Labor Day, Sept. 3rd

Almost a whole month has passed and we’re anticipating the End of the Summer! We both worked right up to the end of last week. Dottie finished on Friday, and I was through with my work on Thursday. That gave me four days to wash & wax the coach and the car, and to get some serious organizing done in the storage bays. It takes a full three days to wash & wax the coach - I use a paste wax on all the bay doors and the front and rear caps, and use a liquid wax on the side panels. This coach looks like it’s brand new now! The car got it’s share of attention, too. I had the front end aligned on Friday morning, but couldn’t get the new tires I wanted. Sam’s Club had only two tires in stock so we’ll wait until we get to Oregon and buy them there where there’s no sales tax.

The last two weeks were a real bear! The Security Supervisor had approved two of his team going on a cruise. That put him down two people. Then he had to suddenly leave because of a heart problem. His relief, C. D. Vespested, is a good friend and asked if I could come over to Security to bail them out by working a few of their shifts. For him I agreed and was doing double duty working Security and Maintenance. That was a LONG two weeks! Plus it meant working evening shifts which I’m not very fond of. We got through it, though, and received some heartfelt thanks from C.D. and the Interim Park Manager.

On August 29th, Dottie and I have been married for 38 years. Since we were both working, we delayed a quiet celebration until Thursday night. We went up to Hill city and the Alpine Inn for a cozy steak dinner. This unique restaurant has only two items on the menu - a small 6 oz. steak or a large 9 oz. steak. They serve a quarter of a head of lettuce with Ranch dressing and bring the steak with a baked potato and Texas toast. The cost is $6.99 or $9.99. Their homemade desserts are the real treat of the menu. We ordered a bottle of California Pinot Noir wine with our meal and the whole bill only came to $42.00!! What a great place to go for a special meal and a quiet, peaceful escape.

Then, last Saturday night, we were sitting on our patio with several friends from the park. Dottie went to stand up and tripped over the picnic table leg. She landed on her face with her nose taking most of the impact. She is sporting a beautiful pair of black eyes and a big “owiee” on her forehead. Of course, I get the blame for it since it really looks like I whacked her good. She’ll be living with that for a week or so.

Tonight, Monday, our new Maintenance Supervisor, Kevin Schlecter, is having all the maintenance guys over to his place for a barbequed pork loin dinner. We’ll have a few beers and a LOT of socializing. It will be a great time and a fun way to end the work season. Tomorrow morning I’ll get to my Tuesday morning Rotary meeting for the last time this year. And we’ll be pulling out of Hart Ranch heading west. We need to be in Salem, OR on Sept. 12th for a Monaco Rally.

It has been fun - we’ve worked hard and gotten many projects completed this year. I’ve assured Kevin that I’d return next year to help him and he seems to be relieved that I’ll come back. After all, this is our home so we need to be here for a time each year. We both hate the thought of leaving the area, although we’re both glad to see the work season come to an end

So, we’re on the road again…as the song goes, and we’re both looking forward to be moving once more. We’ll be seeing many of you in a very short time once we arrive in San Diego about Oct. 17th. Until then…

2 comments:

Vicki and Don said...

Congratulations on your 38th wedding anniversary! I know that your dinner was scrumptious!

Give Dottie a gentle hug for us! Sorry to hear about the black eyes and the boo boo on her head!

Safe travels! We'll miss being at the Come Home Rally! First one we haven't been to in a while!

Rick Stone said...

Safe travels to you guys. Guess we won't see you at the Come Home rally in North Carolina? Look forward to seeing you again next winter in Quartzsite.