Thurs. July 25, 2013 - Game night - Chicken Foot

Today was a yurt cleaning record - all five in the H look turned over today.  We actually had days in Cape Lookout when we were assigned 6 or 7, but here is has been much lighter.  We took a lunch break at the park for cleaning mid day.

Tonight was game night for the hosts at the Nature Center.  The Cruise director, Roxie does a good job of finding good group games.  Tonight we played a dominoes game called Chicken foot.  There were three delicious desserts, too, and I went home with a sugar buzz.

 

This is Ken - he is decked out for game night with a dogs-at the card table shirt.

 

Wed. July 24, 2013 - Nature trail morning run

There is one host couple who's entire job is litter picking on the park trails and in group camp and day use.  I would like that job, too.  Today I took a nice run from the campground through the day use sand dune access area to the park's Nature Trail

 

(there are a number of informational signs along the trail - this one describes the Western Hemlock)

 

 

 

(and an even larger number of trees - this is the Western Hemlock looking up)

 

to the lodge where they rent boats.  This is the dock I jumped off and swam to the dune in the distance on my birthday

This is the front check-in booth - quite a busy place every afternoon as new campers come in.

This is the main road from the front booth back to our site at A-10.

 .  Today we were back on the job - two yurts to clean.  This is the H Loop bathhouse building where we come to get our cart and supplies.

Usually we walk to the H Loop, but today we drove.  Mike is walking in front of a "toy hauler' trailer owned by the hosts we had dinner with on Saturday - they say they have ATV, motorcycle, tools, and stuff in there.  Can't imaging towing THAT!!  behind a 40foot motorhome!!!!

 

 

Tues. Juy 23, 2013 - water troubles in the park

Hwy 101 was being worked on yesterday and today by the road commission, (or somebody - who knows?) for resurfacing.  They got the blame among the ranger community for the sharp decline in the park's water table.  I missed getting a picture of the yellow caution tape in the bath house buildings - they closed the showers to conserve what water they had while working on the broken water line.   Just for fun here is a picture of what the park did to accommodate the campers other needs......

 

By the end of the day all was well and after more than 24 hours of being out of service, the showers were busy!!

 

We had another in town day - worked late at the library and had a taco plate at another taqueria in Florence for dinner.

 

Mon. July 22, 2013 - Full Moon Rising

Off day from Camp hosting.  Coffee shop, lunch, library during day.  Curried red lentil vegetable stir fry for dinner after work, then for a nice walk inside the park

 and off into the dunes to see the full moon rising.

Sunset in the distance illuminates a group of 6 kids sitting on the top of the dune.

Sun., July 21, 2013 - TIIMMMBBBBEEEEERRRRRR!

So last night while we were out, a tall tree pulled up out of the ground by its root ball in the heavy wind ( did I mention the wind has been very strong almost every day since we arrived - maybe that is related to the ask of rain, who knows).  The tree was so tall, it got hung up in nearby trees before it hit the ground so nobody got hurt and the camper was able to hook up his truck to the trailer and drive out underneath the tree.  We missed all this last night, but talked to the camper this morning at 7:AM when he came back to get his clothesline, tablecloth, etc from the outside living space he abandoned last night.

 

The rangers cut the fallen tree last night - that was why the road was blocked to traffic,

 

but today they came back to get the collateral damage -

 these leaning trees were near the big tree's root ball, and were compromised as well, so they had to go.

Quite an exciting day.  we had drive by's all day long with visitors and park hosts wanting to see what happened.  Lucky us - a bird's eye view.  We checked to make sure there are no more trees that we feel might be a danger to our rig - that would be a bummer!

Sat. July 20, 2013 - Dinner out

Dang, I forgot to take a picture, but we went out to dinner at the restaurant we discovered on Thursday - homegrown with another camp host couple - Dave and Sami - who are about our age.  It was very nice and we got some good ideas about where else to look for assignments.  They are from the Phoenix area and have experience with private parks in "Snow Bird" country.

When we got back, after dark the road outside our A-Loop was roped off with caution tape..... TIIMMMBBBBEEEEERRRRRR!

 

 

More info tomorrow when the sun comes up!

Fri. July 19, 2013 - Three Zero Days

Hard to imagine that no one has moved out of our 5 yurts since Tuesday, but that's what we deduce from getting our third "NoYurt" assignment in a row.  Makes the Yurt Host volunteer job look really good for two who have a day job:) 

 

We did a  morning cruise through the E and C loops this morning ( picking litter and making sure there is plenty of paper in the restrooms) so we are staying connected that way.  It is actually quite enjoyable - the park is beautiful and it is interesting to see the ebb and flow of campers.

Here is another camper's version of "bringing their house with them":)

 

Today while at the coffee shop, Connie called to connect Dad and me on the phone.  He was up and at 'em this morning and we had a good conversation.

