'Wet Woody'

8:23 am - Thursday - Okay, order is restored.....I went to bed at 11 pm and woke up a few minutes ago.  The early morning chill has returned and I am wearing my slippers, which makes me happy. 

It's time for me to reveal what our 'change in course' is as we have made our decision and notified all the parties affected......first let me tell you how this change came about.  I believe I have mentioned previously that we had planned to work for Amazon.com once again, but this time at their Haslet, TX facility, which is quite new, utilizes robotics, and is one of their largest at over 1.5 million square feet.  We planned to arrive there October 27th and work the peak season until just before Christmas when Camperforce folks are normally released (December 22nd, or 23rd).  In our prior to Amazon.com experiences (Campbellsville, KY and Fernley, NV) we had nothing but wonderful experiences, great, timely communication, and no issues getting an RV site.  We always had the approved RV park list by March, or April of the year we were working.  In the case of the Haslet, TX Camperforce people we received confusing and contradictory communications from beginning to end.  Virtually all of our phone calls, and emails had no response.  We did not receive the approved RV park list until just 10 days ago.....in fact no one accepted to work at Haslet got that list until then.  The result was a flood of hundreds phone calls into the various RV parks within just hours of the release of the list.  We began calling the RV parks on the list within literally minutes of receiving the list.  I knew we had to get right on it due to the late distribution of the list.  None of the parks in decent driving distance of the facility (30 miles, or less) we contacted would guaranty us a site due to our arrival date being in late October.  We finally secured a reservation at Finish Line Campgrounds (Texas Motor Speedway) which is only 7 minutes away, and thought we were set.  Then, a week later we got an email from Amazon advising that Finish Line would not open this season at all, and we were back to square one.  By this time all the parks within 30 minutes were booked. 

This got us to thinking about staying on at TVC to work through late October/early November.....we talked with our boss, Robert, and he was delighted we were considering staying.  Usually we leave TVC just before, or after Labor Day.  So, in the end we decided to stick with the job we already have, and then spend 6 months traveling before returning to TVC next May.  I think, economically, we will end up at the same place without the 60+ minute round trip commute we would have had at Haslet.....feels like a 'win/win' for us.

We spent several hours watching a few women's Olympic soccer matches (the U.S. women won their first match 2-0 over New Zealand) before heading over to Riva Grill near Stateline for happy hour around 3:30 pm to meet friends from the park (Chuck, Kelly, Will, Sandra, Brad, Joyce, George, Dick, Kevin and Robin).  The specialty drink at Riva (on Ski Run Blvd. across the street from the lake) is called a 'Wet Woody'......a rum based drink which is like an adult 'slushy'.  Most everyone in the group ordered one, except for TLE, who always goes her own way, who ordered a Cosmopolitan.......

 The 'Wet Woody'

......we sat talking, laughing and enjoying the view of the lake for some two hours before heading back to TVC.  The folks we spent time with are all customers at TVC....they come every summer just after the 4th of July and leave late September/early October.  We have gotten to know them over the past 3 summers, and now have been included in their weekly 'Happy Hour' adventures......by the way.....I had two of the 'Wet Woodys' and loved them!  By the way, Riva is quite pricey.....4 drinks cost $33, but the company, view and drinks were well worth it.

The 'view' from Riva Grill

We arrived back at the coach around 6:15 pm, deployed the outdoor TV, and watched another women's soccer match between France and Columbia which had just started.  By 8 pm when the match ended the mosquitoes were beginning to bother us, so we headed in for the night to watch the current episode of Masterchef' before retiring for the evening around 11 pm.

Thanks for stopping by!

Travel code....

8:07 am - Wednesday - I know, right?  Why am I up so early?  I have no adequate answer except I just am.  The temperatures cooled off dramatically overnight.  For the first time in over a month the inside temperature got down to 64 F.....it has been hovering, overnight, around 70 for that same period of time.

