RV-ing in the Kram-a-lot-Inn: May 2011

Saturday, May 28 - Keeping up and Ice Cream Social (CS,CO)

Trying to keep-up with the blog is hard sometimes, especially while working.

Wednesday we both worked and the weather was gray.

Thursday was a beautiful day…bright and sunny, we both worked. We are enjoying the mountain air and our time here at Mountaindale, weather permitting we like sitting out after work in the evening and having a beverage.

Jesse is quite sure he found our leak. He drained the fresh water tank and the dripping/leak has stopped. Not sure yet what he is going to do to fix the leak, but I will keep you informed.

Friday was the unofficial start to the summer. The campground was booked full for the weekend. I came to work at 3:00pm and was busy the whole shift closing at 9PM. Jackie said they were busy all day also.

It’s nice to see the campground full of people having fun, campfires going and people walking around.

Today I opened the office at 7am and for the 1^st hour I was all alone. Then people started to wake up, out about, walking dogs, children riding bikes and coming in the office for a look around.

I had forgotten to bring my yogurt so my husband was so kind as to bring it down to me. Of course the commute to the office is about a 2 minute walk, so it wasn’t taxing on him…still very sweet!

It was another beautiful warm sunny day!!!

When he got back to the rig he put in the new insulation and reinstalled the underbelly. He also put up our sun screen in our back window. We had it made for the Montana so it’s a little too wide for the Alpine window but he made it work.

He ordered a vent cover for the bathroom vent. It came the other day so he install it today. We are still awaiting the delivery of the covers for the two Fantastic Fan covers.

When I got home I made us a sandwich for lunch and we drove into the Springs so I could get my nails done. While was busy Jesse ran over to Home Depot for a few items. He bought some solar outdoor lights to put out around our site..can’t wait for it to get dark so I can see how they look.

We grilled chicken and sat outside to eat ….. I really enjoy eating outside.

Tonight was the 1st Ice Cream Social of the year. They have one every Saturday night.

The artist at work Final project

After we had our ice cream and visited with other campers we came home and Jesse built a fire.

We sat outside until it was just too chilly to sit outside.

It was a good day and look forward to many more.

Tuesday, May 24 - Dentist & Shopping (CS,CO)

Today was my scheduled day off. This became a day off for Jesse also. He dressed and went to work, but after about 2 hours was told that they didn’t have material so no work today. Yesterday he only worked 4 hours, so he had a light week.

I left the campground around 9am and headed to the dentist in Pueblo which is a round trip of 80 miles. When I left the temperature was 50 degrees and cloudy, when I arrived in Pueblo it was 63 degrees and sunny.

I only had to wait about 10 minutes before being called into a stall. The technician looked at the three hot spots on my gums and took the partial away to make the adjustments. She brought it back for me to see if she needed to make additional adjustments 3 times. When I left it felt pretty good.

I then rode over to Kohl’s and found a few things I wanted. By this time I was hungry, so I stopped at Del Taco and had a chicken bacon ranch taco that was served on a pita. It was pretty good.

I stopped for fuel @ 3.99 per gallon, then headed to Canon City Walmart for groceries. I enjoyed time alone shopping.

Jesse helped me in with the groceries, it was a good thing he was home because the girl bagged them heavy.

After I put everything away I sat and relaxed.

We have been having a good time watching the birds.

As we were just sitting and relaxing the wind kicked up and we had to rush outside to take the screen down so we could roll-up the awning. We folded up all the chairs and tables.

Within 15 minutes after we were finished the wind stopped…Go figure!

Just finished watching the 2 hour Oprah special, wonderful tribute to a GREAT LADY. Just one more show, I know I will miss her!!

I made pork taco for dinner use the leftover grilled pork from yesterday. I made Spanish rice and refried beans to go with it. While I was cutting the vegetables, Jesse made us a margarita on the rocks, nice dinner.

We clean up the kitchen and watched TV.

It was a good day!

Monday, May 23 - A Day of Remembrance (CS, CO)

Today 86 years ago my Dad was born. He was a good person and a wonderful Dad. He and I were very close and he was always very special to me. He left this earth 24 1/2 years ago I miss him more then I can put into words.

I opened at work today and worked until 3pm. Nothing usual just work.

That is all for today

Sunday, May 22 - Hanging-out and Repairs (CS,CO)

Today was our only day off together, so we thought we would go out and do something. We tossed several ideas around, but decided to stay home and hang-out.