 

Tonight we cooked calamari steaks that we got at the Krab Kettle fish market last week.  Delicious!  We went to the Amphitheatre at 9:00 to hear the ranger talk an the CCC and history of how Honeyman park got built in the 30's.

Thurs. July 18, 2013 - Beautiful morning for a swim

This is one of the yurts in our A-Loop with the morning sun coming in through the trees.  Amazing that we have had only one day that threatened rain so far.

Another zero day - no yurts to clean, so I went for swim #3 in the lake and we did a turn through the loops before going in to town, 

.  Here is Mike inside our favorite Siuslaw River Coffee roasters where they know his drink:)

 

The to lunch at a new restaurant for us -  Homegrown - where they are growing their own veggies outside in a sunny patch near the front door.  The food was good!

 

Tonight was another game night - this time it was a different dice game called Farkle - same one we played with Rich and Dollie a while back, but they called it Ziltch.  No matter the name, I came up the winner at our table of 9, but this was not money game  - DARN!

 

 

 

 

Wed. July 17 Friend of the Library

Today we showed up at the library at noon hoping to get some last minute tickets to the Friends of the Library's luncheon and we scored! 

It was a vegetarian theme using recipes from cookbooks found in the library and it was delicious!! The cup holds cold bean soup.   We learned from our table mates that the library offered seasonal memberships so we are now proud card carrying members of the Siuslaw Public Library!

                   To celebrate, we checked out DVD's to watch at night on our computer.

This evening, we attended a Camp-host guided dune walk at 6:00.  Led by Cal and Marilyn who have been on the camp host trail for 4 years, from Vermont - their first trip to Honeyman and they are here for the season ( 4 months mid May through mid Sept.) 

Host Cal describing the hazards of dune grass

We enjoyed the walk - discovered another section of our park.  The BIG dunes connected to the Oregon Dunes Nat'l Rec Area.

 

                                           

Tues. July 16, 2013 - All-Star Game

Today was another regularly schedule off day from camp hosting, so we went to town for business work until late afternoon, then discovered the local Three Rivers Casino

in Florence where we had dinner and watched the MLB All Star game on the big screen TV.

It has been foggy the last couple days.  This is a good time to mention the amazing job our dehumidifier is doing again.  Rain or shine, it is pulling in about a gallon of water a day from the air.  We are amazed and mystified!!

 

Mon. July 15, 2013 - Coos Bay exploration

Today was an official day off, so we drove south through Reedsport, over the Umpqua River and on south to Coos Bay.  There we found a new library  to work for a while...  not too impressive from the outside, but very accommodating.

   
                      then went on to explore three local State parks:    Sunset Beach,  William Tugman

                                                     and Umpqua Lighthouse.  Very cool!

We are checking out the parks to see if they have strong internet and to get an idea if we want to apply to host in this area another time.  Sunset Beach is off the list, but the other two were good possibilities.

Sun. July 14, 2013: Emergency #2

                                                   We were out making morning rounds

                   of our assigned E-Loop ( litter pick and check on paper in the bathroom)......

and found one of the three we were assigned today was empty, so we did that one this morning.  It was mid month, so we flipped the mattresses and vacuumed the bunk bed frame as directed.

Back to the site for some afternoon lounging in the sun. 

After we finished the 2nd two yurts in the afternoon, we were walking back and a passing camper said "I don't know if you guys are making rounds, but a tree just fell on a campsite down the road"  So we went there and sure enough...

We called the rangers who were out making rounds as well - Sunday afternoon is a busy time at the campground and they spoke with the campers and started to dismantle the tree almost immediately.  No one was hurt thank goodness - the campers were in the tent!!  The back dune stopped the tree's fall and the camper's truck was barely missed.  The tent poles got bent, but it could have been much worse.  It has been very windy in the afternoons - basically since we got here, so this one was just tired.  Roots just pulled out of the ground.   

They were shook up, though, got a refund from the rangers and took off.

Sat. July 13, 2013 - sat night at the ball game

There were no yurts to clean - Saturday and nobody was moving out.  So we went in to town for work and errands.  We discovered a new restaurant for breakfast - the Brown Hen Café...

Which looked a LOT nicer inside than it did from the outside,

And the food was good, too.

We found a local farmer's market today and got some good fresh veggies, and went to a different local fish market and got salmon for dinner.

When we got back to the park, we did our camp host rounds of C and E lops, and stopped to visit with Harold and Barbara -

the camp hosts who's job it is to staff the wood bin from 5 - 9 each evening for 5 nights. 

We ate dinner rather late, and as the sun went down we watched the park parade walk by from inside (very windy and cool outside)  while listening to Tim Lincecum pitch a no hitter for the Giants.

Fri. July 12, 2013 - 2nd lake swim

Every morning Mike gets up fairly early to get some exercise while I enjoy a good sleep.

