, even ones we really love, we begin to get restless, and think about changing our view.  We've just 4-5 weeks left in our current sojourn, and getting up at 5:30 am on work days is getting kind of old.  Thoughts of our upcoming winter hiatus from work (we will not have a winter job this year) lurk fondly in our subconscious.  So, what will we be doing this winter?  That's a good question, and it will not be long until you know.  It will be something quite different from anything we've done in the past, so stay tuned.

I had a PT appointment at 11:15 am, so there was no rush to get up and out the door.  I enjoyed the fact that my summer cold is waning, and that my energy is returning.  We were out the door by 10:45 am, arriving at Modoc Medical Center PT around 11:05 am.  My therapist, Michelle, really puts me through the paces each week, and I am glad when the 45 minute session is over.  The good news is my range of motion is getting close to normal for someone my age.

While I was doing my PT TLE ran around town running a few errands, and was back at Modoc Medical Center just before I exited the building.  After a quick stop at the Mexican food truck in Likely to acquire some street tacos (3 carne asada for moi, and 2 pollo asado for TLE) we were home before 1 pm.  The high temp of 90° F was fast approaching, so we turned on the A/C and hung out inside most of the afternoon.  Yes, the street tacos were wonderful, as always!

We've got temps in the 90's for two more days (Thursday and Friday) then it's into the 80's for a few days, and then the wonderful 70's.  We'll begin to take down our dining/gaming canopy/deck on Friday, and soon the 'lido deck' in preparation for our departure.  This summer season has flown by quickly, and I'm pretty sure we've been having a good time.

Thanks for stopping by!

Turning a corner.....

 8:27 am - Wednesday - September 4th - LPG&RVR - 54° F, humidity 28%, wind 1 mph out of the east.....crystal clear, blue, sunny skies today with a forecast high of 90° F.  On this date in 2015 TLE and I were watching the sun set at Cape Blanco, OR....

Day 4 of our four day work week, and day 3 of my cold.  Both have gone quickly, and now I am sitting here at my laptop enjoying the fact I didn't get up until almost 8 am.  Even though this cold is passing quickly, I still find myself with a lack of energy, while feeling much better than I deserve.  Colds used to torment me for a week, or two in the past, but since I started taking ZICAM at the first sign of symptoms, years ago, the duration has been truncated significantly to just 3, or 4 days.  I'm feeling like I've turned the corner rather quickly with this cold, and that is the best news ever!

Tuesday was the slowest day here at LPG&RVR in sometime with just 6 golf cart rentals.  On my first round of the course I raked all four sand traps, and was back at the Clubhouse in time to begin mowing.  I had a lot of mowing on my plate......the back in sites, all 15 of the pull through sites, both 'buddy' sites, the parking lot grass, and the employee sites.  While I was mowing the back in sites down near the meadow I noticed how dry the grass was getting so after finishing I opened up the quarter turn 4" valve at the base of the pond dam to flood the sites, including all the tent sites.  It was around 11 am when I turned on the water, and it would run all afternoon, and overnight (just turned it off a few minutes ago).  Should be good now for another 10+ days.

By noon time I only had three employee sites and the tee boxes at 3, 15, 16, 17 & 18 left to mow, but first TLE's lunch break.  At 1 pm I began the slog around the course to mow around the aforementioned tee boxes, and was back the employee row by 2:15 pm.  By the time I finished mowing the last 3 employee sites it was 2:40 pm, and time for me to begin washing, and stowing golf carts.  I was home taking a long, hot shower by 3:30 pm.  I sat down in my recliner to take a nap around 4 pm, and didn't wake up until 5 pm....I guess I needed that nap!  I arrived at the Clubhouse just in time to pick up TLE, and head for home to begin our 4 day weekend.

As I write this morning I feel the best I've felt in a few days, and am seeing steady improvement by the hour.  Tomorrow TLE and I drive down to Reno for my 6 week follow up at Great Basin Orthopedics, so that will be a long day.  Otherwise I will be resting...there may be golf on Friday depending on how I feel.  We have one last heatwave (low to mid 90's) passing through the Pitt River Valley, but by next Thursday we'll be back in the 70's for good.  The trees are changing colors much more rapidly this year than last, so fall is definitely upon us.

