And the countdown begins....

 5:50 am - Wednesday - September 23rd - LPG&RVR - 42° F, humidity 34%, cloud cover 20%, wind 8 mph out of the southwest.....partly cloudy today with a forecast high of 83° F.  On this date in 2015 TLE and I were in Gold Beach, OR.....

.....taking a ride of Jerry's Jet Boats on the Rogue River.....what a day!!!

As one might expect, our first day back to work on a Tuesday was pretty quiet.  In all we rented 12 golf carts.  There were two Yamaha gassers left over from Monday to greet me when we arrived at the 'Cart Return' area at 7:30 am.  The tee time sheet showed a need for just 4 carts, but we all know that will grow throughout the day, and as I reported above it did.  With the sun rising later and later each day it is still pretty cold at 7:30 am, so I wait until well after 8 am to wash any carts now.  I'm sure before the end of the season that I will be taking a lunch break each day after I give TLE hers, and working until at least 4:30 pm  since golfers are not really teeing off until 9 am, or later now.

I was planning to do some mowing Tuesday, which I haven't done for over a week as Steve has done most of it, however, as I drove around the park first thing Tuesday I could see that the grass at the 'Night Office', the parking lot grass, and the three residential lawns needed attention.  In order to mow the 'Night Office' grass I have to roll up the very long four hoses we use to water the large area to make it easier to mow, so I did that, and then around 10 am I retrieved a string trimmer from the 'Caddy Shack' to trim around the residential lawns, and the 'Night Office' lawn before mowing them.  By 10:30 am I was on the 2 bag Husqvarna mowing first the three residential lawns, then the 'Night Office' lawn, then the parking lot grass.  By the time I finished mowing, refueling the Husqvarna, and blowing the grass clippings off the mowing deck it was time for TLE's lunch break.

It was relatively busy  in the Clubhouse office for the 90 minutes I was there.  I checked in a couple of RV's, sold some merchandise, and sent a few golfers out on the course.  By the time TLE returned there were several carts awaiting their daily spa treatment, which kept me busy for the balance of my shift.  I was off by 3:30 pm, and on my way home for a hot shower, and a nap.  Now there are just 7 work days remaining, and as I write, only 6 more early mornings before our season ends on October 3rd....the countdown has begun!

Thanks for stopping by!

'Pub Crawl'......

 5:52 am - Tuesday - September 22nd - LPG&RVR - 48° F, humidity 40%, cloud cover 27%, wind 11 mph out of the northwest......partly cloudy today with a forecast high of 80° F.  On this date in 2016 TLE and I were in South Lake Tahoe, CA....

....at Tahoe Valley Campground.  Fall weather was already upon us.  We stayed that year until the end of October.  They had their first snow of the year the day we left.

This Friday (September 29th) LPG&RVR is hosting a 'Pub Crawl', and TLE and I are individually hosting a brew pub called High Forest Pub (our last name is German, and means High Forest).  I've been collecting craft brews all summer long in preparation for this event, and needed a few more to add to the collection, so we did something we do not normally do on our four day weekend; we headed into Alturas for a second time.  We left the park a little after 9 am, and after stops at Dollar General, Holiday Market, and the local fuel station, we were back home a little after 11 am.

We're going to be offering 'flights' of beer for people to sample more than one type of beer, so using a scrap piece of 3/4" plywood I cut out five 'flight' platters which can hold three samples each....

.....I used a 1 ½" hole saw to cut out the circles in which the sample cups will sit.  It didn't take more than 40 minutes beginning to end, but I put them together in stages over a few days.  They turned out well.  We're offering folks the chance to taste three different brews before making their choice.  There will be typical 'pub' snacks such as popcorn, mixed nuts, etc. offered, too.

After completing those platters, and buying the extra brews my work day was done, and I retired to the 'lido deck' to read for the rest of the afternoon.  I'm pretty sure a pretty long nap in my anti gravity recliner was had, also.

As I type this post we are about to begin our second to last 4 day work week, which will take us through Friday.  Then there will be just one four day weekend, and then our final four day work week before we head south for the winter.  I'll leave you with this Simon and Garfunkel song.....

.....thanks for stopping by!

'Lido deck' life.....

 7:53 am - Monday - September 21st - LPG&RVR - 57° F, humidity 48%, cloud cover 19%, wind 6 mph out of the west.....cloudy today with a forecast high of 82° F.  On this date in 2017 TLE and I were in Mammoth Hot Springs, WY....near the North Entrance of.....

.....Yellowstone National Park where winter came early that year.  This is the General Store where we worked for four months that summer.  I wrote about that here.

Time is marching forward day by day, and soon we will be offering up our 'until next times' to our family here at LPG&RVR.  The sun is noticeably lower in the sky as it repeats its daily arc across the increasingly southern sky from east to west.  In a few days we will be taking down the sun shade which has dutifully kept the summer sun from direct contact with our front cap and windshield these past months, and within 2 weeks we will begin to organize the trailer for VW insertion sometime near the beginning of the 2nd week of October.  That I am even mentioning the word October seems surreal, but it is undeniable that today (Monday) is September 21st, and our last work day is a mere 12 days in the future now.  Tonight the sun will officially set at 7 pm....it seems like it was setting well after 8:40 pm just a couple of weeks ago.  The sun isn't cresting the Warner Mountains until well after 7 am now, and within a week, or so the daylight portion of our day will be less than 12 hours.

With the overcast skies we had Sunday it remained cold on the 'lido deck' until after 12 pm, and that is when I moved out to the 'lido deck' to watch NFL football.  The main afternoon game (for me anyway) was the Raider vs. Charger game being played at SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles.  The Raiders have delivered one dismal season upon another for the past decade, or more, but something seems different this year.  They make very few mistakes, and have won two games in a row to start this season for the first time in 10, or 12 years.  My oldest son is an avid Raiders fan, as I have been since the 70's.  He and his wife often head to Las Vegas on weekends when the Raiders are at home, and as an extra treat they were able to attend the Raider vs. Chargers game in L.A. this past weekend.  It turned out to be a well played game by the Raiders who won 24-14.

