Sat. June 22, 2013 - Lunch with Jeff and Becky and June picture updates - FINALLY!!!! ( thanks Jeff :) )

Today we finished prepping the 7th picnic table and painted # 6 and 7 in the morning.  Then we went to La Contenta to have a lovely lunch with Jeff and Becky who drove out to visit us on their new road toy.

Fri. June 21, 2013 - back in the booth

We had a nice breakfast visit with Connie this morning at her house before drivng back to Valley Springs. We had time for a short session at Common Ground before mike too me to work the early short at the Fiddleneck Day Use registration booth. It was not too busy today, but we sold 5 Deer Flat  boat in campsites high as interesting. Mike relieved me in the later afternoon and I went home to make boo choi chicken soup with freezer chicken from Meskowin FM and boo choi from Sac FM. It was a new recipe for me and a winner

The campground is nearly full and fairly noisy tonight, but the moon is almost full and the day was arm, so w are sleeping outside again - tent free tonight.

Thurs. June 20, 2013 - back to business

We got up early and did a quick drive by to see Eric before going back to Auburn. We worked at Courthouse Coffee for a couple hours then went to visit a mutual client before going to Sac for the rest of the day.  I had a short visit with sleepy dad and then I attended my Sac Valley EA monthly dinner meeting while Mike watched game 7 of the NBA finals, then we went to Connie's house to crash.

Wed. June 19, 2013 - Truckee trip

We left early this AM for a other two day camp host break. We stopped in Sac. to have a quick visit with Dad, then up to Auburn to visit with Mom while she had her lunch out in the lobby. Then we got lunch at Katrinas before taking off for Truckee.

We checked in to Donner Lake State Park

- first time we used it since out Alaskan adventure last summer.

and pitched our tent in the warm afternoon sun - first time we used it since out Alaskan adventure last summer.

 

 

 

Then we dove in to Truckee to hook up with Eric after he finished work for the day at the Tahoe Natl Forest Truckee district offices. Eric guided us around his "neighborhood" as we toured the area's campgrounds - we are looking for options for next summer - we would like to stay in the high country where it is cooler - and Truckee is pretty close to home to viist with mom and dad on our off days. We really liked the state park and also the Martis lake property run by the US army Corp of Engineers - just like New Hogan Lake. Both are good options.

We had dinner in Truckee at Casa Baeza

 

 

then said goodbye to Eric and went sleep in the now cold night at our campsite. No rain flap on the tent so we could see the moon and stars from inside out tent. Beautiful!

Tues. June 18, 2013 - fresh tomato sauce

Mike started his fresh tomato sauce on the stove before this morning's three hour paint session - one painted table, two roadway signposts painted and a group of two tables prepped. Then home to keep the sauce moving along before another afternoon at Common Ground. Tonight we had pasta with Mikes fresh tomato sauce - delicious!

Mon. June 17, 2013 - first painting

This morning we spent three hours painting three of the four picnic tables we prepped on Saturday. It takes a whole because we have one 4 inch roller and  small brush - and the tables are thirsty.  The afternoon was spent at Common Ground, and we had a big salad for diner with the greens we bought at FM  in Sacto yesterday.  Cool night so we slept inside.

Sun. June 16, 2013 - Happy Fathers Day

I made potato salad this morning for our family gathering later today, then we took off for the day to Sacramento. First stop - Sacramento Farmers market - we got sweet corn to add to the pot luck - and lots more, including  new oregano, parsley and cilantro plant for our mobile garden. Next stop Panera near Connie's house for a work spot for Mike while I went to visit dad. Then to Steve and Terri's house for a swim, visit and family BarBQ.

Aliesha just returned from her almost year on Spain. Tyler came down from Tahoe City, Eric came from Truckee and Connie made eight for Steve's delicious grilled ribs and chicken. We drove home after and got here after dark - just before the gate closed at 10:00.

Sat. June 15, 2013 - First batch of Picnic Tables

We received the tools and instruction we needed to get started on the 2nd assignment we have to fill our 20 hours per week. There are dozens of day use picnic tables  which need to be painted. Today we prepped four in a group of five tables on the lower road at Fiddleneck Day Use area.

We allotted three hours in the morning when it is coolest, and the tables are rough and in dire need of paint shape, so we could not finish all five.

That's OK - Alicia told us she is happy for whatever we can do.

We spent the afternoon at Common Grounds on TBC business. The campground is full-ish again for the weekend. We took an evening walk around our campground and slept out under the stars.

Fri. June 14, 2013 - back in the booth

We left Boykins early this morning to have breakfast at Katrina's before returning to New Hogan. It was a much shorter drive using Hwy 99 and Liberty Road out of Galt. We took turns in the day use registration booth today. It was cooler than last Friday and a little busier. Mike cooked baked pork ribs for diner and we slept out under the stars.

