No Bridge and Windy

We should have done some homework yesterday before we headed out to the Tonto Natural Bridge State Park near Payson. As we drove into the park we were greeted with this sign:

It was closed as a result of both budget constraints and a construction project at the bridge. Bummer! As a result of taking our time to get ready to go, it was near lunch time so we stopped and had lunch at a nice restaurant in Pine called the Rimview Grill. We had a big lunch, including blueberry pie ala mode for $20. That about ended our "exciting" mini trip for the day. Some days are like that. We headed home and finished the laundry and watched TV.

Today begins a long stretch with no days off for the next week. One of our staff members, Jamie, is taking a trip to Montana to see her new grandson and won't be able to work on our normal days off of Wed and Thu. We've been asked to help out while she is gone. We'll see how they squeeze in our time off.

The day was also very windy for a change. We had gusts up to 26 MPH in the afternoon and the temp only reached 80 for a high. That still is very delightful though, and the forecast is for cooler weather for the next few days. Even with the wind, we have not had any rain for 15 days now which is a long stretch for being so near the edge of the Mogollon Rim during the monsoon. We don't see any rain in the forecast either for the next week, so we may as well enjoy it while it lasts.

Until tomorrow...

A Visit to the Casino in Payson

Our morning yesterday was used to catch up on rest and do some minor things to the rig. Josie also used the morning to do some laundry. We went to Payson around 2 PM and stopped first at WalMart to pick up a couple prescriptions for Josie and some paper products for home. The plan was to go to the casino (Mazatzal) and then try the buffet dinner we heard was so good.

We only had about $30 each to gamble with and we stretched that into almost 4 hours of slot play. Josie wasn't winning but Bob won enough to keep both playing. There was not a large jackpot won, but several small jackpots of between $50 - $100. Every time Bob won one, he shared the pot with Josie. Sometimes it is the other way around when we play. Then disappointment set in. It turns out that the buffet was between 11 AM and 4 PM. If we were to eat at the restaurant it would have been from the regular menu. The special for the night was $14.95 - compared to the $7.95 buffet - so we bagged that idea. The person that told us about the buffet has only gone on the weekends so he obviously didn't know that the buffet is for lunch during the week. So, we left the casino and went to Pizza Hut in Payson and had a pizza dinner which we haven't had in some time.

The ride home was a bit exciting. We were on the road after 9 PM and spotted lots of elk on the roadside. One group of about 8-10 elk were right on the roadside between Strawberry and the rt 260 turnoff. We then spotted one of the biggest bull elk we've ever seen, all alone, standing in front of a rock wall on a narrow strip along the road between the rt 260 turnoff and Clints Well. Traveling these roads during darkness is always an elk adventure.

Today's mini trip will probably be to a natural bridge that we've seen marked off the road between Pine and Payson. After a leisurely morning, we will leave around 11 AM and hopefully get some pictures of the bridge. Til tomorrow...

Plane Crash Near Stoneman Lake

The breaking news late yesterday afternoon on the Valley news channels had a small plane crashing near Stoneman Lake. You may recall that it was our mini trip on Josie's birthday (July 31 post) that we went to Stoneman Lake. The news reported that it was in an area southeast of Sedona when it actually is southeast of Flagstaff. Anyway, the pilot was killed and his son is in critical condition. Based on the photos of the crash site, we traveled near the exact spot of the crash. Small world.

We had a slow day at the front desk yesterday, although Josie again worked about 9 hours while helping housekeeping. After the busy weekend there were 15 cabins to get ready again for the next wave of people this weekend. There is another large family group coming this weekend but it won't be nearly as crowded or busy as the last weekend. We also have a wedding scheduled for August 15 that will take place in our little chapel building on the grounds with the reception in our Banquet room. That should be fun to watch.

Today is our first day off this week and we will spend it doing some things around the fifth wheel and also with a late run into Payson to pick up a couple prescriptions. We heard that the restaurant in the casino has an excellent buffet every night for $7.50 per person so we may try that while we are in town. Of course, they do have slot machines between the front door and the restaurant. Hmm...

One Day to Go

Today is the last day before our scheduled "weekend". We are more and more looking forward to our days off. Especially Josie, since she has taken on the added task of helping in housekeeping. Her back is beginning to bother her and the added hours are beginning to take their toll. Last week she put in over 40 hours and she worked another 8 hours yesterday. They have all but two of the cabins to get ready again for this weekend which leaves 16 cabins to completely clean. The new housekeeping person is a big help, but it is a very physical job. We will probably use tomorrow as a rest day and try to do a mini trip on Thursday. There are several small items that need to be taken care of on the fifth wheel anyway.