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On the mend.....

 5:43 am - Tuesday - September 3rd - LPG&RVR - 44° F, humidity 55%, wind 1 mph out of the south....clear, blue, sunny skies today with a forecast high of 84° F.  On this date in 2015 TLE and I were in Bandon, OR having fish tacos at Tony's Crab Shack....some of the best fish tacos ever.....

I felt a little bit better Monday morning, and any improvement is always a welcome sign. High winds were forecast later in the day, so most of our golfers went out early.  In all we rented ust 7 golf carts, and 3 of those rentals came back early due to the winds being in the mid 20's.  I can attest to the ferocity of the winds as each time I made a round of the course I was buffeted to and fro.  It was difficult to keep my bucket had seated on my head.

As the day progressed I felt better and better, and by the time I headed home at 3:30 pm I was feeling the beast I had felt in 3 days.  I've continued to take ZICAM several times a day, and just as in the past, it is getting positive results.  

The folks in the large pavilion left Saturday so it was time to hop on the Husqvarna 2 bag mower and mow the grass around both pavilions, the grass between the Clubhouse deck and the putting green, the grass around the tee boxes at the 10th hole, plus the grass at the large group picnic/firepit area.  That's all I felt up to doing Monday, but I will still have the rest of the mowing at the other tee boxes for which I am responsible, as well as the tent sites, and the back in sites.  Not sure how much of that mowing I'll get done, but we'll see how I feel Tuesday.

By 3:30 pm 4 of the 7 carts had returned.  One of the carts not back at 3:30 pm was the #4 Club Car electric, which meant I would need to return at 5 pm to make sure it got washed, and connected to electricity.  When I did return all the carts where there.  It took me just a few minutes to wash, and stow them.

Jose, the course superintendent, set the date for beginning to punch the greens, and that will be September 16....just 2 weeks away.  It will probably take us 8 days spread over the final two weeks of September to get them all done.  Additionally, Dennis announced that LPG&RVR will not reopen until May 1st of 2025 giving us an extra 3 weeks before we report for duty.  The weather in April is almost always miserable, and we have very few customers then, anyway, so it makes sense to me.

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Am I getting a cold?

 5:45 am - Monday - September 2nd - LPG&RVR - 55° F, humidity 50%, wind 5 mph out of the south by southeast.....clear, blue, sunny skies today with a forecast high of 84° F.  On this date in 2013 TLE and I were volunteering as docents at Cape Blanco Lighthouse located between Port Orford and Bandon on the southern Oregon Coast.....

I woke up Sunday morning feeling achy with a tickle in my throat.  "Gee, I think I'm getting a cold" I heard myself saying....neither TLE nor I have had a cold since 2018 when we worked at Amazon the last time.  I felt sluggish all day, but Sundays are easy days anyway, so I toughed it out.  As I have done in the past I started taking Zicam, and it seems to have arrested any progress in the cold, but as I write this morning I am still feeling achy, but not as much, and sluggish, but not as much.  As I have written previously, neither TLE nor I have had the flu since 2013, and that was me.  I think I've had 3 previous colds over the past 12 years, and each time we were working at Amazon.

At any rate, I staged 10 carts to begin the day, and over the course of the day we ended up renting 20 carts....not bad for a Sunday when folks are heading back to their workaday lives.  I made numerous trips around the golf course as marshal, and had to, again, warn several customers to keep their carts on the green grass....this has been one of those weekends.

By 3:30 pm I was completely 'out of gas', but I was able to get 16 of the 20 rentals washed and put away.  Next I headed for home, took a long, hot shower then sat down in my recliner to take a much needed nap.  TLE arrived home around 5:15 pm and woke me up....not on purpose....the door opening woke me up.  She made me tomato soup, and a grilled cheese sandwich which was just what the doctor ordered.  I took 4 Zicam in all Sunday, along with regular doses of Tylenol.  I was in bed by 9 pm, and slept very good.  My nose has stopped running for the present.

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