I remained on the 'lido deck' well after 5 pm when TLE rang the dinner bell.  Sunday evening's dinner fare was a Cobb Salad, one of my favorites.  While we ate we watched the Sunday night game between the Indianapolis Colts and the Kansas City Chiefs.  We weren't expecting much of a game, but the Colts' offense showed on Sunday, and at the end of regulation time (60 minutes) the game was tied 27-27.  Overtime in the NFL consists of one 10 minute over time period with each team getting at least one possession of the football, unless there is a defensive touchdown; at least that is how I think it works.  Anyway, ultimately each team kicked a field goal to remain tied at 30-30 with 3 minutes to go in the overtime.  The Chiefs got the ball and marched down the field to kick the winning field goal as the overtime expired.  It was a good day for watching football outdoors.

Thanks for stopping by!

We're adults, after all....

 8:32 am  - Sunday - September 20th - LPG&RVR - 58° F, humidity 23%, cloud cover 34%, wind 8 mph out of the southeast......partially cloudy skies today with a forecast high of 82° F.  On this date in 2013 TLE and I were in Fairmont Hot Springs, MT.....

.....with Tom and Darlene McCloud.  They were on their way back south to Arizona on I-15 from Canada, and we were heading east to the sugar beet harvest in Sydney, MT via I-90.

We slept in again Saturday until after 8 am....two days in a row!  It feels like we're doing something wrong, and are going to get in trouble, but then we remember we're adults, and require no outside supervision....lol.  We can do what we want on our days off work.  Saturday was the day of the annual putting contest final which features all those who have finished either first, or second on any given Saturday during the summer, putting for bragging rights.  Around 10 am I drove cart #20 over to the Clubhouse to practice putting for 30, or 40 minutes, then returned to spend the rest of the day (until 3 pm when the putting contest was scheduled to be played) on the 'lido deck' reading, and watching NCAA college football.  

There were a number of upsets of Top 25 teams such as #8 Ole Miss upsetting #7 LSU, unranked Kentucky upsetting #9 Texas A&M, #23 Louisville upsetting #16 SMU, and unranked West Virginia upsetting #20 Missouri.  My USC Trojans (#12) won a close game (as they should have) at unranked Rutgers 42-35.  Other than those upsets, everyone who should have won, won.  Oregon came back from a humiliating loss to an unranked team last week to win 84-0 over Portland State, so I'm sure they're feeling better about themselves.

Soon it was time for the putting contest finals at which only 8 of the former 1st and 2nd place winners were on hand.  Since there were only 8 of us the format was double elimination.  I lost my first match to the ultimate winner, Don Kittleseon, who is a club pro at another golf course.  At the end of 5 holes in my losers' bracket match I was tied 2-2 after 5 holes, so we went to a one hole putt off....closest to the pin after one putt.  I made a terrible putt losing to Terri Plumlee, so after two rounds I was out.

At 5:15 pm we attended the Club Members annual dinner.  We are not 'Club Members', however, all employees are invited.  It was potluck this year, and as usual, there were many great dishes, and a great time was had by all.  We were home by 6:30 pm, and I was ready for another nap....lol.

Thanks for stopping by!

Sleepin' in......

 7:50 am - Saturday - September 19th - LPG&RVR - 47° F, humidity 34%, cloud cover 1%, wind 5 mph out of the north by northeast.....crystal clear, blue, sunny skies today with a forecast high of 79° F.  On this date in 2020 TLE and I were in Seal Rock, OR.....

watching an amazing Coastal Oregon sunset.  A million dollar view in trade for a couple hours of work a day, four days a week for a year!  The view this morning....

.....Fall colors are everywhere now!

We must have been really tired, because we didn't get out of bed until AFTER 8 am Friday morning!  After posting my latest blogosphere offering I decided to wash the Beetle for the first time in a few weeks, and then around 11:30 am we headed over to Canby to have coffee and a breakfast sandwich at Coffee Adventure before returning to Alturas to do our weekly grocery shopping.

It's less than 38 miles door to door from site #55 here at LPG&RVR, and we were there before 12:30 pm.  The drive is always enjoyable, with very little traffic.  This little coffee shop opened three summers ago, and we have always made time every year to make the drive there just to have their coffee.  On occasions when we are going, or coming to and from Klamath Falls we make a point of stopping there at least once.  We were on the road back to Alturas a little after 1 pm, and back in Alturas 20 minutes later making our first stop at Holiday Market, then over to Grocery Outlet before heading back to LPG&RVR where we arrived around 2:30 pm.

After unloading the VW I headed out to the 'lido deck' to enjoy what was left of a balmy afternoon.  I read, and napped until after  5pm before heading inside for the evening where I continued reading.  It was a wonderful first day of our four day weekend, which is the 2nd to last of our four day weekends.

Thanks for stopping by!

Just 8 left....

 8:19 am - Friday - September 18th - LPG&RVR - 48° F, humidity 51%, cloud cover 15%, wind 10 mph out of the north by northwest......kind of hazy, blue skies today with a forecast high of 72° F.  On this date in 2012 TLE and I were in Denver, CO.....

Not that far from downtown Denver

.....visiting Red Rocks Amphitheater.  Many famous Rock Bands have played there over the years, including the Beatles and Stones, plus there is an onsite museum detailing all of those bands.

