Last Couple Standing

 

October so far has flown by, but at the same time it is dragging. We got 12 of the 14 area’s that we manage shut down and closed to the public. Our job now is to run the campground where we are staying (Barton Flats) while also going back through the other campgrounds and getting them ready for winter. We have laid off all of our camp hosts. Our friends Rayn and JJ from Serrano have left, so now it is just Max and me. Every time a couple leaves, my hitch itch gets out of control and I am ready to get off this mountain. That is why October is also dragging by. As of this writing we have about 5 weeks left before we can finally head south.

The campground is still full on the weekends so Friday, Saturday and Sunday are dedicated to taking care of the campers and to get the campground ready for the next week. Monday and Tuesday is technically our days off but we still have to check in anyone that comes in and to take care of the bathrooms etc… usually we only have 2 or 3 per day to worry about so we can get them checked in early in the morning or late in the evening and we can still do what we need to during the day. It just prevents us from being able to go away over night.

Wednesdays, we clean out fire pits and do deep cleanings on the bathrooms and showers. We are usually done around 1:00pm and then we work on other campgrounds getting them winterized. One of the things we have to do is to cover all of the signage in plastic.

I didn’t really wrap Max up in the plastic, she was waiting for me to bring the staple gun, really…

 

Along with wrapping the signage, I have to drain the water systems. To do that I have to open up valve boxes that have not been opened in months. You never know what you are going to find when you open them. Here is a nice Black Widow spider that I had to chase out of the way to get to the valve.

We also have to do “varmint duty”. That is when the chipmunks and squirrels slip under the bathroom door to get water from the toilets. They fall in and can not get out and they drown. I will not post pictures of that. You can thank me later!!

At this time of year our human tolerance level has been reached and it gets to be a struggle to keep up a cheery persona and make sure our hitch itch fueled grumpy attitudes, does not carry over to our campers. So we constantly remind ourselves that we are living in one of the prettiest area’s of southern California, and we have to remember to take in the beauty at every opportunity.

Here was the last full moon we had, taken early morning as I was opening up Jenks Lake. Not the best picture, but just looking at it that morning had me smiling all day!

Last week a traveler pulled into the campground and asked us if anyone was missing a dog. He had found one walking down hwy 38 about three miles from our campground. No one had reported one missing, and he had to get down the mountain. I told him that we would keep him until the morning and if no one came looking for him we would take him to the animal shelter in Big Bear.

He was a German Shepherd mix probably 2 or 3 years old. He was really scared but finally warmed up to us. He was a very sweet dog, never barked, licked or tried to jump up or get on the furniture. Taking him for walks he never pulled on the leash and would walk right beside me. I think he was the perfect dog. We let him sleep at the foot of our bed and he stayed there all night.

Luckily, our camp host that were here left some dry dog food in a storage area and we were able to feed him. I was really feeling anxious about taking him to the shelter. Those big brown eyes were getting to me. There was no way we could keep him, our lifestyle keeps us away from the rig 12 to 16 hours a day and we want the ability to fly home to the kids at a moments notice.

The time came where I had to load him up into the Jeep to take him to the shelter. This was not easy! He even rode in the Jeep like he was born to it. ( the perfect dog)

We made it to the shelter and they checked him over and found that he had a chip implanted and they were able to contact his family. His name was Eli and he was from Yucaipa Ca.  I was so happy because I do not think I could have left him there!

Just how the moon had made me smile all day, so does watching my only remaining employee work as I drink my coffee. Your doing a fine job Max!

 

Enjoy Your Day!!