Winter Excursion 8, Day 149 The Life of a Camp Host

Our first day on duty for the three day Easter weekend and the campground is full.

The weather is perfect, low 70s, sunny, light breeze.

This morning at 0710 I was drinking my coffee in the camper when I heard a dog start barking. I also noticed a truck at the bathroom. Around 0730 I put two and two together and went over to the bathhouse. This guy was brushing his teeth after a shower. I asked if he was in site #6. He mumbled "yes". He knew exactly where this was going. I told him it was a little early to have his dog barking for over 1/2 hour and besides it is illegal to tie up a dog outside while you are gone. He again mumbled "sorry". We didn't hear that dog again all day!

Cath and Carolyn went into town to do some shopping after we did the bathhouse. Jerry, I, and the dogs spent the afternoon outside.

The find of the day was this airplane.

It's about the size of a silver dollar and doesn't fly worth a damn. It's now in the trash!

Winter Excursion 8, Day 148 The Life of a Camp Host

We drove to Dames Ferry today where we will be hosting next year. Jerry and Carolyn went with us, although we took both trucks as the dogs went with us also.

Before going to Dames Ferry we had lunch at the Whistle Stop, a famous cafe and shops in the area. Here's a few pics.

The cafe has been there since the 1800s. A few trains passed right outside the cafe while we were there.

The food was fabulous! Here the sampler platter or what's left of it.

Here's a chicken cutlet sampler and to the right a Fried Green Tomato.

The place is famous for their Fried Green Tomatoes and this is where the movie "Fried Green Tomatoes" was filmed. We will definitely be visiting this place when we are hosting next year. It's only five miles from the campground. The food and the area are great!

It was a fun day and back at camp we were still so full that none of us ate dinner.

We spent the late afternoon and evening at Jerry and Carolyn's camper. A camper arrived across from them. The are from Boonville, NY, just down the road from our home!

The find of the day was this penny.

If I find another 378 of them I'll have enough to buy one gallon of gas in Twin City, GA!

  

Winter Excursion 8, Day 147 The Life of a Camp Host

First day off so we slept in! It stormed half the night, but was finished by morning.

After a nice brunch we went to town and did a little shopping.

Back at camp we just hunkered down as more storms are forecast for late this afternoon and tonight.

The find of the day goes back to yesterday's post. In the entire field I only found these three candies from the Easter Egg hunt.

The starbursts were edible, but the krackel was smashed and soft!
 

Winter Excursion 8, Day 146 The Life of a Camp Host

Today was busy, but at least not a repeat of yesterday. We spent a lot of time just saying goodbye to campers who recognized us from previous years. It must be time to try hosting at another campground! LOL.

The forecast tonight is for sever thunderstorms, so we put all the outside stuff away. 

We spent the late afternoon outside, but the black gnats are getting bad. Not sure if I prefer them or the mosquitoes!

This morning a school bus full of kids arrived at the day use area. The had an Easter Egg hunt. They must have spread a few hundred plastic eggs in the field across from us. They divided the kids in groups and each group could only pickup certain color eggs. We thought that was a great way to do it!

   

The find of the day was this jump rope.

I found it in the field where all the Kids had been playing, but I didn't find any eggs! They got them all.

 

 

Winter Excursion 8, Day 145 The Life of a Camp Host

Back on duty today and it was a busy one. Today is Monday, but the campground is full. The office said it's not Monday, just another Friday!

Helped a camper with an electrical issue and another camper with a plumbing problem. Both had happy endings.

Once again the weather is perfect and we sat outside of our camper with Jerry and Carolyn. Then had a schnitzel dinner thanks to Cath. 

The find of the day was another Azalea plant.

This one is in front of the office, at the park, by the fishing pier.

Winter Excursion 8, Day 144 The Life of a Camp Host

We hung out at camp again today and watched all the campers leaving. It was a regular traffic jam at the dump station this morning.

The weather is a little cool, but nice. The breeze has keep the gnats down.

Spent the afternoon with Jerry and Carolyn and had dinner with them.

After dinner we headed home as we are on duty tomorrow.

