Saturday, June 6 to Sunday, June 14, 2015 (Monck Provincial Park, Quilchena, BC)

As usual, the week just flew by...I think that is going to be the standard all summer, especially now that we are work camping! We had Saturday and Sunday off this week but that will change as a new work schedule is developed for the busy summer season.

Saturday was chore day...laundry and into Merritt for grocery shopping. Sunday, however, we managed to get out for a walk around the campground. It was a beautiful day!

Our job Monday...paint picnic tables. We started with our uniforms on but were given the okay to change into more appropriate "grubby" clothes for painting. We worked on the tables down in the day-use area...it was another beautiful day, with a nice breeze coming off the water to cool us off. Steve sanded the table tops and benches... 

And I stained them...

While working, I heard what sounded like a gun shot...I found out later that the tire on the trailer had blown while Doug B. was cleaning sites in loop 2. Yup...it's pretty well had it! We go through a lot of trailer and golf cart tires...

Tuesday, Doug and Toni headed off for Vancouver for a few days leaving the rest of us to "man the fort!". I worked in the gatehouse...




...while the others were outside. Sue and Doug painted lines...
Doug laying out a string line in preparation for painting a new line...
Looking pretty spectacular out there!
Gord cutting the day-use lawns...

Everyday the chlorine content has to be tested at either end of the campground...first of all, the water has to be run for several minutes...






The test kit reading is getting low...
Steve spots Doug B. while he adds a Chlorine puck to the water tank...

The cart Steve was driving today ran out of power, so he needed a boost up the driveway into the compound. They actually ended up getting the other cart and towing it up the final stretch. Time to get it plugged back in and recharged!

Wednesday and Thursday were Doug and Sue's days off...that left Steve, Gord and I working in the park. I continued to man the gatehouse. Steve took some pictures while out working. This Garter Snake just crossed in front of him...

Steve was told he could take the problem bears signs down reopening the hiking trails, but wouldn't you know it, the following day a couple of hikers spotted the sow and cubs so he had to put the signs back up closing the trails.

By Thursday our stretch of high temps and blue sky started to come to an end. A cold front came in across the province bringing much lower temps, wind and rain. I always feel bad for the campers planning to come in on the weekend...when the weather had been so nice...until the weekend comes! We went from running the air conditioner in the trailer to needing the heaters on...amazing!

Steve spent a couple of days pruning branches on the main roadways making the park more big rig friendly.

After some major rain Thursday night and into Friday morning, it warmed up a bit through the day but was still pretty cool at night. I worked my first Friday night...we had 47 reservations coming in that night. I managed well...until it came to the end of my shift and time to balance.,,I was out! Thank you, Toni and Doug for helping me...we couldn't find the error, so by 11:00 we decided to just put it away and Doug would have a look at it in the morning. Good news...he quickly found the problem Saturday morning...and finally balanced, Whew! 

Steve and I had Saturday off...just one day this week as we start a new work schedule. So I had one load of laundry washed and on the line first thing before we headed off into Merritt for a little shopping and a few errands.
We were amazed at all of the grasshoppers on the road near the intersection of Monck Park Road and hwy 5A...


We did our shopping, Steve got his hair cut and then we headed home. I put another load of laundry on, we had a bite to eat for lunch and then went out on our bikes for a ride around the park. Steve took pictures in loop 1...


And the day-use area...



Later that afternoon, after finishing their shift, Sue and Doug joined us for happy hour outside. We hadn't had one together for a long time! We enjoyed a couple of hours chatting and then we went our separate ways for dinner...and reconvened later around the campfire. We don't think it's going to be long before a campfire ban is put on....so we'd better try and take advantage while we can! Unfortunately, we forgot to bring the camera out...so no pictures...sheesh!!

Sunday, Steve and I both had the late afternoon/evening shift. So I spent part of the morning working on the new shift that Doug and Toni had drafted. I entered all the info on an excel spreadsheet. Steve took his bike out a couple of times checking out some sites that would be a good fit for our friends, Alan and Cec, who plan on coming for a visit in July.

We get a kick out of the chipmunks managing to get onto the hummingbird feeder next door! Too funny!


Looks like a nice day out there! This is the entrance to site 6 on the left...it's a large site but unfortunately difficult for big rigs to get into...

I started in the gatehouse at 1:30 and Steve started outside at 2:00. The gatehouse was fairly steady with new campers coming in along with plenty of ice cream sales. Steve did more pruning in the day use area, swept under tables, emptied all the garbage, checked the washrooms, then mounted some pails to the tables along the beach area for people to butt out their cigarettes.

Doug B had come back from fishing and told Steve that one of the sites was empty but full of garbage, bottles and cans. The campers had also put the remainder of their firewood into the lit fire pit and left it blazing away. What pigs! The garbage cans and water tap is directly across from their site...sheesh!

Here is Steve restocking the firewood in the store for me...

I finished my shift at 9:30 and then waited a few minutes for Steve to finish one last cleaning of the bathrooms. He was off at 10:00, so we made one last round of all the loops and day-use area and then headed back up into the compound. The end to another work day...ahhh....


1 comment:

  1. And here I thought I was feeding the hummingbirds?
    What a busy week you both had!!

    ReplyDelete