Boy oh Boy What a Day!

Goodness - today was a day! This was the first time that we "G I" cleaned the bathrooms and it was work! First you sweep the floors, then you go through and spray everything down with the cleaner, them scrub the toilets, sinks, showers and shower floors. Then drag the mats in the shower house outside and scrub them down. Then you get the garden hose and spray everything down in the bathrooms and shower houses. Then you squeegee the water out. We did that in four buildings today - not counting cleaning the vaults. I was asked how many bathrooms and how many vaults we clean. Well, there are two bathrooms with two stalls on each side (two women's and two men's) so 8 flush toilets. Then there are 7 vault stations each with a men and women's side so that another 14. Then there are 8 showers stalls that we clean also and 8 sinks. The cleaning doesn't get to me, but using the squeegee sure did get to my back! Oh well, it will get us into shape!

Speaking of getting into shape - one of the law enforcement officers that comes into the park was talking to us the other day and something was said about bikes - and how much they cost up here. He asked us if we wanted a bike - which Dan said that we did - the officer said that he had an extra bike in his garage that he had bought for his wife (who is a triathlon) but it was the wrong kind of bike for her - so it was just sitting in his garage and he would bring it to us so we could use it. Well, he brought it out today and it is a really nice bike. Dan asked him if he would like to sell it and he called his wife and asked her - she said she would sell it for $50.00. I'm pretty sure that we have bought a bike. I took it on a ride around the park today and it is an easy ride (although once again, I realize how out of shape I really am!). However, if I ride some everyday I should be able to get back into shape by the time we leave here. That will be my goal.

Late this afternoon we ran into Walmart and bought a few groceries - not much bread, chips, corn on the cob, cream cheese, garlic bread ( for the spaghetti I am fixing tomorrow night for dinner). Then on the the way home Dan took me to McDonald's for dinner cause I am just exhausted. After getting home and putting the few groceries away we made our evening rounds - we are far from full but we do have quite a few people in the park (even one couple from Florida!) Now, we are home for the evening - and I think I am going to go in and take a nice hot shower and see if that will help my sore back.

I hope that your Monday went well - Melissa enjoy your vacation! Crystal, I got my Nook up and going today - it actually gets a better WiFi connection than the laptop gets an Internet connection - go figure!!!! Cara - hope you have a Happy Birthday tomorrow (Tuesday)! Everyone else have a GREAT evening and --------------------

I'll talk to you tomorrow!!!!

A Quiet day in the campground (sorta)

Yahoo!!! I've been trying to post this picture for three days - I took this the day we went to "the end of the road". That was also the night that I got so frustrated with the Internet that I just gave up and went to bed. Anyway, I thought I would try one more time and ta da - there it is. (Hope you enjoy!)

Today was really a pretty quiet day in the campground. We were full last night and even had to move a couple of people around just to get everyone in where they needed to be. Funny, we were told by the rangers that we wouldn't be full anymore - not after Memorial Day weekend, but guess what - they were wrong. Of course, tonight a lot of people have left and we are down to only 35 campsites taken out of 69. We thought we were going to have a mess in one of the bathrooms, but we went down and checked it out and it was okay (thank goodness!!! That is one little thing that I am not looking forward to - cleaning up someone else's mess - if you know what I mean!) So far, things have been okay - even when we have to clean the vault toilets (for those of you that don't know what a vault is - it's a glorified outhouse - so really not my idea of a good time. But, as I said, so far they haven't been bad to clean.)

We do have one couple in the campground that could be a royal pain in the you know where - they were here for the Celebration 2010 and are Native American (I don't know which tribe they are from). Anyway, he is not playing with a full deck - and is VERY needy. Then guess what my lovely husband did - he gave them my cell phone number!!!!! I just about died - he has already called once - I didn't answer and he left a message - They are going to stay for 8 more days (oh glory!!). Dan is suppose to tell him that we don't answer the phone and to leave a message and that we turn the phone off at night - which I will have to do while they are here. I just can't believe he did that!!!! I'm sure it will all work out, but I'll be glad when the next 8 days have passed and they are gone.

It is hard to believe that we have already been here two weeks! Time seems to be moving very quickly. Tomorrow will be the cleaning day in the park - have to make sure all the bathrooms and showers are clean after the weekend. We check them everyday and they look okay -but the floors need to be swept and it's time to give the showers a good "GI cleaning", but then all we will have to do the rest of the week is just check them daily to see if anything needs to be done. We have just about worked out a system between us - so it really doesn't take all that long. Then we will have the rest of the week to go and do things during the day.

Well, I really don't have much else to report today - we pretty much just stayed here at the campground to make sure that things ran smoothly and if anyone had any problems we were here to solve them. So, I guess I'll sign off for tonight. I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend and ---------------

I'll talk to you tomorrow!!!!

Work on getting this place clean!

I'm not sure how long the Internet is going to stay with me tonight because it is raining. I'm not even going to try and post any pictures - and they would have to be some from yesterday or the day before since we stayed home today and I cleaned this place from the top to the bottom. Windows - window sills - floors - microwave - refrigerator - shower stall - you name it, I cleaned it today! I also got the laundry caught up and made egg salad for our lunch next week.

