The little critters are our Lucie and their Skylar with her bathing suit top on! The guy is Bob, in case you don't recognize him. He looks mighty relaxed these days.
Monday, September 6, 2010
"NAUTA CARE"
The summer is winding down here. These are photos taken on my sister and bro-in-law, Beth and Ron's houseboat.
The little critters are our Lucie and their Skylar with her bathing suit top on! The guy is Bob, in case you don't recognize him. He looks mighty relaxed these days.
The little critters are our Lucie and their Skylar with her bathing suit top on! The guy is Bob, in case you don't recognize him. He looks mighty relaxed these days.
Monday, August 23, 2010
Clark Creek North Campground
These are our views from our RV, overlooking Lake Allatoona. The end of our summer is almost here and we are winding down. Our contract with the Corps is over Setember 8th and we will be heading home to Arkansas. We are not quite sure where we will go for the fall/winter but we have another month or so to make that decision. We would like to be in our new digs by October 1st wherever that might be! This life takes some adjusting to but it is worth it.
Right now the park is verrrrry slow! We only have one site occupied but that is all due to change.
Labor Day is just around the corner, 2 weeks away, and that should bring a lot of campers to our park. It will be fun to see some of our "regulars" come back so we can say goodbye.
Georgia's HIGH Point
Some of the fun things we've been doing!
Took a trip to Brasstown Bald, the highest point in Georgia. About 4,300 feet above sea level. When I was in my teens we came up here and were allowed to drive your own vehicle to the top, at least that is what I remember! Now you take a shuttle, even let you take small dogs up so Lucie went with us.
Took a trip to Brasstown Bald, the highest point in Georgia. About 4,300 feet above sea level. When I was in my teens we came up here and were allowed to drive your own vehicle to the top, at least that is what I remember! Now you take a shuttle, even let you take small dogs up so Lucie went with us.
Saturday, July 31, 2010
Monday, July 5, 2010
Workamping This Summer
We are starting our 3rd month of running a campground for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Our park is small, 24 sites and for that we are grateful!
After 5 days of classroom training, Bob and I were put to the test on April 30th, the opening day for Clark Creek North Campground on Lake Allatoona in north Georgia. Our schedule is 4 days on duty, 4 days off. The gatehouse is open and manned (or woman'd) from 7 AM - 10:30 PM. During our first 4 days on, we both stayed in the gatehouse unless one of us was making a round of the park. We soon discovered this was not the way to work it. So we have fine tuned our job sharing, taking 3 hour shifts gives each of us some downtime to clean house or do laundry (Dev) or to take a nap (Bob). Just kidding, Bob usually does the laundry!
As the season progresses and we get busier we may have to spend more time together in the "Box" as I like to call it but so far it is working well for us. We keep in touch with walkie/talkies and either of us can be called into service at a moments notice.
Most of our campers have been very nice and we haven't had any major problems. One night we did get a knock on our door at 11:30 to let someone out of the gate. Not many people have the nerve to ask us to open the gate after hours but if they do we must let them out.
One evening I was in the gatehouse helping someone at the front window and out of the corner of my eye I saw a car zooming past the gatehouse. It wasn't a vehicle I recognized so I sent Bob out to find it and see if they were "legal". As it turned out, he found the car and discovered they were visiting some campers. He explained to the gal that she is supposed to stop at the gatehouse and get a visitor's pass for $4. She told him that she had stopped and I wouldn't look her way so she went on. He sent her up to me to register. When she got to me she threw the $4 at me and said "that Ranger is a jerk" and I proceeded to tell her that he is not a Ranger and that the jerk is my husband! She didn't get the humor in it at all!
Well, I am sure we will have many more stories to tell! Right now I am working on getting my new camera to download some pics to the computer so I can add them to our blog. Its funny, I just got the hang of doing it with the old one and now I have to relearn the process all over again.
On our days off we try to ride the Harleys as much as possible. We went to Dahlonega, about 90 minutes from here. It is an old gold mining town in the Blue Ridge Mountains. Very quaint town square where we had lunch and did some shopping.
Friends from back home in Bentonville, Jim and Rita visited us for a few days. It was great seeing them and getting to show off the area. We went to see an exhibit of collector's cars at the High Musuem in Atlanta. We all really enjoyed it but Jim being the car buff that he is had a great time. They were pieces of art and I hope to have pics posted shortly.
After 5 days of classroom training, Bob and I were put to the test on April 30th, the opening day for Clark Creek North Campground on Lake Allatoona in north Georgia. Our schedule is 4 days on duty, 4 days off. The gatehouse is open and manned (or woman'd) from 7 AM - 10:30 PM. During our first 4 days on, we both stayed in the gatehouse unless one of us was making a round of the park. We soon discovered this was not the way to work it. So we have fine tuned our job sharing, taking 3 hour shifts gives each of us some downtime to clean house or do laundry (Dev) or to take a nap (Bob). Just kidding, Bob usually does the laundry!
As the season progresses and we get busier we may have to spend more time together in the "Box" as I like to call it but so far it is working well for us. We keep in touch with walkie/talkies and either of us can be called into service at a moments notice.
Most of our campers have been very nice and we haven't had any major problems. One night we did get a knock on our door at 11:30 to let someone out of the gate. Not many people have the nerve to ask us to open the gate after hours but if they do we must let them out.
One evening I was in the gatehouse helping someone at the front window and out of the corner of my eye I saw a car zooming past the gatehouse. It wasn't a vehicle I recognized so I sent Bob out to find it and see if they were "legal". As it turned out, he found the car and discovered they were visiting some campers. He explained to the gal that she is supposed to stop at the gatehouse and get a visitor's pass for $4. She told him that she had stopped and I wouldn't look her way so she went on. He sent her up to me to register. When she got to me she threw the $4 at me and said "that Ranger is a jerk" and I proceeded to tell her that he is not a Ranger and that the jerk is my husband! She didn't get the humor in it at all!
