A very good day!

 5:42 am - Sunday - June 22nd - LPG&RVR - 39° F, humidity 51%, wind 2 mph out of the northwest.....overcast today with a forecast high of 68° F.  On this date in 2018 TLE and I were having dinner in Bar Harbor, ME......

....with my sister Hilary, her husband, Bob, and daughter Stephanie at the Bar Harbor Inn.

I always get a little nervous on the day of the annual Likely Fire Department Golf Tournament.  It is always a very busy day with a lot of activity at the beginning of the day, and a lot at the end.  In between it is just a matter of doing a little marshaling.  We had more than 20 couples signed up to participate in this 'best ball' tournament, which means close to 20 golf carts must be staged prior to 8 am, plus carts for our regular customers.  With the help of one of the owners, Dennis Tate, and Joel, a Club Member, we fueled and staged 21 golf carts by 8 am.  I had washed all but two of the rental carts on Friday, so it went pretty smoothly.

By 9 am all the competitors had headed out to their starting holes, and began to play.  I assisted Claude in the marshaling duties for the rest of the morning.  I received a call from TLE around 9:45 am that one of the Yamaha golf carts (#21) had incurred a flat tire on the 7th fairway, so I retrieved a floor jack, a tire iron, and a spare tire and headed out to the 7th fairway.  Claude met me there, and in about 10 minutes we had changed the tire, and returned it to the golfers to continue their round.  That was it, as far as drama is concerned, for Saturday.

By the time we returned the equipment to the 'Caddy Shack' it was time for me to give TLE her lunch break, which was pretty uneventful with just a couple of phone calls.  By 1:30 pm the tournament golf carts began to return.  I had them park in the 'Cart Return' area in rows of three and then Claude and I began to wash and dry them; Claude sprayed them down, and I dried them.  By 2:30 pm we had washed and dried 18 of the 21 golf carts.  Without Claude's help it would have taken me until after 3:30 pm to get all that done.....thank you Claude!!

Of course no Saturday is complete without the weekly putting contest, and on tournament day we always have a big turnout. This Saturday was no exception; we had 40 putters.  As you will recall I took last Saturday off from the putting contest, but I did practice putting on Thursday after work.  I easily won my first round, and continued putting well enough for the next 4 rounds getting into the final and 6th round.  My opponent and I were even beginning the 3rd hole when I made a terrible first putt past the hole by 10 feet....the only bad putt I made in 6 rounds, and it cost me first place.  I missed my second putt, and my opponent went up 1-0, and that is how it ended.  I putted well on the next two holes, but finished in 2nd place.  I might add that I had three holes in one in the first 5 rounds; a record for me....

Sitting next to good friends, Terri and Greg....Greg always putts bare footed....even on very cold days.

.....this is the first time in four seasons I have finished in the money two times in one season, and I'm hoping it won't be the last as I want to get a first place.  I had to beat three people who had won in previous weeks to get to the final; it was just one of those days.  TLE and I didn't get home until almost 6 pm.

Thanks for stopping by!

Cold front.....

 5:39 am - Saturday - June 21st - LPG&RVR - 39° F, humidity 51%, wind 5 mph out of the north by northwest....heavy overcast today with a forecast high of 60° F.  On this date in 2020 TLE and I were overnighting in a Cabela's parking lot in Billings, MT......

.....with Claude and Gail.  Claude has a 1984 Bluebird Wanderlodge.

Friday is a blur in my mind.  Once again I went from one thing to the next all day long with my only break being giving TLE her lunch break.  I began the day staging 10 golf carts (we rented way more than that) and then got to work washing the 13 golf carts which came back after I went home Thursday at 3:30 pm.  That is pretty much the most golf carts I've ever had to wash first thing in the morning.  Ultimately we rented 26 golf carts Friday with only two still on the golf course at 3:30 pm.  

