June 7 - Another Grueling Ride

At Cockspur Lighthouse

Up close and personal

Our last day off and we had a great day! Today’s after breakfast ride was out to the Cockspur Lighthouse, which is at the east end of the island. It’s a very small lighthouse that still works but is only accessible by boat. It has a lot of corrosion that is soon to be worked on and you can go in it if you can get to it. The trail leads out to the closest land point. Well, the trail is 1.7 miles and it’s over a mile from the RV. The trail is all mulch which was harder to ride on that the 6 miles we did yesterday. It was grueling. Actually we biked almost all the way then the path really narrows and we parked the biked and walked as far as we could to take photos. I was just as tired today as I was yesterday. After a rest, I did a load of wash, and got showered for our outing to town.

We decided to try out Cancun Café since we pretty much knew where it was and it was on the way. It was pretty good, we’d go back. Decent lunch crowd, which was good. Then we went to Thunderbolt where the Home Depot, Target, Staples and movie theatre are. I did my Target shopping, then to Staples for extra ink for the new printer, then we went across the street to check out the Habitat store and a salad for dinner. We took Xena for a long walk and saw 4-5 deer. Then it was a bit of TV and try to get a good night’s sleep for another 4 days of work.

June 6 - The Long Bike Ride

I got up at 7:50 to try and catch Chuck and MJ to say good-bye but they had left. Oh well, I hope they enjoy the rest of their trip and we look forward to seeing them this winter in Florida.

A view of the trail

At the end of our trail

I made ham-cheese toast for breakfast with cantaloupe and then we readied for a long bike ride. It’s about 1.5 miles from our RV to the entrance station of the park. Then there is a 6 mile one way trail along the river going towards Savannah. At the halfway point there is parking and people can start from there and go in either direction, picnic, or put kayaks in the river. It’s a popular running, walking and biking trail. Well Bill wanted to go to the halfway point and from the time we left home we didn’t stop til we were there. Glad I took water today. I took some photos and video, rest a bit then we headed back. We stopped a couple of time for more photos. By the time we got back I was so tired and had jelly legs and an upset stomach. I sat outside a long time and cooled off and had a cold tea. So we went about 9 miles on the bikes. I think it’s a record. Bill wants to make it a regular trek on our days off. Yeah, right!

View of the river along the trail

Our fridge isn’t doing such a good job at keeping things fresh and cold so the lunch meat didn’t smell so good, so we went with tuna salad on hot dog buns for lunch with fruit and veggies. After lunch I needed a shower while Bill wrote a letter of recommendation. About 2:20 I left for the library to use the computer and wifi. You only get 30 minutes if they have people waiting so I used their computer first to do the things I needed to print, then worked on the blog and uploading photos on my laptop. I had to send Bill’s letter out and info to the company about our most recent batch of bad tires, and catch up on some emails, googling, etc. Left the library about 5:10 and checked out the Tybee Island IGA. Small store, small aisles but huge beer assortment. Has pretty much all you need but rather pricey too. Will make stop tomorrow on the way back from the movie.

Called Karen and got to talk a few minutes til I lost the signal. Fixed some of our NC trout for dinner with fresh green beans and stuffed butternut squash. Bill wasn’t crazy about it. The fish was better as I cooked it just right. I used the leftover couscous to stuff the butternut after microwaving the squash some first, then stuff and baked about 20 minutes. We had strawberry shortcakes for dessert. I had made a batch of cupcakes with sugar free mix and put them in the freezer, so with fat free topping and berries it’s a nice low cal dessert. After our nightly dog walk, which was nice tonight as the afternoon rain while I was gone really cooled things off, I made a batch of fiber one cookies while reading my Harry Potter book. Then I read and watched TV with Bill til he went to bed and am journaling then going to read a bit more.

June 5 - Enjoying Our First Day Off

Bridge over to Tybee Island

Thought I would get to sleep in today but really just didn’t feel like it. Made our Sunday breakfast: Blueberry buckwheat pancakes, turkey bacon and melon for me, Bill has toast and eggs with his. Then we watched the tail end of a movie and headed out for a 4 mile bike ride. I put a load of wash in while we rode. We stopped the VC to check our schedule for next week. We’re on 8:30 – 5:30 again all week. We did some video today when we rode and some photos. Once we got back Bill did the dishes and straightened up some and I sat out under the awning and read while Xena caught some rays.

