May 29, 2005

May 29, 2005

West Hawk Lake day 12 of 113

DAY 346

 

Today was partially cloudy and cool, and partially sunny and warm. It rained a bit in the afternoon.

I've had quite a busy evening, meeting and greeting and assisting incoming campers arriving after the campground office had closed. There's been 6 so far. A couple from Kelowna in a Class B van conversion, a 3 generation family from Quebec in a large Class A motorhome, a man from Calgary in a tent, a couple from Holland in a Class B van conversion, a pair of men from Germany in a Class B, and a couple from ? in another Class B. Lots of Class B van conversions in tonight.

I got up early this morning, walked Bo, showered, then fell asleep again until noon. I spent the afternoon doing maintenance and improvement projects on Dee-Dee. First, I continued the fibreglass repair on the dually hip. I did the third and last application of fibreglass. Tomorrow I will file it to finish it and it will be ready for drilling. When we go to Winnipeg in a few days I will try to buy the rubber I need to rebuild the fender flap. After the fibreglass repair I replaced the curb side battery tray. I disconnected both batteries, removed the curb side battery, removed the battery tray, installed the new battery tray, replaced the battery, reconnected both batteries, and then, the toughest part of the job, reset the radio. Once I disconnected both batteries, the radio lost all its settings in memory. This radio has too many bells and whistles for an old man. Whatever happened to on / off / volume and tuning knobs ? Automobile radios shouldn't need an operator's manual that looks like a bible. Finally, I worked on installing a pair of tow hooks under the front bumper. A heavy duty truck like Dee-Dee needs front tow hooks, I think. I only got one of the two installed. The rechargeable drill ran out of juice after drilling one side. It's pretty tough to drill half inch holes through a vehicle frame with a wimpy rechargeable drill. I'll install the other side tomorrow.

I walked around the campground, meeting and greeting. I cleaned up the 3 sites occupied over the weekend by a group of young adults in section D. I filled an entire garbage can with the litter left behind by 6 people camped for 2 days. Sheesh ! Joanne left to go to Falcon Lake for some groceries, and about that time, the campground office closed. Then campers started arriving. First were the family from Quebec. None of the 4 adults spoke English, and my French is pretty weak. I got them into a site suitable for their rig, and was able to direct them to the bathrooms and showers. When Joanne returned from Falcon Lake, she was able to be of more assistance to them than I was. We barbecued a great supper, and while it was cooking, we cleaned and waxed another section of Harvey. I walked around the campground again, making sure all the late arrivals were comfortably set up. I chatted at length with the man from Calgary. I brought him back to our site to show him photos of New Mexico and Arizona. When I got to the trailer, Joanne was chatting with Dan and Robbie, the 2 Park Patrol staff on duty tonight. When they all left, two deer came out of the woods and began grazing behind the picnic shelter. I rushed over to the van with the 2 men from Germany, to see if they were interested in seeing Canadian wild life up close. They were ! They came out and took pictures with a movie camera and a still camera while the 2 young deer grazed and nuzzled one another. I started to work on today's accounting and journal entry at the picnic table at dusk, but I was getting eaten by mosquitoes so I came indoors. First encounter with mosquitoes here. Guess it won't be the last !

DSK