Day four of our four day work cycle came, and went quickly as it always does.  After staging the 6 EZ-GO golf carts I got busy washing the 12 carts left over from Wednesday.  The sun is not high enough in the sky to hit the 'Cart Return' area when we report for work now, so I wait until after 8 am to begin washing carts so I can do it in the warmth of the morning sun.  For the first time since last May I worked all four days wearing pants, long socks, and a long sleeve shirt.

After washing the carts I spent time disconnecting the positive and negative cables from the battery in Club Car #26 (round nose) to clean the terminals, and the cable ends as it seemed the starter was not  getting full power making it difficult to start.  When I reconnected them it started as it should, and cleaning the terminal seems to have done the trick.  On the other hand, #77 Yamaha runs like it has a fouled plug, but I pulled the plug and it was clean, so back to the drawing board on that one.

By the time I finished with the carts it was around 10:45 am, and time to begin clearing the range balls off the driving range.  DeWayne is only mowing the range once a week on Thursdays now, so unless we are running out of range balls we don't clear it on Monday's anymore.  Based on the 55 gallon barrel being about half empty I estimated we could glean between 2 and 3 buckets of balls.  Claude was not busy so he helped me clear the range, and it is a good thing he did as it took us 45 minutes to fill 3 five gallon buckets, and without his help it would have taken me well past TLE's lunch break.....thank you Claude!

Just as I finished filling the buckets with water I noticed the group using the large gazebo had departed, and I knew another group would be arriving soon, so I hopped on the 2 bag Husqvarna and had the grass mowed in less than 10 minutes.  By that time it was 12 pm, and time for TLE's lunch break.  Things were moderately busy during that 90 minute interlude, and soon I was back outside washing golf balls, and then golf carts as they began to return.  I stayed busy until 3:30 pm, then headed for home to begin my 4 day weekend.

And with the finish of Thursday we now have just 8 work days left in our 5th summer season here at LPG&RVR.

Thanks for stopping by!

Best midweek day in 8 weeks!

 5:40 am - Thursday - September 17th - LPG&RVR - 48° F, humidity 48%, cloud cover 44%, wind 10 mph out of the west by southwest......partly cloudy today with a forecast high of 68° F.  On this date in 2020 I had finally set up our outdoor lighting....

.....at our camphost site at Seal Rocks RV Cove.  The on site managers loved them!  the rope lights faired quite well in the salt laden air, but the Christmas mini lights eventually succumbed.  I still have those white rope lights, and they still work!

The temp dropped into the low 70's Wednesday, which made for a delightful work day.  It turned out to be a great golf day at LPG&RVR with a total of 23 carts rented.  Our first mid week 20+ cart rental day in 8 weeks.  The more carts rented the busier I stay, and that is what I prefer.  On the down side, many of them were rented after 12 pm, meaning many of them did not return by 3:30 pm, and that would be around 12, so I'll have a busy Thursday morning.

For the first time in a few weeks I rented carts 26-30, the old round nosed Club Car gassers, and they all ran well except for 26, which had intermittent issues with starting, but the golfers did make it back without having to be rescued, however, I'll have to spend time Thursday figuring out the issue.  We also had issues with Yamaha gasser #77, which feels like it has a mostly fouled spark plug.  It, too, made it back without needing a rescue.

Thursday I'll be clearing the driving range of range balls, but I decided to clear the woods on either side of the range Wednesday, so all I'll have to worry about Thursday is the driving range proper, and there are a lot of balls out there.  I checked the 55 gallon barrel in the Clubhouse and it is half empty, so there are between 2, and 3 5 gallon buckets of balls out there.  In all I filled one shag bag with the forest balls.

Just before TLE's lunch break I decided to mow the small gazebo grass.  I wasn't sure when the next group would be arriving, but it was getting long so I cut it.  As it turned out the group scheduled to use it arrived right after lunch, so great timing on my part!  The afternoon was a flurry of activity as I washed cart after cart.  By the time 3:30 pm arrived those 12 carts I mentioned earlier were still outstanding.  By the time I returned to pickup TLE at 5 pm another four had arrived, so there were will 8 out there somewhere.  All that remains between us and our next four day weekend is one more day of work.

Thanks for stopping by!

Fall is on our doorstep.....

 5:52 am - Wednesday - September 16th - LPG&RVR - 46° F, humidity 42%, cloud cover 33%, wind 11 mph out of the south by southeast.....partly cloudy today with a forecast high of 74° F.  On this date in 2020 TLE and I were living in Seal Rock, OR.....

....taking our first walk on Seal Rock Beach, right across US-1 from our camphost site.

The RV park since the Labor Day weekend has been so much busier, which means I'm busier, which means work time passes more quickly....all good things.  Once again our first golf customers didn't tee off until 9 am, even though there was no frost delay on Tuesday.  I staged 4 of the Club Car electrics, but only 3 went out before 10 am, so I restowed the fourth cart, and staged 5 of the Yamaha gassers.  Over the course of the day we rented 17 carts; very good for a Tuesday.....lately.

I spent time reinstalling the repaired right front wheel/tire on the 2 bag Husqvarna, and then proceeded to wash the 8 carts left over from Monday.  After they were washed I then refueled each of them, then used compressed air to blow the dust out of the engine bays and centrifugal clutches.  It has been a dry summer, and dust is the enemy of long life for centrifugal clutches.  We had the same issue with the clutches on the Polaris RZRs we rented back in 2023 and 2024.

I was kept busy throughout the morning staging more golf carts, and answering customer questions about the course, and the property, and soon it was time to give TLE her lunch break.  Lunch time was moderately busy for me, but the big rush came after TLE returned.  I think 7, or 8 RV's arrived in a 25 minute period.

Six carts awaited me at the wash station, so I got busy washing them, refueling them, and blowing the dust out of the engine bays.  Around 2:30 pm I took another run around the course, and took a couple of pictures....

