April

Can you believe it!!!  I'm updating before 6 months have passed.

Let's see what's been going on the last couple of weeks.

Scott & Diane invited us to their home for Easter dinner.  We sat outside until dinner was ready.  It was beautiful.  Their magnolia tree had large buds but had not begin to bloom, yet.   If you remember from posts past, S&D have eclectic tastes.  Here's a picture of part of their deck.  They love to go through thrift and antique stores.  You never know what they may find.

If you can imagine, it's a lot of fun just looking around to see what you can find.  Dinner was delicious.  She ordered a Honey Ham and we got to take home the left overs.

On Tuesday, they left and took a trip to Italy.  We were mainly in charge again.  So glad when they got back.  Their pictures were awesome. 

The next week we had two visitors.  Gary & Sue stopped in to see us on their way from Texas up to Iowa.  It was great to see them again.  We made a pizza when they arrived and sat outside eating and enjoying the sunshine.  No pictures of this visit but I'll see if I can find one of them from our Texas trips.  Here's one from their last visit with us.  Sharon's also in the picture.

Mindy & Dan stopped in later that day.  We were working and got kind of busy so they left.  We met up with them again on Thursday at Lamberts for dinner.  Forgot to take a picture of our food but did get these.

And, of course we had leftovers. 

The leaves are starting to leaf out and some of the trees are in bloom.  We remembered to get a couple of the trees. 

We have two new couples working this summer.  Had staff meeting this past week that lasted 4 1/2 hours - so glad they provided lunch.  We're looking forward to this summer.  It will be one of the first times that we may be working with people who actually know and do what they are supposed to.  Awesome.

It looks like we may be making a few trips up to Des Moines over the next few weeks.  My sister had surgery earlier this week.  She had a hysterectomy and they stretched some nerves, muscles, and tendons in her left leg.  Her leg is numb and she's doing physical therapy to get it working again.  So, it looks like we'll be doing some traveling on one of our days off to visit and provide moral support.

Well, the cubs game is over so it's time for me to go do something else.

It's About Time

Yes, I'm updating.  And, of course, no promises to keep this up on a weekly basis. 

This past week we have been fighting snow and chilly temps.  Today, it's 50 degrees and the snow is gone but it did look like this just a few days ago.

The first picture was on Sunday when we had to work.  The second picture was taken from our window on Thursday when we stayed nice and warm and comfy.

We're going to be closed on Sunday for Easter.  We'll go in and check things out for a couple of hours in the morning and then go over to Scott & Diane's for dinner.

This afternoon we finally got to see Lincoln.  Great movie but I've always been a fan of Lincoln.  I find his life so interesting. 

Sharon and Diane have been talking so it looks like we're coming back to Springfield after the fair. 
Can you believe we're talking about the fair already.

I am so ready for Spring.  We're going to be in charge of the flowers and bird feeders.  Scott wants bird feeders at the deluxe cabins and we love working with flowers.  They're not big on perennials so we'll be using planters and scattering around the front - at least so far.

Next week Scott & Diane will be going to Italy for 10 days.  Sharon & I will be mostly in charge while they are gone.

Last Wednesday we went out to dinner to celebrate Sharon's birthday.  She chose Red Lobster.  She order mahi mahi and shrimp.  Yes, I tried a bite the fish and ate one of the shrimp.  It wasn't bad.  I was pleasantly surprised.  Of course, I wasn't that adventurous so I ordered the New York Strip.

You won't believe this but we're now ordering from Schwan's again.  There is a freezer in the Pavilion that we can use and we're taking advantage.

This is one of the first years I can remember that we didn't fill out brackets for the NCAA tournament.  We have been enjoying the games.  We have the TV on while we're working.  When it's kind of slow, Sharon's in the back watching the games.  So enjoy working while watching TV.  HaHa

While up in Northwest Iowa, Sharon got together with her family at the Pizza Ranch in Rock Rapids.  Donna got a cake to celebrate her and her brother, Kevin, birthdays.

 

 

 

Well tomorrow will be a run errand day and Sharon's doctor appointment.  We need to go to Lowe's to pick up some more suet.  Still have bird seed for another week.  We know we have a pair of Carolina wrens and red-bellied woodpeckers.  So far, we've seen four downies.

 

 

The gold finches are starting to turn a bright yellow.  Sharon took this one yesterday on our new finch feeder.

 

 

 

 

As I said, I definitely want Spring to arrive.  Tired of soggy ground and chilly temps.



WOW. It's December

Can't believe it's December all ready and that I haven't posted since October.  So what's been going on - you say.  Let's go all the way back to November.  That was only 14 days ago.  Now really.

