Two Month Update!

Really?... Two Months since my last update?
That is almost shameful!

So where do I start?  at 2 months ago?  or do I start at now?
what have we been doing the past 2 months??

At my last post, we were getting ready to leave Jasper Point at Prineville Reservoir, in Central Oregon.  But I was playing "catch-up" at that point... so I didnt even say anything about our stay at Jasper Point.  So its settled.  I will start there!

It was a short stay... only 9 days.  But we enjoyed all of our 9 days. 

We enjoyed our job... of doing our North Shore Patrol, and campground duties of selling firewood and Ice. 

We also enjoyed some fun family time.

Jake came out on his birthday, and we celebrated with grilled T-bone steaks, and Chocolate Birthday Cake!

The grandaughters came with parents and friends to celebrate Journey's 10th birthday!

Jeff got suckered, by a mob of 9 and 10 year old girls, into some late night Harley rides.  The little girl gang were all friends that Journey brought for her birthday weekend.

BTW... That's MY bike they got the rides on.

After our short stint at Prineville, we moved to Valley of the Rogue SP in Rogue River, Oregon for 10 days. 

While there we celebrated another birthday.  This one was my Dad's 85th.

Happy 85th Birthday, Dad!





On September 20th, we moved our wheel house to an RV Park in Redding, California, where we were scheduled to take on an assistant manager position for 6 months.

We settled into a site... but not without some difficulty.  We wanted a back-in site, but the pull-thru sites in front of the back-in sites were full, so we didnt have enough room to maneuver.  Actually, Jeff can get into anywhere... and he did... but we werent happy with how we were positioned.  So Jeff moved us into a pull-thru site for the night, then we had a fresh new day to get it all figured out the next day.

We took 3 back-in sites.  Our 5er is in the middle one, then we have a table and motorcycles on one side, and our truck on the other side.

 Our first 3 weeks here... we worked our 2 days a week, then made the 180 mile trek back to Grants Pass, to work on our house. 

Our tenants had moved out, and we had some cleaning and projects to do. 


We stayed at the house on our king-size air mattress, enjoyed our hot tub, and it even got cool enough to enjoy a fire in the wood stove.

We cleaned and repaired and painted... for 3 weeks.  Then we found new renters! 
So the projects had to stop... and we turned the house over, once again.



Before we left Southern Oregon, at the end of our third week, the timing was right for us to share in another birthday celebration... this one was for my Mom! 

Happy 83rd Birthday,

Mom!

  

Once finished with the trips back to Oregon, we were free to relax and play on our 5 days off.  We decided to take advantage of the still good weather, and take a Harley trip to Reno, Nevada.


Along the way, we had a surprise encounter...

It was strange... I had told Jeff that I needed to pee.  He thought there was a rest area coming up.  We turned a corner, and I saw a motorhome. 

My immediate thought was how convenient it is to pull over with an RV.  Then as we began to pass, it looked familiar.  A motorhome, a pickup with a golf cart in the back... "Hey!  thats... thats... Dale... Dale and Sally!"

We did a quick u-turn and had a reunion!  How fun is wheel-life!  You never know where you will meet up with traveling friends!

Our Reno trip was a fun get-away.  The most enjoyable day was a mountain road ride and tour of Virginia City.

We took a route home that took us through Carson City, which we
didn't see much of... 

but we saw alot of hwy 395 back to Reno, when we got stuck in traffic for at least 1/2 hour. 

We sat there for a bit, and chatted with a guy in the car next to us.  But when the guy said, "if I were on a motorcycle, I would ride up the side"... we said, "well, back up a little, and we will do just that".  We rode up the side as far as we could... until construction did away with any side to the highway.

So we stopped again. 

We chatted with other wandering drivers.

We made some phone calls... and  we waited...

Back "Home"...

When we left for our Reno getaway, the other park hosts (or
managers) were having issues with the owners (and everyone else) and they were saying that they were quitting.  A big reason for our leaving for a few days was to get away from their constant drama. 



When we arrived back to our Redding RV Park home, we were curious to see what had changed with their decision to quit.  We were taken back a bit by the "welcome" we got.  What we were told was that they had worked things out with the owners, but now the problem was with us.  We let them know that we couldnt work with them and we would be leaving.  But after some conversation with the owners, the decision was to let the other hosts/managers go, and keep us. 

We were relieved by their decision.  Even though this would mean that we would need to work 7 days a week until they found someone else... it was worth it, to not have to find somewhere else to go at last notice.