I spent time sorting and cleaning our loaner golf club sets. Over time the clubs from each set get moved around, and I have to resort them so each set is complete.  We provide two right handed sets of clubs (men's and women's), as well as two sets of left handed clubs (men's and women's, also).  Over time sets of clubs have been donated to us, and we had 7 bags of clubs....too many; it was time to winnow them back down to four sets.  Cleaning and sorting them took about and hour.

Soon it was time to give TLE her lunch break, and then it was 1 pm and just 2.5 hours left in my work day.  I met Claude over at the slope that borders the employee row to finish  weed whacking the rest of the weeds, and by 1:40 pm we were done.  We really work well together, and at the same pace.

By the time I returned to the 'Cart Return' area there were 10 golf carts to wash, so I got busy.  By the time 3:30 pm rolled around I had washed, and stowed 24 of the 26 rentals.  Every day is different, and this was one of those days when most of them returned early.

For the first time in a couple of weeks I wore pants as the high temp for the day was forecast at 63° F.  It was breezy all day long, and I only had my sweat shirt off for TLE's lunch break.  It was chilly!  

Around 8 pm it began to rain, which was totally unexpected, and continued to rain on and off most of the night.  Saturday will be even colder so I'll be bundling up again for work.  This week I work 5 days.  Usually Saturday would be my 'Friday', but I'm working Sunday, too, so I can be off work for our five day trip to Montana.

Thanks for stopping by!

Cool.....

 5:36 am - Friday - June 20th - LPG&RVR - 49° F, humidity 43%, wind 3 mph out of the northwest.....partly cloudy today with a forecast high of 63° F....23° lower than yesterday.  On this date in 2017 TLE and I were exploring the Lamar Valley in Yellowstone NP.....

.....there are large herds of buffalo there.

The temps are rapidly decreasing from the high of 90° F we had on Wednesday, and by Saturday the daytime high will only reach 59° F.  Kind of the last cooling spell we'll have before the 4th of July weekend.  The 4th of July is usually when the summer heat arrives, and we'll be getting a steady dose of temps in the low to mid 90's from that point to late August when it will begin to slowly cool again.  I know we'll look back fondly on this current cooling trend in a few weeks.

Thursday we returned to the 20+ golf cart rental phase in which we've been for the past few weeks; we had a total of 26 golf carts rented.  By the time I left at 3:30 pm 10 of them were still out on the golf course, so I'll have a lot of cart washing to do first thing Friday.  When I went to pickup TLE at 5 pm 8 of them had returned.

I did a little of everything Thursday including, but not limited to weed whipping, watering, mowing, and ball collection from the driving range.  From the time I staged the first 12 golf carts to TLE's lunch break I was going continuously.  After lunch Claude and I convened at the slope which separates the pull through RV sites from the employee sites to begin the annual  weed clearing chore.  The golf course superintendent, Jose Madrigal, thinks the weeds have stopped growing, so it's time to cut them down.  We weed whacked from 1 pm to 2 pm, and managed to clear half of the slope, and should be able to finish that on Friday afternoon.

I only garnered 1.5 five gallon buckets of balls from the driving range Thursday, which is what I would expect for mid week.  Monday's are the big days for the number of balls retrieved; Dave said he filled 6 five gallon buckets with balls on Monday.

Thanks for stopping by!

A slow one.....

 5:38 am - Thursday - June 19th - LPG&RVR - 47° F, humidity 32%, wind ZERO mph out of the east.....crystal clear, blue, sunny skies today with a forecast high of 86° F.  On this date in 2015 TLE and I summited Mt. Tallac at South Lake Tahoe.....

.....you can see the entire Lake Tahoe Basin from there.....elevation 9,735'!  Lake Tahoe is at 6,300' elevation.

For the first time in several weeks we did not rent 20+ golf carts.  We had to settle for 15.  Nevertheless, time did pass quickly.  I mowed around the tee boxes for which I am responsible, plus the employee sites in the morning before TLE's lunch break, and spent the better part of the afternoon washing and stowing golf carts as they slowly returned to the wash station.

