Winter Excursion 10, Day 180

Today was our last day hosting for this year.

We finally got some rain, but not enough to lift the fire bans for this area, Hopefully we will get some more rain soon. The campers are all upset that they cannot have campfires or use charcoal.

The find of the day was this tiny broom. 

I'll leave it in the host cart for the next host. Maybe they could use it to clean a site. That would be an all day job, this broom is only 3 inches long!
 

Winter Excursion 10, Day 179

It was a super quiet, easy day. We spent the afternoon sitting outside enjoying the cool temps and a light breeze. We only hand a handful of campers leaving and arriving.

We continue to do a little packing up each day in preparation of leaving the camper here and heading to the Kid's house in Charleston.

The find of the day was this button.

I hope nobodys pants fell down!

Winter Excursion 10, Day 178

It was a fairly normal work day, except 5 of the campers leaving decided to wait until after checkout time to leave. This always puts a dent in our routine and schedule. I think it would be fun to be "entitled"! 

The find of the day was this colorful propeller.

I attached it to our cart and was really surprised that it actually makes our cart go faster!

Winter Excursion 10, Day 177

We actually got a little rain this afternoon. There is a State wide burn ban in effect, but the little bit of rain we had will not get the ban lifted. Man of the campers are a little upset as there are no campfires, charcoal, or candles. They can only use propane.

Once again we spent the day in camp. We did a little more packing up and just relaxed.

We have three days ON starting tomorrow, and then we plan to go to the kid's until the truck is fixed.

I got this pic of the Georgia State Bird the Brown Thrasher. We don't see this guy very often.

 

Winter Excursion 10, Day 176

We spent most of the morning putting all the outside stuff away in preparation for our soon to happen move. After four months in one place I almost forgot where all this stuff goes when we move!

We drove over to the Ford Dealer to see how the truck is doing. The truck was still outside and they plan to get started on it again next week. They still don't have a loaner for us and the rental vehicle we have is costing us over $300 a week. Ford will only reimburse us for 10 days of rental at a max cost of $40 per day. YUK!

We spent the afternoon in camp people watching and relaxing.

Winter Excursion 10, Day 175

We are forecast to get some badly needed rain this weekend. So we took down the gazebo and one of the patio mats. We will be packing up more stuff tomorrow.

Another one of our hosting friends came to visit today. We hosted with Carolyn at George L Smith State Park. It was great to see her and catch up on all her goings on. She did bring her dogs. Lenny is a 15 year old tiny Chihuahua! The other dog is a miniature Dachshund and is quite the handul.

We took her out to lunch and spent the rest of the afternoon outside just yakking.
   

Winter Excursion 10, Day 174

We left camp this morning and headed to High Falls State Park to see our old Co-host. We hosted with Ed last year here and this year for two months also. He is 88 Years old and still hosting! He does say this is his last year and he's headed to Texas in September to live with his son.

On the way to see Ed we stopped by the Ford Dealer where our truck is. We were very disappointed to see our truck parked outside. I don't think they have touched it and we still have no word as to when we might get it back. This is going to be a problem as we have to vacate this camp site as our hosting ends next week. 

Winter Excursion 10, Day 173

It was a very uneventful day which is always good. We had all or duties finished by 1100.

Cath had a hair appointment in the afternoon. She is my Brown Haired Girl again! 

We had a camper show up with no reservations again this evening. So we put them on one of the empty sites. Turned out they are from our hometown of Lowville. Small World!

The find of the day was this little toy dog.

I'm not sure where he got that collar, but it sure looks like a ring I found a few months ago!

Winter Excursion 10, Day 172

Today was a super easy day. We had a handful of campers leaving and only a few arriving. The campers that were leaving were all gone by 1045. We don't think that has ever happened before. They usually wait until a few minutes or more after the 1200 checkout time. 

The weather continues to be nice. Temps are in the 70s during the day and into the 40s at night. It makes for good sleeping and easy working!

The find of the day was this fishing lure.

I'm not sure how it got stuck into Santa Duck's head, but I bet it hurts!

Winter Excursion 10, Day 171

We can't get over how calm the campground and boat ramp have been this weekend. The norm is for it to be crazy busy with a bunch of crazies causing the craziness! We are not complaining.

The find of the day was this fork.

Somewhere in this campground is one hungry camper or maybe they just eat with their hands!

Winter Excursion 10, Day 170

It's a Saturday and the campground is full. Temps are in the high 80s and we expected a very busy day. That did not happen. All the campers (and even the boat ramp) were very laid back and quiet! I could not believe it and neither could the staff, but none of us were complaining.

Today was my 73rd birthday and I really want to stop counting them! Cath made me a nice breakfast and a very yummy dinner. The campers gave me a very calm day!

The find of the day were these swim goggles.

I think I'm going to use them as my new sunglasses. They make me look like an alien.

Winter Excursion 10, Day 169

Even though the rental truck cannot tow our trailer, it's still nice to have a vehicle again. 

