August 25 through 28, 2010

Wednesday 25~~~~~Kent worked in the office from 7:30 until 12:00 today and I cleaned sites. There were a lot of them to clean this morning and I cleaned both bathrooms also. It was chilly when I started, but it sure warmed up fast at the pace I was going. I really enjoy the physical part of the job and visiting with all the campers is a real joy. We really take pride in cleaning the sites, we rake all the sites, leaving pretty rake mark designs in the gravel and we clean the ashes from the fire pits. We also blow away the leaves or pine needles from the roads and drive ways. I can't start the blower myself, so I sweep a lot until Kent is there to start the blower. Friday 27~~~~Our friends Wayne and Odie camped in the park tonight, bringing Waynes huge telescope for the "Star gazing" program we have on Friday nights in the park. The park has 4 very nice telescopes and Wayne has a huge telescope he made himself in a class years ago. The lens is as big a dinner plate and it is 5 feet long. We have to wait until dark to set up and the campers bring their children and it is a lot of fun for all. Tonight the moon was under cover and it was just plain too dark to see anything in the sky. It was a disappointment for all of us, but the kids looked at some stars and I let everyone look at the stars and planets on my Droid Phone!!!! They really liked that, they couldn't believe a phone could do all that. LOL
Saturday 28~~~~~Kent didn't work in the office this morning, so he was here to clean sites and I was free to drive into Mill City and go to some of the garage sales they have going this weekend. Every year on this weekend the whole town does one continues garage sale and it is a lot of fun. I love cowboy boots and I found a new pair of them for only $5.00, so of course I had to buy me another pair. I bought a puzzle for Bodie and Blaize to put together up here tomorrow for 50 cents. I decided to start putting it together for them so it will be more fun to do with the edge pieces all done; I had a terrible time putting it together, so I kept doing more and more out of curiosity. Before long it was about done and it was a puzzle of a mother ape and her baby ape in her arms, not the puzzle that should have been in the box. The kids would never have figured that one out putting it together themselves. ha Sunday 29~~~~Tress and Cory and the kids came to the park this afternoon and they brought dinner with them for all of us. It was getting chilly outside, I had a nice fire built in the fire pit and all the chairs around it. We ate dinner outside and we had a great evening, finishing it up with a children's sing a long in the amplitheatre at dusk with all the children receiving their choice of a large poster. Tress is getting along pretty good on her crutches with this foot surgery. She is sure ready to be back to normal, with two good feet and no pain.

August 23 & 24, 2010

Monday 23~~~~~Kent drove into town from the park this morning and he picked me up at the house and we drove to Portland. Kent wanted to check in on our friend Gary's dad who is in the hospital there. We took Kent's daughter Cindy out for lunch and we met his daughter Dee Dee later for a visit before we left for the beach house. The beach was gorgeous when we arrived there, so warm and sunny with lots of people on the beach. I took a picture of Pepsi sitting on his favorite spot under the game table and a picture of the "Twin Rocks" and the ocean from our from our deck. We drove over to Nehalem to our favorite tavern where we had chicken and joes and cold beer for dinner. There sure is a lot of changes at the beach since the last time I was there. So many new condos built and so many still sitting empty.
Tuesday 24~~~~~We didn't stay very late today, as we have to go back to work when we get home. Kent likes to get back to the park early Tuesday night so he can drive to loop and see who is leaving in the morning and who is extending, so he can give the office a heads up early in the morning for all those people who are at the gate by 6:30 AM. We stopped at the casino on our way home for dinner and an hours play on the slot machines. Neither of us won any money, but I only lost $5 which was good. I need to save my money for Jack Pot, Nevada when we go South in September. Kent left for the park when we got home, I stayed and baked another rhubarb pie for Kent and for his cousin Bill Koehler who is visiting us at the park tomorrow. They both like my rhubarb pie and so do I!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Yum Yum!!! I drove up to the park about 10 PM.

August 17 through August 19, 2010

Tuesday 17~~~~~I picked up my Grandson on the way back to the park this afternoon, he will spend a week with us at the park. He will be a lot of help for Grandma cleaning the campsites while Kent works in the office. Bodie loves to ride my bike all over the park and there is another hosts grandson staying in the park this week also, so they are really having fun riding bikes together and watching TV at each others camps. The park has a lot of the GEO cash games hid in the park to find, so they have had a lot of fun using the GPS finding them. When you find one, you take one thing from the hidden container and you replace it with one thing you have bought. Then you re hide the box so the next Geo Cash person can find it. Tress is having her left foot surgery done tomorrow, so with Bodie out here it will be a lot easier with only Blaize there to take care of.
Thursday 19~~~~~After got my sites cleaned this morning and we ate lunch, I took Bodie, his friend Will and Wills little 4 year brother over to the swimming hole in the park where they played for a couple of hours. The Boy Scouts rocked off a nice sized area along the Santiam river that runs along the park. The current is very fast a dangerous if a child would go over the rock wall they have made. The water isn't that deep, but the current is so swift, you have to watch the kids close. They sure had fun in the water hunting for salamanders and bugs. Bodie really had an appetite for dinner tonight.