Usually my neighbor John, a co-worker, picks up the cart TLE and I bring home each night and takes it back to the maintenance yard to plug it in, but John is off the same days we are, so around 10 am I drove it back to the maintenance yard, and our maintenance manager, Adam, gave me a lift back to our site.  By time I completed my blog post it was 11:30 am, so we decided we would head down to Carson City at 1 pm.  I drove the VW over to the maintenance yard to wash it for the first time in two weeks, and then returned to our site to vacuum it out.  By that time it was after 12:30 so I took a shower and was in the car with TLE by 1 pm!

Traffic driving through Stateline was obnoxious to say the least....usually we can leave TVC and be in Carson City in 40 minutes tops, but it took close to an hour due to the heavy Stateline traffic.  We stopped in at El Charro Avitia (Mexican) for lunch.....we have been going there for years when we are in the area, and unfortunately, for me, the food was just not up to par.  Nevertheless, we had a nice time chatting and relaxing until I gave my bank card to the waitress to pay the bill.....she came back saying the card had been declined........ 

......if you have been reading our blog for a while you know this happens at least once, or twice a year as we travel all the time.  Every once and a while the bank's software decides I am not where I am supposed to be and believes fraud is occurring thereby blocking my card.  I have to call their automated fraud line and verify it was, indeed, me using the card and that the charge was, indeed, mine.  After clearing the card I got back on the phone and called to talk directly to a customer service person to make sure it would not happen with TLE's card.....that took around 30 minutes of my life that I will never recover.  Apparently they now have the ability to add a 'travel code' to my account advising the computer we are in South Lake Tahoe until a time specific so this won't happen again until we begin to move again, then we'll have to get back on the phone and give them our new itinerary.....uggggh!

The rest of our shopping went fine with no more bank card issues.....we made our usual stops at Trader Joe's, Walmart and COSTCO....they are all within two blocks of each other so it is very handy.  We were back home by 4:30....again the traffic through Stateline was mind numbing.

The high in Carson City was 97, while the high in SLT was 82, but it was still feeling warm inside the coach when we returned so we turned on the AC for a couple of hours before opening up the windows and going outside for cocktail hour about 6:30, which evolved into a fireside chat.  The evening was delightful and we managed to burn a few logs from our enormous firewood collection.....

.....mind you, we have not purchased one stick of firewood this summer.....I just pick up what campers leave behind.  I keep telling myself to stop picking up the wood as I don't think we have a prayer of burning what we already have collected, but I have a problem....I just can't leave free firewood sitting there.

We headed inside just after 9 pm where we watched a recorded episode of "So You Think You Can Dance", then were in bed before midnight.

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Rhythms

10:13 am, Tuesday - Slept until 9:40 am.....the air feels much cooler this morning.  Had to wear a jacket again last night on my rounds.....a good sign of cooler weather approaching!

Apparently my blog post yesterday got my children wondering about what might be changing in our travel plans and my phone blew up with numerous texts within hours.  So they know what we are thinking about, but I'll hold the details in abeyance for a few more days until all the details are known and set.

Monday was just a sweet day.......we have made the transition from day to night, and are really settling into a good rhythm.  I drove over to Higher Ground Autoworx to settle up my bill with John, and we talked about some things that need to be fixed to bring the Beetle up to snuff, and I will take her back in on August 15th for the work to be done.  John has really become 'our' mechanic......we are so happy we found him two years ago when our water pump failed.  He specializes in VW, Mercedes, Volvo and really knows his stuff, plus we trust him implicitly.  

Once again our shift began at 3 pm, and as is our habit, we reported for work 10 minutes before the hour.  Once I was up to speed on the day's happenings I began my first round of the evening.....we only had one non-departure, which was remedied by extending his stay one more night.  In spite of our efforts the last two evenings to keep things quiet in sites 157 and 158, we got a noise complaint Monday morning about noise from those sites after 2 am......not cool.  With the permission of Victor, I drove over to the sites to talk with the folks whose names were on the reservation advising them that if we had any additional noise complaints from their site I would come one last time to warn them, and if it persisted they would be asked to leave TVC immediately, and if they refused we would call the El Dorado County Sheriff to assist in their removal.  We ended up having a good, respectful conversation and what do you know?  They were in bed a little after 10 pm with no late nigh revelry antics.  