.....the trees are beginning adorn themselves with the traditional Fall colors, so it appears Fall is on our doorstep.  By the time I returned just before 3 pm TLE had rented 5 more carts, so I'll have a buttload of carts to wash first thing Wednesday.  There were two more carts to wash and stow, so by the time I finished with them it was time to head for home to take a long, hot shower, and take a nap before returning to the Clubhouse to give TLE a lift home.  So with the completion of Tuesday's work we had reached the end of another pay period, and 'hump night' leaving just two more days of work before our next four day weekend.  By the end of Thursday we'll have just 8 work days left this season.

Thanks for stopping by!

A productive Monday....

 5:56 am - Tuesday - September 15th - LPG&RVR - 40° F, humidity 29%, cloud cover 5%, wind 13 mph out of the south by southwest......clear, blue skies today with a forecast high of 79° F.  On this date in 2020 TLE had just arrived at our home for the next 12 months.....

....Seal Rocks RV Cove.  Our employee site was on the hill behind the office (foreground), and this was our view, and was separated from the rest of the campground.  One of the best workamping jobs ever.....great place to live for the next 12 months.

For the second consecutive day it got down to freezing overnight, and we were met with frost on the putting green as we arrived at 7:30 am for our first of four work days.  Due to the frost there was a 90 minute frost delay for those wishing to play a around of golf.  As a result our first golfers did not tee off until 9:30 am.  There were six carts left over from Sunday for me to wash, but it was too cold to take care of that until closer to 9:30 am.  I initially staged 4 carts for the 9:30 am folks, and then later an additional 12 carts. By 3:30 pm 8 of them were still outstanding.

I spent time repairing the hose on the air compressor in the 'Caddy Shack'.  It had developed a leak last Wednesday (my last work day), and I had to cut off about 4 feet of the hose, and reattach the shortened hose so I could blow grass off the two Husqvarna mowing decks, and didn't have time to splice the four feet back to the hose that day.  In the interim I found a coupling to splice the two pieces, and was able to restore the full length of hose.  

Next up I was able to repair the right front wheel of the 2 bag Husqvarna with two new bushings.  As you will recall I discovered the bushing on the outside of the wheel had broken, and I didn't think we had any other bushings, so I borrowed the right front wheel from the defunct John Deere mower which had two good bushings.  As it turns out we do have four of those bushings, so using a chisel I pounded out the remains of the old bushing, and pressed in the new one.  While I was at it I replaced the inside bushing as well, since it had worn unevenly for a period of time before I discovered the problem with the outside bushing.  It was actually a pretty straightforward repair.  By that time it was almost 12 noon, so I put away my tools, and headed inside to give TLE her 90 minute lunch break.

The office was pretty busy during that time with phone calls to answer, and customers to check into the RV park, so the 90 minutes passed by quickly.  Soon I was back outside washing and stowing golf carts.  I made one pass around the golf course since our Marshal (Claude) is off Monday through Wednesdays.  All was well, and folks were obeying the rules.  By the time I returned it was almost 3 pm, and there were a few more carts to wash and stow, so I took care of them, closed up the 'Caddy Shack', and was home by 3:30 pm.

As of this writing (Tuesday morning around 6:22 am) we have just 10 more early mornings left, and 12 more days off work, plus another 5 months after that of no early mornings until we return for our 6th season here at LPG&RVR.

Thanks for stopping by!

A couple of firsts.....

 5:49 am - Monday - September 14th - LPG&RVR - 33° F, humidity 47%, cloud cover 1%, wind 6 mph out of the northeast.....clear, blue skies today with a forecast high of 74° F.  On this date in 2020 TLE and I were just across the Columbia River from Astoria, OR....

You can see the Astoria-Megler bridge in the background

.....after having having spent a week driving US-1 from Port Townsend through the Olympic Peninsula in Washington.  We would arrive at our home for the next year (Seal Rock, OR) later the next day.

Sunday was another great football day.  It was NFL day, and there were quite a few good games throughout the day.  Although I had the outdoor TV up and running on the 'lido deck' it was too cold, and breezy to spend much time outdoors.  The temp had dropped from 81° F on Saturday to 65° F Sunday.  The overnight low was 30° F (7 am Sunday), which meant we had to move our many plants into the trailer Saturday night for the first time since we arrived April 27th.  We planned on taking another 1 mile out and back walk when it hit 60° F, which did not occur until 1:30 pm.

Just as the afternoon NFL games were about to begin we took our walk averaging 3 mph again (20 minutes and 10 seconds) burning another 166 calories.  After returning from our walk we sat on the 'lido deck' for a few minutes cooling down from our walk, but eventually had to head indoors as the cool temp combined with the stiff breeze made it feel much colder than it was.

That was pretty much the 4th day of our four day weekend.  We did watch the Sunday night game between the NY Giants and the Dallas Cowboys played in New Jersey.  Jim Harbaugh is the NY Giants coach this year, and has apparently worked wonders with their defense and offense.  The Cowboys were favored, but the Giants won 28-20, and it didn't really seem that close.  This was the first time the NY Giants have won a season opener against the Cowboys since 2016, and it was the first time since 2006 that both the NY Jets and Giants both won their opening day games.

Thanks for stopping by!

In the money again!

 8:10 am - Sunday - September 13th - LPG&RVR - 44° F, humidity 40%, cloud cover 7%, wind 14 mph out of the north by northwest.....clear, but hazy skies this morning with a forecast high today of 65° F.  On this date in 2018 TLE and I were in Bar Harbor, ME....

....we were up at 5 am to make the 20 minute drive to the summit of Cadillac Mountain to watch the sun rise.  Every day during the summer hundreds of people would make this pilgrimage to watch the sun rise, and we are glad that on this day we would be counted among those.....spectacular!