August 15, 2010

Sunday 15~~~~~This morning the weather was cold and damp. Kent had to work in the office again. We didn't have that many sites today, as a lot of people have extended their stay with the office. Yesterday with it being so hot, a lot of kids filled water balloons and threw them at each other all over the park. That is such a mess to clean up, all those small pieces of colorful balloon pieces. I looked our my kitchen window and I saw three little girls with a bowl picking up all those miserable pieces. (picture) They were going up and down the road in all the ditches and every where. I was so impressed, I went out and told them thank you and what a good job their parents did raising them to be so polite. Then I went over to their campsite and I told their parents the same thing, they had quite a large family gathering and they were just having breakfast that they cooked over their campfire. They had a most unusual stainless steel griddle on the fire and being the curious person I am, I asked where they got it. They told me it was a disc from a piece of farm equipment used to disc the fields, the square hole in the center was welded with a piece of steel and buffed out. Notice all the notches in the disc. This griddle was enormous and held enough food for all those people with lots of leftovers. They insisted I fill two plates for Kent and I, they had flour tortillas filled with eggs, bacon, onions, peppers and potatoes. I added sour cream and salsa to our and I drove up to the office to give Kent his breakfast. What a treat that was from some lovely campers!!! If you can weld and can find some of these disc's, what a great gift to make for a camper friend or relative. This afternoon Cory, Tress and the kids came up to the park to visit us, the weather has got a lot warmer this afternoon, so Kent, Cory, Blaize and Bodie put the raft in the Santiam River at Mill City and the rafted down to the park. Of course they got wet, but they sure had fun. Tress and I waited at home for them and we went down to the water just in time to get some pictures of them. After they got all dried off, we had a BBQ dinner and sat around the campfire until they went home.

August 13 &14, 2010

Friday 13~~~~What a warm day it was in the park today, I think we all had shorts on. Ranger Dan got on the radio and told all of us hosts to bring our golf carts up to the main compound for a cart wash. Kent was working in the office, so I emptied out our rakes, shovel, metal cans for hot ashes and junk and headed up there to get my pathetic one eyed (light) cart all polished up. Dan used a pressure washer and we lined up like kids in school or maybe like going through a real car wash. The water spraying all over really felt good as hot as it was today and it did make the one eyed monster look better. It sure is ugly, but I wouldn't want to walk and carry all those tools from site to site everyday. Plus we meet each other when it is slow and we do our daily chats parked along the road. The men are worse at this chatting thing than a group of old ladies at ladies aide. (picture of Kent & Fred) Saturday 14~~~~I was asked to teach the Children's Education Class again this Saturday, I helped with this class early this spring, so it was an easy one to do and beings we spent time in Arizona watching them band the hummingbirds and helping catch and carry them in little cages, I knew a lot about them and I had our computer with pictures on it to show them pictures of all the birds we caught and released. Today we made little hummingbird feeders with a small glass tube with a lid with a small opening for the sugar water. They were all decorated with foam flowers that slit down the tube and red pipe cleaners for antennas and green florist wire to hang it in a tree or on a nail. The kids love classes where they make something they can take home. (pictures)

August 11 &12, 2010

Wednesday 11~~~~~Kent worked in the office this morning and I had a lot of sites to clean. Our park is so busy, we are full everyday. There is a line of people at the office every morning who are there early hoping someone will leave so they can get their spot. There are people in all kinds of vehicles driving here to camp. (picture) LOL I had quite a few sites to clean and a lot of recycle to pick up and take to the recycle bins in my golf cart, when I drove by our site, I saw a van in the driveway, we had company. Kent's cousin Bill drove down from Milwaukee to spend the night with us. I finished cleaning my last two sites and I went home to start lunch for Kent his cousin Bill and myself. After lunch Kent and Bill drove to Mill City so buy a cappacino, Kent loves them as we all know and he is determined to make his cousin who doesn't drink coffee like them also. ha I had a good time listening to the two of them talk over their childhoods and family stories. Bill showed Kent some of his web sites he uses and they spent some time together on the computer looking up things. We had spaghetti, salad and hot bread for dinner and after the dishes were done we finished up the evening with my rhubarb pie with ice cream. Bill has his van all set up for camping and sleeping, so we called it a night about 10PM. Thursday 12~~~We had some time to visit before we had to say our goodbyes to Bill and Kent heading for the office. I didn't have a lot of sites to do, so I drove into Salem and visited Pammy and I got to see the new addition about completed. The kitchen is so beautiful and I know they will enjoy it as Pammy loves to cook and bake as much as I do. From there I drove over to check in on Tress and to watch the kids in the pool for an hour or so. I helped unload and reload the dishwasher for her while visiting with her. I know she is so bored not being able to get out and do anything. I made it back to the park in time to fix dinner for the two of us.