Just been working, talking, watching TV and playing games.  Have tried out some new recipes. 

One afternoon, I answered the phone to an unknown caller.  Sometimes I like to live dangerously.  Ha Ha.  It was a customer service rep from Verizon.  And an hour later they had made me an offer I couldn't refuse.  I now have a smart phone.  Sharon has a phone that she can text.  We have a new mifi (it's a jetpack) that you can have up to ten devices.  Forgot to mention it's also 4G.  OK, so we only have 2 but there's room for growth.  he he

The jetpack and smart phone were free.  Sharon's phone was only $19.99 after rebate.  We now have unlimited talking, texting and shared 5GB for slightly less a month then we were paying.  Like I said a deal we couldn't refuse.

Thanksgiving we spent with Diane & Scott.  They cooked 3 turkeys:  one smoked, one fried, and one fried with a chipotle glaze.  Plus the usual fixings and pumpkin cheesecake pie and pecan pie.  Who knew that Diane could cook.

Forgot to mention from the end of October until Thanksgiving, Diane & Scott took a mini vacation so we were busy keeping up with the campground along with Lynn & Jim.

Forgot to take pictures at Thanksgiving.  So sorry.

Just last week, we went down to Branson with Becky (housekeeper) and her two twin 9 year old boys.  We went to the Buttefly palace and then took a tour of Christmas lights at Shepherd of the Hills.  The Christmas Light tour ended at Inspiration Tower with free passes to the top and hot chocolate or hot apple cider at the General Store. 

Some pics from the tour that turned out well.

Inspiration Tower with lights to the top

 

 

Sharon, Vincent, Nicolai, Becky

 

 

Living statue of an angel in the Butterfly palace

 

 

The Trail of Christmas Lights was 2 1/2 miles.  It was spectacular.  It did take us about an hour to drive through it.

 

 

The beginning of the tour had these lighted trees.  See that small white light at the end.  That's the ticket booth.

 

 

 

There were carolers out in front of this church but the picture didn't turn out well.

 

 

They even had the Lochness monster. 

 

 

Well, I need to go back to the office so I'll try posting more pictures on facebook.  





October To Date

It's been a busy month for us.  We've been working about 5- 6 days a week depending on what's going on.  We're back into the swing of things and now things will change again - scheduling wise.  Bob, our maintenace person, hurt his back.  When he went to the doctor he found out that he has degenerative bone disease.  He's now back to work about 3 days a week and limited in what he can do.  Sure miss him a lot.   Can't believe how much he really did for us.

KOA has two awards they hand out to campgrounds if they meet certain criteria.  We exceeded and earned the first award, "President's Award".  To get the next one, you need extremely high survey results from the campers that stay with us.  This campground has never received this award, "Founders Award" due to low survey results due to the trains.  We get comments like: the campground is great, the staff is awesome, but the train whistles are annoying.  Well, this year we got the Founders Award.  Diane & Scott, will be called on stage during the KOA convention (for owners) to receive it.  In honor of all of our hard work, they took the entire staff and their spouses, guests, etc out for dinner to a high end restaurant.  We had a separate room all to our selves.

A few pictures from our dinner.

Lynn, Becky and Becky's daughter, Ariel.

Forgot to take pictures of our dinner until after we started eating.  The presentation of the food was so spectacular -sorry we didn't think of it before we ate half of our meal.

This was Sharon's meal.  She had Chilean Sea Bass with lobster sauce; risotto; seafood puff pastry and grilled asparagus.  She didn't even offer me a bite and she ate the WHOLE thing.

Here's my dinner: mashed potatoes; steak; green beans and covered with a red wine & cheese sauce.  The garnish on top was string potatoes.

Last Saturday, the 13th, we had the possibility of a thunderstorm.  Well, no rain by the time we closed at 7:30pm.  But before 9pm the sirens started.  There was a tornado sighted just 5 miles to the north of us.  Just across the interstate.  Then the winds and rain came.  Unbelieveable.  We opened up the office and stayed there for safety.  However, we couldn't get hold of all of our guests, so I went out on the golf cart and picked up a few people and brought them back to the office.  Talk about looking like a drowned rat.  The warning was over by 9:15 and everyone started trooping back to their campers.  We were walking through the place to lock up again and noticed water was pooring in under the doors.  We went outside to find 4 inches of water at least surrounding the sides and back of the office.  Well, Sharon, Lynn, Jim and I started getting rid of the water.  No time for pictures.  You'll just have to use your imagination.  Jim took the big pump and started pumping the water away from the building.  Lynn and Sharon manned the shop vac to get major portions of the water.  For the smaller areas inside the store area, I was using the mop.  We were greatful for the larger shop vac.  We emptied at least 6 times.

