Visit to Mormon Lake Lodge

Our plan for the day yesterday was to stay home and do some cleaning and organizing in the fifth wheel. By the time the afternoon rolled around and the weather was so beautiful (80 high, 49 low) we decided to take a short drive somewhere.

We had always driven by the turnoff to the Mormon Lake Lodge on our way to Flagstaff and have wondered if that really was a lodge - similar to our Happy Jack Lodge - so we checked it out.

We were amazed at the facilities and the size of the lodge. Also, there are many homes and RV's surrounding the lodge and roads going off the main entrance road leading up hills to even more homes in the woods. We walked into the store to see how it compared to ours. They had many items that we don't carry in our store and people have asked us where they can buy them: packaged liquor, cigarettes, fishing tackle, etc. Even though the lodge is about 24 miles north of us, it adds an alternative for people asking for things in our store that we don't carry.

We talked to the Manager of the lodge at some length after we left the store and checked out their restaurant, saloon and RV park. She indicated that they would be looking for Workampers for next year to host their RV park and encouraged us to apply. We decided, on the way home, that even though there were more amenities at the Mormon Lake lodge, it wasn't as nice as the Happy Jack setup and we would not apply there for next year. We really don't know where we will be next year. We will, however, submit an application that they gave us for the Forever Resorts group of nationwide resorts on the chance we could possibly work one of their other locations. The RV park they had was not anywhere near as nice as ours, and the host would only be paid minimum wage for 20-25 hours which amounted to much less than we were making at Happy Jack.

So ended our two days off. We work the morning shift today and for the next 4 days, and then work Sunday afternoon to end our work week. The place is quiet once again with the holiday crowd gone for now...

Winding Down From the Holiday Weekend

The schedules were shuffled again this week so we have Monday and Tuesday off this week. Yesterday was a good day to have off after the frantic weekend. We slept in a little and pretty much just hung out at the fifth wheel. We did take a drive into Payson in the afternoon to do some grocery shopping and we went to the casino again while there. Again, we didn't spend much money, hit a couple small jackpots, and left with about the same money we went in with.

Today will be another rest day and we will enjoy the weather once again. It was 82 (high) and 42 (low) yesterday. It appears that the monsoon storms will take a break for awhile.

Not much else to report for now...

It's Over!

What a great finish to the busiest day we've had since we arrived.

The weather was perfect - 83 high, 49 low, and the day was mostly sunny. It was non-stop business in the restaurant - over 90 buffet breakfasts served - and people coming in to check-out and buy last minute stuff before they departed. We had to bundle the 20 dollar bills before 11 AM because we had so many. It was so busy that Josie was recruited to work in the kitchen and the other front desk person on duty, Grayce, was recruited to help bus tables in the restaurant. That left Bob to work the front desk alone and it was a steady flow of customers all morning. Following is a picture of the dump station taken after we got off duty:

The dump station began to back up in a big way after this shot was taken and enough of the RV sites had vacated so we could send some of the "dumpers" to the pull thru sites to dump in order to keep the line down at the dump station itself. Many of the people would empty their tank and go directly to the storage area (below):

The number of people returning their rigs to storage was so great that the gate at the storage area was never closed all day until late in the afternoon.

The day was capped off with a bonfire outside the Ramada where there was entertainment and light refreshments for anybody that wanted to attend. Our entire staff attended since it started after we closed the lodge. It was a festive time. Below is a picture of Mystique, the Maltese dog of one of our staff members - Jamie:

She has several outfits for the dog, including a leather motorcycle outfit that will make a great picture.

The entertainment started at about 7:30 and with the darkness beginning to set in, everybody was singing and having a great time. Here is a picture of the bonfire in full swing:

The last shot is of a little boy that caught the festive spirit and started dancing to the music in front of the fire. He was dancing away for about a half hour and even mooned the crowd during his dance:

We returned to our fifth wheel just before 10 PM, with a full moon outside. A great time and a great end to the holiday weekend. Like Josie said, it feels like we are on vacation and not working at all. We hope that feeling continues...

Fourth of July Party

Yesterday saw the largest crowd we have seen since we came here. One of the seasonal site people threw a party in the Ramada starting about 1 PM and the place was jumping. It happened to start about the time we got off work so we went over and joined in. It was a pot luck for everybody and anybody that wanted to attend. Here is a shot of Josie after she filled her plate:

The party lasted all afternoon and evening and there were games and fun for all. It was a record day for the store. We had to move bags of ice from the rear Freezer in the banquet room to the store ice freezer at least three times on our shift and I'm sure at least that many times on the late shift. There was a steady stream of store business all day. There were kids and ATV's everywhere.