Today, however, I decided not to miss the early morning which has been beautiful since we got here - sunny with no wind.

I rode my bike down the nature trail to the day use sand dune and picnic area on the opposite side of Cleawox Lake from the lodge, ( about half a mile trip from our site)  and went for a 40 minute swim along the shoreline.

There are only a couple things I regret not bringing from Woodhaven.  Right now I can only remember one -  the inflatable inner tube which I pulled behind me with a rope while swimming in Lake of the Pines that allows me to swim right across the center of the lake rather than stay close to shore.

So as I was swimming close to shore there was a couple fishing at the bottom of the sand dune. I hollered "Sorry!" As I swam by their fishing grounds and the woman called back...  "That's OK, we are about ready to catch a mermaid".  Makes a 57 year old feel good!

Today we had two yurts to clean, so we came back here for lunch ( I made a pot of soup in the crock pot ) and did the yurts before returning to the library for the afternoon.

This evening we put a quiche in the oven  ( it has been on the menu for several day so FINALLY!! ) and made our rounds of the C and E loops while it cooked.  After dinner we attended the Friday night program at the amphitheater on berries and plants at Honeyman.

Never a dull moment!

Thurs. July 11, 2013 - game night

Today we got out yurt assignment early and learned that the one we needed to clean was already vacant at 8:00 AM, so we did it first. Actually, Mike did it first because the e-mail I was trying to send last night stalled when the Internet slowed to a crawl (we are figuring out that the morning signal is much better than it is in the evening for some reason) and I had a deadline related to my volunteer treasurer work at Sierra Pines that couldn't wait until I got to the coffee shop.   So I sent the e-mail and walked down to Kinninnick to help Mike but he was almost done.

We made a swing through the E loop then headed out to our for day job.

Tonight was different when we got back. We had a quick salad for dinner, then went to the Nature Center for Game Night.

This is a weekly event hosted by Roxie, the "cruise director" camp host whos job it is to keep the camp hosts entertained. There were 14 at the table for the really good group game "Left, Right, Center"

which involves special dice and three coins per person to start - pennies, nickels, dimes, quarters and dollars.

                                        Good to be the winner take all for the dollar round!

Wed. July 10, 2013 - no yurts to clean

We got our assignment very early - no yurts to clean today - very different from Cape Lookout where there were 13 yurts and 6 cabins and people stayed shorter periods of time. Here there are 10 yurts and it is summertime with lots of kid activities, so people stay longer - resulting in less cleaning  assignments for us - good thing today because we both have deliverables and phone calls to make at our day job.

The routine is getting pretty solid. Breakfast at home in the morning, an early work session at Siuslaw River Coffee Roasters, break for lunch ( today I brought leftovers from home and Mike ate at the Thai restaurant walking distance to the library) then to the library for an afternoon session until they close.  

Tuesday and Wednesday the library is open late, so we worked until 8 then got dinner at Ixtapa - our first Florence Mexican food. Good! 

Tues. July 9, 2013 - Host Potluck

Today was another off day from Camp hosting, but not an off day from our day job.  Coffee Shop, lunch, Library, home.

Tonight was the once a month camp host potluck in the Nature Center Yurt.  Mike brought the food - Mediterranean Pasta.  jobs are, etc.  We sat with two couples who are in their first year of hosting like us, but others who have been doing it for over ten years.  There is quite an interesting host community out here!

 

We had a nice time meeting some of the other host couples and learning their story of how they got to be hosts, how long they have been doing it, what their current

Mon. July 8, 2013 - Happy Birthday to me!

July 8th. What a beautiful day:)

We took the day off and explored our local neighborhood. First stop was the Lodge at Cleawox Lake in Honeyman State Park.   There are about 6 camp hosts assigned to take turns working there running the small store and renting  paddle boats, canoes and Kayaks.  Mike rented a kayak while I took my first swim of the season in the lake.

It was warm and clean - a little smaller than Lake of the Pines and surrounded on two sides by sand dunes.   Very nice and the swim felt great!!

After the swim I called to talk to Dad. Connie was with him and facilitated the connection, but once we were talking, we both enjoyed the reference to it being July 8th and a special day in both our lives.

Next we went to check out the Oregon Dunes National Recreation Area - South Jetty Day Use Area.

The ODNRA covers 40 miles of central Oregon coastline, so we only saw a tiny bit, bit it was nice. The hike over the dunes from one of the parking areas to the ocean is doable - maybe 1/4 to 1/3 mile,

but it was very windy, so we choose to find a sheltered low spot along the way to the beach and rest for a while and have our picnic.

 

 

While there I got a happy birthday call from both Eric and Curt. Curt is making plans to return to the US from Guatemala at the beginning of August.

We had a simple and delicious grilled steak dinner back home tonight. Thanks, Mike - you are a great cook, traveling companion and husband. Thanks for sharing my birthday with me.  I love you:)