A Very Old Post May 2014

I'm getting ready to do a new post (believe it or not), but here sat this old post as a draft.  It's over a year old!  I hate to waste anything, so old or not and finished or not... I'm posting it.

May 15 2014
Back to Work!

At last post, we showed you all the work we were doing around here.  We had worked our butts off (so to speak).  But after that last big family reunion, where all the cottages were rented for the weekend, there have been no guests here at all!  It's been like vacation!  But today we are "back to work".  Guests are coming in this evening and more tomorrow.  It was nice to have a break, but its also nice to have some guests to keep us hopping!

What was really great, was that it was such perfect timing for a visit from Jeff's cousin, Chuck.  He rode his Harley down from Portland and stayed a week with us.  He came to visit when we were in Gold Hill, Oregon too.  But this was a bit more of a ride for him. 


I'm just glad we were able to set him up so well at no cost to him, thanks to one of the cottage owners. 

These places are all referred to as Vacation Cottages, but as you can see, some of them are big houses.










[fade out - 6 hours later]

Look above... what did I say?  I said, "its also nice to have some guests to keep us hopping!"
What I MEANT to say, was... "its nice to have HAPPY guests"!
As I was writing, our guests checking in today, arrived.  WE were happy to see them... but THEY weren't happy.  We have nothing to do with reservations of the cottages.  They deal directly with the individual owners.  These guests included an 85 year old Mama who is in a wheelchair or uses a walker.  Apparently the picture in their minds, was a cottage right next to the lake with a pier and dock with no steep ramp.  The real picture was a cottage a short walking distance from the lake, via a pea gravel path, then with the lake being so low, the ramp from pier to dock is quite steep... a little tricky for a wheelchair.  We came up with every suggestion and option and offers of assistance in our means to make it work for them... but Mama wouldn't have any of it.  So sadly, they left.

But with nothing more that I can do about that, I will continue...

How's this for relaxation when we have the resort to ourselves!

 

The "Bucket List"

 

When we get to a certain age, it's time to get things checked off "the bucket list".

Chuck had not Kayaked before, so with the opportunity in front of him... he couldn't resist.

Kayaking... "CHECK!"

May 21 2014
We don't need no stinkin' Starter... 

Jeff's Fatboy has had trouble with the Starter.  But it would always start eventually... UNTIL the day before Chuck came, then it decided not to start at all.  So we took it into a shop and left it, but then when we knew he couldn't get to it right away, and Chuck was here and we wanted to ride... we thought, "We don't need no stinkin' Starter"  We can just push start it! 

So we rode over to the shop and got the bike, and we did push start it... and rode together.  We continued to push start it and ride...  Until the day that Jeff reached the bottom of the hill before it started... so we had to push it back UP the hill. 

At that point, we glanced at each other while trying to catch our breath and thought, we are NOT doing this again.  So "who needs a stinkin' Starter??"  Jeff does!  The bike has just sat since.

But a starter is ordered and should be here tomorrow.  Now if the mechanic can just find the time to install it!

an evening with Cousin Chuck and Neighbor Chuck

Some of the huge Catfish caught by some of the guests:

Creating our own Rain for us and our friends:

 

Oregon to California

Another Post already??  (Ya... right)

On the last post, I said how much Jeff hated the seat on the Fatboy that he bought.  But I didn't tell you that we bought a new seat for it. 





THIS is the right seat for Jeff.


Now he just needs to get the 16 inch Ape Hanger Handlebars on it.

 We arrived in California for our new job on March 30th.  It definitely isn't simple making a move with two Harley's and a fifth-wheel.  We both rode to Redding and left both bikes, and caught a ride back with a friend in her car.  Then we drove the fifth wheel to Redding, and I rode my Harley to Clearlake, with Jeff following pulling the fifth-wheel.  THEN... a week later, we drove to Redding, and Jeff rode his Harley back.  Phew... lots of work living "on the road".

When we arrived, we stayed next door at the RV Park so we could get some orientation while the Winter caretakers were still on site.
It was a whirlwind Orientation... or so it seemed.  Way too much to take in with so little time.

I tried my best to take notes... but until we are on site and on duty and approaching an issue... we cant really understand it.  If you've been in the situation, you probably know what I mean.



Our first day of Orientation, Marci made us a wonderful dinner at their place. 


The second day, Glenn and Marci showed us around the area, and took us to lunch at the hardware store... sounds funny, but there is a diner at the local hardware store.



This is our View out our back window...  

 

And this is our RV Site, behind the fence, from inside the Resort...

And this is the Resort!

 

 

We've worked our first month now... and it has been an experience!  We've learned a lot and done a lot.  California has not had a lot of rain this Winter, so the lake is very low for this time of year.
We've had some challenges... but we are really enjoying it here.  So far, we're really glad we took the caretaking job.

We were even able to get Jonathan down here to spend more than a week with us... and of course, we put him to work! 

We had a really good time together.  This was the most time the 3 of us have spent together.

 

Our neighbors, Chuck and Joan, had us over one evening for dinner and games.  It was a good time for all of us, and a good thing for us, since I can't seem to find time to make meals!

This couple, Russ and Dianne, were here visiting from Wisconsin. 
They were looking for a property to purchase, and found one while they were here!

  Their offer was accepted by the owner, then get this... the owner isn't ready to move out, and Russ and Dianne are not ready to move in for a couple years... so they signed a lease agreement. 
Talk about a perfect arrangement for everyone!
What a great couple... they shared a fire with us a couple nights, then surprised us with a cash tip in the cottage when we went in to cleanup.  Our first Tip!  What a fun surprise.






There's nothing like learning under fire...

Last weekend, there was a family reunion held here.  They reserved all cottages, then had an 80th birthday party for a local family member.  There were 70 people here for the party.  Some of them had come from as far as Arkansas... and many of them had not seen each other in 40 years, so there was a lot of excitement, and several times, we were mistaken for one of their long lost relatives.  Funny... we started thinking we should play along, and maybe remind them of that loan we gave them so many years ago. (ha ha)

They were a wonderful bunch of people... we couldn't have asked for more well-behaved, friendly, tolerant people.

The reason I say "tolerant" is because there were a few issues with the cottages.  One especially bad. 

But we made it through!

Less than 5 months left on this commitment... then what??