Sunday, June 28 to Saturday, July 4, 2015 (Monck Provincial Park, Quilchena, BC)

Sunday...the start of another work week for us. This week we are on the afternoon/evening shift. It was a very, very hot day! Temperatures were up into the high 90's F/mid-high 30's C.  I got out for a morning walk with my buddy, Tucker and then I sorted the recycling for an hour. Sunday, Monday and Tuesday are short days for me so I make up extra hours up to the max 40 hours/week by doing some recycling.

When we work the late shift, we have started having our main meal at noon...which is probably better for us but seems weird! Then we have sandwiches (or something light) for dinner. By the time I walked down to the gatehouse, the clouds had come in...at least there wasn't the hot, penetrating sun beating down but it was still very hot and humid. Thank goodness for the air-conditioned gatehouse!

It was a very busy day at the campground. Sue had been busy and it was pretty much the same for me. We were down to very few sites available. There will be a turnover tomorrow, though, as a number are leaving along with new reservations coming in. That will likely be the norm now that school is out.

With the gatehouse closing at 9:00 p.m. on Sundays, I was finished and was back up at the rig shortly after 9:30. I had just taken out my contacts and gotten comfy in my pj's when Steve came in to tell me that I would have to help him. His golf cart had run out of "juice" and I needed to tow him with the other golf cart...so I threw on some clothes and headed out. After a quick ride past a site that has been given us some grief for the last few nights, we pulled in front of the lifeless golf cart and Steve got the tow rope hooked up.  We got it back up into the compound, Steve plugged it in and then headed off for one final security check of the campground while I went back in to get ready for bed.

Monday morning we woke to rain! A wind storm had also blown through overnight. I went out and put an hour in recycling...it was raining, but it was still warm. By late morning, the clouds had moved on and blue sky was back. It was also very humid!
Steve joined Tucker and I on a walk around the campground (and a little swim for Tucker).


Steve grilled pork chops for lunch and before we knew it, it was time for him to get ready to start his shift...and me to get showered and ready for mine.

We had quite a nasty rain storm, complete with thunder and lightning, come through just as Steve started his shift. But within an hour, the sun was back out...silly weather!
Later on that evening, the dark thunder and lightning clouds reappeared but with only one big gust of wind, the rest of the storm seemed to skirt around us. It was also much cooler...a welcome relief for the night. Steve took these shots while doing his rounds.


A deer in loop one entertaining the campers...
Sunshine in the distance...

Around 8;30 pm Steve usually spends an hour or more in the day use area cleaning the change rooms, bathrooms, picking up garbage, washing and sweeping under the tables. The mess that's left is amazing at times...and what's with the sunflower and pistachio shells people!
The wind was so strong it kept blowing Steve's hat off...

Tuesday we had a mix of sunshine and black thunder and lightning clouds...there is another severe thunderstorm warning for the area. I put in another hour (+) recycling and then we just chilled for the rest of the morning/early afternoon until it was time to go to work.

Steve took this picture shortly after starting his shift...the deer are very tame here...

Wednesday, July 1...Happy Canada Day to all of our family and friends in Canada!
There was a parade in the park this afternoon...and Santa was here for the celebration as well!





Fellow work camper Gord played Santa and his granddaughter was an Elf. Don't know what happened with this photo...I think the camera was trying to make snow for Santa LOL..

It was another hot day...and I was kept busy during my shift in the gatehouse selling ice and ice cream bars. Supplies were getting very low!

Steve had a helper later on that evening while out cleaning the day use area...one of many Marmots here...
It was an absolutely beautiful evening!


Thursday was a repeat of the previous day...basically chilling out in the morning, getting a few things done around the trailer, cooking dinner at lunch time...and then getting ready for work. Steve started his shift at 2:00 and a half hour later for me.
Although Steve's shift ends at 10:00, he gets bored waiting for me to cash out so he basically works until close to 10:30, doing a last security ride around the campground before returning to the gatehouse to pick me up when I'm done.

Another cool picture of the moon as it comes up at 10:02 p.m....


When we got back up to the compound, Doug and Sue had lit a campfire...the last night for a fire before the campfire ban goes into effect tomorrow. The firewood sales had also been brisk this evening in the gatehouse as all the campers have one final one.

It was our "Friday night", so we grabbed a couple of beer and sat outside at the campfire for over an hour...it was going on midnight by the time Doug doused the fire with water and we all said goodnight and headed inside.

We had a slow start to the day Friday...it was 11:00 by the time we had had breakfast, showered and were ready to head into Merritt for our weekly shopping trip. The fields are certainly not a lush green as they had been...it's getting very dry...

We made our usual stops at Walmart and Coopers and then a couple of other stores looking for a new pair of flip flops for Steve (his Crocs are all of a sudden too small for him! My brother, Dennis, has the exact same ones so Steve thinks that perhaps they accidentally switched them when we were all in Victoria last May. Dennis, are your Crocs a little bigger than they used to be? LOL)

After we had completed all shopping, we stopped at DQ and shared an order of chicken strips and chips...and then treated ourselves to a Blizzard. Wow...it has been a long time since we've had one of those!

It was after 3:00 by the time got home. We relaxed inside with the air conditioner blasting away...it was another hot day out there! We had a wonderful chat via Skype with Chris and Angela...Happy Birthday, Chris...30 years old! How is that possible!! They leave for a month in Europe in a week...how exciting for them!

After dinner, we visited Sue in the gatehouse and then took Tucker for a walk around the campground...basically all sites were taken, a very busy weekend happening!

Saturday, July 4th...
We want to wish our many American friends a very Happy Independence Day!

It was after 7:00 when we woke this morning...oh dear, I think it's going to be very hard to get out of bed when that alarms goes off at 5:30 tomorrow morning!

We had our morning coffee, I put on the first of a number of loads of laundry, we did our exercises, showered, had breakfast...and then headed out for a boat ride on the lake.

It was a gorgeous day! The campground and day use area...
Lots of people enjoying the beach and the day use area...


There is a spot on the drive along Monck Park Road where we have seen people jumping off of the cliffs into the lake. So, we thought we'd take the boat down there to see if we could get some pictures ...unfortunately, no one was there yet today...

We turned around and headed back...

 The day use area again...

View of Loop 2 of the campground from the water...
Beautiful log homes next to the park...

Steve shut off the motor and we bobbed around for a bit and let the wind blow us back for awhile...
Starting to get a little choppy...
It's very hazy with a lot of smoke from many wildfires burning in the province...

No, it's not very comfy...need more cushions...



The wind was really starting to come up so we decided to head back in...a really nice little outing in the boat!

Once home, it was time for a little work...these 2 days off are just not enough! Haha...brings back memories! Steve emptied the holding tanks and then worked on the Campfire In A Can installing a new burner. Our fire pit is 4 years old and our fires were getting quite smokey and sooty and the burner holes were continually plugging so Steve called them and spoke directly to the inventor...cool. He said it sounded like the burner was shot and sometimes this is caused by contaminates and oils in propane.
They kindly sent a "free" replacement burner...sweet!
Steve drilled out the 3 rivets and mounted the new burner with machine screws. Now we're good to go during the fire ban...

Meanwhile, I gathered laundry off the line, put another load in the washer....and then did a little cleaning inside.

Once all the work was done, I downloaded all of the pictures from the cameras, Steve edited them...and then I sat down and got started on this blog.

Another week has gone by...we have pretty well gotten into the routine around here and quite enjoy it, but it's a busy park and we're tired by the end of our shifts!



1 comment:

  1. You both are looking great. Glad that you are enjoying yourselves. It will be great seeing you guys later this month.

    ReplyDelete