Day 23 Thursday May 20, 2021 We are back to our normal routine today so not much to report. We didn't have many campers to come in today but tomorrow will be a different story. We got to set outside today and relax and read for a few hours, since we didn't have much to do and the weather was really nice.
Day 24 Friday May 21, 2021 As expected we have been busy today getting sites ready for the 58 reservations that are due in today. But we still had about half of the day to sit outside and enjoy the weather and read. We don't have any vacancies tonight, all 88 sites are reserved.
Day 25 Saturday May 22, 2021 We have a few leaving today but others coming in to take their place so we are full again tonight. The weather was really nice again today but it is getting rather dry.
Rant on: Most people do a good job of not leaving trash on their sites but we do find exceptions to that. We wonder how these people would feel if they were to come to a site to set up to camp and find trash scattered about on the site and in the fire pits. I wonder if their home/yard is like that. And another thing we find amazing is the damage to some of the picnic tables on the sites. The parks provide a nice large picnic table made from weather proof recycled plastic. There are several tables that have burned places in them where someone has set a very hot pot on the table and melted the shape of the bottom of the pot into the table. Now who doesn't know you shouldn't set a really hot pot on plastic. Rant off.
Day 26 Sunday May 23, 2021 As usual on Sunday we were busy today, with lots of campers leaving and several coming in. We tried to clean all the reserved sites as soon as they became vacant and got all of them cleaned but a couple. We normally have two or three hours in the afternoon where we can sit outside and read/relax and watch the campers come and go. The Host campsite is really shady and usually we have a slight breeze blowing through the trees so it makes for a comfortable campsite. The site is in the woods right across from the Contact Station where the campers checkin and the the street to the campground. We can see the activity of the campers coming and going but they can barely see our site through the trees.
About 9PM we had a knock on the door of the motorhome and there were two ladies outside kind of stressed looking. Their basset hound had been bit by a copperhead snake while they were out walking and they wanted to know if we knew any Veterinarians nearby that might be open. I did a Google search and found one about 10 miles away but of course he was closed on Sunday night. We called Jackie that works in the Contact Station at home since she lives in the area and she said the nearest 24 hour vet she knew about was in Winston-Salem about an hour away but she suggested giving the dog Benadryl. The lady said they had some so they left.
That was the first time in the six years that we have worked at Hosts that we have had a knock on our door after the park closes.
Day 27 Monday May 24, 2021 We don't have much turnover today so we will have a fairly easy day. When we were putting out the reservation signs we found the copperhead snake. Someone had smashed him to death with a big rock.
One of the maintenance men (Mark) came and got the golf cart. The new top had come in. He returned about 30 minutes later with the golf cart with the new top. So now the golf cart is almost back to the way it was prior to the fire. I told Mark they had do a good job of restoring it.
Without the golf cart or something very similar our job would be much more difficult to the point we might not even be Volunteer Host. We carry a big metal trash can for firepit ashes, two metal peck buckets, a dust pan, two yard rakes, one broom, a five gallon plastic bucket for trash, two grabbers for picking up trash, about 60 reservation signs, our gloves, our water mugs, magic markers, site cards, a park radio so we can call the Rangers or the Maintenance men and a clipboard to hold the reservation reports. The golf cart is nimble so we can get in and out of the sites easily.
Later the lady with the dog that got bite saw us out working and stopped to thank us for helping last night, not that we did much, but it was nice of her to say that. She said they were from the Winston-Salem area so they took the dog there to the 24hr vet and they gave him a shot to counter act the venom. We saw the basset hound later in the day outside and she was doing much better.
There has been 4-5 campers that has made a point of thanking us for what we do in the campground. That is more than has done that in the prior 5 years we have worked here.
Tom (our friend that was here last week) said his wife asked him how much Campground Host get paid. When he told me that I told him we get to keep all the money we find on the campsites. So far this year we have made 35 cent.
We are seeing more Pop-Up campers and other style of off the ground Tents this year. And several older travel trailers that probably have been brought back to service to get out and enjoy the outside after being couped up since COVID hit.
Day 28 Tuesday May 25, 2021 We went to Dirty Joe's Coffee Shop in Elkin this morning for a Latte and sweet roll. Afterwards we drove around the countryside through Boonesville and then returned to the Walmart in Elkin for a few groceries. The rest of the day was reading and relaxing at the campground. We finally got some light rain showers, just enough to wet the dust down.
Day 29 Wednesday May 26, 2021 We decided to try The Pine Restaurant in Sparta for breakfast. We ate lunch there many years ago when it was named Browns and owned by different owners. I must have thought I was hungry because I ordered two biscuits with sausage gravy, one scrambled egg and country ham. The portions were generous so I shared one of my biscuits and gravy with Lena. The food was good but the coffee was really weak. I like just a little kick in my coffee and this tasted more like hot water with a hint of coffee.
Day 30 Thursday May 27, 2021 We received a call from Lena's sister about 7:30AM that their mother has passed away earlier this morning. This was not unexpected due to her recent health issues. We quickly put out the reservation signs for today's incoming campers and then prepared to return home. We had told Ranger Hicks on Monday that we may have to leave before our planned June 1st departure. We departed about 11AM and arrived home at 5PM.
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