Tonight Dan fixed a pork loin on the grill and I fixed mashed potatoes and a green tossed salad for dinner. After cleaning up the kitchen it was off to do our rounds (oh, that's something else I got done today - I got all the paperwork for the Forestry Service caught up and our expense report for the month of May ready to turn in). Came home and did tonight's report and the weekly report and now I'm going to get the blog done - then I'm going to crash and just chill for a while before heading for bed. I think I'll take a shower before going in to bed and reading.

I hope you are having a good weekend - and, hopefully I'll be able to write a little more tomorrow night. You guys take care and ------------------

I'll talk to you tomorrow!!

Let's Try this again! 6-4-2010

Okay - it has only taken me a little over an hour to get these pictures to download and have only been knocked off the Internet once (so far) - let's hope that I can get this written before I get knocked off again.



I'm starting with yesterday - we rode out "to the end of the road" which is 40 miles from downtown Juneau - which means it about 30 miles from the 'house'. It was an absolutely beautiful drive along the coast with a lot of views of the ocean and mountains. When you reach the end of the road there is a small park which is where this picture was taken.


The trees at this park were HUGE as you can tell by this picture of Dan standing by one. There was a boat ramp and some people were wading and fishing along the coast. It was pretty neat and we enjoyed the ride out - the pups did too!



On the way out we stopped at the Shrine of Saint Therese which is right on the coast - it was a beautiful chapel that is still maintained by the Catholic Church. There is a lodge on the property that is used as a meeting place and retreat for the priests. It certainly was a beautiful setting to have a retreat. They had many flowers planted in front of the lodge and that is where the picture I was able to download yesterday was taken.



We came home last night - made our rounds then I cooked dinner - fiesta chicken - a new recipe and it was YUMMY!! Something I would do again. Then came the frustration on the computer and it was time for bed.



Today was clean the campground day before our weekend visitors show up. We were out in the campground cleaning for about 2 hours - maybe a little less. Then we decided to brave downtown for "The Celebration of 2010" - which is a Native American Celebration of their heritage. Native Americans from all across the One good thing that we got was Proctor and Gamble is on site giving away jugs of Tide laundry detergent and Head and Shoulders shampoo. Well, we got two jugs of Tide and Dan got two bottles of Head and Shoulders - that saved us about $25.00 at least. Not too bad for just driving into town. Dan said we could go back tomorrow and pick up a couple more but I don't want to be greedy.

There was only one cruise ship in port today, so things were pretty tame - we were even able to go into the Red Dog Saloon and sit down and have a drink - Dan had an Alaskan Amber and I had a coke. It was fun to be able to just sit and relax a little - we even talked to the guy who waited on us -Josh - working at the Red Dog is his second job - he also teaches preschool. We have found that most people up here had at least two jobs. There is a real good reason for that - everything is VERY expensive.



We walked around town and found a used book store - Dan was out of reading material and he did find something he is going to try and read. I want to download Laura Bush's book onto my nook - but so far, I haven't been able to get a signal to be able to download. I may have to take into town and see if I can get it to pick up a WiFi signal there (or maybe McDonald's). Just one other thing that we have to try and figure out.



On the way home we decided to go by the Mendenhall Glacier Visitor's Center - we had not gone over there since we had been here and we thought it might be a good idea to do that.



A nice man there took our picture - so you can see the glacier and the waterfall in the background. Then we went into the Visitors Center - Dan asked if we had to pay the $3.00 admission fee since we were park volunteers - well, the one ranger said we did - but then asked if we had a Golden Age pass (which we do, but it was in the car) - well, another ranger heard what was going on and when the first ranger turned her back she gave us wrist bands so we didn't have to pay. It is a really nice visitor's center and there is a nice film about the glacier that we went to (it only lasted about 15 - 20 minutes) but it explained about how the glacier was formed - why it is melting so quickly (global warming as well as climate change) - and how the scientist study the glacier. Pretty informative.



Then, on the way back home we had to pass this little lake on the side of the road and lo and behold, look what we saw --------------------------------





a BEAVER!!!! I was able to get up pretty close before it slapped its tail on the surface of the water and dove. I was very excited as I had been wanting to see the ones that are suppose to be in one of our little lakes (there are two beaver lodges) but I had yet to see them - so this is very exciting for me.



Oh, one other thing - I told you a couple of nights ago about the movie Amelia freezing up on us and not being able to see the end of the movie - well, when we took it back yesterday I told the manager and he gave me another copy of the movie so I could see the ending - so we watched the last 20 - 25 minutes of the movie last night - I know that she was lost at sea - but I didn't know that the signal beam that was suppose to be available was not - nor did I know that she could not hear the radio on the Itasca (the little island where she was suppose to refill). It was really a very sad ending - but one that you knew was coming. Anyway, the point is, I was able to see the ending which I was glad of - if you are wondering I would recommend this movie to anyone - it was really pretty good.