August 8 & 9, 10, 2010

Sunday 8~~~~Today was a pretty busy day at the camp ground, we had 13 sites to clean. We stayed pretty busy all day and we drove into Salem this evening rather late. I am having the shop girls over for cards and dinner tomorrow night. Kent is going to go to a movie and out for dinner. Monday 9~~~~What a busy day today, I babysat Bodie and Blaize while Tress went to the Dr. this morning to have her stitches taken out. Cory dropped her off at my house to visit for awhile as he had to hurry home to get ready for work. After lunch the kids wanted to go for one of our long walks we do together when they are at my house; we left Tress sitting with her foot up and a big glass of water and a stack of magazines to read. When we got home from our walk, I started fixing dinner for my party tonight, Tress helped me by sitting on a chair and cutting up the vegetables for my salad. The kids love to play downstairs, so we got to visit while we worked. When Kent got home from Portland, he took Tress and the kids home about 4PM so I could finish last minute things for dinner and get ready. The shop girls are coming over at 5 PM so I had to hurry. I just got dressed and was putting on some makeup when the door bell rang, it was my son Bill stopping by to show me a couple of new baby kittens he had just received from the agency that takes in kittens and finds homes to keep them until they are old enough to adopt or well enough. My son and his girls have saved 27 baby kittens by being care takers until they are adopted by good families. We visited for awhile before I had to chase him away so I could finish dinner preparations. One of the shop girls couldn't come, so I called my friend Beth to sub for her, she had a great time and we decided to meet once a month, Beth is having it at her house in September. The girls enjoyed my simple dinner of a chicken and rice soup, salad and hot bread. I served a white cake with white frosting and strawberries for dessert after we played the first game of cards. We had a lot of fun playing cards and visiting with each other before it was time for the working girls to go home. Beth was one of my hair clients, so she and the girls knew each other real well, in fact, she still goes to the shop to have her hair done by Nancy. I look forward to playing cards again with them in September. Tuesday 10~~~~I baked Kent a rhubarb pie today to take to the park, he really likes them and I have found I like them also, especially with ice cream. YUM YUM Kent went to the park early as he had thin gs he wanted to do, so we drove two cars up there again. I took Bodie to his guitar lesson again today as Tress can't drive yet. I stayed and visited with her when I dropped off Bodie on my way to the park. I found out Kent and some park hosts went out for pizza tonight when I got to the park and I missed out on it. That is OK with me, as I don't need all those calories and Kent loves his pizza and the calories don't seem to affect him any.

August 6 & 7, 2010

Friday 6~~~~The weather this morning is pretty warm and a lot of people are extending their stay in the park so we don't have many sites to clean. We have three sites that really need gravel, so we took advantage of no one in them until later in the day and we had Josh dump several scoops of gravel with the Bob Cat in each site, Kent and I and two of the rangers spread the gravel. Kent had to go work in the office, so I finished the job with the rangers and Kent went to the office. The sites look so good when they have a thick layer of pea gravel on them, it cuts down on the dust in the air and the mud when it rains. Saturday 7~~~~The Park has a man who teaches building willow furniture and different things teach a class in the Children's Educational Center this afternoon, I usually try and help with the classes, so Krystal asked me if I would go and take pictures of the class. He had a spot he didn't fill, so I asked Brian the teacher if I could join the class and make a trellis with the class. He said I could and it was so much fun weaving all those small branches in and out and seeing how pretty the trellis become. He asked me if I would be interested in teaching the class next year if he couldn't make it and I said a real fast no, as I am not very artistic with out a teacher beside me. ha (pictures) Shelby and her girlfriend Jamie drove up to the park to visit us, tonight was the night for our play in the Amplitheatre and Shelby and Jamie got asked to take a part in the play. It is a story about Big Foot and different characters in the woods who see or hear him. Kent is one of the tree shakers and makes loud thudding noises, I give a blood curdling scream about three times and then we have someone who holds up these red lights that looks like eyes. Shelby played the part of a girl walking her dog and it got away and she thinks that Big Foot is in the forest and he got her dog. We have a family sing along with all the favorite camp songs before the play. We do the play after dark so it is quite eerie and scary. We all have fun doing our part and the part of Big Foot is so real with the costume they have for him to wear it almost scares me!!!!