We decided to go out for pizza at a place one of our maintenance guys told me about. The place is in Griffin about 30 miles away. It's called Slices and it's famous for the brick oven pizza and also for the size of the pizzas. The pizzas are 2 foot wide and when you order a slice you get 1/8 of it. Cath ordered one slice, I ordered two, but could only eat one. 

We are back on duty tomorrow, so we just chilled at camp and hit the rack early.

Winter Excursion 10, Day 168

Got a ride to the car rental place from one of our Maintenance Guys. I waited in line for about 20 minutes and checked in after I had already done everything online. Then I waited another 45 minutes for them to find the SUV I'd rented. Then they asked me if I would rather have a pickup truck instead of a SUV. You can guess my answer. So we are driving a 2026 Chevy Silverado. It's nice, but it's not a F250!

Back at camp we relaxed and watched a few movies. 

Winter Excursion 10, Day 167

The news we got today was not what we needed to hear. The truck will be in the shop for a few more weeks. The Ford Dealer does not know exactly how long, but it will be longer than 30 April when we have to leave this host site. We will have to cancel our reservations at Oak Mountain State Park and we will not be able to see Jacob and Cecilia.

The good news is we can leave the camper at this campground until the truck is ready. We have to move it to another "non-site", but at least it will be secure.

I'll be picking up a rental car tomorrow and we plan to go to the Kids and Kiddos in Charleston until we can get the truck back. 

Other than all of the above everything is just peachy! 

Winter Excursion 10, Day 166

Today is our first of four days off.

We were hoping to hear any news about the truck, but the dealer did not call. I tried calling them around 1600, but the service manager was already gone for the day and the person I was talking with had no information. They have had the truck for two weeks now and we are starting to worry. We have to leave here in two weeks and with no truck that will be difficult.

When I went outside this morning our host cart had a flat tire. It seems vehicles and us are not getting along!

Jerry and Carolyn came over for dinner. This was their farewell meal as they are leaving tomorrow.

Winter Excursion 10, Day 165

Cath took the day off and did some shopping and lunch with her friend Carolyn.

Today was Monday so the camper turnover was not to bad.

The boat ramp (beach) continues to be a pain. I think I emptied the trash cans three times each!

The find of the day was this checker board.

Only problem with it is that all the black and white thingies fell out! 
 

Winter Excursion 10, Day 164

As many of the campers are leaving today it made for a screaming busy day. As usual it seems like they all leave at once about 10 minutes before checkout time. And yes, a few even wait until after checkout time and have all kinds of excuses why they could not leave when they are supposed to.

The boat ramp has been busy all weekend and that means the place gets trashed. I'm starting to call the area "the beach" as many of the locals use it for a swimming hole!

The weather has warmed up and that means we have been renting our canoes and paddle boats. It is amazing to me how many of the renters do not want to wear a life jacket, but they can't rent a boat unless they wear one. I think many of them take the jacket off as soon as they are out of our view.

The find of the day was this toy dump truck.

I was telling everyone I finally got my truck back!

 

Winter Excursion 10, Day 163

Today was the complete opposite of yesterday. We had three campers leave and two arrive. We had almost nothing to do, but after yesterday it was nice.

We made breakfast for the staff that was working today and sat out on the picnic to eat. A fun time was had by all.

I did get some (hopefully good) news about the truck. They will put a new coil pack on cylinder #2 on Monday. We are crossing our fingers.

The find of the day was this smashed turtle.

It's only about the size of a silver dollar, but a lot thinner! It was run over by a vehicle!
  

Winter Excursion 10, Day 162

Today was Friday and it was our first day "ON" and it was a whopper! We had sixteen campers leaving and seventeen arriving! We were flat out almost all day, but it sure made the day go by fast.

The weather has been perfect with highs in the 70s, but that is forecast to change. It's going to get hot, but no rain!

Jerry and Carolyn came over for dinner. We sat outside and had a nice campfire. After they left Cath and I stayed out by the fire until almost 2200. It was a nice cool evening.

The find of the day was this bungee cord.

I sure hope it wasn't holding down anything important!

 

Winter Excursion 10, Day 161

No news on our truck. We are not worried yet, but we have to leave here in about 3 weeks and we will need the truck to do that!

Larry and Mona came over and spent some time checking out our new camper and just yakking.

Mona made dinner. It is called American Chop Suey in the New England States. Everywhere else it is called Goulash. We ate at Jerry and Carolyn's and a good evening was had by all.

We are back "ON" for the next four days. It's a weekend so we expect to be busy. 

Winter Excursion 10, Day 160

My cold hit today and I felt like crap this morning.

We did hear about the truck today. They put a new fuel pump in that helped the issue, but they are still having some problem with cylinder #2.

Jerry, Carolyn, and Cath went into Gray. I stayed back at the camper to nurse this cold. Even though I was off I still got a call about a "fishing noodle" in the cove that was moving around. Obviously there was a fish on trhe hook.

