A Place Called "Away": May 4 to 9th Recap.

WHERE ARE WE? Rivers Provincial Park, Rivers Manitoba

Lots of stuff going on around here and little time to report on it. By end of day, I am usually too pooped to sit down and write on the computer. So here is a recap of May 4 to 9th. Every day was just more of the same every day. It is a lot of work to get ready for the season and we open Friday afternoon. Lots of trips to town to get stuff. Good thing town is only a couple miles away.

And of course, in the middle of all the preparations, I have to look after me as well. A visit to the Dr. is always in order when we return, mainly to renew prescriptions, but also to discuss my painful knees. He is working on it and just to make sure I was not putting undo stress on them with a weight increase, I snuck over to the scale and looky looky, 202 which is actually 3 pounds less than when I left in the fall. Really I should shed a few pounds, but I'm not about to make life miserable over it.

See... its all balanced!!!

Then it was off to Brandon to pick up a bunch of the basics. At the end of each season, we try to consume as much of our supplies as possible, so in the spring we have to go buy lots of stuff. Lots of potatoes, pop, water, fills the back very quickly.

One of the things going on at our lake is a complete retrofit on the dam and spillway. This dam is what creates our lake behind it. Our government is spending about 40 million on raising the dam because a few years ago we had a one in 500 year flood event and it came within about 5 feet of topping the dam. So rather than spend 40 mill on homelessness of reducing our taxes a bit, we throw it at a problem that is not even a problem in my mind. (rant over) Anyway I got to have a look at the thousands of yards of rip rap and concrete.

Our daughter Nikki gave me a couple of Derek's remote control planes that he bought as a project for him. I thought maybe I could get them to fly, but I'm not sure they are airworthy. So I thought why not hang them at CJ's for everyone to enjoy. This one has John Deere stickers and a green and yellow paint job.

We are beginning a retrofit on the golf course this year. I went around and took some pictures of why we need to upgrade. Most of the turf is timed out and has deteriorated real bad this winter. Stay tuned for the transformation over the summer.

Today I got busy and installed the free passenger package Lectric Bikes sent me for free. It is a $99 USD perk. They have been really amazing to work with. This will make it more comfortable and safer for the kids to ride on.

nifty foot pegs

And a comfy seat

And I managed to work in enough time to go and get the Ponderosa out of storage. We store it at a friends house just outside of town all winter. I leave the solar panels on and the batteries all stay charged so when I go to get it, they are all full and ready to go.

I also do some work for Manitoba Housing and this was a little project that I did one morning. Had to hang a new door and jack up a step that was sinking into the ground. I enjoy doing some of these projects.

Had to add all the hardware before installing

Good thing the Jeep has a jack. Worked great!

One side is level, now to jack this side up.

All installed

And it closes

Another project is to change all the turf on the golf course. I visited a great carpet store in Brandon and the had what we needed. Jenkins sold me a 100 foot roll of turf and loaded it in my truck and I took it home.

I had to map out the pieces and cuts needed to maximize the roll of carpet. There will be a little waste but not much hopefully. And I hope my measurements are accurate.

Measure twice, cut once!!

And if you remember from previous years, the task I don't appreciate. The 6:30 supply order. I got to watch the sunrise while I waited on the deck for his arrival.

And here the truck comes. We have quite a bit on this delivery.

This is the guy that makes it worthwhile getting up in the morning so early. Tim has been our delivery driver for a few years, and he is an absolute amazing guy to be around. He starts his day at about 2 am every day and is a bundle of positive thoughts and great humour. We have become quite good friends spending that half hour every Thursday in the summers. Thanks for making my early morning bearable!!

We have waited a long time for this ice cream shipment. Now it is my job to do quality control.

Looks like we have new quality control people. They both approved of Bubble Gum and Birthday Party and it looks like it is cold enough to cause a Brain Freeze!!!

Things are slowly coming together at Cj's and we should be ready for Friday.

Cody blowing off the course.

Picnic tables in place

Mower deck mounted ready to go.

I always laugh at the Rivers sign. I call it the 20 to 7 Park. Do you see it???

Our wood shipment arrived today so we can sell firewood. It is actually quite dry in this part of the country so we are hoping they don't put a fire ban on in the park.

After loading the truck, we made sure we tarped the pile in case it does rain.

The kids are staying over tonight.

One of the things I offer is a seasonal wood box for the seasonal campers. I give them the patio box to use for the summer to keep their wood dry and I also keep it filled for them. I fill them mid week when no one is around and then when they arrive on Friday they always know they will have a full box of dry firewood for the bonfire. It's a win win situation.