The find of the day was this Lego Block.

I'm glad I had my boots on when I stepped on it. Just socks would have really hurt!

 

Winter Excursion 8, Day 143 The Life of a Camp Host

We spent the morning at our camper and had a nice breakfast on the flattop.

In the afternoon we played some cards with Jerry & Carolyn at their place. The plan was to get pizza for dinner. Jerry and I left to get the pizza in Swainsboro. I called on the way to order ahead and found out the wait for pickup was 70 minutes! We ended up with KFC!

The find of the day was these two little stickers.

A fishing net and a fishing lure probably lost by another frustrated fisherman who caught no fish and resorted to playing with fishing stickers.
 

Winter Excursion 8, Day 142 The Life of a Camp Host

We left camp around 1100 and headed to Ft Stewart to get Cath a new ID card. Turns out we both got new IDs as there is a new format. We got back to camp around 1500 after a quick stop at the grocery store. We got a few pics on the way of the Azaleas and wisterias that are in full bloom all over the area.

After we got the groceries put away we went down to Jerry & Carolyn's camper for AB time. Carolyn also made a nice tuna steak dinner for us. We spent the evening with them yakking and "carrying on".

The find of the day was this nut and bolt.

I'm thinking it fell off of one of these "well built" campers here.

Winter Excursion 8, Day 141 The Life of a Camp Host

It was a fairly easy day as we only had a few new arrivals. Cath and Carolyn went into town so I did the duties myself.

The weather is turning a little warmer and that means the bugs are out! Those little black ones are the worst. They love eyes, ears, and noses!

Jerry and I spent the afternoon sitting outside yakking, people watching, and dog sitting.

The find of the day was more fishing tackle from the frustrated fisherman in this area.

The fishing here remains terrible, but it is a good place to practice casting.

Winter Excursion 8, Day 140 The Life of a Camp Host

First day on and the campground is full. Don't have any good stories, but wait a day or two and we should have some good ones!

All is well in the Boss camp and here's the find of the day.

Found this golf ball on the road on my way back from the office this morning. The closest golf course is about 15 miles from here. Best I can figure it was one hell-of-a drive or the zipper on someone's golf was open as they drove down the road.

 

Winter Excursion 8, Day 139 The Life of a Camp Host

We had 33 deg this morning when we woke up!

Our friends from home arrived at the campground this afternoon. It was good to see them and catch up on "what's happening".

We spent the late afternoon by the campfire and had a few ABs (imagine that!).

Cath made a nice dinner for us all and many of the neighbors stopped by to say Hi. All in all it was a good second day off.

The find of the day was this hair tie. 

I call it "tie in pollen".

Winter Excursion 8, Day 138 The Life of a Camp Host

Our first of two days off and we slept-in a little. Cleaned up the camper and then left to do some shopping. We ended up driving to Ft Stewart. The commissary there is open on Mondays!

Back at camp we sat outside for awhile, but the temps are falling and the wind is kicking.

We did manage a find of the day.

Another damn tent stake to add to our collection. We are going to have to buy a bigger tent stake box!

Temps are forecast to be in the low 30s tonight. I thought we were in Georgia?

 

Winter Excursion 8, Day 137 The Life of a Camp Host

Today was super busy and as usual the "weather guessers" were wrong. It was not forecast to rain until 1900 this evening, but we had a storm blow through around 1100 while I was cleaning sites. We had 17 campers leave today which is fairly normal for a Sunday. After we finished the bathhouse around 1300 I was beat and spent the rest of the afternoon doing nothing!

The find of the day involved one of the campers. They had just left their site and were in the dump station. The first thing I noticed was a spoon under the picnic table. I ran up to the dump station and asked if it was theirs. They said no. Back at the site I found a fork behind the fireplace. So back to the dump station and yes this one was theirs.

Notice all the dust in the pic. It's not dust, it's pine pollen on the seat of out host cart!

Winter Excursion 8, Day 136 The Life of a Camp Host

It's Saturday and the campground is full. We only had a few leave and a few arrive.

We spent the day assisting campers and yakking with them. 

