Day 10 Thursday May 9, 2024
Back to work today. We had a fairly easy day today. No very many new arrivals or departures so not many sites to clean. We did have to rake a few to get the grass clippings off the site after the mowing crew finally mowed the grass and didn’t direct the clippings away from the site. It seems we get a little rain about every day now.
Day 11 Friday May 10, 2024
We have 64 reservations for today so it took awhile to get all the signs out. We also got the grass clippings off a couple more sites. If everyone shows up we will have a full campground tonight.
The Park Superintendent that is overseeing this park until the new Superintendent is in place stopped to talk to us as we were working and introduced himself and thanked us for what we are doing. That made us feel good that he would take the time to do that. He is the Park Superintendent for another nearby park but is overseeing this one also until the new one is in place which he told us should be in 3-4 weeks.
We had a fairly easy day. Most of the campers didn’t come in until after 3PM and we had all the sites ready by then. Usually the weekenders have to get off work on Friday afternoon before they can come here.
I added a new skill to my skills list today……snake wrangler. We found a snake on the street in the B Loop near Big Sandy Creek so I took one of our trash grabbers and encouraged him to slither down the creek bank. He was not a poisonous snake and even if he was I would not have killed him as it is against the rules. Occasionally rattlesnakes and copper heads are found in and around the campground.
Day 12 Saturday May 11, 2024
The temperature was 48 degrees when we got out this morning at 8AM. So we put on our hooded sweatshirts. The heater on the golf cart don’t work 😅.
Most campers leave their site mostly clean, except maybe a bread tie or small pieces of paper will be missed but sometimes we have someone that just leaves a mess as we did this morning. This was a grown man that had been here several days and left his firepit full of trash, not wood but trash. I almost filled a bucket with the trash he left. Now I am sure he would not have wanted to check into a site and find it like he left this one.
We made our last round about 5:30 and called it a day.
About 9PM I saw a beady eyed furry critter run across the floor in the motorhome. So I got me a peanut and set my mouse trap. He got the first peanut so I baited it again and just after we went to bed at 10 Lena heard the trap snap. GOT him. 😝
Day 13 Sunday May 12, 2024
It was 50 degrees when we got out at 8 this morning to start our day. We expect to be busy today. I call Sunday “shift change day”. Most of the weekend campers will leave today and we have 26 reservations for tonight so we will have a lot of campsites to check/clean.
We started out this morning with our hooded sweatshirts but by mid morning we had them off after the sun came out and warmed things up. We had a big Mother’s Day breakfast, rested a bit and went back out and got the sites cleaned that had been vacated.
Checkout here is not until 3PM and some wait until the last minute to leave which is okay as that is their privilege. That is changing in June when all state parks in North Carolina will change to a 12 Noon checkout with a 3 PM checkin. Here at this park when a new camper comes in, even if it is before checkin time they can setup in their reserved site if it is vacant.
We got all the sites ready by about 3 PM so I grilled a couple of hamburgers for lunch. As far as weather goes this has been a really nice day, sunshine and a light breeze.
Day 14 Monday May 13, 2024
We only have a dozen reservations today so it didn’t take us long to do our first pass through the campground. We got all the sites ready yesterday so no sites to clean this morning except for one firepit that was hot yesterday.
We had breakfast and then we had some chores to do around the motorhome. There is no one working in the Contact Station today so I told Ranger Hicks yesterday that I would take care of it today. I worked there from Noon until 5:30 checking in campers, selling firewood, ice and decals from the little store we have in the Contact Station. Then we put out the 7 reservations that are due in Tuesday since we will be off Tuesday and Wednesday.
We heard another bug eyed furry creature last night after we went to bed. He managed to get the bait out of the snap trap I set. I baited it this afternoon to make it more difficult to get it out and he got brave and came out about 7PM and he got caught this time. Our host campsite is surrounded by trees so it not surprising that there are mice about. We didn’t get any last year but already have caught two this month.