Our Co-host went out on one of the paddle boats and brought it back to me on the dock.

It's a nice 4 pound catfish. I took it up to the camper and filleted it out. One of the campers noticed what I was doing and I gave the fillets to them.

While I was at the dock I got some pics of the new arrivals from our local Geese.

I think it is the same pair that was here last year. I just hope the gooselings do better than last year's. The little ones only lasted about a week before the turtles and fish got them.

  

Winter Excursion 10, Day 159

Our truck is still in the shop and we got no news about it today.

We all went to the PX and Commissary in Jerry's truck. I got to drive so Jerry could look around. His truck is very much like our new one is going to be, so it was fun to drive.

After we got all the groceries put away we got pizza from our new favorite pizza shop. It's called "Pig On A Pie" and the pizza is excellent!

I've started working on getting a cold. I just hope it's not a real bad one. The pollen here doesn't help.

  

Winter Excursion 10, Day 158

We spent the morning in camp doing camp maintenance and cleaning things up.

Mid afternoon we walked over to Jerry and Carolyn's and the four of us piled into Jerry's truck and headed to the Whistle Stop for a late lunch/early dinner. Even though Google said the joint was open it was closed for Easter Monday. So we ended up going to our favorite TexMex restaurant. We all had a nice meal.

We spent the evening at Jerry and Carolyn's camper enjoying the cool weather. We are going into the mid 40s tonight.

When we got back to our camper we were greeted by another nice sunset.

I don't think we will ever get tired of the sunsets here!
    

Winter Excursion 10, Day 157

Happy Easter!

We were forecast for some serious rain, but it just drizzled on and off for most of the day. We did get a quick gully washer around 1600.

Host duties were steady as many campers were leaving today.

It was our last day "ON" and we are looking forward to our four days off.

The find of the day was this tablecloth holder for a picnic table.

I hope it did not interfere with their Easter dinner.

Jerry and Carolyn came over for our Easter dinner. The weather cleared just in time so that we could eat outside. 
 

 

Winter Excursion 10, Day 156

It was a typical slow Saturday as most of the campers are in for the weekend.

The boat ramp had a busy day. We had to empty the trash cans as the picnic area and boat ramp were totally full of people. Normally we only have to empty them once after the weekend. When we checked the women's bathroom at the boat ramp there were a few ladies in the girls side. This room is only 5 X 7 with one toilet and a sink. When the door opened out came 7 ladies! We were dumb founded!

The find of the day was this catfish rig.

As I was cleaning up around the picnic area I saw some fishing line. This rig was on the other end. It is over a foot long! There was no catfish on the hook!

Winter Excursion 10, Day 155

It's Friday and it was a very busy day. We had lots of campers coming and going which means lots of site cleaning. I think we worked from 0730 to 1400 without a break!

The good news today was from the Ford dealer. They now are almost sure it is a fuel pump issue. Seems Ford has had some recalls concerning this issue, but mainly for the diesel trucks. The dealer told me that they got a heads up that the 7.3 gasser was going to have a recall also.  Since today is Friday they won't get the new pump in until middle next week. That's OK with us as long as that fixes the issue.

Jerry and Carolyn came over for dinner and we had some super grilled salmon.

The weather continues to be perfect, but rain is in the forecast for Sunday, the day all these campers will be leaving. I love to clean sites in the rain. I may wear just my bathing suit!

The find of the day was this bottle cap.

After the day we had today I sure could have used what was in that bottle!

Winter Excursion 10, Day 154

First thing this morning, after we did our morning checks, we took the truck to the Ford dealer. It is still acting up with it's mis-firing issue. We need to get this solved before we have to tow again. The dealer called late in the afternoon and so far they think it is a "cam" issue and may have to do a complete engine teardown! We hope not, but are happy we have an extended warranty on it if that is necessary.

Back at camp it was just a normal day. Jerry and Carolyn came over in the evening and we continued the yak fest.

Our campsite sure looks funny without the truck in the driveway.

The find of the day was this bow tie.

I think it belonged to Pee Wee Herman, but I did wear it for a little while!

 

Winter Excursion 10, Day 153

We spent the morning cleaning up the camper and our site. We did one more quick trip to Wally World for some last minute supplies before we are "ON" again.

Jerry and Carolyn arrived around 1500. It was good to see them. We spent the afternoon and evening catching up on news.

We were forecast for thunderstorms, but that never happened. We spent the evening outside and had our Sticky Chicken at the picnic table.

Winter Excursion 10, Day 152

We stayed in camp most of the day. 

We did a little laundry and fried up a bunch of chicken wings for Sticky Chicken tomorrow when Jerry and Carolyn arrive.

I also did our 2025 taxes and we will get a refund for the first time since I can remember!

We went out to dinner at a newly opened Italian Restaurant. We will not be going back!

Back at camp we spent the evening outside watching the sunset and talking to a few of the campers as they were taking their evening walks.

It's been a nice three days off, one more to go.