Last day in the office and good bye dinner

September 3 – I worked my last day, Labor Day, in the office. It was really slow and since Karen finished her last day yesterday and Sheila on Friday, it wasn’t the same. The other ladies are nice but after spending my summer with Karen, Sheila and Brenda it wasn’t the same atmosphere and the loads of laughter. It was also my slowest day since I started. Susan wrote a very nice letter of recommendation for me and I really appreciated it. I told Bill on the way home today that it won’t be the park I miss but the people. Every one here has just been so nice to us and shared there lives and experiences with us as well as their laughter. I could not have picked a better group of people to spend the summer with.

 

After lunch we did more packing things up and Bill had taken down the outdoor lights while I was at work. He had 18 sites to clean so he really didn’t have much time for anything else. We did 3-4 more sites but still had some that didn’t leave until 4-5. Two paid for an extra night, so it won’t be totally empty tonight. We rested a while and read and then showered and got ready for our get together at 6. Harlan and Rebecca were hosting but had it at Marion’s as his pad and site are bigger for all the chairs. There were 10 of us and Barry brought his big grill over and he grilled the steaks, Newell made potatoes, Marion made black beans, someone made a salad and a dish of green beans with ham. I took my brownies and we had a feast. After dinner Marion brought out the honey infused bourbon to go in the coffee and several of us enjoyed that. He started a fire, Bill’s and my first and only for the summer, and it was so nice just sitting with our new friends and visiting, telling stories and making jokes at each other’s expense. The mosquitoes came out but with the fire and spray we managed not to fare too badly. Newell was the first to leave just after 9 and we got home around 10 after helping clean up the tables and chairs and returning them to the Guest Services building. It was really a nice night. Oh, I almost forgot. When I got home today Bill said he wanted to use the famous Flamingos and give them as awards to everyone. So we sat down and figured out the titles for the “Flamingos” and I wrote them all on each one with a sharpie and put Navajo State Park 2012. Everyone had a good laugh over them and now they all have a Flamingo to call their own. The categories were: Best Lawn Man, Best Fund-Raiser, Best Trail Blazers, Best Story Teller and Best Listener and Hardest Working Camp Host. You’d have to know the people to know who deserved each one, and they did and everyone had a great laugh from it. I forgot to take my camera but Joan took individual shots and a group shot and is supposed to email them to me.

 

Once we got home and took Xena out Bill listened to his radio and I read for a while before we headed to bed for our last day.