Thurs, June 13, 2013 - back at the Boykin hotel

Mike went directly to Auburn to visit with mom and work.  I worked in the AM at Connie's house, then went to visit dad for a short time before lunch.  Connie and met up for lunch at Evan's Kitchen - my newest client which is very near Connie's house.  Then I went up to Auburn to a finance committee meeting at Sierra Pines UMC.  Had a nice visit with Alison, Ron and John before and after. 

Finally, to the recreation part of the day.  Mike and I met Chris and John at Monkey Cat for dinner, then strolled the streets of Auburn during the Art Walk, before going back to their house for some more relaxation and sleep.

Wed. June 12, 2013 - Back to Auburn area

We took the scenic drive via Hwy 49 from Valley Springs to Auburn this morning just to experience it.  It took about three hours, but was very pretty. 

We picked up my car so I can get around for the next two days, then each of us went to work in Auburn for the afternoon. 

I drove down to visit with Dad about 4:30 and had a nice visit, then met up with Mike at Connie's house for dinner and sleep.

Tues. June 11, 2013 - Happy Birthday, Curt

We had a couple e-mail exchanges with Curt to celebrate his birthday.  He is enjoying his travels through Central America, and is hiking around Little Corn Island in Nicaragua to celebrate his day, then plans to return to Honduras for another few weeks before returning to the US. 

Today we did another trash pick-up, then I went to the Laundromat in town and Mike went to Common Grounds to work for the morning.  We stopped early today, because we know Alicia would be returning today and wanted to be there when she came by to see us.  so we had a restful and relaxing day at home - Mike cooked pork ribs from Sacto farmers market, and I got out the knitting,  Nice!

Alicia came by about 7:30 tonight. We turned in our cash from the Friday's time at the booth and learned how to get supplies for our other task - painting.  We'll start that when we get back after our days off which are Wed and Thursday. 

Mon. June 10, 2013 - Self directed volunteerism

The campground cleared out pretty well after the weekend, so we are neighbor-less now.  Very nice.  Our volunteer ranger, Alicia, has been out on training since we arrived, so except for the Day Use kiosk task, we are unassigned, so we each did an hour of trash pick-up around the empty campground this morning.

Then we got cleaned up and went in to the coffee shop for another afternoon work session. They are getting to know us.  Lots of space and very pleasant, plus we can use their internet, since the campsite does not produce a strong enough signal to do work, or even to stream Netflix, so we are getting used to entertaining without internet in the evenings. 

Sun. June 9, 2013 - welcome home

Last night , sleeping outside after the 106 degree day was beautiful and surprisingly quiet for a Saturday.

I think the heat wiped everybody out.

Mike ran this am and I took a nice bike ride around the New Hogan road and bike trails. Then we went in to the Common Ground for an afternoon work session.

 

We went by the day use kiosk to talk with Jim and John, but had no park host work to do.

I made crock pot soup and green salad for dinner.  It cooled off today so we were able to sleep inside tonight - first night since we arrived on June 5.

Sat. June 8, 2013 - Heat Wave

Finally got some fast internet and spare time so posted pictures for May 30 - June 2.  More to come.

Today it got to 106!!  We went for a morning bike ride around the campground but it was too hot even at 8:30. Plus we wanted to get dinner prepped and get out of the MH before the sun started hitting us directly. We have good trees for shade in the morning.

Mike made pesto sauce with some of the basil from our plant ( we had an accident with the pot in Auburn a few days ago, so really needed to use some of leaves) and I made lentil-walnut-feta salad for lunch. Then we left for the coffee shop. It is very roomy and pleasant. We did a  3 hour session then took a break for lunch. We went back to the park to our site because we have not been there during the day yet.

The shade structure is effective during the day but it was 100 so still uncomfortable so we ate and headed back to the coffee shop for another air conditioned work session. We stopped at the day use kiosk twice during our 4 mile commute to town say hello to John in the morning and Jim in the afternoon. We are scheduled on Fridays and they split the day on Sat and Sunday.

Fri. June 7, 2013 - first day on the job

It was hot even early this morning. We packed for the day and left about 8:00 to go in to Common Ground for coffee, Internet and work time in air conditioning.

We arrived at our post at 12:30 to get set up. Open for fee collection business at 1:00.

We met John, the 2nd host at Fiddleneck - the day use and boat launch area. He came out from his 5th wheel RV nearby to help us get started. Mike left about 1:30 to go back to Sonora to get the Jeep with its new radiator. He got back about 6:00 to help me close up.

It was a fun shift. No ornery guests.  I collected from 23 parties and passed through many more campers and season pass holders who didn't have to pay. There was air conditioning in the booth- thank goodness!

It was boiling in the MH when we got back, but the sun was setting and it was pleasant outside where we ate and slept.  Lots of Friday night camper sounds in the distance.  The water level is pretty low so we haven't been to the lake yet but we have a great valley view across the lake coves.  