We spent the entire afternoon outside. The weather is perfect and forecast to stay that way through the weekend.

The find of the day was this "do-hicky"!

I've no idea what it is or what it comes from, but it has a led light with a switch so I'm keeping it!

Winter Excursion 8, Day 135 The Life of a Camp Host

The day started out just fine. We only had about 10 campers leaving and a dozen arriving. By 1130 we had everything squared away. Around noon we decided to do the bathhouse, but Kaylee had other ideas. The weather is forecast for rain and thunderstorms, Kaylee must be able to hear that as she was having a fit if we left her alone. So I cleaned the bathhouse and Cath babysat the dog!

I had not finished the bathhouse when 15 minutes later one of the "tenters" and their entire family (3 kiddos) used one of the Uni-sex rooms and totally destroyed it. So back to cleaning again not 1 hour after I had it finished. It gave me a good feeling to drive the cart by their site and give them the "stink eye"!

Later in the day a camper arrived and drove completely around the campground and stopped by our site. They said they had missed their turn into one of the pull-thru sites. I told them they had not missed it and that they had tried to pull into it backwards. For a few minutes they tried to tell me they pulled into it correctly. So I asked what side their hookups were on. After a pause they realized I was correct and drove around the campground again to pull into the site correctly.

OK, one more story. We had a Class C followed by a camper van pull into the campground around 1400. I figured they were traveling together and had adjoining sites and didn't think any more about it. Later I drove past one of the sites and they had both rigs in the site. One nose in, one nose out. They are only staying one night, but I teased the office and the Rangers that we were having a BOGO sale. 

After all this there is a find of the day.

I sure this is a hair tie and was used in the destruction of our Uni-sex bathrooms!

 

Winter Excursion 8, Day 134 The Life of a Camp Host

We took one of our "exploring drives" today. We left camp at 0900 and drove to Mistletoe State Park, GA, about 100 miles north.

It is a big park with 93 campsites. It is on Clark Hill lake on the border with South Carolina. There are only two hosts and when you are "on" you have 93 sites and three bathhouses! That's not volunteering. it's a full time job!

From there we headed to Elijah Clark State Park also in Georgia.

On the way we stopped at Thurmond Lake Dam and ate a sub for lunch.

Kaylee even got some off leash time.

Elijah Clark State Park is also huge with 172 campsites. We talked to a Host while we were driving through one of the campgrounds. They have 7 hosts, but the work schedule is everyday "on", no days off!

Both of the parks we visited today are really nice, especially if you are into boating. We would stay at either one, but hosting there is a No-Go!

The find of the day was this crushed bell.

Somebody really got their bell rung! It was crushed good!

We were back to camp just in time to feed Kaylee and spend some time outside relaxing and people watching. We are back "on" tomorrow and it's going to be busy with a capital "B".

 
 

Winter Excursion 8, Day 133 The Life of a Camp Host

We were off today and hung around camp except for a quick trip into town.

The pollen and "worms" has slacked off again. We just hope it stays that way.

The find of the day was this sea shell.

We were disappointed there was no pearl!
 

Winter Excursion 8, Day 132 The Life of a Camp Host

It was busy today. We had lots of campers leave.

One of the sites was a family that had a couple of small boys. These two boys had a Tonka Toy backhoe, dump truck, frontend loader, and bull dozer. They decided to excavate their campsite. When I went to clean the site after they departed I found about 10 holes about 6 - 12 inches deep and around 12 X 12" in size. It took me about 30 minutes to fill everything in and leveled out. These two characters used their dump truck to take the dirt from the campsite and put it down in the woods! They also decided to excavate the site next to theirs that was empty. I wonder where the parents were while all this was going on? I did get them back a little. They left the scoop from their frontend loader! I can guarantee they will not get it back! 

The last site I cleaned today was the one with the guy who had his sewer hose emptying into the lake. He left us a real mess. Cigarette butts, peanuts and shells, paper, charred wood, used pouches of chewing tobacco, and food bits! But the best of all was the wad of used cooking grease in the firepit! YUK!