It's getting interesting watching how some of the existing staff is trying to maneuver for changes in their responsibilities for next year - assuming that they will be asked back. Our chefs (husband and wife ) are saying secretly that they want to come back in another capacity. They are not happy with the response to their cooking efforts and they are losing hours because the restaurant hours are being cut. They haven't been asked to return in any capacity yet. Someday, we'll give a complete description of the Workamping staff and duties.

The days are getting noticeably shorter as it is almost dark when Bob gets up now. As long as the weather stays this nice it doesn't matter though as the monsoon appears to be on break again and that's ok for us.

That's about all for now...

Back to Normal

After the Bow Hunters Association had their awards presentation at 2 PM yesterday, the resort emptied out in a flash. Many of the members were staying in our cabins and they had requested a late check out because of the awards ceremony. That put some pressure on our housekeeping staff (Josie included) to quickly clean a couple of them for people checking in at the normal 3 PM check in time. They did it though and things quickly got back to normal. Only the seasonal RV's remain in the campsites and that means quiet. The ATV's are gone again until Friday when the new crowd arrives.

Today and tomorrow are both 8 to 2 days on our schedule. No plans have been made yet for our days off this week but a mini trip is sure to be included. There are still many places to go that we can hike and/or drive that aren't too far from the resort. The truck loves this Workamping gig as we've only put about 200 miles on it since we arrived. We only occasionally drive it because the Jeep is so much easier to maneuver on these forest roads.

We have nothing firm yet on our next destination. We are still sending out inquiries and receiving others but nothing is close yet. The winter season is definitely more difficult to lock in a place than the summer season. There just aren't that many states that are warm in the winter. We are getting closer though...

People Everywhere

The Bow Hunters were here in force yesterday. It was by far the busiest day at the resort since we have been here. There were people everywhere and the store had a line almost the whole day. The Bow Hunters group had ranges set up on both the resort grounds and in the forest immediately surrounding the resort. The ranges looked like this:


They set out targets at several distances and the targets themselves were made from many different materials - some stuffed with straw & some were different animal decoys. The ranges opened at about 7 AM and went all day long until 6 PM. The same will happen this morning and will go until their awards presentation scheduled for 2 PM. They also had several booths set up to hand out various information and our own resort management set up a couple booths to sell clothing and various items from our store. They were in the store early taking out a lot of our merchandise to set them up. They even ran a barbecue at the Ramada selling hot dogs, burgers and barbecue sandwiches. Here is a shot of the Ramada area with all the booths:

It was a crystal clear day with a high of 87 and a low of 47. Perfect day. We expect another day of the same.

Our day was supposed to end at 3 PM but Josie went back at about 5 PM to help out in the restaurant. As it turned out though, the restaurant wasn't that busy and she returned home at about 8 PM. We'll be glad to see the resort empty out again as it is a lot more quiet during the week.

Today is our 12 to 6 day so we get to relax a little this morning. We are pretty well booked for all the remaining weekends in August and we are totally booked for the Labor Day weekend. We don't have a firm date yet for our departure from here, nor do we have a firm destination after we leave. We hope to finalize that in the next couple weeks...

Rim Country Bow Hunters

We mentioned that a large group was in the resort this weekend and they really did show up in force. The Rim Country Bow Hunters Association came with all their trailers full of targets and club paraphernalia to conduct their 3 day bow shoot. They set up these targets in the forest areas all around the lodge for both competitive shooting and just plain fun shooting. We have signs posted all around the campground warning the campers to use caution while entering these target areas that are taped off with red tape. Let's hope there are no incidents. Today, they will have a registration area by the Ramada and also sell hunting goods in a booth that they set up there.

The resort is totally booked for this weekend as a result of this group. That means a busier than normal store today and that is actually good as it makes the time go faster. We work from 7 until 3 today. It is just after daylight this morning and we can see the people already carrying their bows down to the registration area. It looks like a good weather day today. We have now gone 8 days without any rain and yesterday was 83 (high) and 45 (low). It is 48 degrees right now as this post is being written at 6 AM.

Josie has been helping to train the new housekeeping person that was hired. That means some physical relief for her from cleaning cabins. She will still help out though as needed, especially in the laundry where they do all the linens, towels, etc. for the cabins. Other than that, it is a normal weekend at Happy Jack Lodge...