However, we had a a noise complaint in site 104 to which I responded quickly to find loud talking, laughing, and loud music at 10:40 pm......I got them quieted down, and things remained that way the rest of the evening.  For the first time since we took over the night shift there were NO commodes to unclog, and we were able to finish our shift on time at 11:30 pm.

Since it was the last day of our 5 day work week we took a couple of hours to unwind before heading for bed just before 2 am.

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Course change.....

9:36 am - Monday - It doesn't feel like Monday to me, but I guess I will have to accept the empirical evidence of the calendar on the wall before me which says Monday, August 1st, 2016.  Wow, that means we have been traveling full time in our 1982 Newell for four years and six months now, and that we have been living in our Newell for five and one half years!  That also means we have been here at TVC for 3 months now.  It may seem trite for me to say each time we reach a milestone such as today, but it seems like we have always been living like this.  My memories of my former workaday, sticks and bricks life seem so fuzzy in retrospect.  When we embarked upon this nomadic journey we had one married child out of 5, and we had 4 grand children.  In the interim we now have three married children, 6 grand children, a great grand child, and a fourth child engaged to be married in October of 2017.  We have made many new friends over the last 5.5 years that I cannot imagine my life without.  We take life one day at a time, and make every effort to live in the moment.  We are not the same people who embarked somewhat uncertainly on this journey, and that is a good thing.  The journey has taught us a lot about how to live in a home with wheels, it has broadened our horizons, introduced us to a wide cross section of people, ideas, beliefs, and lifestyles to which we would never have been exposed if not for our choice to set out on this journey with a yet unknown destination.  I say often we go where the wind blows.  Just when we think we have settled on a plan miss serendipity comes knocking and the plan changes.  I used to struggle against her whims, but now I embrace them.  I wait expectantly for her occasional 'knock' on the door, and she has never disappointed.  She has knocked on our door once again and within a matter of days we will be changing course in the short term....until then I will leave you in suspense for just a little longer and get on with today's report about Sunday.....

On Sundays we report for duty at 3 pm and are off, God willing and the river don't rise, by 11:30 pm.  I spent the morning and early afternoon watching the final round of the PGA Championship at Baltusrol......Jason Day and Jimmy Walker kept us in suspense right until the end when Jimmy Walker eked out a 1 stroke victory at 14 under par to Jason Day's 13 under par.  I really did nothing else Sunday except watch the PGA.....well, I guess I did get the Windex out and cleaned the front of the fridge, as well as a few mirrors.

We reported to work at 2:56 pm, and were off by 11:44 pm.......by all standards it was a smooth evening with only a couple of minor bumps.  I made my rounds, found one customer who had not departed and finally bid them adieu a little after 6 pm.  There were a couple of clogged toilets, but I was able to bring them both into submission and restore service.  Had to talk once again with folks in Section G who apparently don't have watches as they continued to talk loudly until well after 10 pm.  We received no calls on the Ranger iPhone after hours, and were able to sleep in until after 9 am this morning.  It was just what a Sunday should be.

The day time high temperature was about 83 degrees, and it cooled off nicely by 5 pm.  We'll have a few more days in the low to mid 80's, then it will dip eventually back into the high 70's.  All in all we have both adjusted, at last, to the warmer temperatures, although we did have to run the AC for about 90 minutes before going to work.  We are both adjusting nicely to our new schedule and are gradually settling into new routines......life is good, and that is really what it is all about in the end, no?

Thanks for stopping by!

Dog days.....

10:05 am - Sunday - Slept in until 9:30 am, but didn't go to bed until 2:40 am.....wondering why?  Read on.....

Saturday was a very warm day so I didn't take an extended bike ride, however, I did ride to the TruValue Hardware store, and then took a separate ride over to Higher Ground Autoworx to pick up the VW.  By the time I returned with the car TLE had turned on the AC for which I was grateful....it was only just noon time.  I know...I know....I fuss about the heat, but I am grateful we are spending the summer at 6,300' elevation where you can count the number of 90+ degree days each summer on one hand.  It does, however, feel as if we are in the midst of the 'Dog Days of Summer'.

