Work, work, work

While we are enjoying getting to know the area, we also put in 40 hours a week working at the park.  Our duties include anything and everything but there are a couple of things we do on a regular basis. 

 Every Saturday and Sunday we have opened the park at 7:00 a.m. and closed it at 7:00 p.m.  For you non-math people that’s two twelve hour days in a row.  Most of the visitors to the park for the week come on these two days so we are kept pretty busy meeting the needs of our guests.  Deb stays in the office taking gate fees, renting boats, assigning campsites, etc.  There are times when it is really slow so she has a chance to catch up on her reading.  So far she averages one novel per weekend.

Dan gets to play on the four-wheeler.  He says he is working, picking up trash and so forth, but he looks like he is having too much fun riding around for it to be considered work. 

On Mondays and Tuesdays we wear our groundskeeper/maintenance hats.  When we first arrived there was a young teacher about Zack’s age who did all the mowing.  Once school started the bulk of the mowing fell to us.  We each have a zero-turn tractor that we use to cut grass.  Dan’s is called the Grasshopper and Deb’s is the Hustler.   As you've seen in previous pictures there are lots of trees here but at one time there were a bunch more.  We know because the areas we mow are filled with stumps and holes where trees once stood.  By the end of the day you feel as if you have been riding an old-fashioned, wooden rollercoaster for eight hours straight.

Every once in a while Dan gets a chance to use his carpentry skills.  Thomas (our boss) says that once the grass mowing season is over there are several projects he wants Dan to do.  Recently he built a storage area for the park’s trolling motors and batteries.

Another workamping couple is scheduled to arrive next Saturday so our duties most likely will change somewhat.  Because we work for a non-profit agency, any work we do is appreciated so it really doesn’t matter what we are tasked with, we’re happy.