Solstice time.....

5:52 am - Saturday - June 22nd - LPG&RVR - 52° F, humidity 56%, wind zero mph out of the east.....crystal clear, blue, sunny skies today with a forecast high of 94° F.  On this date in 2022 TLE and I were heading home from Surprise Valley Hot Springs in Cedarville, CA and caught a view of Mt. Shasta in the distance....

We staged another 20 golf carts to begin Friday, and ultimately rented 24.  It has been a busy week at LPG&RVR.  Once again I was greeted by copious amounts of goose/duck leavings at the tee boxes for the third hole.  I don't think it was this bad this late in June last year.  I also raked all four sand traps.  All the while I was doing that I had the irrigation going at the Night Office, which required numerous trips by me to move the sprinklers throughout the day.  I think we've finally caught up with the watering there as there are just a few small brown patches left now.

It just occurred to me that I failed to remark about the the summer solstice, which came and went yesterday, or the day before, so the days will be getting shorter for the rest of the summer. The sun is setting at 8:39 pm now, but before you know it will be setting before 8 pm.  Time is marching ever onward.

We had a high temperature Friday of 90° F, and today, Saturday, it will be 95°, the hottest day this week.  I'm surprised at how well I'm handling the heat this summer.  Maybe it's because I continue to lose weight.  I kind of leveled out at 184 for a couple of weeks, but I'm on the move again, and down to 182 now.  My goal of 177 is just 5 pounds away now....I can't believe it.

After giving TLE her lunch break I mounted the 2 bag Husqvarna to do my weekly mowing around the tee boxes for which I am responsible.  I was only gone a tad over an hour.  When I left there were two golf carts in the CART RETURN area, but when I returned there were 18....doh!  I really don't like to tackle that many at one time, but it was what is was.  They were parked all the way across the parking lot almost to the dumpster, so I had to quickly rearrange them into three rows to clear the parking lot.  Within an hour I had them washed, and mostly put away for the night.  By the time I headed home around 3:30 pm there were still 4 outstanding.

Saturday is the annual tournament benefiting the Likely Volunteer Fire Department, so it will crazy around here all day.  Time to get those carts staged for the tournament.  Have a great day, and I will 'see' you tomorrow.

Thanks for stopping by!

Getting busy.....

5:50 am - Friday - June 21st - LPG&RVR - 49° F, humidity 57%, wind 1 mph out of the northeast.....crystal clear, blue, sunny skies today with a forecast high of 90° F.  On this date in 2020 we were overnighting at the Cabela's in Billings, MT.....

 The first day back at work after a long 4 day weekend is always a little tough, but I get into the flow pretty quickly.  It was to be a busy day, as Thursdays mean the driving range must be cleared of balls, and there had been a lot of people hitting balls since it was cleared on Monday, however, nothing can be done about that until 11 am, as that is the earliest we can close the range.  Once it is closed at 11 am, it doesn't reopen until 2 pm, giving DeWayne time to mow it.

On my first round of the course I found the goose/duck leavings have increased to levels not seen in a couple of weeks....doh!  I thought we were past this, but apparently I was premature in my expectations.  I also raked all four sand traps before returning to the Clubhouse.

Once there I turned the irrigation down at the Night Registration office lawn, and at the large grass area by site #30.  I don't think the water is on long enough at that grass area when it is watered automatically during the night.  I left those sprinklers on for 3 hours, so I hope that will be enough to get it green once again.

The group occupying the small pavilion left around 10:15 am, so I quickly retrieved the 3 bag Husqvarna, and mowed it.  We should have a new group arriving on Friday.  After that I headed out to the driving range to begin picking up the balls on the edges where the ball picker doesn't work too well.  By 11 am I closed the range, and hooked up our Club Car utility cart to the ball picker and began clearing the range.  I finished right at 12 pm, just in time for TLE to take her lunch break.

After lunch I moved the sprinklers down at the Night Registration office a few times, then turned off the sprinklers at the large aforementioned grass area by site #30.  I retrieved a Stihl string trimmer and did a little weed abatement around the Night Registration office for good measure.

By the time I finished with the weed abatement carts were beginning to return, and I spent the balance of the afternoon washing, and stowing almost 30 carts.....we rented all but 5 of our carts on Thursday....a good day for LPG&RVR.  In between each wave of carts returning I put on my marshaling hat and made a round of the course.  Had to caution some folks on hole #16 for playing with 5 people....we do not allow more than a foursome on each fairway.