I had planned to spend copious amounts of time watching the 3rd round of the 98th edition of the PGA Championship, however, it rained at Baltusrol (near Sprinfield, NJ) most of the day so play was suspended until Sunday when many of the golfers will have to play 36 holes of golf.

We arrived to begin our 'night shift' around 3:20 and within minutes were into the flow of the afternoon.  I could already feel a coolness in the air that had not been there the past two afternoons.  I might add that even though I have had my jacket with me the past 3 nights I have not worn it once.......the night air is quite pleasant this time of year even at midnight.

By 5:30 I was already asking folks to turn the volume down on their music.....when I can hear their music 4-5 sites away it's obviously too loud.  Most everyone cooperated, however there were a couple who would turn it back up after I left, which required me to turn around and revisit the issue with the recalcitrants.  Yeah, go ahead and challenge me and I'll be on you like white on rice.

We had a wedding reception in our large movie/music tent that went right up to 10 pm, which is the beginning of our 'Quiet Hour', and they were extremely cooperative when reminded that 10 pm was approaching at 9:45 pm.  By 5 after 10 they had retired to their sites for the night at which time I made my 'Quiet Hour' rounds asking folks to turn down the volume on their conversations, and turn off any music.  Once again I had a couple of sites where they resisted my suggestion, and had to return several times to get them to shut off the music, and in one case stop chopping wood at 11:15 pm.  Having to revisit these noisy sites put me behind and I didn't get to the janitorial part of my job (sweeping, vacuuming and mopping the store/office/lounge areas), which meant TLE and I didn't begin our final bathroom rounds until almost midnight.  There were several stubborn commodes which resisted my efforts to unclog them.....maintenance will have to escalate the unclogging efforts using plumber's 'snake' Sunday morning.

We punched the clock around 12:25 pm and were almost back to the coach when I got a call from our assistant manager, Victor, advising he had a noise complaint call and would we respond....."Of course" I replied.  We were directed to site 446 where we encountered 4 extremely intoxicated individuals (3 males and a female) who were playing music, talking and laughing quite loudly.  After spending about 15 minutes urging and cajoling them to go to bed they finally relented and crawled into their tents where I am sure they passed out quite suddenly.

We had been home for about an hour when the Ranger iPhone rang at 2:22 am with another noise complaint......this time in site 347 (another tent site).  TLE came with me as we drove the cart over to site 347 to encounter loud music, loud talking, loud laughing and many intoxicated individuals.  TLE asked to take the lead and walked into the site telling asking them to turn off the music, and go to bed, which they promptly did......maybe she has more charm than I, hmmmm?

We decided to made another quick round of the entire park to be sure nothing else was brewing that might draw us back into the early morning air, returning to the coach around 2:40 am, and in bed shortly thereafter.  Thankfully this type of night has been atypical of our experience so far.

Thanks for stopping by!

The Rubicon....

9:47 am - Saturday - Slept in until 9:15 this morning.....so quiet last night!  Another warm day on tap.....I don't think it has rained in 6 weeks, and we could use some to knock the dust down.

As you know from reading yesterday's daily missive I was up way too early, and ended up taking at least one 1 hour nap, and a couple of shorties.  I drove the VW over to Higher Ground Autoworx for our yearly oil change and checkup around 10, and rode my bicycle back to the coach.....it's only a little over 1 mile to Higher Ground.  

We continue to receive praise from our coworkers about the work we are doing on the night shift getting the office/store/lounge mopped and cleaned for the day shift, and TLE's work at getting all the accounts balanced, and the remainder of the problems remaining from the day shift solved is greatly appreciated.  John, our pool guy, loves finding the pool clear and clean each morning, and we 'hear' that the noise at night has been at a minimum since we took over the night shift duties.

Everyone who has worked the night shift says the same thing......they don't like the first two hours, but by 5:30 things begin to settle down, and that is my take also.  From 5:30 on things calm down and the whole atmosphere is more laid back.  Friday night is either movie night, or live music night and this week it was movie night.  We featured 'Kung Fu Panda'.....we have a requirement that every adult must be chaperoned by a child.