The next day, we used the carpet cleaner to suck the water out of the carpet.  Diane & Scott got back from St. Louis around 1pm on Sunday and they tore up the carpets.  Well, that was our excitement last weekend.

We were off on Thursday this week, so after running errands Sharon went out and took some pictures of the fall leaves here in the campground.  It was such a beautiful sunny day.

We still have quite a few trees that are green but the colors are just so beautiful this year.  With the winds that we've been having the last couple of days, a lot of leaves are falling.

This picture is of our fall decorations in front of the building.

I love this next scene.  The trees along the railroad tracks are all green except for this one section.  It's just so pretty looking at it all day.

The next month will be very busy.  Diane & Scott leave next Tuesday or Wednesday and won't be back until the Wednesday before Thanksgiving.  Schedules will be kind of odd while they're gone but at least we are working with some great people.

First Week Back

We've been back for one week now.  Started back to work last Sunday morning.  Took us a little bit to get back into the swing of things again.  There's a new work camping couple here:  Jim & Lynn.  They've been doing this for several years.  He's around 70 years old and she's slightly younger.  They are an awesome couple.  Have enjoyed talking with them this week.  It sounds like they're staying here through the winter, also.

We are parked back in the same spot as before.  In case you forgot what it looked like, here's a picture from last year.

It looks pretty much like this since the grass is now green again with the rains over the last 10 days.

Yesterday, our friends:  Gary & Sue, stopped over in Springfield on their way to Weslaco, TX.  They worked in Okobojie this past summer and will work down in southern Texas this winter.  We were off yesterday so after they arrived we went over and caught up and then went out for dinner at Lamberts.  You know the home of throwed rolls.  They'll be in town until Monday at least.  The gear box went out on their camper and they have someone coming on Monday to hopefully fix it.  They want to be in Weslaco by Thursday.  Forgot to pull out the camera last night so no pictures.

By the way, if you look at the Springfield KOA photos on line, you'll see a picture of Sharon.  And it's a pretty good one, too.

Not much to tell, we arrived safely.  No issues on the drive down just some rain.  The rain stopped long enough for us to set up.  We still haven't set up the grill or the bird feeders yet but hopefully this week. 

This week just been getting settled and trying to remember all of the little things.  So far so good.  Haven't forgotten any major items but we'll get there.  For the most part the weather has been beautiful.  Thursday night had a spectacular lightening show with thunder.  Lost electricity for a short period of time when lightening struck close by.  No damage.

We've enjoyed this past week and looking forward to the Fall season.

Jackson, MN

Left Adel Friday morning at a fairly decent hour.  I believe we pulled out shortly after 9 am.  Of course, we needed to stop at the next exit - 4 miles away - to fill the camper tires with air.  Truck was fine but we had one tire on the camper that only had 40 psi.  Ugly!!!  So after filling the tires with more air, we were on the road and all before 10 am.  We are soooooo proud of ourselves.

It's Saturday afternoon and as you can imagine - football is on TV.  You have it right - the Iowa/Iowa State game.  From the noise coming from the corner chair - Iowa is currently behind. 

It was a great morning.  We slept in until around 9 am.  And just think we were almost on the road yesterday.  It was a little chilly this morning.  Kind of a nice change of pace.  That means we had a bowl of oatmeal for breakfast.  After breakfast and close to noon, we headed out to the grocery store.  Decided we needed nachos for the game and of course, I didn't have the ingredients.  On the way to the store, we saw a field with a lot of kites.  Apparently there is a kite club and the public was invited today.  Here are a few of the pics that we took.

On Wednesday before we left we took a trip up to Ames to the Reiman Gardens.  Sharon saw an ad about the Lego giant sculptures.  There were 27 sculptures.  We found all 27.  Also went into the butterfly room.  We couldn't believe all of the species of butterflies that they had. 

This one is called the owl butterfly.  We couldn't get a pic with the wings open.  There were so many unique ones but we have never seen a green/black one and the other reminded us of stars in the sky.

 In another post I'll include some pictures of the lego statues and gardens.  They were really amazing.

Labor Day Weekend

On Friday & Saturday, we decided to take a tour of the area and see what was changed.  Went into Clive & Urbandale.  Oh my!  We couldn't believe all of the new housing developments as well as the businesses - both new & changes. 

We took a little trip towards Stewart along the back roads.  Found a few flowers for picture taking.

The above pictures were from Friday.  On Saturday, we took a road trip down towards Winterset, then Indianola, stopped by the grocery store on the way back home.  We had a very nice day.

Staying inside today.  Lots of campers with fires.  Hopefully, we'll be able to enjoy sitting outside tomorrow night.