Wednesday, February 3, 2010

Pouring concrete and a birthday.

Yes, thats me. Doing concrete work again. The campground needed a curb around the"dump station",so one of the other camphosts,Ken and myself tackled the job.
The wives have been taking care of the kiosk,so us men have to find things to do around the park just to keep out from under foot of the wives!
The weather has been a little better as the rain has subsided a bit and the temps have warmed up a bit. The head maintenance guy for the park, Bill Todd, rounded up all the materials we needed for the job. In about 5 hours we setup,poured and finished the curb. the park has some other little projects they need done and Mr. Todd is going to let Ken and I handle some of them. Ken, the other camphost, has already built a cover over the "camp registration" pedestal and built dividers in the firewood shed. He is a retired carpenter by trade,and a darn good one.Ken and I camphosted here back in the summer of 2005,2006,and 2007 briefly as Jeni and I would come in to work the summer season and Ken and his lovely wife Barb,would head out to Washington after working the winter season here.We all have become fast friends.
Jeni really enjoys working in the Kiosk,selling passes, giving out information about the park, and enjoying the stories the customers come up with to avoid paying the entrance fee! Californians are a"cheap" bunch.
She is the face of customer service for the park.She has that winning smile and can do attitude that they all love.
This last weekend, with the nice weather,and warmer temps,the park was very busy. Jeni handled the kiosk by herself with no help from..... yours truly, and she did a great job. Believe me, when I'm in there helping her,I'm a "bull in a china shop".She just nicely hustles me out of the kiosk,telling me to go"outside and play with my friends".Like a "good boy",I do what I am told.
I snapped a picture of me and the boys after we had finished the curb.Left to right is Bil Todd,Ken Carter, and myself. What a "motley crew!"
Jeni and I have been having our grandson,DJ over to spend the night about once a week as he loves it out here. We give him rides on the" park Gator", and golf cart (when I don't have the Gator).He also loves to take his little fishing pole down to the water and fish. He also likes to walk the lake bottom where its dry.Climbing around on the big granite boulders.
Tuesday was our granddaughter Alyx's birthday. We all met at the local bowling alley,for some bowling and fun. Alyx and her mom and dad love to bowl.Jeni and I haven't bowled(except wii bowling) sine we left Az. back in 1989. It was an ugly sight to see as we slipped and stumbled. we pulled muscles, wrenched our backs,and threw more "gutter balls",
than DJ. The pic is of one of his "gutter balls". But I think he had a better score than we did!
Alyx and her friend Jessica were bowling"incognito" to avoid the embarrassment her grandparents bowling was causing them.
After bowling,we all headed to the "Mongollian Barbecue" for dinner. It was kinda" Chinese buffet" style, but it was good.
Jeni and I were talking the other day about the best thing we love about "camphosting". Aside from the beautiful places we have been and the wildlife we see,we think it is the wonderful people we have met.The park rangers,and park Ade's at the different parks we have volunteered at.Every one of them have treated us well and we have enjoyed them all. The people we have camphosted with that we have bonded with and forged friendships with.
A lot of them we still keep in touch with. I think that camaraderie, and friendship keeps us young at heart and active. We can't wait for our next volunteering job in Oregon this summer.
Thanks to all of you, Jeni and I are better people because of you.