After composing my latest missive I headed out to the 'lido deck' to dump our black tank realizing at the same time that I would only be performing this ritual a couple more times before we haul anchor and head south for the winter.  I'm pretty sure I've mentioned previously that we have great water pressure here at LPG&RVR, so it only takes about 10-15 minutes to thoroughly dump and flush the tank two, or three times.

After another successful dump/flush TLE and I headed out to do another 1 mile out and back walk; just the fourth of the summer.....

....we managed to complete the out and balk 1 mile walk in 19 minutes and 46 seconds averaging just over 3 mph, plus another 166 caloric units were consumed.  We've really beeen lazy this summer, but we need to get back to walking on a regular basis.

Upon our return I changed clothes and headed out to the 'lido deck' to watch some college football, and were there ever some great games to be watched.  In all I counted three significant upsets of top 25 teams beginning with Michigan (unranked) outlasting the University of Oklahoma (#11) 17-10, unranked Oklahoma State defeating #6 Oregon Ducks 39-31, and #4 Texas beating #1 Ohio State 24-23 on a last minute touchdown and extra point.  Texas was down 23-3 to begin the second half, but scored 21 unanswered points to win at the buzzer.

Saturday was also our final weekly putting contest of the summer before the final next Saturday (September 19th).  There were only 15 putters, and normally we would have run a double elimination format, but the annual Likely Fire Department steak dinner was at 5 pm, so we went with single elimination.  I'm happy to say that the magic that was mine last week continued this week, only this time I came in first place!  I still can't believe it.

Around 5 pm TLE and I headed over to the Fire Department dinner.  I think well over half the people there were from LPG&RVR (customers, residents, members, and employees).  For $30/person you get a larger than life Rib Eye Steak (TLE and I were hard pressed to eat half of ours), baked potato, corn on the cobb, salad and dessert.  When we arrived there was a line out the door, and it took us a good 15 minutes to get to our table with our food.  At the end of the dinner there is a raffle drawing for three prizes: 1st place is an expensive hunting rifle, 2nd place was an expensive wine refrigerator, and 3rd was a $200 gift certificate for the Likely General Store (we won that prize two years ago).  When it came time to draw the much coveted hunting rifle DeWayne Matthews (Fire Chief) asked a lady from the audience to make the draw.  You can't make this stuff up.....she drew her own raffle ticket out of a box of hundreds of tickets.  She only bought ONE raffle ticket.  How cool is that?

We were home by 7:30 pm, just in time to see most of the 2nd half of the Texas/Ohio State game, and then transition to the late game (8 pm start) featuring my USC Trojans vs. Louisiana.  As expected my Trojans won handily 49-30, but I was in bed long before the game finished sometime after 11 pm.

Saturday was quite a day....thanks for stopping by!

Two for ones......

 7:44 am - Saturday - September 12th - LPG&RVR - 57° F, humidity 28%, cloud cover 37%, wind 21 mph out of the south by southwest.....partly cloudy today with a forecast high of 81° F.  On this date in 2014 TLE and I were in Cape Blanco, OR.....

In those rock formations in the background (above) you can see what appears to be a caricature of a whale (below)

....in our 15+ years of travel we have found the Oregon Coast sunsets are consistently the most beautiful, and amazing we have seen anywhere.  Between Cape Blanco (Fall of 2014 & 2015) and Seal Rock (10/2020 to 10/2021) I have enough sunset pictures to make up a dozen calendars.

I still owe you a 'what happened on Thursday' since I dedicated yesterday's post to 9/11, so I'll do my best to describe Thursday's happenings first, before I transition into Friday's happenings, so you'll get a 'two for one'.

Thursday, September 10th:

In less than 3 weeks we will be able to sleep in every day until late April 2027, but for now we are in those 8 day cycles where we can sleep late on four of those days, but need to be up by 5:30 am on the other four, and Thursday was one of the four days every eight days that we do not have to rise early, so we didn't.  By the time I finished, and posted my daily blog about Wednesday's events it was after 9:30 am.....how delicious!

The only substantial thing I accomplished Thursday was to install a new center console in our 2001 VW Beetle.  The center console is like an arm rest, but it does have a lid can open to access whatever one might put in there like current registration, insurance cards, etc.  The one that came with our Beetle had a damaged hinge, which prevented it from being adjusted to whatever height you prefer.  It would remain in a given position for a few minutes, then fall.  I found a previously owned on on eBay about 10 days ago when we were at Holiday Market shopping.  I had finally had it with the malfunctioning one on the way into Alturas, so as soon as we arrived at Holiday Market that day I began searching for a replacement on eBay.  The replacement arrived on Wednesday, so around 10 am Thursday I removed the old one, and installed the new one....

.....the old one was black on top, but gray on the bottom.  This one is all black, but unless you knew there was a difference you wouldn't even notice.  In all it took me about 15 minutes beginning to end to install the 'new to us' center console.  Over the years I have replaced the right door 'card', the grab handle on the passenger side, and the glove box; all off eBay.

Once that was done TLE and I did something we have rarely done this summer....take a 1 mile out and back walk.....

.....we averaged just under  3 mph for 1.01 miles taking just 20 minutes and 36 seconds to do the walk, burning a meager 168 caloric units.

I spent the balance of the day relaxing on our 'lido deck' until late in the day.  With temps back into the low 80's I can use my anti gravity recliner all day long.  I spent time reading, and napping as is my custom on days off work.  

