TVC - Day 63 - Going postal

Just like the U.S. Mail, the RV's just keep coming......hour after hour, day after day....we are in full on summer vacation mode here at TVC.....

Just like the mail they keep on coming!

.....a site is vacated and within an hour another RV arrives to takes its place.....they arrive by the hundreds each day ready to squeeze every millisecond out of every day going, doing, seeing, experiencing all that is Lake Tahoe.  They may be here for a few days, or weeks, but at the end they all have that glazed look in their eyes that comes from squeezing way to much activity, and too little sleep into too small a window of time.  But, that is all they have known their entire workaday life.....that is how their parents did it, and their grand parents did it.  They don't yet know there is a better way, although they suspect deep in their hearts there is.

Real Saturday broke clear, but the cold brought in by the recent front lingered well into the day necessitating that I wear my jacket most of the day......that's okay by me as long as there is no more rain.....at least for the near future.

All of those on my departure last had departed by Noon so it was a matter of keeping watch over the entrance to the park to be sure the RV line did not get too long.....periodically I would get called away to deal with a vehicle being parked in the wrong site and blocking the ingress of an arriving customer, or a circuit breaker tripping, or a customer complaining about the volume of a nearby radio.  For the most part, though, I spent the balance of my day sitting in my cart near the entrance sending folks to their sites, and answering questions about Lake Tahoe. 

I was off work by 3:30, and TLE followed shorty thereafter at 4 pm.....we sat outside for the first time in days enjoying the somewhat balmy late afternoon air and listening to XM Radio (Sixties on 6) and watching Stage 8 of the Le Tour de France (muted, of course).....life continues to be good.

We spent the evening reading.....I finished the 18th book in the Dave Robicheaux series by James Lee Burke....two to go.  This is the first series of books I have ever read that covers a person's life (fictional) over a 5 decade span.  For me reading these novels has been quite enjoyable.

Thanks for stopping by!

TVC - Day 62 - Listing

I haven't written out my own 'honey do' list for a long time, but there were a few things I had been meaning to take care of for a few weeks, and a couple of routine things that I had to write down, or I would forget again to do them.  #1 - For a while now the face plate on our soft soap/hair shampoo dispenser kept falling off every time I pressed one of the buttons....that was number one to fix.  I would promise myself as I was getting out of the shower that I would glue it as soon as things dried out, and then would forget again until my next shower.

#2 - Air up the coach.....whenever it gets cold we lose some air, and instead of starting the big Detroit Diesel I just hook up my 'pancake' compressor to the quick connect air chuck in the engine compartment and air the system up again.....we've been here two months and this is the 4th time I've had to do that, but the first time in 3 weeks as it has been warmer until a week ago.

#3 - Dump the black tank as I won't have time for another week.  Then there was #4 - Caulk the shower.......that is another thing I kept forgetting to do each time I got out of the shower I would let things dry out, and then would forget to follow through.  That is now done along with the repair of the dispenser.....finally!

Last, but not least, #5......Tighten the base of the toilet....I had been noticing that there was a slight 'rock' to the toilet and knew what needed to be done, but would forget as soon as I would leave the bathroom.....a few twists of the two nuts that secure the toilet in place and all is well again.

With the list out of the way I headed over to a local Smog Check place to get the VW smogged so I can, in turn, get the 2016 tag for the license plate, but that endeavor was unsuccessful as I need to take it to a "Gold Star" location, and the nearest one is in Placerville.  Since I am going back to SoCal in a few days I called my mechanic down there (Joel's Automotive) and made arrangements to get it done on Thursday afternoon.  From there I headed over to Napa Auto to see if they sell the large 8D battery I need to replace the one starter battery that went bad in Bishop, CA back in early May on our way up to SLT.  They do have them in stock for $199 plus tax and they agreed to deliver the new battery to my coach and pick up the dead one....I'll take care of that early next week before we leave for SoCal.

I managed to get back on my bike for the first time since it nearly bit off the tip of my finger on my ride around the lake.  I decided to just ride up to the end of the bike path and back making for a nice 11 mile round trip ride.  It's still a little awkward to grip the handle bars, but things are getting better.  Another sign things are getting better is I can now type pretty normally once again.

Around 4:15 pm we headed over to Coldwater Brewery to meet up with our college friend, Terri....she lives near Reno and offered to drive up to SLT for an early dinner, so we decided on Coldwater for dinner.  TLE and I shared the Salmon dinner, and I added a Caesar salad as a side....the salmon and salad were exceptional, and, of course, the brews were great too.    We agreed to meetup with Terri again at Squaw valley in 3 weeks to go riding along the Truckee river.

Oh, and by the by......it did not rain Friday!!!

Well, it's back to work Saturday, but it was a nice, relaxing, rejuvenating two days.....thanks for stopping by!

TVC - Day 61 - The only difference....

Thursday it rained at TVC on and of most of the day and into the evening.....the only difference was that we were somewhere else.....it was raining there also, but we were somewhere else!  Don't get me wrong.....I love TVC, but after 12 straight days of work, and only leaving the campground one time to go out for dinner I was ready for some different scenery, and so was TLE.