Back of the fort, red is replaced brick from the
Civil War bombing

After lunch and showers we went to “town” to pick up my Europe photos from Walgreens and a Sunday paper. We also stopped at Dollar Tree for a couple of things and spent about 2 hours at McDonald’s to use the WIFI. Didn’t get close to caught up but managed to upload some photos to Picasa and posted 2 blogs.

We didn’t get back til after 6 so it was time to start dinner. I made chicken with a basil, onion, thyme balsamic sauce, whole wheat cousous with almonds and basil and the leftover veggies from a couple of nights ago. It gave me a chance to use some of my herbs. I have dried some catnip and am drying some basil now. We took Xena for a long walk after dinner and I called Kerry to catch up on things. Chuck and MJ came over to bring their uniform shirts and keys for us to return for them. They are leaving around 8:30 tomorrow. MJ and I will keep in touch via email and they plan to winter in Florida Jan, Feb and March next year so we will definitely get together.

Bill cleaned up the kitchen, we gave Xena her shot and time to journal and watch TV.

June 4 - Yeah, We Made It Through The Week

Ah, our last workday of the week.  I was at the VC all day again.  We helped price new inventory for the bookstore and met some nice folks to day.  A couple whose daughter lived in Ocoee for a few years and a couple from Arizona.  Gives you something to talk about for sure.  Bill is getting good with his fort info and continues to read and talk to the seasonal rangers about things.  Now if he can really master the 3 video machines.  One he does fine and two he’s close on.  Luckily the mean ranger was in the entrance station all day and we only had the seasonals, who are all very nice.

MG and Chuck stopped by on their way to ride with the pilot boat. We will do that once I get my motion sickness pills. We were ready to rock and roll when 5:30 rolled around. We got home and walked Xena and changed clothes to head out to dinner with Chuck and MJ. We went to Tubby’s, which was not all it was cracked up to be. There was about a 30 minute wait, which was OK. Once we ordered it took forever for the food to come. MJ and I ordered the shrimp and grits and when it came it looked like grit soup with shrimp. It was a milky sauce but nothing like we expected. They served 2 slices of French bread, I guess to sop of the juice. It was good, but Tortuga’s was SOOO much better. When she came to ask about dessert I told MJ they should give us desserts because it took so long. The waitress came to us 3 times to apologize for the wait, so that told me it was not expected to take so long. I was not having dessert but knew Bill would like some and MJ wanted some so she said that sounded appropriate and asked the waitress. She said she’d ask the manager, who came out and said he heard we want to speak to him, so MJ told him we expected complimentary dessert. He said there was always a 30 minutes wait for dinner and we said it was way longer than 30 minutes and he said well it was only 30 minutes but would give us 2 desserts. I had a bite of Bill’s praline cheesecake and it was good. We didn’t leave the restaurant til after 9 and we left the RV at 6:30 so we know it took a long time.

We dropped Chuck and MJ off next door and came home to let Xena out and watch some TV.

June 3 - Another Day On The Job

This working is gonna get old fast! I just don’t like getting up in the AM. We had scrambled eggs this morning but the bacon was frozen so we had to settle for just fruit with it. We both worked in the VC today. I worked the bookstore register today and Bill worked the pass register and did his movie and greeting. After lunch one of the season rangers asked if we wanted to go on the 2:00 Fort Tour and she would cover for us. We went out for it and I went on it but it was the same ranger as Bill heard yesterday so we went back in. It was pretty hot out there. I didn’t remember anything about the fort from 10 years ago so it was good that I went and refreshed on it. The ranger in charge of the VC is just not a pleasant person. We don’t know if we should report how she treats visitors and staff or just try to make it through the summer. Bill says he may have to say something to her but he’s usually the calmer one than I am. We’ll see if it gets any better. She did surprise us and let us leave an hour early today once she got her monthly reports done. That was nice. We stopped at the Administrative office and finally signed for our keys.