Upon my return to the Clubhouse I found another 8 carts ready for their spa treatment, and as I washed those more returned.  By the end of my shift at 3:30 pm all but 3 carts had returned, so I'll have them to wash Friday morning.  We'll be putting close to 30 carts out on Friday, and probably all of our carts on Saturday as the annual Likely Volunteer Fire Department Tournament is scheduled.

TLE was home by 5:20 pm....she drove herself home in one of the carts that didn't return until after I went home.  The park is about 90% full as I write, and will edge up to 100% by the 4th of July weekend, so we will be extra busy for the next 2 weeks for sure.

Thanks for stopping by!

The test......

5:53 am - Thursday - June 20th - LPG&RVR - 44° F, humidity 48%, wind 1 mph out of the east by northeast.......crystal clear, blue, sunny skies today with a forecast high of 85° F.  On this date in 2021 TLE and I were helping wash the outside of the home of the owner of Seal Rocks RV Cove in Seal Rock, OR....

 I had an appointment to play a round of golf with Mower Mike (Mike Picot) and John Benner at 11:30 am.  Mike mows the fairways on Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays, so he is off Wednesdays.  John is one of the permanent residents here, but also consults on some of the big jobs done here each summer.  But, I get ahead of myself.

TLE and I took our 4th two mile out and back walk of our 4 day weekend averaging 3.2 mph for the course....

.....we were back from the walk around 10:30 am, at which time I did my workout to stretch out my back for the upcoming 18 holes of golf.  I've only played 20 holes so far this season, so playing 18 in one day was going to be the ultimate test of how well my lower back is doing.

After getting my back limber I headed over to the Clubhouse around 11 am to hit a few balls, and I mean a FEW. I didn't want to overextend my back before I even began playing the round.  Just wanted to be sure I could hit my driver, fairway woods, and a couple of irons.  After 10 balls I was happy with the results and headed to the first tee to meet Mike and John.

It was to be one of those days when one part of my game was working as well as it ever has, and that was off the tee.  I managed to hit 14 fairways with my driver....something I have never done, even when I was in my 20's and 30's.  They weren't always long, but they were straight, and a few went over 200 yards.  Wow....that was unexpected!  By the way, since last season I've been playing from the yellow tees, which are the shortest ones.  On Wednesday I played from the red tees for the first time since our first season here, so I am hitting the ball off the tee al little further than I have in the past.  I did manage to hit 2 of the 4 par 3's in regulation, too.

The rest of my game was kind of spotty, but I did manage to par 4 holes, and had a bunch of bogey holes, but there were a few where the score really mushroomed....lol.  I did hit my #7 fairway wood very consistently, also.  By the last 7 holes I was putting much better, and made a few long range putts to secure a par, and a couple of bogeys that could easily have been double, or triple bogeys.

The big news, however, is that I never thought of my back for one second over the four hours we played.  It did not bother me at all. In fact, as I sit here typing this morning I only have a little stiffness, but no pain.  That is a first for me.  It's been over 2.5 months since my fall at GNHS in early April, but I think my back is officially better, and I can begin to play golf more frequently than I have thus far this season.

We finished our round at 3:30 pm, bid our adieus, and headed for our respective homes.  TLE was busy in the kitchen when I arrived.  She also had a nice 'Clarke free afternoon', which she says she enjoyed, but I know she missed me....lol!

Well, it's the beginning of another four day work week, which will see us working Thursday through Sunday.  The temps are getting back into the 80's, and it appears we'll see some temps in the 90's over the next week.  Summer is finally here to stay....I think!

Thanks for stopping by!

Resurrected.....

8:58 am - Wednesday - June 19th - LPG&RVR - 62° F, humidity 21%, wind 1 mph out of the northeast....crystal clear, blue, sunny skies today with a forecast high of 81° F.  On this date in 2015 TLE and I summited the 9,735' Mt. Tallac at South Lake Tahoe, CA.....

It was another cold morning Tuesday, and we didn't get out to do our 2 mile out and back walk until after 10 am.  We're getting consistent in our average speed hitting 3.3 mph once again....