August 2&3, 2010

Monday 2~~~~I spent the afternoon over at Thresa's house helping her by cleaning up the kitchen and watching Bodie and Blaize in the swimming pool. They can't play in it unless someone is there to keep an eye on them and with Tress on crutches, they aren't allowed to do it alone. I enjoy going over there and doing little jobs for them. I remember when I was young with little ones, my Mom used to come visit at our house, she always found things to clean and do for me. She always cleaned the oven and defrosted the refrigerator for me. I sure appreciated it and I try to do the same for my kids, as we grandmothers can always see things that need to be done and dirty spots on the doors and walls that need to be wiped down. Tuesday 3~~~~Kent and I did our laundry today and I cleaned our house before heading over to take Bodie to his guitar lesson. Cory put a roast in the crock pot, so Kent and I had dinner over at Thresa's house before heading back to the park. I fixed gravy and potatoes and a salad to go with our dinner. Kent drove to the park in his truck and after I did the dishes and started a load of wash, I headed to the park in my car. Kent was busy driving the loop in the golf cart checking on the campers to see which ones were leaving in the morning so he can give the office a heads up on how many sites will be open to rent out to the long line of people who stand in line from 6:30 AM until the sites are all rented out. If he doesn't talk to the people, the campers have until 9:00 AM to come to the office and renew the stay and the line has to wait so long to know if a spot is available. Kent is a natural in the office and I am so proud of how he deals with the people so naturally and leaves them smiling even if he can't find them a site to stay in. I am still in my element cleaning fire pits, raking the sites, sorting the recycle and cleaning one ladies bathroom. I did the office thing for many years working at K-Mart as a claims clerk, getting the money back from the vendors to the store for all the broken and defective merchandise returned to the store at the service desk. I loved that job also, as I always tried to beat the dollar amount I received for the store from the previous month, I like setting goals. This job working outdoors with the beauty of nature, the rabbits and chip monks is a great job to do as you get older and have so much free time. Ha ha I think we will probably live several years longer with all this fresh air, exercise and eating out less. One of the campers who were camped near us, brought over her baby Rag Doll Kitten for us to see and for Pepsi to check out. It is so tiny and so beautiful, it has the same color markings that Pepsi has. Pepsi really didn't care for the baby kitty, he even hissed at it which is really unusual for Pepsi to do.

July 29, 30, 31, 2010

Thursday 29~~~~~~Today Pammy, Jeff and Jeff's mom Jean Marie came up the park to visit us for 3 nights. Kent found them a neat camp site that was around the corner from us and we had a good time visiting them after work and during the day as we buzzed around the camp doing our work. Friday 30~~~~After I finished cleaning my sites, I went to the garage sales in the little towns near here with Pam and Jeff while Kent went to work in the office. We didn't find much, but we had fun looking. We had dinner at their camp tonight, baby back ribs, corn on the cob and potato salad. One of the park rangers that I made a chocolate cake for a week ago came to our camp site and made an Ice Cream Pie for us for dessert tonight. He brought all the ingredients and he made the pie on our picnic table with all of us watching. He is such a delightful young Ranger about 19 years old and he sure entertained all of us with his story of how his grandma taught his mom how to make this pie and then she taught him how and it is one of his favorite desserts. You take a whole packed of Oreo Cookies and smash then in the dish, then you pour half of a bottle of Hershey's syrup over the smashed cookies. Last you top it with softened ice cream, he used chocolate mint and cookie dough ice cream. You should freeze it for a couple of hours, but we didn't do that, we just dug in and ate it. It was very good and we really enjoyed Corbin sharing his recipe with all of us. We played a couple of card games and enjoyed the camp fire before calling it a day. Saturday 31~~~~~Kent's daughter Cindy and her husband Eric and their boy Nathan came to visit us today, bringing a wonderful picnic lunch for us to eat. Cindy made chicken salad sandwiches on a delicious crusty bread with watermelon, chips and Oreo Cookies. After lunch we walked around the park and showed them what we do here and then they went rafting in the Santiam River with Kent in the raft they brought up here. They drove to Mill City and put the raft in and they got out at the boat dock here in the park. The raft is only big enough for two, so it took two trips for the four of them to do it. I had fun watching them come down the river and launch it in the park. I am not a water person, so I chose to stay in the park. We built a nice fire back in camp and we fixed burgers for the Norwood's and Schaffer's for dinner in the evening, we ate and sat around the camp fire visiting before the Schaffer's had to head back to Portland. Pam and Jeff left on Sunday morning for home as they both have to go to work on Monday. It was a real fun busy weekend with all of our company. We finished up Sunday evening with our friends Wayne and Odie who came to the park on Sunday afternoon to stay one night. We sat around the campfire until Midnight before calling it a day. We drove into Salem on Monday morning to spend our days off there.