An update on the child that was injured on Friday PM: She had 2 pins placed in her elbow to repair the break and she was returned to the campground last night. It was not a very happy Fourth celebration for that family except that the injuries could have been worse.

It rained for a brief time in the late afternoon but again, the storm just skirted the lodge area and we didn't have any measurable rain this time. The high was 79 and the low was 50 - while it was over 105 in the valley. We'll take it! There were no fireworks allowed because of the County restrictions and this was the first time in many years that we didn't see fireworks on the Fourth of July.

We expect that the people will begin leaving today and that means super busy dump business. This time though, we expect a larger number of people coming in from the back woods who have been boondocking over the weekend. With the sites filled, we will not have drive-thru spaces to use as backup for the dump line. It may be a circus...

Full House and First Emergency

The rest of the crowd arrived as expected yesterday. The day was bright and dry until about 2 PM when a monsoon storm passed through. We had wind, hail and heavy rain for 20 minutes. It rained .20" in that time frame. Then the sun came out again and the rest of the day was fine.

The campground is loaded with kids and I took a couple shots of the playground area to show the crowd:



Shortly after these pictures were taken we heard on our radio that "911 is on its way". It turns out that a little girl was trying to put her dog on the roof of the playhouse in the above picture and fell backward and landed hard on the ground. The fire and rescue trucks arrived from the Blue Ridge Fire District, about 15 miles up the road, and prepared her for transport to Payson. We were told that she broke her arm at the elbow and it was a nasty break. With all the kids playing in the area this weekend it's amazing there hasn't been more accidents. Add to that the many kids that are still riding the ATV's around, without helmets, and there is another recipe for disaster.

We heard lots of music and partying well into the evening. There was a huge party in the tenting area that is right next to our Camp Host site so it sounded worse than it really was. Anyhow, we have one day to go with the festive crowd and we hope there are no more incidents.

Bob has had a software problem of some kind since yesterday as the communications has been super slow using the data card. It is about as slow as dial up service - or worse. He finally got the post completed though and will try to solve the problem before tomorrow...

Weekend Invasion

The invasion has begun. People started showing up early yesterday for the big holiday weekend. The biggest problem was the weather. It was overcast and raining lightly all morning and it appeared that the weekend would be a repeat of the Memorial Day weekend with the rain and mud problems. It did stop raining in the afternoon and we only had measurable rain of .04" for the day. This morning it is bright and clear - so far. We called the ranger station in Happy Jack early yesterday to get an official weather forecast for the weekend. They said that the rain chances would be diminishing as the weekend progressed. That was from a high chance of 50% on Friday to a low chance of 30% on Sunday. Those seemed like odds in favor of rain for the whole weekend but right now it looks like they were wrong. We hope so.

We are holding our breathe that the dump operates without a hitch. As you may recall, we had problems with the dump station a couple weeks ago when it backed-up so the lodge did a band-aid repair. The dump station was outfitted with a lock this week so that just adds to our problems making sure that the key gets passed from one user to the next and we don't lose the key. About half the expected crowd is already checked in so this morning should be hectic with the balance of the crowd arriving. We will be glad to see 2 o'clock arrive today when we finish our shift. The General Manager will be here helping this weekend so that should help make things run smoothly.

The restaurant is also open for its weekend evening dinners and Saturday and Sunday breakfasts. We expect large crowds for that also. Bob was certified on the tractor use so that means he will be on standby to operate the hayrides for the kids this weekend if needed. That about sums it up for now...

Combined Post

We didn't do a whole lot on our days off the last two days so I decided to do a combined post.

Tuesday was a sleep-in day (7 AM) and a leisurely morning. We decided to take a drive into Payson in the afternoon and try out the only casino in the town - Mazatzal. It was a pretty decent casino for being the only one within about 50 miles. The parking lot was not overflowing and we got a space pretty close to the entrance which is highly unusual for us. Our first impression was that it was small but when we entered it opened up into a huge gaming area. We were able to choose machines though which is different from most other Indian casinos where you have to walk around and grab a machine immediately after somebody leaves. It had some of our favorite machines but nothing below quarter machines except for a bunch of those penny machines that you need to put in at least $1.50 on each spin in order to win anything. We didn't spend a lot of money and except for a few small jackpots didn't win any money. It's always about the fun anyway and if you go without expectations you leave happy.

We got caught up on our reading and resting most of the day yesterday. It rained in the afternoon and was strange because it wasn't a vicious storm but a slow and steady rain like you get when a low pressure area moves through. We got .35" for the day and it was 80 degrees for a high and 56 for a low. Not bad.

Today it's back to work and we most certainly will see the crowd beginning to show up for the weekend. Our co-worker stopped by on his way home after work last night and told us the resort is totally booked for the holiday weekend. There should be some exciting stories and events to report over the next several days. We hope it's a fun time...