Thurs. May 6, 2013 - training day

The Internet is not as strong as we remembered, but the town of Valley Springs is only 3 miles away so we drove in this morning to Starbucks to work until our 10:00 meeting with Jim,

the day volunteer and park host who was assigned to train us in the day use registration kiosk.

We got an overview of our main task which will start tomorrow at 1:00.

Once that was done, we drove back in for lunch before going to the local coffee shop for the afternoon. Bad news, though, the Jeep's radiator spilled out onto the pavement when we stopped. We called AAA and got a tow to Sonora. (the best option for repairs and a rental car) which was a long hour drive. Mother Lode Motors, a Jeep/Chrysler dealership and service shop confirmed we need a new radiator and promised to finish it tomorrow. They had a Hertz office next door in the same parking lot, so we had no trouble getting a car for the ride back to New Hogan. It was hot- not 100, but hot- so we stayed in Sonora to finish the work day there in air conditioning and then stopped for dinner at Europa sports bar to  see the first half of game 1 of the NBA finals.

 

 

 

Back at camp we laid out our air mattress and sleeping bags to sleep under the stars on the patio cement pad. It is cool and beautiful out here as we watched the sun set and the stars come out. Very nice!

Wed. June 5, 2013 - get away day

We returned my car to Jenny's driveway, checked out of Gold Country RV, did a few in town errands , had a short visit with Mom in Auburn and Dad in Sacramento. We had lunch at Evan's Kitchen - the  client I met with yesterday, then hooked up the jeep and finally got  on the road to New Hogan Reservoir.  We were happy to learn it was a 90 minute drive from Sac - shorter than we remembered from our exploratory trip in March ( see March 16-18).  We met Laverne, the camp host and Dan the park ranger and set up our campsite. It is hot and dry here - unlike Oregon - so this will be our first opportunity to create an outdoor living space.

Tues. June 4, 2013 - new client, old friends

We moved the MH to Gold Country RV this morning and went to storage to swap out clothes.

Then to work in Auburn. I dropped in on Dad for a  few minutes on the way to meet a new client in south Sac. Tonight I went to a PEO meeting at Patti's house. She moved and took Pinky with her.

Pinky is happy to be an outdoor cat on property with a different good view.

Mon. June 3, 2013 Auburn work day

Left Kelly's early for Auburn to pick up my car and go to work. Me at Courthouse Coffee to move in to my new computer and Mike at Nevada Sunrise. I had a client visit this afternoon and Mike went to visit mom and do an eye doctor errand. Tonight we had dinner with Connie in Roseville then went to our MH at Thunder Valley to sleep.

Sun. June 2, 2013 - good to see Eric again

This morning we moved the MH to Thunder Valley from Auburn Gold Country RV then drove down to the farmers market in Sacramento.

We got pork tenderloin, sweet corn, green beans for dinner tonight and more good stuff for the upcoming week.  We had a good visit with dad at The Palms

then took our groceries to them before going to Frys.

My computer died on Friday and Mike did some online shopping so we knew exactly what we wanted.  It didn't take long at all. Now we both have new computers with Windows 8. We should be good to go for a while.

Next we went to visit mom at Auburn Ravine Terrace. Eric flew in from Cancun on Wednesday and drove from his friends house to end the evening with us. We ad a nice visit with mom while she ate dinner in her room,

then we drove to Kelly's house and cooked dinner for five.  We ate indoor because it was a 100 degree day, and had good conversation.

Sat. June 1, 2013 - dinner with Dean and Joelle

We made it to Sacramento as scheduled by 9:30 AM and stopped first to have a short visit with Dad at the Palms.  Then to Auburn to check in to Gold Country RV and get some warm weather clothes out of storage....

before a short visit with Mom at Auburn Ravine Terrace.

Tonight we were invited to dinner at "chez Joelle" with Dean and Joelle in Lincoln. We had a pleasant evening with wine gourmet food and good conversation.

 

 

Fri. May 31, 2013 - travel day

We drove all day- stopping for lunch in Roseburg at another Rodeo restaurant ( we visited one in Tillamook as well) and for a short nap and exercise breaks along the way. We didn't quite make it to or goal of Rolling Hills Casino in ??? but found a good rest area just north of Red Bluff for dinner and sleep.

My laptop died this morning so I'm writing this on my phone  and cannot upload pictures. They will be added later.
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Thurs. May 30, 2013. Get away day

We made the MH road ready in the AM before we cleaned our last 3 yurts.

We said goodbye to our co-hosts,

then hooked up the jeep in the day use area on the first nice day we've had in 10 days and drove off looking forward to the next adventure.

We took advantage of the Oregon Park Host privileges and stayed at Beverly Beach State Park

just a few miles north of Newport-a short 90 minute drive to get the 16 hour trip home started. Mike had purchased steamer clams for us in Tillamook to have for dinner to tonight.