TLE and I watched a documentary that evening on Nolan Ryan, the pitcher, on Amazon Prime. It's over an hour (1 hour 42 minutes), but if you are a baseball fan it is well worth it.  It gets 5 stars on Amazon.  He pitched well until age 44 when he tore a tendon, or ligament in his right elbow, and retired.  He pitched 7 no hitters during his 27 year career, the final one at age 43.  He played for the Angels, Astros, and Rangers during his amazing career.  At his prime his fast ball could hit 108 mph.  He holds around 56 Major League Baseball records.  He won over 300 games, and had just shy of 5,800 strikeouts in his career.  Randy Johnson is in second place strikeouts wise, and he is 1,000 strikeouts behind Nolan Ryan.  Anyway, if you are so inclined, check it out.  The title of the documentary is 'Facing Nolan'.  I believe you can find it on Netflix, and Amazon Prime, and an abbreviated version on YouTube.

Friday, September 11th: 

I had a hair appointment Friday morning at Kaleidescope at 9 am, so we were up right at 7 am....no sleeping in until 7:30, or 8 am on this day.  It seems like my hair is growing at a faster rate than a few years so, and getting a haircut once a month is no longer working.  I'm going to have to reduce the intervals between haircuts to avoid an out of control coif.  Anyway, we were on the road in the Beetle before 8:30 am, and I was enjoying the convenience of the new center console that works as it should.....lol.  We arrived at Kaleidescope at 8:50 am, the same time Sheila arrived....great timing.  On this day TLE was also getting her hair length, and bangs adjusted, so she went first.  By 9:35 am we were on our way to do our weekly shopping making stops at Dollar General, and Holiday Market where we found two large London Broil steaks on sale from $36 down to $18....killer deal.  It's like buy one, get one free (2 for 1).  They'll go into the freezer to be enjoyed at a later day, perhaps after our return to The Wilson Wilderness.

We were home by 11 am with virtually the entire day still in front of us.  After helping put away our purchases I retired, once again, to the 'lido deck'  where I remained until almost 5 pm reading, napping, smoking a cigar, and listening to music (Classic Vinyl, channel 26, Sirius/XM Radio).  The mosquitoes are slowly disappearing as the overnight lows begin to eliminate them  I think I got one bite all afternoon.

Thanks for stopping by!

Have you forgotten?

 7:25 am - Friday - September 11th  - LPG&RVR - 50° F, humidity 39%, cloud cover 2%, wind 15 mph out of the west by southwest.....partially cloudy this morning with a forecast high of 84° F.  On this date in 2001  Islamic Terrorists flew passenger jets into the twin towers in Manhattan, NY, and into the Pentagon in Washington D.C......

....today's blog will be brief, and a tribute to those 2,996 innocent people who's lives were snuffed out by those terrorists 25 years ago.  So many seem to have forgotten.  The question is "Have you forgotten?".....

"HAVE YOU FORGOTTEN?" - Darryl Worley

....I haven't.  Please take some time today to reflect on what happened a quarter of a century ago, and what we are facing today, and in the future.

Thank you for stopping by!

Time for the 'until next times'.....

7:35 am - Thursday - September 10th - LPG&RVR - 63° F, humidity 30%, cloud cover 92%, wind 15 mph out of the southwest.....heavy cloud cover today with a forecast high of 85° F.  On this date in 2017 TLE and I were in Gardiner, MT where we lived that summer while working at the General Store in Mammoth Hot Springs.....

....Mammoth Hot Springs is in Wyoming, so we were crossing state lines twice a day 5 out of every 7 days.  We came home from work on this date in 2017 to find two deer in repose on our artificial turf....how cool is that?  Our RV site was right on the Yellowstone River....what a great summer it was!

As I sit here wondering what to write about Wednesday I realize that as of today, September 10th, we have exactly 12 days of work left, and 12 days of days off work; 24 days total, or 3 weeks and 3 days....lol.  When you break it down like that it seems so short, and it actually is.  Sometimes you get wrapped up in the ebb and flow of day after day working, or relaxing that the time slips away from you, and suddenly our 5th summer season here at Likely Place Golf & RV Resort is slowly slipping into the rearview mirror.  It has been another great summer season spent with 'salt of the earth' folks.  Some of those folks will begin their annual migration back south for the winter this weekend, so there will be a steadily increasing 'until next time' scenarios playing out over the next few weeks, and on top of that, I saw more geese heading south.

TLE celebrated the 38th anniversary of her 39th birthday on Wednesday, and had a steady stream of folks stopping by to deliver her their birthday well wishes.  Sunny, who is the restaurant concessionaire for the foreseeable future, made her a special birthday dinner of her choosing, which was a double/double Smash burger (I got one too!), but I get ahead of myself.

In spite of the limited warming trend we are experiencing right now, it is very cold in the mornings, and I find myself wearing my hooded sweatshirt until well after 9 am most mornings.  It is right on the edge of being too cold (first thing) for shorts.  Since the forecast high was 90° F I added a short sleeved t-shirt to my work attire ensemble.  Upon arrival at the 'Cart Return' area I found 5 carts left over from Tuesday awaiting their daily spa treatment.  The tee times sheet indicated we would need at least 10 golf carts staged to begin the day, so I staged them, then washed/stowed the 5 holdovers from Tuesday.  In all we rented just 12 carts Wednesday, and by 3:30 pm all but two had returned.

Between the beginning of the day, and the end at 3:30 pm I replaced the right front wheel on the 2 bag Husqvarna as the existing one had a bad bushing, so the wheel was wobbling on the axle.  I borrowed the left front wheel from the defunct John Deere mower as it had two good bushings.  We'll have to get a new bushing for the wheel I removed.

Later in the morning I helped TLE install a new printer (a Brother) to replace the old Epson, which is beginning to fail.  They've had the Brother being stored down at 'Night Office' for over 5 years, and it is still in good working order, it just needs to have a new black toner cartridge installed.  It has been ordered, and should be here next week.  Otherwise we were able to install the appropriate 'drivers', and get the computer to connect to it, so all we need now is the new toner cartridge.

