It's been a blast, but it's time to go.

Hard to believe that just 6 weeks ago we arrived at the campground to do a short-term work camper assignment with there.  The campground closed for the season yesterday and today is supposed to be our final work day. We really didn’t know what to expect and assumed we’d be cleaning bathrooms, campsites and working in the store checking in guests.

Predicted high temps today will be in the low 60’s, tomorrow is mid 50’s and the rest of the week will see only high 40’s.  Getting a bit too chilly to want to do much so the timing to leave is just right.

As I wrote in the previous blog entry, I’ve been doing all sorts of assignments.  I had some more gardening chores since the last blog, as well as more power washing of walkways and even sealing cement blocks.  I steam cleaned several carpets and finally on my next to last day of work, was asked to wash to bathroom (single stalls) so the owners could turn off the water to them the next day.  Fortunately for me the bathrooms had not been used since they had been cleaned last so my job wasn’t bad at all.

Because of my wanting to be close to perfect, the painting job of 2 rooms took 4 full days for me to complete: I taped, did the cutting in along both the ceiling and the floor trim, and rolled on 2 coats of paint to the walls (including the inside of the closets and the track panel doors to the closet.  The rooms are in an older mobile home and the walls were wallpaper with raised trim boards covering the seams on the walls so there was extra hand work making sure the edges were covered also.  

Hubby joked with me about how long it was taking me to do the job, comparing my diligence to the mobile home to painting a room in our own home.  I retorted that it was taking longer to do these 2 rooms because I was being paid.  Had it been my own home, 1 coat might have sufficed and there’s be roller marks on the ceiling and floors and I’d be done in 1 day.

He on the other hand has not had to clean any bathrooms.  Nope, my guy has had the luxury of playing outside all the time.  The primary reason we were asked to come in to the campground as 6 week work campers was to help the owner get some new campsites in.

When we stayed here last year in July, while walking around the campground we noticed a roadway that had areas with trees taken out, similar in size to the campsites that backed up to the clearings.  In talking with the owners back then, they said they had plans to put about 10 more seasonal sites in, but weather and worker skills kept them from getting further.

With us on board this fall, the owner, his handyman and my guy were able to clear the sites of top soil and rocks, as well as clear the roadway to base level and are putting in sewer, water and electric lines.  Two or 3 sites are now at the point that they could put sand and road pack down to raise them to the desired level for campers.  With the camping season over and all of us heading out this week, completion will not happen this year.

With all the fun and sense of accomplishment we’ve had this fall, we decided that we would take next year’s travel seasons off from being on the road and come back to the campground to be one of their work camper couples (they hire 2 couples each year). While Chuck will continue with his playing in the dirt, I know I’ll be inside a lot more next year, working in the office / store.  But I'm sure there will be days when I can "play" outside also.

But for now, it's time to pack up and start our migration to Florida.  We've got a few stops planned to see family along the way.  Then on to the visiting with all the gators in the creek.