I watered my tomato plant first thing and then we took Xena for a long walk. It was still pretty hot out and she was panting and ready to get home in the AC. I did some wash and hooked up the little TV to the antenna so we can get local stations on it until we get the Direct TV thing straightened out. I’m still fired up about that. Also called the tire manufacturer about the bad tires we had and have to email her the photos and additional information. Told her it would be on Sunday so she’d have it when she gets in on Monday.

Bill had the last of the meatloaf and I had the last brat and he had white potato and I had sweet potato and he had green beans and I had greens, so it was almost like cooking 2 meals.  We took a bike ride out to the bridge that you have to cross to get onto Cockspur Island and then up to the VC and back.  We took our trash on the way.  Saves us sitting it outside and having the raccoons get into it again.  We only saw 5 deer and a raccoon tonight.  We think we saw the coyote down one of the ravines just sitting as it looked like a dog but there are no dogs on the island that we know of except Xena right now.  We changed the bed sheets and folded laundry and watched reruns of NCIS.  We are trying to decide what we will do on our 3 days off.  Perhaps a movie and trip to Target.   Also discussed what restaurant we’re going to try.  Bill thinks we should try Tubbies.

June 2 - Getting The Hang Of Ft. Pulaski

Park Headquarters where we get our mail
& process our paperwork

This morning Bill was to get up at 5:45 to shower and go have breakfast with our neighbors over at the Coast Guard station at 6:30. The alarm didn’t go off but I woke him up at 6:05 and he was ready in time.  He was disappointed the guys were not having breakfast with them.  He said there was only the cook and the guy cleaning up. He did enjoy his French toast, ham and sausage for $2.30.  Well we put on our other set of volunteer shirts and our other pairs of khaki pants, actually Bill wears shorts and I wear capris, and headed to work at about 8:20 today.  Ron is off 3 days so we were under the supervision of Patty today.  I guess she was not aware of what Bill and I were doing as she took off to the Entrance Station and left me without a word.  So I went on up and asked why she left me.  She said she didn’t know I was to be there but I found that off as she knew we were new VIPs since she’s the one who signed out our shirts to us and knew we were there to be trained but she didn’t bother to check the schedule.  So she figured out pretty quickly that I had the entrance job down already and left me there about an hour while she went back to the VC for a couple of things. Then since one of the VIPs had a family illness and left town today they were short in the VC so Patty sent me back to cover the registers.  Bill is learning the pass one but not the bookstore one.  He was able to go on a fort tour and learn more info this morning but after that he was the only person working the VC and at one point it was just he and I for an hour or so.  Imagine leaving two people with just 8 hours training each to be in charge.  We did fine!  Bill got more talkative with visitors after his tour as he is reading lots of material and picking up more info from the rangers, etc. I am content to chat with the visitors and tell them what is going on at the fort and leave the historical stuff to Bill.

We had an early lunch at 11:30 due to the short staff and getting everyone covered for lunch. We both worked the VC the rest of the day and will be in there again tomorrow. I was a bit bummed as Ron had figured I would be out that all day today so I packed the laptop to take and use the DSL during the slow times and get my blogs posted and emails caught up. Instead, for the time I was alone out there I cleaned all the dead bugs out of the windows, swept the floor, wiped down the counters and cobwebs and asked the maintenance guy for some WD40 and a screwdriver to fix the sliding window. He came back with some eco friendly lubricant and sprayed the window for me and tightened the screws in it as all the tugging to slide it was loosening the handle. It moves much better now. Geez, all these college graduates that sit out there all day fighting that dumb window and no one has a clue. Ranger Patty was pretty impressed with it when she worked out there after I left. I think I would have been happier on maintenance but they start at 7 each day.

I have enjoyed talking to people from all over. Met some from AZ today and quite a few Polish come because Vladimir Pulaski is a Polish hero so they come and ask about his death and monument, but those things are all in Savannah, not at the fort. Bill gets to talking too much with one set of people and doesn’t watch for new visitors and got some of the video running late. He had some time to read more info and brought home a book about the fort tonight. He read it once and said he’s going to read it again. I will be so sick of hearing statistics on the fort, the war, the cannons, etc.

