Work and Play

 

It is hard to find time to write the blog. Normally I get up and have about two and a half hours before Max gets up. This always gave me plenty of coffee time and time to read the news etc… and then write the blog.

Now I am lucky if I have 45 minutes  to an hour to get my coffee and read the news and then get ready to go to work. Writing the blog is going to have to be done in stages. For some reason I can not write it in the afternoon or evening. I guess I am just used to writing it with a cup of coffee close by and the quiet solitude of morning. I will just have to adapt.

We got our Jeep back from service and so far, all is well. We also delivered the motorcycle to it’s new owner. The campsite seems a little bare without it sitting in the drive. We are glad to get it sold and can relax now knowing we could pick up and travel at any time without having to shuttle anything.

The camp host job is going well. On Friday and Saturdays we split our day and work about 4 to 5 hours in the morning and then a quick hour around 2 or 3. We then go back out and sell firewood and check bathrooms from about 5.30 to 7.30.  We sometimes will do  security rounds around 10 to enforce quiet hours, but we are slowly weaning ourselves from that duty. They do have a security person on the weekends.

We did get shipped out to another campground to help them. I spent another day weed eating and Max spent the day painting signs and picnic tables. The other campgrounds are pretty close to being caught up so I doubt it if we get shipped out again, but never say never.

Here is a picture of Max and I in our office.

 

As we were driving through the campground Max noticed this red flower.

It is called a snowflower or a Sarcode.  It is a parasitic plant that derives sustenance and nutrients from fungi that attach to roots of trees. It is unable to photosynthesize nutrients. It involves a mutualism between a plant root and a fungus.

The plant provides fixed carbon to the fungus and in return, the fungus provides mineral nutrients, water and protection from pathogens to the plant. The snowflower takes advantage of this mutualism by tapping into the network and stealing sugars from the photosynthetic partner by way of the fungus. It is found in the high elevations from Oregon through the mountains of California. We have seen three or four of them scattered throughout the campground and they all look a little different.

Memorial weekend we had a very full campground. Monday when the mass exodus happened we had a lot of sites to clean. The sites get a lot dirtier when people have an extra day to party. Most campers do a great job of keeping the sites clean. Then, there are others will that will watch paper blow off of their picnic table and do nothing to get it. Sheesh!

It is June already, we believe the summer is going to pass quickly. Later this month our oldest son David and his wife Beth are flying out to see us for a week. We are hoping to get an extra day off or two so we can take a road trip with them to the Grand Canyon. We are looking forward to a fun week with them.

Monday we took a very scenic Jeep trail that took us up on top of Snow Summit and Big Bear mountain. The views of the forest and the distant mountains were awesome. We will probably take David and Beth on the same trail when they come to visit.

Here are just a few pictures

San Gorgonio Mountain

 

And a Rattlesnake that was too slow.

We had a very fun day Jeeping, and the weather was perfect. We want to remove the hardtop since we will be staying here all summer. But before I do, we need to order a cab cover so we can cover it up at night to keep the dew off etc.

That’s about it for now, I will try to get better at updating the blog, but this work thing is intruding on our play thing. But it is all good!

Enjoy Your Day!