....I originally had a haircut appointment for Wednesday at 9:30 am, however, I wanted to change it to Tuesday afternoon if possible, so I called Sheila at Kaleidescope to see what she could do.   She had a cancellation just before I called for her 1:30 pm slot, so I gladly took that.  We were in the VW just before 1 pm driving into Alturas.  We got to town around 1:10 pm, so went to do our Rite Aid shopping first, which didn't take long.  We returned to Kaleidescope at exactly 1:30 pm, and 20 minutes later I had paid, and we were out the door on our way to Holiday Market for our weekly shopping.  Amazingly, we were home just before 2:30 pm!

I wanted to finish resurrecting Kathy's bike, so I changed clothes and headed out to the trailer to do just that.  When I left off I needed to remove the wheel axles, clean the races, and repack the wheel bearings with grease....here is what they looked like before.....

.....pretty crusty, right?  It took me the better part of an hour, but in the end they looked almost brand new when I finished.....

....all that remained was to reinstall the wheels on the bicycle, then the chain, which went pretty quickly.  It was the adjustment of the brakes that took most of the time, and that took another hour, or so, but I finally go them working properly.  In all I spent around 5 hours on this bike, and enjoyed every minute of it.  The gears shift smoothly, and the brakes stop on a figurative dime....you don't really want to stop that fast, or you might go over the handlebars....lol!....

....by the time I finished it was almost 5 pm, so I took a shower, then turned on the Sea-B-Que in preparation for the grilling of a New York steak we bought at COSTCO a long time ago.  We ate on the 'dining/gaming deck', and then played 6 games of Yahtzee.....

....I emerged the victor winning four of six games in this game which is based on 100% luck....lol.  By the time we headed indoors for the evening it was after 8 pm.  What a nice day!

Thanks for stopping by!

Another resurrection.....

7:47 am - Tuesday - June 18th - LPG&RVR - 48° F, humidity 50%, wind 1 mph out of the northeast......crystal clear, blue, sunny skies today with a forecast high of 73° F.  On this date in 2020 TLE and I were standing at the 45th parallel....half way between the equator and the north pole.....very cold....3 years earlier we stood at the same location, and it was very hot....

 The temperatures plunged back into the low 60's Monday, with the early morning low temp in the high 30's.  We didn't even venture outdoors until 10 am to take our second 2 mile out and back walk of the weekend.....how cold was it?......

.....yes, that cold....look at TLE....lol.....our pace, which coincided with the temperature was a brisk 3.3 mph......

....I'm pretty sure if TLE had really known how cold the walk would be she would have declined to walk until much later in the morning, but once committed she soldiered onward.

I was planning on golfing Monday, but with the constant breeze of 10 mph forecast for all day long, plus the wind chill factor, I opted to spend my time working around site #55.  Since we haven't used the 'viewing deck' one time this summer, and it appeared we would not be using it at any time in the near future, I moved the 5' x 7' piece of artificial turf over to the BBQ table area....

....I think the addition of the 'viewing deck' turf makes the BBQ station look much more inviting and useable.

A couple of weeks ago Kathy (office Kathy) asked if I would tune up a used bicycle she recently acquired, and I agreed.  I love bringing non functional bicycles back to life, and this bike was truly non functional.  The derailleurs were frozen in place so the shifters could not shift, the pedals would not turn, the bearings in the wheel axles were very stiff making it difficult to turn them, and the chain was very rusty.  Yup, you're right....a great candidate for a bicycle resurrection.....

....I spent about 2 hours taking the bike apart, and removing the chain so it could be soaked in WD-40 overnight.  I was able to get both derailleurs working and shifting again, and the pedals turning freely.  All that remains is to remove the wheel axles, and bearings, clean them, then regrease them, reassemble them, and the bicycle will be functional once again.  This is just an inexpensive Huffy bicycle, but I believe all bikes deserve a second life, and I love being the one to give this one that second life.  It's the first time I've had my Park bike stand out of its stowed position at the rear of the trailer since we arrived at LPG&RVR in early April.  If you have been following my blog for any period of time you know I love wrenching on bicycles, and have pretty much every tool needed to do so.  I've resurrected quite a few bikes in the 12+ years we've been living our nomadic life.

By the time I reached a stopping point with the bike it was after 4 pm, and it was getting cold again, so I closed up shop, and headed back to the warm confines of the Newell salon for the evening.

Thanks for stopping by!

Fathers Day.....