We had our leftovers tonight with a salad and then I dropped Bill and Xena off at the maintenance building to dispose of our recyclables and then to walk back.  I went to a Weight Watchers meeting on Wilmington Island, then to the Kroger store.  It’s a really nice Kroger store, reminds me of a Publix.  Then I head to Wal-Mart to pick up Bill’s prescriptions.  I was supposed to go my Walgreens to pick up my Europe photos but thought the store was on a different road and by the time I realized which road I didn’t feel like backtracking.  I was really tired.  So went home and put the groceries away and made us a strawberry shortcake and tried to so some of my journal.

June 1 - First Day On The Job

First day of work in our volunteer
shirts

You would think it was our first day at school.  We put on our uniform shirts and had a good breakfast to get those brain cells working well.  I even took our picture all dressed and ready for work.  We got to the Visitor Center plenty early.  I told Bill it was only a 2 minute drive but he thought we should hurry and we were there before any of the rangers. We actually report to Ron Calhoun who is the VIP (Volunteers in Parks) coordinator for Ft. Pulaski.  He’s a born Georgia boy with a really interesting background.  He and I went out to the Entrance Station where I trained with him until my lunch break at 12:45, at which time I went back to the VC (visitor center as we park personnel refer to it) to pick up Bill.  He trained there all morning with our camp neighbor Chuck.  He trained on running the 18 minute video about the fort and the other looped screens in the center, greeted visitors and about the activities that go on in the fort each day to inform visitors of.  After lunch we were both at the VC but I trained on the 2 registers.  One is for all bookstore purchases and one is for annual park passes. You end up trying to answer whatever questions the visitors ask, such as “Where is the restroom?” and "do you have a drink machine?" The traffic can get hectic and it can slow down to no one, especially when there are musket shootings and tours going on it the fort. Then they all head out there and come back to see the movie and displays after. I took a book along and started it once I got a few transactions under my belt. Neither job is difficult. The most taxing was when it would not take the credit card and it’s because the verification is dial up and I had to learn to sign the computer back on, then it was fine.

Visitor Center

We worked 8:30 to 5:30, as we do our 4 days this week. Our normal schedule will be Wednesday thru Saturday so we’ll have 3 days off at a time and can do some side trips to Charleston and around. It will be nice too if we get company to come and we can spent 3 days with them.

After we took Xena out and changed clothes Bill wanted to go to Sears and get the RV battery taken care of. We made our first journey to the mall, which wasn’t any further than going to Fashion Square from our house. They had the correct size battery so we got that and had dinner at Chili’s across the street. Bill had fajitas and I had the margarita chicken, which I cut in half as soon as it was served, as it was 2 chicken breasts with lots of rice and beans. It was good though. We both had leftovers for tomorrow night’s dinner.

We had seen an Office Depot along the way so stopped to see if they had a small printer to keep in the RV and I was happy to find an HP. Most were really too large for the area I have so went ahead and got this one. Then we stopped at Home Depot to get “parts” to build a roof over the area of the RV outside where the refrigerator is. These fridges do not cool well in this summer heat so any food in the bottom of it ends up spoiling and that gets expensive and ruins meal when you think you have a veggie and then it’s rotted. So I scavenged through the store and found 2 good boards in their trash to use for legs, then out of their culls bin got a .51 2 x 4 for cross pieces to hold the legs together and a $4.01 piece of 3/8” plywood for a roof. The in the insulation area I got a 4’ x 8’ piece of foiled stryrofoam that had some tears in it for half price of I think $3.60 or so. This is our Sunday project. I spotted a bucket of nails over in the VIP room and we have a drill and hammer so think we can rig something up. I’m sure there will be a photo or two of it along the way.

We took Xena out for a short walk before it got really dark. Didn’t get to ride the bikes tonight though. I tested my printer after my shower and made sure it was all working so I could pitch the boxes. Printed well enough for what I intend to use it for. Read a few pages of Harry Potter before bed.