17.04.25 Last duty days

Tuesday was my last shift of this four month camp host assignment. I have already confirmed my spot for the same time tame in 2018.  Here is a peek into the duties  (I wouldn't actually call it work) and tools of the trade....

My on duty days at the campground are Sunday, Monday and Tuesday.  I work from 6:00 am to 1:30 or from 1:30 to about 9:00PM depending on the day.  Richard and Eddie have been my partner host couple during march and April.  They cover the other half of each day we work.

The campground is 1.5 miles north to south situated at the top of a tall bluff along the ocean. Each camp host is assigned a golf cart to use while attending to camp host business since the park is really to big to walk.  Here I am with my golf cart in from of the entrance station kiosk.

Morning and noon rounds are primarily for traffic control. We use registration records provided by the entrance station staff 

to make an early morning cam check to identify unregistered vehicles and nudge them to register by leaving a yellow "love note" on their windshield.  This note holds no weight itself, but could result in an actual law enforcement ticket if they ignore ours and do not pay voluntarily.  The reason we start t 6:00AM AM is to catch the squatters before they leave in the morning. It happens almost every day because the aids go home at dark and there is no gate restricted access.  At noon we circle again and nudge the outgoing campers out so the next batch can access their reserved sites at the 2:00 check in.

While cruising the campground in these golf carts we answer questions, give directions and chat up the campground visitors.  I stopped to talk to these folks because they were from Michigan, and because I loved their custom license plate.  Mike would really appreciate this since he and I were big fans of National Lampoon's Vacation and Christmas Vacation.  This RV owner was too, since his custom plate read "KUZINEDY" which was a nod to the dreaded Cousin Eddy who always showed up at Clark's door in his motorhome

There is a bit of time spent in the entrance station to assist the park aids as needed and to spell them for their lunch breaks.  Here are Kelly, Tim and Emily - almost always happy to be at such a beautiful place to work.  

There are two aides on duty most days during the busy 2:00 check in time, and on weekends.  In addition to admitting campers to the 220 campsites, the kiosk staff collect day use fees from people who are lucky enough to have friends or family camping here.  General day use parking outside the park along the beach is at a premium - especially on weekends, so most visitors are happy to have a front row parking spot at the standard day use parking fee of $15.

Here is a view of the beach from the park road - my favorite place to stop when making rounds to soak up the view and make a phone call or two. 

Next up:  what comes next since my camp host duty is not DONE!