Well, I am sure we will have many more stories to tell! Right now I am working on getting my new camera to download some pics to the computer so I can add them to our blog. Its funny, I just got the hang of doing it with the old one and now I have to relearn the process all over again.
On our days off we try to ride the Harleys as much as possible. We went to Dahlonega, about 90 minutes from here. It is an old gold mining town in the Blue Ridge Mountains. Very quaint town square where we had lunch and did some shopping.
Friends from back home in Bentonville, Jim and Rita visited us for a few days. It was great seeing them and getting to show off the area. We went to see an exhibit of collector's cars at the High Musuem in Atlanta. We all really enjoyed it but Jim being the car buff that he is had a great time. They were pieces of art and I hope to have pics posted shortly.
Tuesday, March 2, 2010
Snow on March 2nd in Georgia and More!
It is time to pack up and head to Arkansas in a week. Where does the time go??? We have wintered in Georgia, probably for the last time. Last winter was cold and broke some records but this year winter records are really being challenged. As I sit here looking out our picture window the snow is falling at a fast clip. Yesterday the temp was 55 and today around 25 degrees. About 1 inch of snow so far with expected accumulation of 2-4 inches by midnight. We are toasty warm though and just fine. Bob's 65Th birthday is in two days and it usually snows where ever we are around that time!
It has been an adventure being here. We have had duck hunters here in the park (illegal) and quad runners (prohibited). Bob's had to call the sheriff for the hunters since they gave him some grief but it was all straightened out in the end. The quad runners were able to give Bob the slip since our CR-V is not really an off road vehicle (I don't care what Honda says!).
One morning, about 2 AM, we got a call on the park phone that the police and Search and Rescue Squad needed entry into the park. They were looking for a woman, about 52 years of age, who had left home on foot just up the road from us. She was allegedly inebriated and an Alzheimer's patient. Since the floods in September and October littered the park with huge trees and limbs and debris washed up from the lake, it really was impossible to do a good search for her in the dark. Thank goodness they found her somewhere else and the search was called off. So it can be real exciting, this life of ours! When dealing with the public, you never know what can happen.
We have spoken to other contractors with the Corps that have been doing this for several years. They say we will be amazed at the situations that arise when running a campground. We should have plenty to write about in the coming months!
We've also had very sad things occur. Our co-volunteers, from Florida, had some ill health. The Mrs. went into the hospital around Christmas with breathing issues and she passed away in January. Her poor husband was barely able to function. Neither one of them had any family and now he is all alone. He stayed here until last week and then headed back to Florida and some friends they had there.
My Dad has been very ill. He was diagnosed with lung cancer last July and the prognosis was not good. He has outlived the doctors estimates and continues to fight the battle. He is living in south Georgia and I have been able to see him several times since we have been here.
My Mom became very sick right before Thanksgiving and was rushed into emergency surgery during the night. Her colon had twisted (something that can happen to people of a certain age) and created infection in her intestines. This quickly turned to gangrene and we would have lost her if they hadn't operated when they did. She was in ICU for 10 days and in a rehab facility for 4 weeks. She is doing spectacularly well and is also fighting the good fight. I come from sturdy stock and I am most proud of both of them!
I am very thankful we are going to be in Georgia through the summer. This will allow me to see all my family a little bit more than I usually do!
So on to Arkansas for doctor visits, etc and then back here in April to start our latest adventure. I am looking forward to searching for our new "location" for the fall and winter months. The possibilities are as endless as your imagination!
It has been an adventure being here. We have had duck hunters here in the park (illegal) and quad runners (prohibited). Bob's had to call the sheriff for the hunters since they gave him some grief but it was all straightened out in the end. The quad runners were able to give Bob the slip since our CR-V is not really an off road vehicle (I don't care what Honda says!).
One morning, about 2 AM, we got a call on the park phone that the police and Search and Rescue Squad needed entry into the park. They were looking for a woman, about 52 years of age, who had left home on foot just up the road from us. She was allegedly inebriated and an Alzheimer's patient. Since the floods in September and October littered the park with huge trees and limbs and debris washed up from the lake, it really was impossible to do a good search for her in the dark. Thank goodness they found her somewhere else and the search was called off. So it can be real exciting, this life of ours! When dealing with the public, you never know what can happen.
We have spoken to other contractors with the Corps that have been doing this for several years. They say we will be amazed at the situations that arise when running a campground. We should have plenty to write about in the coming months!
We've also had very sad things occur. Our co-volunteers, from Florida, had some ill health. The Mrs. went into the hospital around Christmas with breathing issues and she passed away in January. Her poor husband was barely able to function. Neither one of them had any family and now he is all alone. He stayed here until last week and then headed back to Florida and some friends they had there.
My Dad has been very ill. He was diagnosed with lung cancer last July and the prognosis was not good. He has outlived the doctors estimates and continues to fight the battle. He is living in south Georgia and I have been able to see him several times since we have been here.
My Mom became very sick right before Thanksgiving and was rushed into emergency surgery during the night. Her colon had twisted (something that can happen to people of a certain age) and created infection in her intestines. This quickly turned to gangrene and we would have lost her if they hadn't operated when they did. She was in ICU for 10 days and in a rehab facility for 4 weeks. She is doing spectacularly well and is also fighting the good fight. I come from sturdy stock and I am most proud of both of them!
I am very thankful we are going to be in Georgia through the summer. This will allow me to see all my family a little bit more than I usually do!
So on to Arkansas for doctor visits, etc and then back here in April to start our latest adventure. I am looking forward to searching for our new "location" for the fall and winter months. The possibilities are as endless as your imagination!
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