RAIN !

It has been raining for 3 days and the forecast calls for more rain the next 3 days! I've never missed the southwest as much as i do right now.
To get out, we headed to a new casino for lunch. Red Hawk Casino, nestled in the foothills just off Hwy 50 east of Shingle Springs. We opted for the "buffet" lunch which was a deal at $9.95. We were seated by one of the big windows that gives you a view of the surrounding area. Unfortunately the low clouds and rain diminished the view to about 500 feet. The food was very good by buffet standards. We usually eat at the cafe as you only get one plate.I always help my self to that dreaded 2nd plate at the buffet and pay later.
The park has been slow. Only 2 campers in the last couple of weeks. Three days on and six days off is not working for us, but we will tough it out til April 21st. After that, we plan to head to Park Sierra to move our stuff into our storage shed and participate in "Stagecoach Days" April-22 to April-25. We will probably stay 2 or 3 weeks , to get a feel for our new place, then head to Oregon for our summer jobs.
I like taking walks in the morning.usually 1 or 2 miles. I check the campgrounds,day use area, and the bike trail as I walk. It is a beautiful area to walk, no traffic, not crowded, and when the weather's good, It's Assume.
Last Saturday we watched our Grandson DJ while my daughter and her husband went out. The next day Jeni and my daughter went to the movies and left me to babysit DJ. What were they thinking! Me babysit!!! I got football to watch, and it's raining outside. Hey the little guy was a trooper. We bowled,played with "monster trucks",and drove the golf cart down to the day use area to check things out as DJ says. I didn't babysit him, he babysat me!
I think I will go to bed early tonight and dream of sunny warm places and swimming pools.Hopefully the sun returns here soon.

Fog, Birthday,and "were in !"

I remember last winter when we were camphosting in the sunny warm desert of southern California, the hikes, barbeque's, walking around in shorts, relaxing in the spa on our days off. What a difference a year makes! Taking hikes bundled up like an Eskimo, enjoying soup inside the rig, hot showers to keep warm, and coffee, lots of coffee! That's life at Folsom lake these days. If it's not raining it's foggy.
One thing that doesn't change is the card games.We have the other two camphosts, Ken and Barb & Jerry and Deb over on Tuesday evenings for cards! That's one thing we do enjoy while camphosting here. We have camphosted with both couples back in 05 and 06 and we all have become fast friends.
The best thing about being in Folsom is seeing our two daughters and their families.Spending some Quality time with them and our grand kids.
Oh, by the way, somebody had a birthday on Jan. 3rd.......Me! I turned the ripe ole age of..... well, it's on my coffee cup. Enough said. Jeni and the family took me to the "olive garden" for Italian food. One of my favorites. I usually don't like a lot of "fanfare " for my birthday,but it was very special for me this year.
Well, as of yesterday Jeni and I are official members of Park Sierra escapee park. We called on Wednesday and they had a site for us as we moved to #1 on the list.Thursday morning we headed down to the park to pay our money and check out our site. Oh, our site number is 419. (3 pictures of the site). It has shade in the afternoon and is a "pullthru"site which means easy in easy out for the rig. It is a corner lot and it is close to the clubhouse. It also has a 10x12 foot storage shed.We also will have mail service and they will forward our mail
to us when we are on the road. The downside is we have to change our address to the park and give up our old address. I'm sure my Daughter Jackie will be happy though. She has forwarded our mail ,without a hitch, since 2005. Not many kids would do this for their parents that long. Jeni and I can't thank her enough. It's high time she gets a mail break! Job well done sweetie.
We won't change our address until we hit there in Oct. I will post it when we actually change it.
While we were at the park we got to see all our friends and get congrats from them. our good friends Gary and Laverne had us over for a delicious dinner. We then went over to the clubhouse to play "wii"bowling and a couple of games of "Peg and Jokers". Jeni and I felt like we had never left the place as we picked right up where we left off when we left.
We just drove the car down from Sacramento,so We got a room for the night in Oakhurst about 10 miles up from the park. We stayed at the "Best Western" motel. I booked it online and got a great rate. My sister in law Martha turned us on to this place as when her and my brother Gary visited us at park Sierra last summer they stayed there. It is a beautiful motel with a great restaurant for breakfast. In the middle of the complex, they have an ares for relaxing with a table and chairs, a barbecue, and a scenic and serene waterfall setting. I snapped a picture of Jen and I posing with the waterfall behind us. It was a great two days for us and we hated to leave. We were already planning our decorating of our site and how much stuff Jeni could get into (her) storage shed!
One note to add for our summer itinerary,In addition to our camphosting job at Cape Blanco State Park in Oregon for June, We have just picked up another job for July and August. Deshutes State Park in north central Oregon. It is on the Deshutes river where it ties into the Columbia River. It's 15 miles east of the Dalles. We have talked to some people that have been up in that area and they say it is beautiful.
Well, as I look out my "fog shrouded"window, pouring myself another hot cup of coffee, I'm day dreaming of the warm sunny desert southwest,me in my tee shirt and shorts, drinking a "cool "one And working on my tan!