This weekend, however, will be very busy as the annual Likely Fire Department Golf Tournament will be held Saturday, and I'm sure every golf cart we have available for rent will be deployed; some twice.  As usual I will be working, and will not be able to play in the tournament.  Originally it was going to be held last weekend on the 14th, and I would have been able to play as I was off work Saturday and Sunday.

The daylight portion of the day is getting way longer now.  We go to bed at 9 pm on work nights, and it is still very light outside.  Seems weird to be going to bed when it is that light outside.  Of course, it begins to get light outside before 5 am now, and will continue to do so until the summer solstice next month.  We haven't had any issues with local forest fires so far this summer, so the air quality has been spectacular to date.

That is really it for Wednesday.  As I've said before, we're kind of in that 'wash, rinse, repeat' mode, so there is not much about which to write.....thanks for stopping by!

The rest of the story......

 5:34 am - Wednesday - June 18th - LPG&RVR - 49° F, humidity 30%, wind ZERO mph out of the east by southeast.....crystal clear, blue, sunny skies today with a forecast high of 89° F.  On this date in 2014 TLE and I were having some brews at Sonny's BBQ Shack, Bar and Grill in South Lake Tahoe.....

.....they have this 1 pound of bacon BLT on their menu....amazing!

We slept in until almost 7 am at the Shilo Inn Tuesday morning.  After typing my latest post TLE and I walked over to Brevada Brewhouse  for a cup of coffee before beginning our return drive to LPG&RVR....

....they are more than a coffee house serving breakfast and lunch, as well as being a beer/wine bar.  Their coffee is top drawer, and their soft chew chocolate chip cookies will come back to you in your dreams.

By the time we returned to the hotel to finish packing, and checkout it was around 9:15 am.  We were in the car and on our way to the Fred Meyers Fuel station to top off our gas tank (you still cannot pump your own gas in Oregon) by 9:30 am, and then over to Holiday Jewelers to get some new watch batteries installed.  While I did that TLE walked over to TJ Maxx to do buy some shoes.  We were back in the car by 10:30 am to begin our two hour drive home.  Of course, we had no choice but to stop at 'Coffee Adventure' in Canby around 12 pm for some sandwiches and Frappuccinos before continuing the rest of our uneventful drive home, arriving at LPG&RVR around 1:15 pm.  As we always hope, our entire trip to and from Kfalls was uneventful.

While we were gone the new aluminum sleeves I ordered to repair the wire rope on the rear trailer door arrived, so I spent about an hour installing the new sleeve, and then reinstalling the wire rope.  I needed TLE's help right at the end, but we got it done without harming any small animals, or children....

The new aluminum sleeve installed

....now we can open and shut the door again without three people....lol!

Wednesday we begin a new work week.  I'll be working 5 days this week (Wednesday through Sunday) as we will be gone to Montana Monday through Friday the following week visiting my sister Hilary, and her husband Bob.  Dave will work those 5 days in my absence.  We haven't been to their house in Deer Lodge for a couple of years, plus my brother Philip, and his wife Jeannie will be there, too, so it should be a fun week!

Thanks for stopping by!

Kfalls.....

 7:17 am - Tuesday - June 17th - Shilo Inn, Klamath Falls, OR - 52° F, humidity 25%, wind 1 mph out of the west by northwest.....crystal clear, blue, sunny skies today with a forecast high of 83° F.  Ironically, on this date in 2013 TLE and I were in Sioux Falls, SD riding our Cannondale tandem road bike.....

.....on a loop bike path around the city.  We made this stop at the falls for which the city is named.

A while back we decided to take a road trip to Klamath Falls, OR to do some shopping, and spend the night.  We've stayed at the Shilo Inn numerous times over the past 4 summers, and always enjoy being walking distance from several good restaurants, but I get ahead of myself.

