Thursday, September 17, 2020 - Morning Walk with Wildlife; Breakfast Al Fresco; Phone Call & Ride; More Visiting; Back to our Rigs; Fiasco Occurs; Final Meal Together

Thursday, September 17, 2020 - Morning Walk with Wildlife; Breakfast Al Fresco; Phone Call & Ride; More Visiting; Back to our Rigs; Fiasco Occurs; Final Meal & Campfire Together

The mornings have all been cooler the past few days, and today was no exception.  This morning I only have one photo to share from our walk - wildlife!

This deer was watching us.  We stopped as soon as we saw it.  As soon as we moved forward, off it went into the woods.

We returned to the RV.  This morning Keith and Drena are making breakfast on their Blackstone - French Toast, bacon & sausage.  We have enjoyed our Al Fresco breakfasts, enjoying such a beautiful setting.  What a great last morning breakfast with our friends, before we move on Friday morning.

This park is located amongst many, many tall pine trees providing wonderful shade.  Most of the sites are quite long and would fit just about any size RV.  There is only 30 amp service, and no water or sewer at the sites.  There is only one location to fill your tanks with water - right next to the restroom facilities for people to stop and fill up their rig.  Alvin and Keith are on either side of it.  While it was nice to have the access to fill your tanks once you arrive, we soon realized there was more a little more activity than expected, with cars/trucks stopping with their rigs to fill tanks, or utilize the restroom/bathhouse.  We might move either side of it a little further away from it in the future if we return to this park.

My friend Cheryel called just as we were starting to eat, so I let her know I would call her back soon if that worked, and it did.  Dean and I wanted to go to the overlook just above the dam so I coud take some pictures of the lake, dam and downstream from the dam.  What a beautiful area.  Cheryel and I had a nice visit and it was good to hear from her.  

The body of water above is near our campground

We had to have a selfie on the bluff overlooking the lake!

Here are just a couple of informational signs that were in a covered area near the restroom/shower building.  The construction of this and other dams are just amazing to me.  

One last shot of the lake before we left.

Afterwards, we drove to another nearby campground that is located on a nice sized island/peninsula jutting into Beaver Lake.  I'm really not sure, but have to wonder if the road leading to the park was constructed to reach the island.  It is a beautiful area.

We would enjoy camping here if we knew the winds would be somewhat calm. 

You can see the road leading to the Island behind the two trucks.  

As we drove in to the campground.

Here are just a few pictures taken while we were in the campground.

A swimming area

Beautiful shoreline with clear water

There were many campsites along the shoreline and a similar number located in the interior  area of the park.  It is a beautiful location to see action on the water.

We returned to the campground where we joined the others at Drena and Keith's.  Linda offered to share the chili she had made for our dinner tonight.  Since I could not make my pumpkin pie a few nights ago, once I realized I did not have a pie pan, I offered to make it tonight.  When I shared with Linda why I made the cherry cobbler, she told me she had a pie plate, so I borrowed hers.

We have not been eating lunch, but just a snack to get us through until our evening meal and it's been working well.  I just hope we can keep it up.  Of course if Dean is working at the lot, or playing golf he's hungry when he returns home.  In that case he'll need lunch, but I'm going to try and stick with my apple/peanut butter if I can.  I rarely work as hard as he does unless I'm doing a deep cleaning in the rig.  

I started making the pie shortly before 1, and it was in the oven 20-25 minutes later.  I set the timer for the convection oven, waiting for it to reach the temperature before putting it in to bake.  After 15 minutes I had to take it out, reduce the temperature (requiring me to reset the convection oven) then put it back in for the last 40 minutes.  About 10-15 minutes before it was done (I set the timer for 55 minutes), our electricity went off.  Dean was outside packing up the Blackstone and putting it and a few other things away in preparation for our move tomorrow.  I went to the door to let him know the electricity was off.  Guess who was in the recliner with their feet up, when this happened.  We should have a picture of us trying to get out of our recliners when the electricity goes out.  I'm sure you would get a good laugh.  It came on and went off a couple more times.  I checked with Keith and Drena - they were not having any problem.  A rig pulled in next to us a short while before it happened.  I walked over and asked her if they had any problems.  She said she didn't know, as they had just arrived and turned it on but she hadn't been back in the RV.  

Our surge protector was showing low voltage, so we just shut the electric off to the RV.  I walked down to the entrance where a phone number is posted, then called it to see if we could get the Ranger to let him know about the problem.  No one ever answered the phone, so Dean drove down to the dam and knocked on the office door there.  He gave her our site number and she said she woud get in touch with someone for us.  Before he returned I received a phone call from the Park Ranger, about 25 minutes after I had called.  The Ranger asked me about it and I explained the issues.  He said they would send someone from maintenance.  It was after 4 before the maintenance man arrived, and we were glad to see him. 

My pie was almost done when this happened.  Neither Linda or Drena had a convection oven, so I turned the gas oven on to finish it.  I didn't think it would ever get done.  It was at least another 30 minutes before I was satisfied it was truly done.  

Dean told me later, that when the maintenance guy was removing the breaker from the pedestal, the wire on the breaker just broke off.  He replaced the breaker and we were back in business.  I was so relieved it was a simple fix.  We are thankful for our surge protector that did what it was supposed to!

During all of this our friends had joined us at our site to visit.  Linda was working on the quilt she brought with her to finish it up by binding the edge.  Drena made a small bowl of popcorn, then added a little bit of melted red and blue candy over it.  It was quite good.  I think our grandkids would enjoy this.  I have to brag on Drena a bit - she is always sharing some tip or something she purchased with us.  I'm not sure if we've been together that she hasn't shared something that was worthwhile to me, especially tips or apps for my phone.  I often have questions to ask her about my phone when we are together.  Today while I was resetting the timer on my phone to check the pie, she told me about the middle button at the bottom of my Samsung phone.  She told me I could just press it, then tell Google what you want - for today it was "Google, set my timer for 10 minutes" so I would know when to check the pie again, without having to move through my phone to the clock app in order to do it manually.  Thanks Drena.  

Finally our electricity was back on.  Linda had finished the binding on her quilt.  She and Alvin left for their rig, to begin getting things ready for dinner.  Keith and Drena visited for a short time, before they headed to theirs.  At 5:30 we headed to Alvin/Linda's with our pie, cool whip and our utensils.  What a great meal we had.  The chili was delicious, and the pie turned out fine despite what it went through over quite a period of time.  What a day!

We enjoyed one last evening together around the fire, before we called it a night.  We'll say our goodbyes in the morning, hoping to leave by 8, although I suspect it might be just a little later before we finally pull out.  It has been a wonderful week, in a gorgeous park, with beautiful weather and best of all, with great friends.