Gearing Up For The Holiday Weekend....And Maybe A Glimpse Of Spring!

Current location: Chester, CA

Well, there's not a whole lot to write about because we haven't been doing too much. We have continued to battle the wet and cold this week. We've had many days of rain, a few episodes of hail (minor), and even a bit of snow. The temperatures hover between 30 and 50, so we haven't had much inclination to get out and do much.

Monday (our normal day off) we worked for a few hours. I have to admit that I'm a bit frustrated with the groundswork coordination because they don't quite seem to know what to do with us. Each of us was scheduled to do a day's worth of grounds last weekend, but we were both told that with there wasn't anything that absolutely needed to be done and with the weather forecast being poor, our services weren't needed and we'd each have an extra day off. Now I'm all for an extra day off, but we're here to work and quite honestly could use the money. But I also understand that you can't control mother nature. So we accepted it and offered to make up some of the hours on Monday if the weather improved.

Monday morning arrived and it started out fairly dry, so we got dressed and met up with Randy, the head maintenance/groundskeeping guy. He seemed a bit surprised that we were wanting to work, but said we could both do some weed wacking at the tent sites. So we did that for a couple of hours. A couple of hours is about all you can stand at one time due to the vibration and weight of the models they have. And the rain started, so we figured that was a good time for a lunch break. When we followed up with Randy again, he said he didn't have anything else for us to do. Hmmm, so much for making up our hours.

I understand it's early in the season and things haven't gotten into full swing yet, but I have a hard time believing that there's not work to be done. And this was apparent yesterday (Thursday), when I was scheduled for a full-day of groundskeeping. The weather was far worse then it was last weekend, but I was outside working all day in it. I battled rain and a couple of brief hailstorms. And it was cold to boot. I don't think it ever got above 45. Not that I'm complaining. I like being busy. And I like being active. I would much prefer to be outdoors, even in weather like that. And I was busy. I weed wacked, mowed, and pulled weeds between the rain storms. I helped get one of the boats in the water and another one out of storage. I mounted a bunch of signs. I helped get the ice machine running. I bundled some firewood. What I don't comprehend though is why some of this stuff couldn't be done over the weekend? Why wait until the last minute? I'm getting the feeling that Randy doesn't quite know what to do with us, even though "there is more than enough work to be done". I am a bit frustrated by it and I'm hoping that it will work itself out when the owners are on-site for the summer (right now they're only here on select weekends while their daughter finishes up school). We'll just have to see, but I'm hoping that this isn't a problem of overstaffing. Last year they had one less staff person, but they were also experimenting with some different things. They said in years past that they had the same number of people as this year and it worked well. So hopefully the work will pick up as the campground fills.

Our other working days have been spent in the store, which is starting to get a little busier. Compared to past years, we've been told that this year is quite a bit slower, presumably due to the slow start of Spring. But the phones have been busy and reservations are starting to roll in for the summer. We're not completely full this weekend, but I expect that it will still be fairly busy. The forecast is for more rain this afternoon and then it is supposed to clear up for the remainder of the weekend. It is supposed to be partly sunny with temperatures in the high 60's to low 70's. I know that doesn't sound like much to all of you who have been battling the heat already (I see many pictures on blogs with people in shorts and I'm jealous!), but this sounds wonderful to us.

We really haven't done much with our time off. There's no desire to go hiking or exploring in the wet and cold. We have driven around some, just to get out of the house, but even that's not all that enjoyable in the rain. But hopefully Spring is upon us, with Summer not too far off. I'm looking forward to a busy, but hopefully not too chaotic, weekend. It will be interesting to see what's in store. This afternoon, I will be serving as the official greeter. Howard and Linda Payne introduced a system last year to greet each of the RV's as they're waiting in line on the driveway to check-in. (H&L - if you're reading, be pleased to know that they've continued to implement your suggestions!) I will help gather some important information, such as license plate and boat registration numbers, in order to speed the check-in process along. I'm not sure what else is involved - it hasn't really been explained to me yet. But I'll be outside, probably in the rain again!

That's it for now. I hope you all have a wonderful and safe Memorial Day weekend!