The find of the day was this pair of sunglasses.

And a few minutes later I found the missing lens on the campground road.

I hope it all belonged to one of those excavating boys.

We are off tomorrow and I think we deserve it.

Winter Excursion 8, Day 131 The Life of a Camp Host

The pollen calmed down a bit, but is still in the area. We had temps in the 30s last night and remained in the 60s all day. We think that helps keep the pollen down. Once again I rinsed the truck off.

For a Monday it was really busy. All but four of the campsites are full.

We spent the afternoon outside people watching and yakking with the campers. We sold a lot of firewood. It's supposed to be chilly again tonight.

The find of the day was another bobber!

The fishermen around here are totally frustrated.
 

Winter Excursion 8, Day 130 The Life of a Camp Host

So after the time change last night we were up early or was it late? Who knows! We just wish they would stop with this time change twice a year!

The pollen continues to be bad. Here's a few pics of our truck.

I did rinse it off after taking these pics. We will see if it stays off tomorrow.

Although we were off today we had a camper come to our site in the late afternoon. He wanted to report his neighbor who had his sewer hose run from their camper into the lake! We called the Ranger and he had the guy remove his hose. His excuse was "it's only gray water"! We will never cease being amazed by what some people (campers) will do!

The find of the day was this little guy.

With all the rain we've had, we were not surprised to find a sea creature!

Winter Excursion 8, Day 129 The Life of a Camp Host

The rain started last night around 2200. It rained hard all night and finally stropped around 1000 this morning. Not sure just how much we got, but it rivaled the storm we had a a week ago or so. We spent most of the morning under a tornado watch, but it never materialized.

We thought we were done with the pollen, but that is not the case. It is full on again. It's all over the truck and even inside! I'll have to blow it out with our electric blower.

The pine trees are also shedding these little pods. We call them "worms".

There are millions of them everywhere (no exaggeration) especially at our camper as we are under some really big pines. We blow them off the mats every few hours. They get tracked into the house, the truck, and anywhere else you can think of. We will be glad when it stops!

We spent the afternoon playing cards and then left camp around 1500. Cath had a hair appointment in Statesboro. Kaylee and I spent a few hours in the truck people watching at the shopping center where Cath had her hair done.

The find of the day is this bobber.

I'm sure some frustrated angler threw it on the ground in anger. The fishing here has been terrible so far!

 

Winter Excursion 8, Day 128 The Life of a Camp Host

We are off for the weekend. We did some camp maintenance and watched all the new campers arriving.

In the afternoon we went to Statesboro to pickup a few supplies for the weekend.

The find of the day was this (I hoped) diamond.

Turned out to be a regular pebble. Dang!
 

Winter Excursion 8, Day 127 The Life of a Camp Host

We spent part of the morning cleaning up sites from the rains yesterday. We have about 10 campers arriving today. The campground will be full for the weekend as usual.

Once again the weather is perfect, so we spent the afternoon outside.

We are off for the weekend, but have no adventures planned until Sunday. We are going to visit a couple other Georgia State Parks we haven't seen yet.

The find of the day was this lug nut. 

I think some "Lug Nut" lost it!

Winter Excursion 8, Day 126 The Life of a Camp Host

It rained all night and then this morning it poured for over an hour. The campground was once again flooded, but subsided quickly as the soil is super sandy.

We had a few campers leave and only one arrived. There is only three in the campground tonight. 

We had another quick downpour late this afternoon. Just enough to make the site full of pine junk again. However it did give us a rainbow!

The find of the day happened while we were cleaning the bathhouse.

He was on the bathhouse sidewalk. We think his name is "Hoppy".

 

Winter Excursion 8, Day 125 The Life of a Camp Host

We stayed around camp this morning until 1100. Then we headed to Ft Stewart for a few supplies. The plan was to stop in Pembroke, pick up a Subway sandwich, and stop on post at a picnic table. When I entered the Subway there was a dozen or more folks in line. The wait would have been at least 1/2 hour. So we ended up at McDonalds for lunch!

On the way home we did a quick detour to Statesville and stopped at Lowes and Aldi's.