Jesse had previously put a new water filter system on the rig. He put the filter in the convenience center and put quick connect hose fittings. One was leaking, so while we were at Target yesterday he purchased a new one and installed it today.

He thought the water was leaking down to the underbelly and over to the other side where we saw the water dripping. He started to take the underbelly loose and much water came out.

He investigated and found that the shower drain locking nut was lose and was leaking water. He tighten it and we tested to see it water was still leaking…..Hooray Dry!!!

We felt that there was a lot of water so Jesse took the whole underbelly down to dry out. The insulation was soaked, so we threw it away and took out the silver insulation blanket out to dry.

We are still not sure all the water problem is solved because it is still dripping from the frame. We are going to leave it down to see what happens.

We straighten up the basement and then just sat outside and relaxed with an adult beverage.

We watched the birds:

We saw a bright yellow birds but I couldn’t get a picture..it was beautiful!

The deer that strolled by

Our boys relaxing…

We grilled hamburgers and pork boneless ribs. I made some noodles and broccoli as side dishes. After the dishes were cleaned up we watched TV and reclined in our chairs for the rest of the evening.

The office hours are being extended, opening at 8am and closing at 6pm Monday-Thursday and 9pm on Friday & Saturday, not sure on Sunday’s closing time, I open tomorrow.

Also for anyone that I play “Farmville” with on FB, I have decided to STOP playing…..Just too much time!!! So I will not be sending anymore gifts and don’t send me anymore.

Take care everyone!!

Saturday, May 21 - Phone Booster (CS,CO)

Friday I worked 9-5, Mary Nell was with me for most of the day. We were 3/4 full for the weekend, so it stayed steady, but not busy, busy.

We had a steady stream of visitors, employees and guests. I think we were only alone for about 45 minutes all day.

Jesse was already home when I got there. He had showered, walked and fed the boys. I just needed to feed us. We had burgers and hot dogs with pasta salad, simple and easy.

We do not get phone service here at the campground. We talked about getting a land line installed and I was going to check into it.

Then Jesse got an email from the 3G store. It informed him about “Wilson Sleek Universal Cell Phone Signal Booster”. With an adapter for our outside Wilson Trucker antenna, shipping and handling it total at $101.70.

We have not used the adapter yet just plugged it in to a USB port on our computers and set the antenna up, set the phone in and TA-DAA !! we had a signal.

We called our son Adam in Pueblo and Sondra in Maryland and it was clear and sounded normal.

It is a little cumbersome, big to hold, but not bad at all.

On Saturday I opened the office and worked until 1pm. When I got off Jesse and I went to Panera Bread for lunch and then on to Target. We browsed around the store, picked up a few things then headed back home. We took the boys for a nice long walk around the campground.

We met Jean of Ken and Jean. They are friends of Ed and Marilyn and I am sure we will see more of them as they are staying on site for a while.

Back at the Kram-a-lot we sat outside and soaked up the clean mountain air until it got too cool to sit without a jacket.

Inside we computered and watched a few movies on TV.

Many guest and employees have said they have seen a fox around well tonight we finally saw it, just sitting in the bushes and I got proof:

Thursday, May 19 – Not Much Going On (Colorado Springs, CO)

We have mostly just been working then hanging out at home when finished.

A bright spot was helping Kim our daughter-in-law celebrate her birthday on Tuesday. I worked until 1pm then came home and made pasta salad to take with us tonight. Jesse worked until 4pm, got a shower and down the road we went.

It takes about 1 hour to drive to Adam and Kim’s. They invited family and some friends and it was a very nice gathering.

Adam and Kim had just recently got a goat. His name is Winston and Adam has become attached to it, says it follows him around.

Some of the guest brought the fixins to made Jalapeno Poppers with spicy sausage and cream cheese. Several people watched and helped.

Kim and her sister Jenn

Jesse playing music with Ali Jenn’s youngest daughter

Several of the girls doing shots at the bar

Adam and Kim

Adam baked her a cake and it was yummy.

Jesse Beth and Kacie (love this picture)

It was a long day , but a good one.

Monday, May 16 - Catching up (CS, CO)

Saturday I worked 9-1, it was not real busy but steady. I made us lunch and did some laundry. We went into Pueblo to meet Beth and the children at a Mexican restaurant for dinner. We enjoyed our meal and the company.

Jesse and I stopped at the furniture store on the way home to see what they had to offer. We are looking for chairs to replace the two recliners that came with out RV. We gave the sofa and chairs to Adam and Kim.

