Winter Excursion 7, Day 156 The Life of a Camp Host

I was starting to think I was somehow cursed after yesterday. Today was a breeze. A few campers left, a few arrived, most everyone behaved, the bathhouse was easy to clean, and all was well. 

Until 2145 when a camper arrived with no reservations, so out of bed we came. Luckily I was able to put them in the one unoccupied site we had. Funny thing was they have reservations for tomorrow night. So why would you arrive a day early expecting to get a site? We are staring to think we've seen it all, but something new happens almost everyday.

In the afternoon Nick (assistant manager) came by and asked if I would go ride the trails with him as there were no Maintenance guys on today. There might have been issue with one of the primitive sites, but ended up being nothing. On the way we saw this guy.

The pic doesn't show it, but he's a little over a foot long. He's a gopher tortoise. They dig and live in burrows. His burrow is across the road from the campground. He crosses the road  sometimes to eat the flowers and weeds in the field near the campground/day-use-area. If you get to close he will hiss at you.....so I thought he was a female!

The find of the day was this poison dart that probably came from the same kid that's been trying to dart me!

We are off for the next three days, rain is in the forecast, but we just plan on relaxing and avoiding darts.

Winter Excursion 7, Day 155 The Life of a Camp Host

Today was probably the worst hosting day we've had in the 7 months we have hosted.

First off the bathhouse was a disaster. I did a quick clean when I checked them at 0800. At noon it took us an hour and a half to clean them. I think someone had a mud wrestling contest in some of the showers!

Second was the amount of campers leaving and the time they left. I had 11 campers leaving and 11 arriving. Checkout is 1200, but I had three campers that didn't leave until after1230 and one that left well after 1300. Problem is we needed to clean those sites for incoming campers. Some of the sites were just as bad as the bathhouse. Check in time is 1300.

Third was the weather. 90+ degrees and high humidity. I was drained by 1400.

We spent the rest of the day in our airconditioned camper with both ACs full blast!

The find of the day was this tennis ball.

I'm sure it belonged to a dog, but it could have belonged to someone who shaves tennis balls!
We are hoping for a better day tomorrow!  

Winter Excursion 7, Day 154 The Life of a Camp Host

After walking Augusta National all day yesterday today was a relax day.

We did do a little shopping, but just hung out at camp for the most part.

We are back on duty tomorrow and naturally temps are forecast to be close to 90!

All is well in the Boss Camp!

Winter Excursion 7, Day 153 The Life of a Camp Host

We were up at 0600. Brian & I had a quick breakfast of scrapple and eggs. Then we were on the road to Augusta by 0700. There are no phones allowed at Augusta National so the pics I'm using are from the internet.

We arrived at the EZGO Hospitality House around 0830. Brian said Hi and thanks to everyone there as they had provided our tickets. We got on the shuttle and arrived at Berckmans Place.

This place was truly amazing! There are two general admission gates at Augusta National and one private entrance. Our tickets got us into the private entrance. We had to go through metal detectors to enter. It reminded me of being at an airport. From Berckmans we got on the course and toured the back nine. We were able to watch Tiger Woods and Freddy Couples play #15. We checked out every hole. The highlight of the back nine for me was Amen Corner, holes 11, 12, & 13. Although the azaleas were a little past peak it was still breathtaking.

After the back nine it was lunch time so we headed back to Berckmans Place. It is hard to describe this "place". It is amazing! There are five restaurants, all with bars and with our tickets everything is free! There are outside replica putting greens, so we tried one of them. These greens are super fast and it takes real skill to putt on them. We had fun. We did a little shopping at the Berckmans Place golf shop and then headed out to tour the front nine.

To me this was a once in a lifetime experience. It is really hard to describe this place unless you've seen it. It is the golf course that all other courses strive to be. There were tens of thousands of people there. There were also hundreds or maybe more volunteers and workers. The landscaping is pristine. Everything is perfect.

Around 1600 we walked back to Berckmans Place and grabbed our shuttle back to EZGO Hospitality House. As we were saying our thanks and goodbyes the staff gave me a Birthday present of some really nice Kentucky Bourbon.

It was a super day. This blog post does not do it justice. Thanks to my son for a really memorable day!
 

  

Winter Excursion 7, Day 152 The Life of a Camp Host

We had a bunch of campers leave as it was Sunday, but had about the same arrive as it is also Spring Break around here.

My mind was not really on the job today. Brian is arriving later in the afternoon and spending the night here. Tomorrow he and I are heading to Augusta to check out the Master's! I'll be posting about that trip in a day or so.

The find of the day was this label.

I don't know why they even made this label. I thought all labels were made in China!
  

Winter Excursion 7, Day 151 The Life of a Camp Host

The campground remained full and busy today. There must be 30 kids around. We have a good time watching them.

Even though the campground is full, folks are taking good care of our bathhouse. We think if we keep it clean, campers will help us keep it clean. Cath and I can knock it out in 40 minutes even if it's a little bad.

The find of the day was this prehistoric monster.

He was hiding in wait on Site #15, but is now back at the zoo!

Winter Excursion 7, Day 150 The Life of a Camp Host

It's Friday and we are back on duty. The campground is 100% booked and full! Spent the morning getting sites ready for all the incoming campers. We have lots of tenters which means the bathhouse will get lots of use.

The find of the day was this dart.

I thought this kid was gone (see post #97). But it looks like he's still trying to ambush me! I'll have to keep my eyes open!

Here's a better view of the fans we put up. They seem to work fairly well at keeping most of the bugs away.

It's going to be a busy weekend, but all is well!