The last day we left the Tahoe Basin was May 28th......exactly 5 weeks ago.....that was when I got my last haircut, and I was definitely getting shaggy, so a trip to Carson City was definitely in order.  We exited TVC in the Beetle a little after 10 am to drive over Spooner Summit and down to Carson City to spend the day shopping, getting a haircut, and consuming large quantities of El Charro Avitia's Mexican fare.

Our first stop was Supercuts to get my ears lowered (whilst I was getting a trim, TLE ran over to Big Lots to buy a few kitchen items).  There were no other customers just shy of 11 am, so I was in and out in less than 15 minutes.  Then it was off to one of our favorite Goodwill stores for some 'junking'.......TLE found a skirt ($4.99), and I another t-shirt ($3.99), but that was the extent of our purchases.  As we headed back to the aforementioned El Charro Avitia's for lunch the Carson Valley skies opened up with another deluge which followed all the way to our destination.  Yelp only gives them 3 stars, but for us their menu hits all our buttons......they serve one of my favorite 'Huevos Rancheros' anywhere, and I savored every single bite while sipping slowly from my 22 ounce draft Dos Equis brew.  We exited the comfortable confines of  El Charro's an hour later to find it still gently raining.

Our next most necessary stop was Trader Joe's where we resupplied our wine stocks, and a few other staples that we prefer to buy at TJ's, then it was on to Costco to resupply our coffee bean, cheese, and Jose Cuervo pre-mixed Margaritas inventory.

As we crossed back over Spooner Summit into the Tahoe Basin we caught a glimpse of Lake Tahoe and knew we were back home once again....

.....no matter how many times I see this view I never forget the first time back in 1954.....the wonderful memories of spending two weeks on the shores of Lake Tahoe every summer come flooding back and remind me why we are spending the entire summer here for the second year in a row.

I dropped TLE off at the coach with our purchases, and headed back out to visit our VW mechanic, John, at 'Higher Ground Autoworx' over on Eloise to make an appointment to get my oil changed and have the car inspected prior to our 1,000 mile round trip drive down to SoCal next Thursday.  As I walked in John remembered me from last summer....even remembered my name (first and last).....pretty impressive.  I made an appointment for next Wednesday to bring the car in, and then a second one for early August to have the turbo replaced.....it has been in the beginning stages of failure since last year, and we want to get it replaced before it fails.  Right now it is fine as long as we don't push it too hard.  He also gave me a referral to a local Smog Check station to get my current smog certification which I'll take care of Friday (today).  I wrote about our first experience with John here.

The last task of the day was to fill up the Beetle's gas tank with premium unleaded, which I did at Raley's using one of our 50 cents off coupons to get the fuel for $2.79/gallon....the last time we filled up was 5 weeks ago....yup, not doing much driving this summer!

Just after I returned home the rain returned once again, and the electric heaters game on once again......it drizzled and rained the rest of the afternoon and into the evening.

Thanks for stopping by!

TVC - Day 60 - More rain? Why not?

I usually look forward to Wednesdays here at TVC.....it is, after all, our Friday......and after 11 straight work days I was really looking forward to this specific Wednesday.  Wednesdays tend to be easy days....activity here at TVC is at a minimum....and then there are the two days off that follow which make it even sweeter.

The forecast was for more afternoon thunder showers, and the morning air was cooler than normal with a projected high in the low 60's so I wore a jacket to work, which I never took off.......well, yes I did take it off, but only to put on my rain parka as the rain approached.  Morning rounds went quickly, and just as forecast the thunder showers arrived in force just before noon time just as I was transitioning to my rain gear.  I was able to complete my second round of site checks in spite of the rain, and by 1:30 all but two departures had departed.

It continued to rain the rest of the afternoon, and when some of the thunder seemed a little too close I headed indoors for the balance of my shift......TLE was scheduled to work the desk until 5, but I was done for the day at 3 pm and headed home to change out of my slightly damp clothing into dry clothing, turn on the replay of the 5th stage of the Tour d' France, turn on the heater and catch a couple of cat naps in the process.....pretty much the perfect way to spend a rainy afternoon!

TLE was home just after 5 pm having logged 101.5 hours over the past 12 days.....I totalled 84 hours....it will be a nice payday next Wednesday.  Just in case you are interested we get paid every other Wednesday here at TVC....TLE and I opted for direct deposit via ADP this summer....much more convenient!  Also, we have been told that there may be an increase in pay for returning employees next summer above the current $9/hour minimum wage we currently receive.  Even before we heard that news we had decided to return for one more summer, but just as this year, this will be the only job we work during the year.

We watched 'Masterchef', and were in bed by 10.....we are off to Carson City Thursday for a day of haircuts, shopping, junking and just plain relaxing.....yay for us!

Thanks for stopping by!