I gave TLE her lunch break at 12 pm, and stayed very busy for the 90 minutes answering numerous phone calls, and checking in 6, or 7 RVs.  At 12 pm it was getting warm, but not bad, but by 1:30 pm it was hot.  10 of the 12 golf carts had been returned so I busied myself with getting them washed, and stowed.

When 3:30 pm finally came around I was more than ready to head for home to take a shower, and a nap, in that order.  Sometimes I take the nap first, but it was hot, and there was no way I was going to live with myself without washing off the dust and sweat from another hot LPG&RVR workday.

Thanks for stopping by!

Propane guy....

 5:50 am - Wednesday - September 9th (TLE's birthday) - LPG&RVR - 49° F, humidity 27%, cloud cover 9%, wind 8 mph out of the south....clear, blue skies today with a forecast high of 90° F.  On this date in 2020 TLE and I were cruising Highway 1 on the Olympic Peninsula.....

Meet Nate and Tammy!

....when we spotted a 1969 Newell just ahead of us.  We both pulled into a turnout to talk about our Newells, and take tours.  We love serendipity!

Tuesday the temps rose into the high 80's, and by Wednesday we'll reach 90 for the first time in 10 days, but by Saturday we'll be back into the 70s for good.  Tuesday was also the first day this four day work cycle I've worn shorts.  We were moderately busy Tuesday renting 13 carts, but we did see an influx of RV customers later in the day, so it should get busier from Wednesday forward.  I initially staged 10 carts thinking that would be enough, but there are always 'walk-ins'.  Once the 10 carts were staged I washed the 5 carts left over from Monday, then finished washing the range balls from Monday's harvest.

A little after 8 am a lady from the RV park approached me asking where propane could be purchased, to which I replied "In Likely at the General Store".  She was an older woman, probably in her late 70's, or early 80's, and was not able to remove the two 10 gallon propane tanks off her trailer tongue in the empty state, let alone reinstall them in their full state.  She asked if I would be willing to do that for her, and take them to the General Store to be refilled later in the morning, and I replied in the affirmative.  The gentleman who pumps the propane at the General Store was down in Madeline buying some hay for his cattle, and would not be back until sometime between 11 and 12 pm, and would let me know when he was back.  Just before 9 am I went down to her site (#11) to pickup her tanks, and await the call.

In the mean time I did some weeding, and then headed out to the driving range to see how many range balls were in the forest on either side of the range.  It took me about 45 minutes to fill one shag bag of balls from the forest.  I've found doing the clearing of the range in two shifts works better for me.  My right knee does not like the uneven surface in the forest, so on the usual days (Monday and Thursday) I only clear the range balls from the driving range proper, then finish the next day in the woods.  Much easier on my knee, which feels great most of the time since I started taking collagen a couple of years ago.  I still have the instability caused by loss of cartilage, but the pain is mostly gone.

I got the call from the General Store around 11:50 am, so I quickly loaded the two 10 gallon cylinders into the VW hatch, and headed over to the General Store to get them filled, returning around 12:30 pm....a little late for TLE's lunch break, but she understood.  from 12:30 pm to 2 pm it was quite busy in the Clubhouse office, and I was glad to see TLE returning promptly at 2 pm.  I managed to get 8 of the 13 carts washed and stowed before 3:30 pm, so will have 5 to wash first thing Wednesday.

Thanks for stopping by!

A typical long weekend Monday....

 5:50 am - Tuesday - September 8th - LPG&RVR - 42° F, humidity 34%, cloud cover 10%, wind 6 mph out of the southeast......partially cloudy today with a forecast high of 84° F.  On this date in 2014 TLE and I were in Cape Blanco, OR....

.....on a day off from being docents at the lighthouse.  This is called 'south beach'....so, so beautiful there, and such a great place to spend the Fall.

As I sit at my laptop on Tuesday morning it is still dark, and the sun will not rise for another 35 minutes yet (6:35 am).  It is pitch black outside.  By the time we head to work around 7:25 am the sun will barely have crested over the Warner Mountains to the east.  The sun gets lower in the southern sky each day, and here we are one week, and one day into September already.  When we begin our next 4 day work week next Monday we will be at the middle of the month, with just over 2 weeks remaining in our fifth season at LPG&RVR.  Yesterday, Monday, I saw formations of geese flying south, and a few trees have begun to change to their Fall colors.  By the 22nd of this month the sun will be setting at 6:58 pm, and the sun will not be rising until 6:49 am.  One of the things about living this far north here in California during the summer, and very far north in Arizona in the winter is you get to experience all four seasons.  There is a very definite Fall, a very definite Winter, a very obvious Spring and of course Summer, but not to the extremes that exist in our northern states.

Monday was a normal RV Park Monday after a long weekend (Labor Day).....you could almost hear the 'vacuum' begin to suck the weekend RVers out of the park.  By noontime it was a ghost town once again.  To begin the day I staged 6 carts not expecting to rent them all, but as the morning progressed we continued to rent carts, and by 2 pm we had 14, or 15 carts on the course.  Not a bad 'vacuum' day as 'vacuum' days go.  I still had 5 carts left over from Sunday to wash and stow, but I didn't wash them until almost 10 am because it was too cold.  There was frost on the seats of those 5 carts.

Around 10:30 am I headed out to the driving range to clear the range balls, so they could be washed, dried, and poured back into the 55 gallon barrel in the Clubhouse.  Our mower, DeWayne Matthews, is in Montana attending a wedding, so there was no mowing to be done.  If no mowing is to be done, why clear the driving range, right?  Well, the barrel was about 1/2 empty, and I didn't want my counterpart to have to clear that many balls on Thursday.  Thursday is supposed to be a light day for clearing range balls, and we both look forward to that.  Typically on a Thursday we pick less than a 1/2 bucket of balls.  On Monday I cleared over 2 buckets.