Back at camp we had a few sprinkles, but we enjoyed some outside time.

The find of the day was actually found last month.

It's a working trash grabber and a nice one at that. We usually go through at least two of our own while hosting, but this find will save us a buck or two!

Winter Excursion 8, Day 124 The Life of a Camp Host

Today was our first day off, but you would not have known it! A little before 0600 there is a rap on our front door. It freaked Kaylee out, Cath woke up freaked out, and I tumbled out of bed to answer the door in my undies (that's a sight)! It is still pitch dark out and the lady at the door says she needs help because she cannot remove her dump hose. I look across the campground street at the dump station and her truck and RV are there. I told her to hang on I'll be right out after I get dressed. As I walk over to her rig she says she doesn't have much strength in her hands and has been trying for 30 minutes to remove the hose from the dump valve. I reached down with one hand and removed the hose (stinky slinky). I asked why she was leaving so early and she responded she has an appointment. I hope it's for regaining strength in her arms and hands! I did mention there is a tool for this.

After breakfast we did a little camp maintenance and made a quick trip into town for a few supplies.

We spent the afternoon outside people watching. The weather is perfect, low humidity and temps in the low 70s. We are taking advantage of our outside time now. The bugs will be out soon starting with no-see-ums followed by mosquitoes!

The find of the day was left on top of the power/water pedestal at one of the sites.

I'm fairly certain it was used to wash dirty dishes at the pedestal. So much for RV gray tanks!
  

Winter Excursion 8, Day 123 The Life of a Camp Host

Well we made up for an easy day yesterday. We had 18 campers leave this morning! I cleaned sites until noon. Then we cleaned up the mess in the bathhouse. I think every departing camper took a shower this morning!

Here's a good story. I was cleaning one of the sites on the other side of the campground from our site. I could still see our site from there. I noticed a lady at our site (this was 0730). She grabbed a bundle of firewood that we sell at our site and walked back over to her site across the street. I decided not to say a word to her. A few hours later the lady and a few of her friends were walking by another site I was cleaning. I caught her eye, her faced turned red, and she confessed to getting the firewood (I didn't ask her). She then asked me what the firewood cost and that she needed another bundle. Then she paid for both! Her friends were laughing the whole time and started calling her a thief!

Next story is about the guy (tenter) who showed up at 1500 and set up on site #15. I was not expecting anyone on that site although it does happen sometimes (we call them walkups). Anyway I gave him awhile to get set up then I went down and asked him when he was leaving and did he have the "slip" the office gave him for the site post. He said the office had not given him a slip (very odd), but he did have his receipt. He showed me the receipt and it was for site #13 where I was expecting someone. He then realized he was on the wrong site and proceeded to call himself every name in the book. I got him to calm down as was ripping up tent stakes and throwing things around. I called the office and got him moved to site #15. Then he told me I was his hero!

OK enough stories, but here is the find of the day.

I'm not sure what it is. Maybe some new-fangled fish hook?

We are off for the next wo days (thank goodness) we will enjoy the rest!
  

Winter Excursion 8, Day 122 The Life of a Camp Host

We had no campers arrive or depart. The campground is full. It was a slow day for us. We sold and delivered a little firewood, but for the most part we just hung out at our camper. We wondered why the day was going by so slowly. We are used to working when we are "ON". 

We played some cards and watched some TV.

Find of the day is this bracelet.

They sell them at the Park Store. The store employee knows the lady who bought it for her Granddaughter. So she will let her know that we have it. We hope it makes the little girl happy to get it back!

Winter Excursion 8, Day 121 The Life of a Camp Host

This morning was super busy as we have 18 campers arriving today. After we made sure all the sites were ready we cleaned the bathhouse. It was not bad at all. There were only 5 campers here last night and this morning.

We spent the afternoon watching all the new campers arriving and setting up in the rain. The rain finally let up around 1730.

The find of the day was this little clip. It's not even 1/2 inch long.

I think it's used by the campground elf to hang up his hat!

Except for this rainy, cold, fall-like, weather all is well in the Boss Camp!