Well, I guess I have bored you enough for one night (in case your wondering - we had chicken noodle soup and a grilled cheese sandwich for dinner tonight - it is cool and rainy so it was a nice way to warm up). I hope that you have a great weekend - all my teacher friends and kids - hallelujah you are done for another year!!! Schools up here closed yesterday - but we will still be here when they start up again in the fall (August 24th). You guys take it easy and -------------

I'll talk to you tomorrow!!!

The End of the Road 6-03-2010

I've been trying to do this post for over two hours and just can't get it done - between being knocked off the Internet and the pictures not downloading I give up. Just know that today was a good day hope your's was too! Maybe tomorrow will be a better day for the Internet. Enjoy the one picture I got to download and I'll try again tomorrow. So take care and ---------------

Ill talk to you tomorrow!!!

The Rain has Arrived 6-2-2010

Today was a cool, rainy day. I don't think the temperature got above 60 today and the lows are suppose to be in the 40's. We have been told that the rain would come but we had had such nice weather it was hard to believe. Dan had told the rangers that he thought people from Alaska told everyone that it always rained just to keep us away. I don't know if the rain will continue but I really don't mind. It is nice to hear the rain on the roof of the 5th wheel - it sure does make nice sleeping weather.

We made a couple of rounds in the campground today - one to mark all the reserved camping spots - we had some people that were suppose to arrive today. Then we made our evening rounds checking to make sure everyone had paid their fees. If we have a question then we check with the ranger the next day (we don't take the money!). We also checked the restrooms/bathhouses to make sure everything was okay in them. Actually it is pretty quiet right now - we only have about 10 spots with people in them. A nice respite after this past weekend.

After making one of our rounds today we went into Costco just to look around and see if it would pay us to get a membership - they want $50.00 for a basic membership and Costco is just like Sam's Club - everything is sold in such bulk that it just doesn't make a whole lot of sense for us to do that. They did give us a visitor's pass just so we could check it out - we couldn't buy anything but it told us that we don't think it would pay for us to get the membership. After we left there we went to Walmart and bought groceries. There were a few things that we needed - sugar, butter, bread - and a few things that we wanted to have on hand - spaghetti and sauce - stuff like that. That was a $152 stop. Oh, have I told you that Juneau has a 5% sales tax on EVERYTHING - including groceries - all groceries??? Isn't that crazy???? I don't think we have been anywhere else where they charge sales tax on groceries. But, you do what you have to do - and that includes paying 5% sales tax.

This afternoon we came home and watched Invictus which was a good movie - it's one of those movies where you are routing for them at the end. Then we made our evening round in the campground. Got home and I fixed a pizza - bought at Walmart today- and we put in Amelia - we made it about an hour and a half in - had about 20 minutes to go in the movie and it stopped. It would not go any further. So, now I haven't seen the end to the movie. We tried stopping it - taking the disc out - putting it back in and then fast forwarding and it gets to the same spot and stops. We will tell them at the store when we take it back tomorrow, but it really makes me sorta angry. But there is not a whole lot I can do about it at this point so I just need to let it go.

Tomorrow I'm going to try and get the bills paid and the checkbook balanced - then get the "black book" done for two months - wish me luck!!! We will do our regular stuff in the campground and get ready for the weekend. I don't really think we will be busy this weekend - but we need to make sure everything is ready for anyone that wants to come in.

Well, that's about it for today. Hope everyone has had a good week so far - just two more days for all you working stiffs. Hey, kids, IF you are out there how about just a quick "hello" on the comments just so we know you are still out there. Take care everyone and -----------------

I'll talk to you tomorrow!!!!

6-01-2010 - Just working again

Today was a pretty good day - the mail arrived and we had a few things to get straight, but other than that there were no troubles. We went to the post office and mailed a couple of things that I had had on the desk for over a week, but it was no big deal.

It rained last night for the first time since we have been here - it was a really nice rain that was really nice to sleep in. It drizzled a little off and on today, but now we have blue skies again. I don't think we will have rain again for a couple of days anyway!

We cleaned all the bathrooms, shower houses, and vaults today - they really were not in that bad of shape, which is really surprising with the number of people that had been in the campground this past weekend. We did have a couple of camp spots that we had to pick up some trash on them, but not bad considering.

Tonight Dan is watching Hurt Locker (not my kind of movie, but that's okay - he needs a "he-man" movie every once in a while). Tomorrow we will watch Amelia (my movie) and we will also have to watch Invictus since they have to be back to the store on Thursday. Then Dan wants to see Sherlock Holmes (again not my type of movie, but that's okay).

I really don't have much to report tonight so I'm not going to bore you with gibberish. To tell you the truth, I was somewhat surprised (again) that none of our children commented on the whale photo from yesterday. But then again - they didn't comment on our first grizzly either. Oh well!

You guys take care - oh, the picture above was taken yesterday while we were out. Hope you enjoyed and ---------------------

I'll talk to you tomorrow!!!