TVC - Day 59 - Monsoonal

We're back in one of those stretches where it is cold and rainy almost every day....each day begins with some sun and scattered clouds, but by early afternoon it gets cold and eventually the rain arrives....sometimes it's a 'toad strangler' like Monday, and sometimes it's a gentle rain like Tuesday.  It makes me so glad I live in an RV and not in a tent.  Last year after May we had rain once, or twice but this summer has been much wetter than 2014, which I guess is a good thing for SLT since we are in the middle of a horrific drought, but all things being equal I would prefer it be a little dryer.

Tuesday was also 11th straight day reporting for work, but it was also our shortest work day of the stretch (6 hours) as we were both off by 2:15.  The day itself was very quiet, and all but three of our departing customers were out of their sites by 11 am.  The work to remove all the trash left by our 4th of  July customers continues unabated, and we should have the remaining sites cleaned by Wednesday, or Thursday.

I'm looking at today's blog title (TVC - Day 59) and can hardly believe it has been almost 60 days since we arrived, and we still have almost as long to go before we head northwest to Oregon.

Well, that's it....I have no great insights to share about Tuesday...my mind is kind of on overload from 11 straight days....

Thanks for stopping by!

TVC - Day 58 - 'Normalish'

Monday 'was' the day I was to have the 7 sutures removed from my badly lacerated left hand middle finger.....the operative word is 'was'.  After completing my morning  rounds I headed for Barton Urgent care about 11 am.  After inspecting and removing 5 of the sutures the doctor decided to leave the last 2 in place as that area was not stable enough to remove them, so I will have to return on Thursday to have my digit reinspected.  I had to agree with her as I wasn't sure they were ready to come out either.

After getting a quick lunch at home I was back on the job by 1 pm 'guarding' the entry to the park and sending new arrivals directly to their sites.....I think that regardless of how many arrivals we have on a given day that our policy now is to send folks to their sites first, and then have them come in later to register.....it just seems to create a much better work flow for the office, and keeps the main entrance from becoming a parking lot.

After the departure of another 80 sites on Monday the park is back to what I would call 'normal'.  I clocked out at 5 pm, and headed for home with TLE just a few minutes behind.  We decided a visit to 'Classic Cue' for a pitcher of 'Downtown Brown' and fish tacos was in order.  While we sat there unwinding the skies opened up and it poured cats and dogs for about 30 minutes replete with all the requisite thunder and lightning......

Only two days left on our marathon 12 days in a row before we have two days off, and a week from this Thursday we drive down to SoCal for the wedding of my brother's daughter, Danielle, and a 4 day mini vacation.

Thanks for stopping by!

TVC - Day 57 - Aftermath

There is a darkside to campground operation, and it becomes easier to understand why many RV parks do not allow tenters as a policy.  98% of tenters clean up after themselves and leave their campsite almost as good as they found it....that's no problem...we expect to do a little cleanup. It's the 2% that ruin it for everyone else.....and the 2% were representing with gusto Sunday as we began to deal with the aftermath of the long holiday weekend.

How many bottle caps can you count?

 There is no way to take a picture that fully embraces the amount of garbage left behind.

In all we had just under 200 departures Sunday, partially offset by the 55 arrivals.  The relief we all felt as the campground emptied out was palpable, and then, of course, dealing with the aftermath of those who show no respect for your facility by using their site as a garbage pale....I'm talking about dumping unused food in the back of your campsite....watermelon rinds, green beans, cheese, spaghetti, avocados, fruit, cooked ribs, chicken left on the grills, etc.....disgusting!  Bottle caps, water bottles, soda bottles, pop tops, dental floss, candy wrappers, cigarette butts......not just a few here and there, but sometimes piles.  In most cases the dumpster was less than 10 seconds away......sorry for the post holiday rant....I feel much better now.

TLE and I were off by 3:30 and ensconced in our lounge chairs by 4 pm to watch the Women's World Cup final between the USA and Japan.  Four years ago we also played Japan in the final, and the match was tied 0-0 at the end of 90 minutes, and was still tied 0-0 at the end of 30 minutes of overtime, and went to 'kicks from the mark' to decide the winner.  We lost, and it was devastating as we had dominated the game, but just could not put the ball in the back of the net.  In Sunday's final the USA scored their first goal 3 minutes after the match began...Carli Lloyd scored goal number one.....by the 15 minute mark Carli had scored her third goal.....a 54 yard shot that went over the goalkeepers head......and the score was 4-0!  The final score as the final whistle sounded was 5-2, which included an 'own goal' by the USA.....let the celebrations begin!  USA!  USA!  USA!

We capped off our evening watching recorded episodes of 'Last Ship' and 'Fallling Skies' and were in bed a little after 10, but that was not the end of my day.  About 11 pm I was awakened by loud laughing and yelling, which did not abate, but only got worse.  I finally had to get dressed and walk 7 sites down to the tent area to quiet the dozen, or so folks gathered there who could not have cared less that they were disturbing the peace of their neighbors.  I called in the overnight Ranger (Merlin - retired law enforcement) to hold a 'coming to Jesus' meeting with them, and order was restored........tenters........hmmmmm.

Thanks for stopping by.....