By the time I finished washing one bucket of balls it was time for TLE's 90 minute lunch break.  I think I answered one phone call, and sent out two golfers for 18 holes.  Otherwise it was pretty slow. After lunch I managed to wash all 8 carts which had been returned, washed and dried the rest of the golf balls, spent time talking with customers, and then stowed the 8 carts.  It was after 3:30 pm, and time to head for home for a hot shower, and a nap before giving TLE a ride home at 5 pm.  The temp got to maybe 74° F, and it was a very laid back kind of day.

Thanks for stopping by!

Hours of cart washing.....

 5:52 am - Monday - September 7th - LPG&RVR - 35° F, humidity 43%, cloud cover 1%, wind 6 mph out of the east by southeast.....cloudless, blue skies today with a forecast high of 76° F.  On this date in 2022 TLE and I were living at Likely Place Golf & RV Resort....

....it was our first season there.  Here we are taking a walk out Likely Place to Jess Valley Road.  We never get tired of this view.

Sunday was TLE's second day of work this cycle, and my first.  As you will recall she substituted for Kathie Smith on Saturday so she could attend a funeral.  This is what greeted me at 7:30 am Sunday morning....

....24 golf carts left over from Saturday.  Apparently we pretty much rented every golf cart we had Saturday, which is a good thing.  Our first golfers were not teeing off until 9 am so I had plenty of time to stage what carts had been washed and stowed Saturday (about 10), then begin washing the dirty ones 8 at a time.  Sunday was not quite as busy as Saturday, but we did rent 23 golf carts, nonetheless.

It took me most of the morning to get all 24 carts washed, and eventually staged for rental.  By 11:30 am we had rented 13 carts, and I had 10 more staged, which ended up being just exactly what we needed.  From about 11:30 to noon time I used compressed air to clear the grass off both of the Husqvarna mowers.  A lot of grass collects on top of the mowing decks when mowing, and it needs to be cleared before they are used again.  

I gave TLE her usual 90 minute lunch break, and then headed back to the 'Cart Return' area to begin washing/stowing more golf carts. By the time 3:30 rolled around I had managed to wash/stow 18 of the 23 rented carts.  I'll begin Sunday by washing the remaining 5....much better than 24...lol! In all I washed 42 golf carts Saturday.

I was very cold Sunday, and I'm not sure it got much above 62° F before the temps dove back into the high 50's.  I ended up wearing my hooded sweatshirt after lunch until I headed home at 3:30 pm.  Instead of taking a shower as I usually do, I changed clothes, sat down in my recliner, and took a nap.  When I awoke at 4:30 pm I took my shower, then headed down to the 'Night Office' to flip the sign, then back to the Clubhouse to join TLE and Claude for a seafood dinner courtesy Sunny's Likely Place Grill.  The dinner was by reservation only, and the restaurant was packed!  We sat eating shrimp and crab's legs, laughing, and talking until almost 8 pm before finally heading home for the evening.  I wish I had taken pictures.

As is our habit on work days, we were in bed by 9 pm....thanks for stopping by!

Four in a row.....

 5:54 am - Sunday - September 6th - LPG&RVR - 45° F, humidity 56%, cloud cover 70%, wind 13 mph out of the southwest.....cloudy today with a forecast high of 65° F.  On this date in 2014 TLE and I were serving as lighthouse docents at Cape Blanco, OR....

You can see a lit bulb, and one that is not....when one burns out the platform rotates to power up the standby bulb

....these are pictures of the amazing Fresnel Lens used to project a light beacon many miles out to sea.

TLE had volunteered to work for Kathie Smith (TLE shares the office job with her) so Kathie could attend a funeral down in Reno, so I had Saturday all to myself.  By 9 am I was watching NCAA College Football, and continued to do so throughout the day.  The temp at 8 am was around 38° F; too cold to do any work.  By 9 am it had warmed into the mid 40's so I began to reinstall the carpet, and wood trim around the toilet.  It took less than an hour....

....once that was done I pulled the throw rugs, shook them out, and then proceeded to sweep the entire coach free of the outdoor elements which had invaded our home over the past few days.  By 10 am I was done with my work for the day, and settled in to watch more college football.

TLE came home for her lunch break, and I returned to the Clubhouse with her to practice putting in preparation for the weekly putting contest.  Including Saturday (September 5th) there are just two Saturdays left to qualify for the final to be held on September 19th.  Every person who has placed first, or second during the summer in any given contest is eligible to putt on September 19th for the 2026 putting championship, and I had not yet been 'in the money', so to speak (finished 1st, or 2nd).  I've made the putting final all four previous years, and in fact, last year (2025) I was in the money five times, but this year I kept falling just short, so I spent a good hour putting; something I haven't done this summer.

I returned home around 2 pm, to continue watching more college football, and then around 3:50 pm returned to the Clubhouse to see what the 'fates' had in store for me.  There were 22, or 24 putters on this Saturday, and through 6 rounds I had not lost.  I lost the 7th round after leading 1-0 through three holes, but my opponent had a hole in one on the 4th, and 5th holes to edge me out.  I then went to the losers bracket to win my next 3 matches and get to the final against the only guy who had beaten me.  He promptly holed out on holes 1 and 2 to go up 2-0, and my fate was sealed.  I made all my second putts on the remaining 3 holes, but so did he.  Nevertheless, I finished 'in the money' in second place, and have now qualified for the final in two weeks.....whew, that was close!  On this day I putted well, and did not beat myself.  I was beaten by a guy who made 4 hole in ones in four consecutive holes against me (4  & 5 in first match, and then 1 & 2 in the second match).  I putted the best I have putted this year, but just lost to a guy on fire for four holes.

Thanks for stopping by!