One of the campers stopped at the Contact Station to asked about getting a Diet Coke which we don’t have. He had an interesting painting on the side of his small van so I asked him about it. He explained the meaning behind everything in the painting and recited part of a poem that the painting was about. Very interesting. He was originally from Australia which I expected from his accent.
We get to meet a lot of different people in the campground. We talked to one couple yesterday and the man reminded me of a movie actor named Slim Pickings (he has stared in a lot of western movies). I asked the man if anyone had ever told him that he favored a famous movie actor. He laughed and said no one ever had.
We walked down the street from our campsite to a place where we could see the Northern sky last night after 9PM to see if could see of the Northern Lights. I got some photos but they didn’t have the colors of the Northern Lights but did have a little swirl in them. Also saw a shooting star.
After awhile I was ready to go back to the motorhome but Lena said she wanted to stay at least until 10PM. I told her the bears come out at 10. Then to our surprise about two minutes later we heard something behind us in the woods making noises like something breaking twigs walking through the woods. Lena was ready to leave right then.
Day 15 Tuesday May 14, 2024
We think it drizzled rain about all night and was still raining when we got up and decided to go to Mt. Airy to try Biscuitville for breakfast. We ate at one many years ago. It is supposed to serve Southern style breakfast meals. Well I don’t know who taught them how to make scrambled eggs but it sure wasn’t my mother or Lena. They were fried flat, about 1/8” thick and then cut into pieces, that is not a scrambled egg. And they were also cold. But the biscuits, country ham, bacon, grits and coffee were good. We were a little disappointed, should have asked them to replace the eggs but I expect that is the way they cook eggs.
Then we went on to downtown Mt. Airy to a coffee shop to get our Latte fix. We had trouble finding it. The cell phone reception was very weak, possibly due to the heavy overcast and rain.
Then it was onto Walmart for milk and bacon. Then we decided to return to the campground. Not much fun sightseeing in the rain. We did get a few nice photos on a road we had to detour onto due to a road closure.
We stopped at Foothills Grocery to get some takeout fried chicken for lunch. We have stopped here many times in the past for their good fried chicken.
Rain is on the forecast for several days. This has been the rainiest month we have ever had working here.
Day 16 Wednesday May 15, 2024
It rained about all night I think but stopped for a few hours about the time we got up and headed to Elkin. We decided to try Dirty Joe’s other locations near Food Lion since the one downtown is closed for renovation. Well this location was closed and no indication it had ever been there, but it was there last year. A lady in the parking lot told us the owner had sold out completely so there is not a Dirty Joe’s anymore anywhere in Elkin.
Last week we spotted a new coffee shop named River Roast Coffee in Jonesville which is just across the Yadkin River from Elkin so we headed there. The lady that told us about Dirty Joe’s closing down said the cinnamon buns at River Roast Coffee were really good.
River Roast Coffee has lots more seating than did Dirty Joe’s. We ordered a couple lattes and a couple of cinnamon buns and took a table by the front window. We both decided that the lattes were the best we have had in a long time. We complimented the Barista on his lattes and that brought a smile to his face. This might become our second favorite coffee shop. The cinnamon buns were good also. Lots of customers came in while we were there so maybe they will make it. They just opened in late February.
When we got to our table with our lattes we noticed what looked like a piece of deer poop on the lid. I didn’t know what it was but Lena knew it was a chocolate covered roasted coffee bean. I never heard of such a thing. I ate it and it was okay. I guess it was better than a piece of deer 💩. But since I have never ate a piece of deer 💩 I can’t say for sure.
I watched the Barista and he was placing one of them on each cup of coffee as he made them. Just something a little different.
After stopping at Food Lion for some chocolate milk, etc, we took some backroads as we wound our way back to the campground.
Day 17 Thursday May 16, 2024
Back to work today. It rained more last night but is supposed to be clear today. We hope so, getting a little tired of the rain. But at least we haven’t had any of the bad storms that some areas have had.
We put out the reservation signs, picked up the expired site tags, picked up some trash and helped a camper with hiking trail questions.