7:39 am - Monday - June 17th - LPG&RVR - 42° F, humidity 59%, wind 10 mph out of the north by northwest......partly cloudy today with a forecast high of 64° F.  On this date in 2020 TLE and I were dry camping on the banks of the Yellowstone River next to Yellowstone Hot Springs....love that place.....

 Other than the 2 mile out and back walk TLE and I took around 9:30 am Sunday I did not leave site #55 all day.  We managed a respectable 3.3 mph on our walk, then settled in to watch the fourth round of the US Open.  I set up the outdoor TV on the 'lido deck', turned on the TV on the 'dining/gaming deck', and the TV in the trailer.....

It was only 57° F at 9:30 am, so we were both bundled up against the cold, breezy day for our walk

.....the 4th round of the US Open began with Bryson DeChambeau at 7 under par, and a host of others at 4 under par, including Rory McIlroy.  It was really a day for Bryson to make pars, and see if the others could catch him, and that is what he did for most of the day, but with 5 holes to play Rory had reached 8 under par, and Bryson was at 6 under par.  It appeared the tournament was Rory's to win, however he bogeyed the next hole, and Bryson birdied it so pull even at 7 under par.  They both committed bogeys a couple of holes later to remain tied at 6 under par.  Then came the 18th hole....all Rory had to do was make a 3' 9" putt for par to remain tied, and head into a playoff with Bryson, but he missed the putt, and Bryson made his to win by one stroke.  I still cannot believe Rory made 3 bogeys in the last 5 holes, and I'm sure he cannot either.  At any rate Bryson DeChambeau is the winner of the 124th US Open at Pinehurst #2.  In the end there were only 8 players under par after 72 holes.

The US Open ended around 4 pm....we had the salon TV on at 7 am, so 9 hours of US Open coverage watched by TLE and I Sunday.  By 10 am TLE and I were inside watching the US Open for the rest of the day as it began to get breezy, and chilly.  The winds got up to 20 mph in the afternoon, and never really abated all night long.  Thankfully, they were in the 8-10 mph range during the night, so we slept quite well.

As I write it is still windy, but will only get to around 10 mph today, however, the temp has dipped into the low 60's today, again.  We'll be back in the 90's by next weekend.

Thanks for stopping by!

Father's Day Eve.......

7:48 am - Sunday - June 16th - LPG&RVR - 44° F, humidity 40%, wind 1 mph out of the north....crystal clear, blue sunny skies today with a forecast high of 73° F.  On this date in 2012 TLE and I were riding our Terratrike Tadpole Recumbents on the Fish Lake Bike Path near Spokane, WA.....

 Father's Day Eve (Saturday) was  an above average busy day at LPG&RVR.  In all we rented 30 golf carts, and I spent the entire day Marshaling around the course.  It was a bitterly cold June 15th, and for the first time in weeks I wore my winter jacket again, along with gloves, and a watch cap.  I didn't take the jacket off until around 2 pm, and then only for an hour.  Based on how many people I saw on the driving range there will be a ton of balls to clear come Monday, a day which will not see me working.  Our next work cycle is Thursday through Sunday.

In all I think I made 7, or 8 rounds of the course.  Had to encourage a couple of foursomes to speed up their play, or allow the faster groups behind them to 'play through'.  Others had to be reminded to keep the carts out of the brush, and on the grass.  Generally, however, everyone behaved themselves, and I was able to spend time talking with our customers.  There were no motorized tools being employed by me on this day.....a kind of idyllic Saturday for me.

In the first round of the weekly putting contest I was ahead by 1 point with one hole to play when my worthy opponent sank his putt to tie me after 5.  We went to a one hole, one putt playoff, and he ended up closer to the hole than I.....doh.  Almost got out of the first round.

Since I was out in the first round I returned to washing and putting away more carts, and ended at 5 pm with just 3 carts sill outstanding.  By 5:30 pm TLE and I were on our way home to begin our four day weekend.  The weather will continue to be very cool through Wednesday, and then begin to warm Thursday, getting into the 90's over the weekend.

As many of you must know, this is the weekend of the U.S. Open.  I haven't been able to watch much of it as I've been working for the first three rounds, but we will be off work Sunday, and be able to watch the entire 4th round.  Out of the entire field there are only 7, or 8 guys under par beginning the 4th round....a typical U.S. Open.

Thanks for stopping by!