MERRY CHRISTMAS

The shopping is done,the presents are wrapped,another Christmas is upon us.

Jeni and I reminisced that we have been together for 40 Christmases......that's a long time! Am I that old? Where does the time go?Hopefully we can enjoy many more.

This year we will have all the kids together for the holidays for the first time in a long time.My daughter Katie is having Christmas dinner for all of us.This will be a special one for us this year. I know I complain. about volunteering here in the winter,(cold wet weather) but it is nice being with our Sacramento family.Jeni and I are so lucky to be RVers,Able to freely travel the country being where we want when we want.

For the last couple of weeks,we have been watching all the Christmas movies on TV.You know,to get in the" ole" holiday spirit.The one thing I've noticed though,all those movies have happy endings.The guy got the girl,the family brought back together,the lost son that came home.The miracle of the holidays! All too often it doesn't happen in real life for some.On the tent side of the park we are volunteering at,it's too cold for tent camping but, we have people, homeless because of the economy,living out of their cars staying in the park.There are kids that won't have presents this year because their parents lost their jobs.Our homeless veterans living on the street, where are these people's Christmas miracle?Our family has had to cut back because of the economy this year, make do with less for Christmas, but we all have a roof over our heads, food to eat, and most importantly our health. This is our Christmas miracle.

Our family,as we gather this Christmas, will say a little prayer for the less fortunate in hopes that they too can have their own Christmas miracle. Merry Christmas to all!

Life at Folsom Lake

We started our workamper jobs at the lake as we donned our "state park"hats and vests for our first day.I snapped a picture of Jen and I inside the kiosk just before we opened.You know,I sure have a pretty wife.Anyway,our first day was very slow and uneventful as The weather took a turn for the worse as another winter storm was bearing down on us.
After our first three days on the job,we got the next nine days off as we switched schedules with one of the other camphosts so they could be off.We got to spend some quality time with our Grandson DJ.and Granddaughter Alyx.I would get up early in the morning and DJ would be awake and ready to go.I would fire up the"ole"golf cart
and we would head down to the "day use"area and explore the dry lake bottom.We had to bundle up both mornings as it was in the mid 20s and breezy.
With the 9 days off we got most of our Christmas shopping done.In the few times we were out,we noticed that the crowds were down compared to past years.With the economy,we have had to cut back on the value of our gifts too.
Our Daughter Katie is having Christmas dinner at her house and we will have all the kids there together for the first time in a long time.
The lake is as low as I have ever seen it.With the construction of the levees and the drought,it is only about 29% of capacity.I took a picture of the lake and from were I took the picture,that is usually the water line of the lake in a good water year.Attendance has been down because of the economy,and the price hikes.One benefit is we pretty much have the park to ourselves.
We got word that we are now #5 on the list at Park Sierra.We have to call into the office each Wednesday to see if there is a space available.We might be in by January,a lot sooner than we thought.When were in we will drive down to the park to pay our money,check our site out,and head back to Folsom.We probably won't return to the park until next October,as after we finish here in April,we head to Oregon for the summer.
With the recent rain and snow,the park has really turned green, luscious,and beautiful.When spring arrives,the park will be in full bloom.It is the best time to be here.
After spending the last several winters down south,it takes some getting used to spending winter up here.It is great seeing the kids and spending the holidays with them.But,I can't wait til spring!Until then,we will have to bundle up and endure the cold and rain.Such is life at Folsom Lake.

SNOW #$%^&*

We got up this morning for our first day as camphosts.I threw open the front curtains and we had snow on the ground.In Sacramento!I told Jeni to call the Ranger cause WE ARE OUT OF HERE!I don't do snow!!!I should be headed south at the first sight of the white stuff like a good RVer........After consulting with el jefe(Jeni),I settled down and we opened the kiosk at the park.It didn't get out of the40's all day and low 20's tonight,perfect!
The park actually looked real "christmas like"and our first day was quiet.Hopfully it will warm up soon.
Because of the economy,and the camping rates going up,not many people are in the park right
now.I left Jeni in the kiosk and I set out to find somthing to do.Finally 2:30pm came around and we were off the clock.We headed back to the RV to get warm as the temp was 39 degrees.I took a couples of pictures of the snow.It is highly unusual for Sacramento.In 20yrs living here, I only remember one time that we had snow.
If we can get through the winter,spring is beautiful here.One brite spot is we get to see more of our grandkids Alyx,and DJ.

at Folsom Lake

We are now settled in at Folsom Lake for our winter jobs as "camp hosts.We left Park Sierra Monday morning,got in to Sacramento about 2pm at "campworld"for some repair work on the RV.We spent the night in the parking lot as we had a 9am appointment.Tuesday morning we checked in with Todd,our service guy and he rolled our RV on the rack for a much needed oil change and lube .Jeni and I strolled down to a little cafe that Todd had suggested for breakfast."Vanita Rhea's".Great food and "delightful decor".A little "pricey" but I would recommend it to anybody in the area.They are located on Granite drive in Rocklin,Ca.

After breakfast we picked up the RV, (that's the fastest I've ever got service on the RV) and headed toward the lake.We also had to get the RV "smogged,gased up,get propane,and take back the trailer that we used to bring the golf cart here, before we went into the park.I had set as side the whole day for everything,but from the time we started at campworld at 8am til we dropped off the trailer,it only took 2 hrs.WOW!that was record time.By noon we were in our site at Beals Point state park at Folsom Lake.Site#D.I took a couple of pictures of our site.It's the same one we had when we "camphosted here back in 05 and 06.It's very spacious,full hookups,50amp elec.and paved level sites.The" big brown mound"you see behind our coach in the picture,is the levee they are working on to raise the level of the lake.There used to be big trees in front of that levee but because of the const.,they had to remove them.What a shame as we used to love to watch the "red tailed"hawks up in those trees swoop down in search of prey.Wednesday we got settled in,met with the other camphosts,Ken&Barb and Jerry&Deb.We had worked with them both when we were here a few years ago.The Rangers came by and got us signed up,gave us our camphost hats and badges and cleared us for duty.That afternoon we met with the camphosts at our site to formulate a schedule that we all agreed on.We all agreed on 3 days on 6 days off.We Will start Monday morning 9:30am til 2:30pm.
The lake is usually very beautiful here but because of all the construction,and the drought,it is very low.Wednesday night,we had the grand kids over,Alyx and DJ.for KFC chicken.It was good to see them and we really missed them while we were away but now that we will be here for awhile,"LET THE SPOILING BEGIN"!
Thurs.morning we went up to the Kiosk to get trained for our assigned tasks as camphosts.Mostly we will be manning the Kiosk 3 days a week.This used to be done by Park aids,but because of the severe budget cuts,the park can't afford to pay them so they are using the volunteer camphosts.It's a great idea and hopefully more parks will adopt this novel approach.
Thurs. night we got to watch DJ while our daughter and son in law went Christmas shopping for him.I love it at their house as they have a big screen TV.I watched the Oregon vs Oregon st. football game for the rose bowl.It was a great game.
Jeni already has the Christmas lights up and the RV dash decorated.I always complain that she over does it but it does look great and festive.I noticed that after our lights were up the other hosts and campers put theirs up.That a girl Jen!
This morning we have chores to do as laundry,shopping,and cleaning the coach are in order.We are glad to be here but Jeni and I were saying last night that we sure miss the folks at Park Sierra.We are now #9 on the list,so it won't be long and we will have a "home base."
The weather here has been cool but sunny so far.We weren't fond of winters here when we lived here as the rain and fog in Dec,Jan,and Feb made it dreary.They say "you can never go home",but for now we are going to try to make it work.