We wanted to be on the road by 9 am, and beat that estimated departure time by 15 minutes.  It was a perfect driving day with a few clouds, and uncrowded highways. It takes us almost exactly 2 hours to make the drive, and we arrived in town at the local Supercenter Walmart just before 11 am without incident.  We take California 299 west out of Alturas to California 139 northbound in Canby which takes us all the way to the Oregon Border where it changes to Oregon 39 all the way to Klamath Falls.  We rarely see another vehicle from Canby to the Oregon Border.

After the Walmart stop we headed directly across the street to the local Goodwill and did some junking.  We haven't had a junking fix in a long time.  I found a couple of shot glasses for 79 cents each, and a belt whilst TLE found a skirt.  We always find something at this Goodwill without which life cannot continue...lol....

From there we headed to Fred Meyers (Kroger) to buy some groceries, and to, hopefully, get the batteries in two of my watches replaced.  There is a jewelry store inside the store where I hoped to get that done, but in the end it was a no go.  They didn't have a tool big enough to open up my Nixon watch case, so we'll have to stop at Holiday Jewelers Tuesday morning to get that done.

Our next stop was Falls Tap House located near our overnight destination (Shilo Inn) to have some brews and some BBQ brisket sandwiches, plus enjoy the view....

We usually sit on the deck (background), but they do not have their umbrellas out yet, so we sat on the deck

You can see the Shilo Inn in the distance....a short walk.  

....we lingered there for about an hour enjoying great BBQ, and brews before heading to our destination for the evening.....the Shilo Inn.

We always book one of their mini suites, which has a separate area with a couch, and a bar.  About every other time we manage to snag one of the suites with a view of the valley and lake....

The etched glass room divider

.....as we get older it seems that just a pint of beer is like taking a sedative for TLE and I....lol.  After unpacking we both took a long nap....for me almost 2 hours.  Life is good!  Time to get dressed, and start the return trip to LPG&RVR.

Thanks for stopping by!

Father's Day.....

 7:06 am - Monday - June 16th - LPG&RVR - 54° F, humidity 24%, wind ZERO mph out of the south by southwest......crystal clear, blue, sunny skies today with a forecast high of 80° F.  On this date in 2012 TLE and I were riding our Terra Trike tadpole recumbent tricycles along the Fish Lake Bike Path near Spokane, WA.....

.....sometimes I wish we still had them, but it became impractical to carry them with us all over the U.S. as they took up a lot of space.  We were visiting my sister in Spokane at the time, and decided to leave both tricycles with them as we headed east to Campbellsville, KY to work at Amazon for the first time.  When we returned to visit them the next summer we listed them on Craigslist, and sold them pretty quickly.

Sunday was Father's Day, and throughout the day I received calls and text messages from my kids wishing me a good one, and it was.  Father's Day is always the day of the final round of the US Open.  The morning air was chilly, but by 9 am I was outside reclining in my anti gravity chair watching that final round, just as I have done every year.  The round began with just 4 players under part, and when the dust settled at the end of 72 holes there was only one under par; every other player was over par.

To keep the 'lido deck' mosquito free I lit every thing we had to keep them at bay.....

These I call our little smug pots....small tiki lamps burning Citronella oil

A Citronella candle

Citronella coils

....they all worked like a charm, and I remained mosquito bite free all day!

At one point during the afternoon 5 players were tied at 1 over par, and anyone one of them could have been crowned champion, but only one them made key shots when it mattered the most, and that was J.J. Spaun.  He birdied the final two holes to win by two strokes.  His final putt to clinch the win was an improbable 65 foot birdie; the longest putt made by any player over four days at Oakmont Country Club....

JJ Spaun hoisting the Claret Jug

....there was a 90 minute rain delay during the final 18 holes, so the tournament finished just before sunset eastern time....8:30 pm.

Shortly after the finish of the tournament I lit the Sea-B-Que to grill a New York Steak for TLE and I.  It was one of the ones we bought at COSTCO a while back.  COSTCO has the best New York Steaks!  I hope all the fathers out there had as good a Father's Day as I!

Thanks for stopping by!