So... for 3 weeks, we worked 7 days a week.  But they have hired a couple that we met in Southern California early this year.  So now we are back to our 2 days a week.  We really enjoyed the work, and now that Winter is upon us in Northern California...

We may just wish we were working more days. 

     Hopefully we find  something to do!  




We leave tomorrow morning for a trip to Southern Oregon to have Thanksgiving with family. 

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

 

 



PART 2 - THE PARK IS OURS!!

This post is a continuation of the previous post "The Park is Ours!"

NEW FRIENDS!

Seasonal Ranger Ronnie, and her husband, Richard, invited Jeff and I, along with Jim and Jan, over to their house for Pizza, Drinks, and meeting new friends. 

We met Ralph and Pat, and Larry and Jeanine.

All four of these couples meet up in Lake Havasu each winter. 

Maybe we will join them this year!

A couple days after Ginny left, Jeff's cousins came for a visit.  AND... Cousin Dave brought his boat!  What a treat!  We watch boaters come and go but we havent been able to go out on the lake.

Some decided to take a swim break... but not me!

Then one more stop on the ride back...

Floating Toilets... how cool is that!

and Jeff had the "privilege" of helping to clean and dump them,

a few days before.  There are 2 of these on the lake.

When we came in, we had another fun treat! 

Our new friends, Larry and Jeannine, brought their Sea-Doo's to the lake

and we all got a chance to try them out!

This was a first time for Jeff and I. 

Infact... to ride a Jet-Ski or Sea-Doo was on our bucket list!

After all the lake fun, we enjoyed some time together at our camp,

Jeff showed Dave pictures until Dave finally admitted he had seen enough!

We thought we would play cards and dice games, but the pool and hot tub back at their motel

was sounding really inviting... so we let them go.

The next morning, Dave and Wendy took their boat and went home.  FINE!

But Chuck and Christine had a cabin rented at the main park,

and two friends were joining them.

Laurie and Cindy, mother and daughter, arrived mid-morning,

 so we all enjoyed the day and evening together at the cabin.

And that was it for our company since we've been here.  We enjoy all the get togethers with family and friends (old and new)... but we also savor our time alone.

Jeff continues to throw a line out in the water... but has yet to catch a fish.

He says its just a time of contemplation.

My Mom and Dad came through yesterday on their way to Canada
 to visit my sister,

 so we met in Prineville for breakfast.

There were some things they forgot...

but I was relieved to hear that their passports were not among the things they forgot.

So on to Canada they go!

THE PARK IS OURS!!

We can shout that from our door, or from the lake.  The campground is closed and we are here behind a locked gate.  Yesterday, there wasnt even one person who entered the day use to the lake.  This is AWESOME!

Our "contract" was up at the end of September, but they asked if we would stay for October, to help out with projects.  They have us building picnic tables, as well as continuing our back road patrol.

Before we had the park all to ourselves, we shared it with the other camp hosts, Jan and Jim.  We had a great time together, chatting around a fire or playing games.

As it is everywhere we go... we find a doggy to love on...

This is Tillie

We've had a great month, here at Jasper Point.  The weather has been perfect, the campers and job enjoyable, an amazing view out our front door, and just the right amount of family and friends visiting.

At my last post, Jeff's sons, Jake and Jon, were to visit.  They both arrived as planned, and we had a good time together.  This was a really special time for Jeff, to be with both his boys.

The "boys" shared a shot together, to kick off the weekend.

And the fun began.....

Ok... so this doesnt look so fun... but it was, in its own way, I guess.

Jake killed this rattle snake while out for a bicycle ride.  It continued to slither and rattle,

even though its head was gone.

This was one of six encounters we have had with rattle snakes. 

Jeff tried to shoot one the other day with our .38 and missed.  but we now have snake shot for the .38. The next one is ours!

The guys tried some fishing together...

Did some exploring...

Some Shooting....

and some Swimming (or Jumping)...

It was a good time.

Our next visitor was our friend, Ginny.  She rode her Harley over from Grants Pass, and stayed 3 nights in our guest room. 

One of the days, we enjoyed a ride together, touring the surrounding area.

One of our stops was Smith Rock. 

 Another day, we enjoyed an afternoon on the lake in the Tahitis.

I have to stop there for tonight.  We're ready for bed and Im just too frustrated

trying to load pictures with a slow connection!

I will attempt to finish this post tomorrow!