Then we had breakfast, rested awhile and I went back out and cleaned a few firepits while Lena got a rack of ribs ready for me to cook in my Dutch Oven. I have not cooked any ribs in the Dutch Oven in 2-3 years so I brought it with us on this trip. They didn’t taste as good as most I have cooked. I’m not sure if these ribs were not from an older hog.
We did another pass through the campground after eating our lunch. We have had the best weather today we have had in a few days, no rain yet and sunshine.
Day 18 Friday May 17, 2024
We were expecting a full campground tonight but the weather forecast probably was the cause of the 17 cancellations we had. The A Loop which is mostly for tents was supposed to be full but will be less than 25% full tonight.
We did our normal routine getting the sites ready for those that were coming in and still had time to relax a couple hours in the afternoon.
A fairly heavy rain started about 6:30. Sure don’t envy those that are in tents tonight.
Day 19 Saturday May 18, 2024
Based on the water in our buckets I think we got at least 2.5” of rain last night. We had several people with reservations that did not show up in addition to the 17 we know of that canceled their reservations. Sure glad we weren’t in a tent. Our tent camping days are a long way behind us.
We have 16 reservations for tonight but with more rain in the forecast some may not show up.
We had some unpredicted good weather until about 4PM just as we started our last round through the campground it began to rain and we couldn’t get the windshield wipers to work on the golf cart and the doors would not closed so we called it a day and retired to the motorhome.
Lena noted later that this has been the quietest weekend so far we can remember. Usually there are a lot more people and especially kids on the weekends but the weather is just not cooperating I guess.
Day 20 Sunday May 19, 2024
Mush better weather forecast for today. The tent campers that are leaving today were spreading their tents, etc out on the street this morning trying to get them a little drier before packing them up to leave.
We made our morning rounds and returned to the motorhome for a big Sunday morning breakfast. Lens cleaned up the kitchen and I went back out about 10:30 to clean the sites that needed it after the weekend campers departed. We only have 16 reservations for tonight plus the few that are already here. I haven’t ever seen the B Loop ( it has water and electric hookups) this empty on a Sunday in May.
Sure is nice to see the sun shining. As we were going back out to ride through the campground about 1:30 we saw 3 deer just past our campsite. It is quiet in the campground so they felt safe to come out I guess.
One of the campers flagged us down to tell us his water hydrant was running full blast and would not cut off. I was able to stop it but needed a tool to secure the head on the hydrant. The rangers came by at that point and they had tools with them.
The water hydrants the state uses in the state parks are piece of very expensive JUNK. The maintenance crew, the rangers and us spend a lot of time dealing with these pieces of junk. And from what we have been told the park is not allowed to go to Lowe’s and purchase a good hydrant for about $80. The park must buy one of these $1,000 pieces of junk off the state contract. What a waste of man hours and tax dollars.
We cleaned a few firepits and finished our pass through the campground and relaxed and enjoyed the nice weather with NO rain.
Day 21 Monday May 20, 2024
Another beautiful day in the making, with nice temperatures, sunshine and no rain in the forecast as we began our normal routine for the day with 27 reservations.
Three maintenance workers mowed the campground grass this morning and then a Forest Service employee came with 4 prisoners to do the weed eating in the campground and it sure needed it.
We have had a lot of complaints this month from campers about the grass not being mowed and the weeds/grass around the sites. We have never in the past 8 years heard any complaints like this but this year we have heard lots of complaints and they are warranted complaints because for whatever reason, we don’t know, the maintenance crew has not been keeping the campground mowed and not done any weed eating.
We had not seen any campers with RVs from foreign countries since COVID until yesterday. A couple from the Netherlands in a class B style van was here last night. Normally the RVs from foreign countries ship their RVs into Novia Scotia Canada.
Speaking of Novia Scotia, we had a couple come in late this afternoon without a reservation that was from Novia Scotia Canada. I got them booked into site 90, which has the best view in the campground of the mountains between here and the Blue Ridge Parkway.
There is a lot of Eastern Tiger Swallowtail butterflies here in the campground this year. We have seen several groups of them in different locations in the campground.
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