Sunday it rained all day!!!! We managed to go to Walmart for our supplies, otherwise we hibernated for the day. I made us baked garlic chicken, mashed potatoes, green bean casserole and sweet corn fritters. (Jackie gave me her recipe) Yummy!

Today I was on my way to Pueblo at 7:15am. The boys had an appointment with Kristy their groomer.

I dropped them off and headed to the dentist. The technician made some adjustments to my partial. I am very sore so I am not sure if I need more adjustments.

After the dentist I went by to see the guys I use to work with. We visited and got all up to date on what's been happening with them and us.

When Kristy called to say the boys were ready I picked them up and headed home.

I had just enough time to get some lunch before going to work.

I was busy the whole time at work, which was GREAT! I had brought some books Jackie had lent me on South Africa, but I had no time to look at them.

After I returned home Jesse and I worked on getting our bird feeders out. The hummers were all over their feeder within minutes of putting it out.

I heated up the leftovers from yesterday for dinner.

Friday, May 13 - As Different as Night and Day (CS,CO)

The size of Mountaindale is certainly smaller then Lake George and most guests are not from the east, but the difference in the up keep of the campground is unbelievable.

I worked 9am-5pm and the campground filled up today. We had 2 different groups along with other non-group guests. It was nice to see the grounds full.

Everyone that had stayed here before remarked at how nice the remodeling of the landscaping looked. Everyone was so nice and friendly and just was happy to be here.

Many people also remarked at how clean everything was.

At Lake George many people had nice things to say about the campground, but there were also many, many negative comments.

I know that we have only been here a short time, but I have not heard one negative comment.

I think it’s going to be a good summer!!!

After work I walked and fed the boys. Jesse was just getting off as I returned to the RV with the boys.

We along with other workers and permanent residents had been invited to Jen and Lora’s for a cookout get together. Jen’s parents were here visiting. Everyone brought something to share and they cooked chicken on the grill. I was nice gathering, but before long it became too cool to sit outside so we said thank you and headed home.

I was very tired, as it was my 1^st full day of work and after yesterday I was ready to just sit.

Speaking of yesterday, I had a 10am dental appointment to have 3 teeth extracted and a new partial plate installed. The meds the doctor gave me really knocked me out and I felt no pain at all.

Today is another story. The partial needs some adjustments and is causing some real discomfort, and I will not be able to get into the doctors until Monday. It’s okay as long as I don’t try to chew anything.

Here are some pictures from the get together.

Friday, May 13 - Happy Birthday Madison (CS,CO)

WE HOPE YOU HAVE A WONDERFUL FUN FILLED DAY!!

Tuesday, May 10 - Good Barbeque (CS,CO)

Jesse went to work at 8:30, but I didn’t go in until 1:00.

I put some boneless pork ribs in the crockpot, a large onion and a can of beer. After it had cooked for about 2 hours I added some seasonings ground cloves, garlic powder, paprika, Worcestershire sauce and barbeque sauce.

It continued to cook and smelled wonderful.

I did 2 loads of laundry, now that the dryer is working properly I can get more done in a shorter time frame.

I made us lunch and then off to work. It was slow, but I found things to keep busy.

At home we had our dinner on rolls with baked beans and mac and cheese.

After the dishes were cleaned up we watch Biggest Loser and The Good Wife.

Monday, May 9 - Another Day (CS, CO)

Let me start with yesterday … Mother’s Day

It was a fun filled day for me.

It was a beautiful morning so Jesse and I sat outside and had our coffee. Gage was still asleep and we left him there until we saw the deer. He wanted to see deer up close so I woke him he put on his shoes and went with his Grampy.

The deer moved when they got close. After he went in and dressed there was another deer that he tried to get close to.

Jesse and I made waffles for breakfast.

Gage wanted to play WII so Jesse set it up, he did very good on the driving game.

Adam and Kim came to collect Gage. They brought me hugs and kisses and this beautiful plant for Mother’s day.

After they left we had a relaxing few hours. At 4pm we were invited to Jackie and Tony’s for happy hour and dinner. We had a very nice evening talking and laughing with these wonderful friends.

They made a delicious dinner of South African sausage (boerewors), chicken, and steak on the grill (braai). As side dishes Jackie made vegetables cooked with smoked turkey and sweet corn fritters. The two South African dishes boerewors and corn fritters were the best.