Working Weekend

June 16 – Oh joy! My first day at my new job. I got up at 7:30 so Bill and I could flip up the mattress so when the guy came to work on the washer it could be set on the mattress frame. Then we just had cereal for breakfast and I put away the dishes Bill washed from last night and changed my things to my tiny purse. Bill took me up in the mule because it was really windy and I’d be pedaling against it and would be tired and grumpy when I arrived. I checked the reservation slips for him and there were 2.

I got out my locked box and took out my $100 bank and set up my drawer and had my passes ready to go. It really was a busy morning. I now see why they need so many people in there. I sold 59 passes, most of which were cash but I had 9 credit, which takes longer. I gave out maps, directions, answered questions and got to chat with some folks. I also had to check in some campers who reserved on line. My job was easy compared to the ladies working the desk from the visitor lobby side. They had to issue fishing licenses for both NM and CO, handle boat registrations, sell annual and senior park passes and handle walk in campers. That paperwork takes time and at one point there were 2 lines of 7-8 people in them. About 30 minutes before the end of my shift I get to balance out. All my years of banking and working with money paid off again as I balanced to the penny. How hard can it be, it’s multiples of $7 all day. My supervisor walked me through the forms, the copies, the computer input. I should have taken notes, but tomorrow I will write down some things since I’ll only be in there 2 mornings a week I might forget where to go on the computer and what codes to use.

Bill was there promptly at 1 to pick me up and when we got home he had my delicious salad ready. He had eaten already. Then he told me the washer guy never came by and I never got a call so we don’t know what that means. After lunch I drove up to the post office to drop off a now late birthday card and they close at 11. Will now make mental note of that!

We were just lazing around watching a movie on TV when Terry came by. We invited him in and we visited for a while and got to ask a lot of questions about the running of the park and the people. Being the nosy people we are we like to be in the know. He said he had charged his small skill saw and I could come down and get it as he was headed back home. Marion and Jerry stopped by also so Bill could use their bathroom key to refill the toilet paper. They didn’t stay long. I asked Bill to just drive me to Terry’s and I’d just cut my boards there and be done with it. Of course they invited us in and we got on a conversation about the Ute Indian Tribe and how they run things. I finally had to tell Bill we needed to get a move on and we knew they were headed out. It only took about 10 minutes to make 6 cuts with his saw, what a nifty little battery powered saw it is. It would be perfect to carry in the RV. Going on my Christmas list!!!

I took Xena for a walk while Bill got a shower, then I changed clothes and we headed into Ignacio for dinner. We had heard good things about the casino so thought we’d give it a try. The buffet was prime rib and shrimp, both of which Bill is not crazy about, so we went to the Rolling Thunder Grill instead. It was good. Bill had a marinated chicken dish that he loved and I had the special, shrimp scampi and it was good, but too much garlic, a bit too spicy and too much floating olive oil. I did have enough to bring home for lunch. I played the slots while we waited for dinner because there were right there, but didn’t do well, lost $9.00. We ran into our supervisor, Terry and his wife and he had just won almost $400 playing penny slots after dinner. Lucky guy!

On the way home we stopped at the small grocery in Ignacio mainly for tomatoes and eggs. Then we found that the 7 2 11 gas station/convenience store sells soft serve, my favorite. So we got swirl cones and ate them on the way home. What a nice treat.

Still no word from the washer guy. We even drove thru Tiffany to see if they were using the business truck but no luck. Oh well, will see what happens tomorrow.

I spray painted 2 coats on my wood I cut today and we sat out for a while and watched the hummingbirds. There were 4 briefly. Bill said he counted 5 at one time this morning. Once the mosquitoes came out we went in. I got my shower while Bill listened to a radio show Johnny Dollar. Then I did some paperwork and my blog. I am pretty tired tonight so time to cut it short, take Xena out and head to bed.

July 17 – Happy Father’s Day! I made sure I was up at 7:30 so I could make Bill a nice Sunday breakfast. I left his Father’s Day gift from Xena and Molly in a Victoria’s Secret bag on the chair. I knew he’d have opened it before I got up. I got him a Durango & Silverton train t-shirt and an Old Spice gift set. He was happy with his beagle card and his gifts.

He dropped me off at the office this morning and then he had sites to clean. We had 26 vacates today and 16 of those needed to be turned around for a large church group coming in today for 4 nights. It was pretty busy this morning in the office. I sold 66 day passes. I thought today would be slower but it was busier. I balanced again, so that was good. Bill picked me up right on time and he was filthy from cleaning 14 sites in the wind. I made our lunches and as soon as we ate and I changed into my work clothes we went out and cleaned 12 more sites. We could have left some for tomorrow but decided to get them out of the way since we were already dirty. It’s really a pain to clean them when it’s so windy. When I clean the fire pits the ash dust gets up my nose and all over me. Also when Bill rakes and I am doing a pit in the same site the dust from raking is bad. I hate this wind. I watered my garden and should be getting lettuce in a few days. The radishes are looking good also.

The good news is the washer guy finally appeared this morning and luckily he had his grown nephew with him who helped him get the washer out of the cabinet. The bad news is he had the new motor with him and it was not the motor. He thinks it has to be the circuit board. When the first tech called Whirlpool they said due to the error message it was the motor, so he’s going to call again tomorrow and see what he can find out, so he left the motor with us since our warranty paid for it. So we needed to get some laundry done AGAIN. After I got showered Bill dropped me at the laundry while he went to the office to pick up two packages we heard were there for us. One was our new bedroom window, yeaaaa! The other is the awning tape I ordered to finish my repairs and have some extra for our next emergency. They have a phone book in the laundry room so I looked up some places in Durango to repair Bill’s chain and a pair of his shoes.

We put two loads in the dryer and hung the rest on our line. We ran another one to our RV door handle but as soon as the clothes were dry I took that one down so no one will be after us about it. Bill sat out with Xena will I made dinner and said there were 6 hummingbirds. I’ve got to sit out there tomorrow and get some new photos.

I took out what I thought was Italian sausage at lunch time to have some spaghetti squash with it and sauce, but it was chicken chorizo so I made chorizo enchiladas, black beans, salad and jimica with lime and paprika. Now Bill says he likes these enchiladas better than my chicken ones. I couldn’t believe it. There were two shows on he wanted to see at 7 and 8 (that nasty Mountain time again) so we waited to walk Xena and turn our reservation slips til 9. Oh, before we left the man who does all the cooking for the church group of about 60 brought over some pulled pork and buns they had left from dinner tonight. He said we were invited to their meals and if not he would be bringing meals to us. He owns a bbq place in Buena Vista. I had a taste and it’s yummy and more than enough for us a meal, probably 2. Looks like I won’t have to do any cooking this week!