Around 9 pm, just after Heather and I had completed our bathroom inspection round, at least 8 RV's accompanied by trucks, trailers, Jeeps, etc. suddenly arrived completely clogging up our entrance.  I was helping Heather breakdown the audio/visual equipment from the movie showing and was caught off guard......so many RV's arriving that late at night is very unusual.  By the time I got out to the entrance the RV's were lined up almost to Melba Drive.  I was able to quickly send two of them directly to their sites, and then close up the line thereby opening up the traffic lane again within a few minutes.  This large group comes every year to run the Rubicon Trail in their heavily modified Jeeps.  Fortunately all their sites were in our pull through section (sites 101-111) and I was able to get them all in without dropping their long trailers....some of them were 70' long (RV and Jeep trailer) and were essentially parked 'asphalt to asphalt' barely getting their long rigs off the pavement.  Within 30 minutes all the excitement settled down, and things got back to normal.  TLE handled the onslaught of people in the office smoothly and efficiently which really helped me outside.

I had more than my fair share of clogged toilets Friday night......some of them.....well, you can guess.....are just disgusting.  I just close my eyes and start plunging.  Most of the clogs can be fixed with just a couple of hard plunges using the PLUNGER, but some require up to a dozen before they disappear into sewer land.

TLE and I locked the office doors about 11:30, set the alarm and went on the last bathroom check run of the evening where I continued to encounter more than my fair share of clogs.  We clocked out just after midnight with all bathrooms stocked with TP and paper towels, and all toilets running clear and clean.  We were home relaxing by 12:15 am.

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Clogging......

7:29 am - Friday - I'm up way too early, but "c'est la vie".....there are always naps.  Now, if I can just get my brain working while the broadband is still fast.......the last two weeks the Verizon broadband has stunk here in SLT.  There are just too many people here (SLT) and the local cell towers are overwhelmed.....it works pretty well after 10 pm and before 8 am, but from 8 am until 10 pm at night it stinks.

Thursday the high got to 89 again....I got a late start (10:30 am) on my 21 mile bike ride and by the time I returned it was getting quite warm.  We turned the AC on by 12:30 pm and it was on until we left for work at 3:20 pm.  The temperatures will begin to GRADUALLY cool off over the next 10 days getting back down to 80 by August 11th, so we are in for mid to high 80's for the next week and may get into the high 70's a couple of days through the end of August.  As always, this is the warmest time of year here in SLT.  Down in Carson City it is over 107 each day, so I really have little to complain about, right?

At any rate, I took the aforementioned bike ride doing my 21 mile loop out to the end of the Emerald Bay Road bike path, then picked up the bike path that runs along Lake Tahoe Blvd. and Sawmill finishing up my ride heading west on US-50.  Other than the bike ride my only other ambition for the day was to rest up for our night shift.  Starting at 3:30 pm puts us right in the middle of the highest temperatures for the day, and until after 7 pm it was pretty miserable outside. Of course TLE was inside the office/store where the evaporative cooler keeps things bearable.

My shift began helping a customer move from one site to another as he believed the low voltage (109 volts) was causing his 'transfer switch' to shut off electrical power to his coach.  At the new site he had 50 amp service and 120 volts, but the problem persisted, so we concluded the problem was his transfer switch failing.  Naturally, on hot days most everyone in the park with AC is using it and that can cause a voltage drop especially in our older 30 amp grid in Section G.

I spent the entire shift running from one thing to the next......clogged toilets (there were many), quick set up for karaoke night (all the chairs were stacked and had to be deployed in rows), site encroachment complaints and on it went.  All that being said, I still prefer the night shift, especially since it only gets cooler throughout my shift, not hotter, and it gets more laid back.  We are seeing large turnovers each day now.....a hundred or more departures and the same for arrivals.  This is the hectic part of the summer, but it will begin to slow down in about 10 days.....just about the time the weather begins to cool once again.

We 'ran' the restrooms (checked them for adequate paper towels, TP and clogs) around 11:30 pm, and clocked out just before midnight.......I had to take care of 3 more clogged toilets.....yuk!

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