Happy New Year

We hope everyone had a great Christmas.Ours was great as we had a great family gathering at our daughter Katie's house.
Jeni and I worked the day after Christmas at the park. It was a cool sunny day and we had a few visitors in the day use area enjoying the day hiking and biking.The main multi use trail that follows the American River from Sacramento up around part of Folsom lake, runs right through our park. We get all kinds of walkers,hikers,bikers,and horseback riders through the park. So,there might be only a few cars in the park, but a lot of people in the park. It's a great park for all these activities. The campground has been slow with 2 or 3 people camping on the tent side(mostly homeless living in their cars) and 5 or 6 RVs in the full hookups side. As new years approached, we got a few more RV's in but still had plenty of sites for rent.
Our grandson DJ came out to spend the day with us this week. He loves to come out when we are working because he knows Grandpa has the " Gator"! (the vehicle we get to drive when we are on duty) He loves to ride around with me as I make my rounds through the park. We also have our golf cart with us,so we ride in it when we are not on duty.Jen and I sure enjoy having him come see us.
New years eve DJ spent the night with us as his mom and dad went out to celebrate new years. We had a great time playing games and eating cookies. We didn't quite make it to midnight though, we were in bed by 10:30.
I haven't been on Jeni's good side the last few days as there has been 10 football bowl games on TV the last two days and 5 more tomorrow. I don't dare tell her NFL games on Sunday!
We are still #4 on the list at Park Sierra. We have to call in every Wednesday between 8am and noon to keep our place. I think we will be in about mid Jan. or early Feb.
My brother Gary and his wife Martha spent the Christmas holiday in New Mexico checking out the "land of enchantment". They loved Las Cruses. In New Mexico they celebrate the holidays by putting out "Luminaries, Candles placed inside a small brown paper bag that has sand in the bottom. they are placed on fences along the edge of walks and driveways. Whole subdivisions do this along with the downtown area, and commercial buildings.At night,when their lit, it looks spectacular. Gary and Martha loved them.
I wish I could say all my family had a great holiday.My Brother Larry, who lives in Phoenix, had pneumonia and had to go to the hospital. I talked with him yesterday and he didn't feel well and went back to the doctor. Hopefully he will feel better in a couple of days. Hang in there Lar. were thinking of you.
2009 was an "OK" year with it's ups and downs for us. Winter found us at Agua Caliente county park volunteering.We met some wonderful people there and we miss them now. Spring we were in Riverside,Ca. helping our son with some difficulties.That is what family does. Summer we were at Park Sierra workamping and getting a feel for the place in case we wanted to make it our "homebase. We were sold! we are #4 on the list. Fall brought us down to Sacramento for our daughter Katie's wedding. Now we are camphosting in Folsom at Beals Point State Park for the winter. Time flies when your"Livin the Buena Loca" HAPPY NEW YEAR 2010. May it be a great year!

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.