A Full First Day

Our manager, Mike, came by our rig at 6:45 AM to Pick me up and show me all the locks that need to be opened in the morning. We went to all the gates (3), the pool (3), the showers (3 out of 6), the clubhouse (1) and the office (1). He also showed me all of the components of the park like electrical system, water treatment center, pool cleaning equipment, etc. We spent about an hour and a half doing this and then Jeff, the owner, came by and wanted to take Josie and I around and show us the park. We did a lot of the same stuff that I did with Mike but it was good that Josie got to see everything. All of this activity took us to about 10:30 and Jeff took us to the Blu In Cafe and bought a late breakfast for us.

The cafe is one of the areas that Mike is going to improve. It is very small and always crowded because it is the only place to eat, buy supplies and get gas for about 20 miles in any direction. He will tear it down and rebuild a new restaurant and general store next summer.

Josie and I had a little break until about 2 PM and then we went to the office to learn the reservations and check in system. It is similar to the one we used at Happy Jack but they use Campground Master software where we used Campground Manager software at Happy Jack. It will be fairly easy to learn. The biggest difference we have here is that the holding tanks of every vehicle that checks in has to be checked to be sure they are empty. The state has a law that if certain chemicals (nitrates) are found in the system that they can close down the campground. That is only a law for campgrounds like ours that has a drain field over the Colorado River Aquafir (?). Pretty important stuff! The holding tank liquid that we use is called "Happy Camper" and is made from minerals and micro nutrients so it is safe to use. Stuff like "Aqua Chem" is not.

We finished up at 6:30 and went back to the cafe for a birthday dinner for one of the employees. We have been here for less than two days and already have eaten out for three meals. Our diets can't maintain this schedule for meals, that's for sure.

Today will be a more relaxed day as we are planning to go to Borrego Springs to check out post office and other local attractions. Our schedule (unofficial at this point) calls for us to spend a little time in the office this afternoon, but is otherwise an easy day.

More later...