We Got Him!

Since we weren't sure about the type or size of trap we should get to trap a Kangaroo Rat, we decided to go to Brawley where the selection would be better. We went to the Walmart there and got two different types of traps - a regular mouse trap and a "Sticky" board that captures anything that walks on it. After Walmart, we went to McDonald's and had a quick lunch before heading back. It was a relaxing day for us as we just stayed around the rig and did some catching up on small chores.

At bedtime, we set three traps to catch the critter. Two of the regular mouse traps and one of the sticky boards. They were all placed in locations where we know he has been - on the counter tops and one on the floor under the TV. Josie and I made a little bet on when the trap would go off if he was caught in one of those. I took before midnight, and she took after midnight. When I got up this morning I saw our "friend" lying on his back, under the mouse trap that we placed on the kitchen counter. It turns out that there was no noise - at least loud enough for Josie to hear - to be able to tell who won the bet. It doesn't matter. We got him! We believe there was only one since the other traps were untouched. He definitely was a Kangaroo Rat and was about 5" long with a 6" tail. Pretty good size. Our concern now is that we hope he didn't munch on any wires during the day while he was hiding. They are supposed to be nocturnal only, so hopefully he was resting and digesting the huge chunks of banana he ate the previous two nights.

Today is an off day and Josie said she had to do laundry so we don't know if we will have time for a trip somewhere. There are a couple places we can go that aren't too far from here, so maybe we can squeeze in a short trip. That's it for now...

Kangaroo Rat and Work Day

We didn't mention in yesterday's entry that we suspect we have a Kangaroo Rat in our rig. We went to get a banana from a basket that we keep on the counter and discovered the end of one had been eaten. Josie first thought that we may have bought the bananas with the end already gone. No way! She soon discovered "droppings" around - and in - the basket, and we thought that maybe the high winds had driven a mouse into the fifth wheel. The locals here tell us it more likely the Kangaroo Rat because they far outnumber mice in the desert.

Our schedule included training on the coffee cart and then work later in the day. That meant that we didn't have time to go into Borrego Springs to the ACE Hardware store to get traps for the rat. That will be on today's schedule. Anyway, we trained on the cart for 2.5 hours. We all had samples of our latte's and other coffee drinks and I must say, they were pretty good. Watch out Starbuck's! The picture below is only a long distance shot because we have not opened the cart and I want to get a good picture of the cart after we get the banners and signs on it - by next weekend.

The cart still has a few minor problems that are being fixed. I have to design and make flyer's to hand out to park guests as they check in and also create a price list to display inside the cart. It is going to be a big operation when ready. It is placed right next to the office and will have tables set up for people to sit and have their coffee.

We made a switch with our managers, Mike and Sharon, so we worked from 2:30 to 6:30 in the office. We now have off until Wednesday so it will give us a chance to "trap" our rat friend and then visit some different locations - hopefully...

Staff Meeting and Work

We had a knock on our door at 9 AM yesterday and it was Sharon telling us that there would be a staff meeting at 10 AM to discuss schedules, procedures, etc. The meeting ended at 11 AM and we felt a little disappointed with the whole thing. We talked about schedules for Thanksgiving and, scheduling in general, and it seems like we won't be getting more hours until probably January. The only opportunity for us to earn pay is the coffee cart until then. It is different from what was presented to us before we accepted the job. We do understand that the park has to make money first but there are some things we feel the owner can do to accelerate the occupancy rate. Starting with the daily fees he charges. There aren't many people who would (or could) pay $55 for one night at a park that is brand new and doesn't yet have all its amenities ready for use. Coupled with the remote location, we feel he is about $30 high for his daily fee. We hope he sees the light before it's too late. It's a beautiful park, but not worth that fee - yet.

We did some work on the coffee cart in the afternoon before we had to start work at 5 PM. I will have some pictures of the cart today as we are scheduled to be trained on the machines this morning and we will open the cart soon. Our scheduled work hours have us working mostly in the evenings (aside from coffee cart hours), from 4 or 5 PM to 9 PM when everything gets closed up. We don't like these scheduled hours either. We like to have our evenings and feel that we are getting these hours only to accommodate the managers. We'll give it every chance to work for us though.

Our day is split today with cart training in the AM and work beginning at 5 PM. We look forward to our days off beginning tomorrow. We've talked about a couple things to do, so stay tuned...

Julian Visit, and Winds Arrive

We had been to Julian several years ago and it was during a big forest fire that they had just south of the town. This time, there was no fire and we stayed north of that area so we weren't able to see the same area to see if it had recovered. Anyway, it is still a nice place to visit and we had a good time walking around and seeing the craft stores and all the history that is attached to Julian. Below are some pictures we took of the town, starting with the historical marker (plaque):

Then there is this shot of the main street through town:

There was even a horse drawn carriage that was taking people around town:

And finally, Josie wanted a picture of this church in its beautiful setting that was just on the edge of town. It must have really been a sight a few weeks ago when the trees first started changing into their fall colors:

The amazing part of the whole trip is that we escaped with only buying a piece of apple pie with vanilla ice cream on it. The town is well known for its apple pies and it was worth the zillion calories.

We arrived back home in time to fold up our outside chairs and store them so the winds wouldn't blow them away. The winds started shortly before we got home and we got there just in time. It became very windy with gusts over 35 and steady winds at 30-32 MPH - all night. Even though we had all the windows closed and the air conditioner on last night, there still is a film of dust inside the rig. How does it get in?

Today is back to work day. We aren't scheduled until 5 PM but we probably will spend some time during the day at the coffee cart - for money. We hope so...

Dinner and a Show

Most of the day yesterday was spent just knocking around and getting the rig ready for dinner. The inside of our rig has to be rearranged when we have guests for dinner since the computer desk is the table in the dining area. We also reorganized the pantry since we stocked up on goodies from Costco and the store. There were a few items that we had to get for the dinner so we went to Borrego Springs to the market that is there. It is somewhere between an AM-PM market and a grocery store. Closer to the AM-PM though. Anyway, we got what we needed and returned home to get dinner ready.

Our guests, Mike and Sharon, arrived right on time and we had a nice dinner followed by watching a DVD of a show they went to while in Branson Missouri last Christmas season. It was a show of the Presley family who are, evidently, long time entertainers in Branson. It was a very good show and included 4 generations of that family entertaining a sellout crowd.

We never made it to Julian yesterday so we will make that excursion today. Jeff, the owner, returns here from his home in Escondido to spend the weekend. We already know that Mike and Sharon dread when he is on site here since he is so hands-on and sometimes gets in the way of doing business normally. So far, we don't mind having him around - after all, he is the one who will determine our hours to work for pay. It will be interesting to see the changes for the rest of the week. Later...

Visit to El Centro

El Centro is a town that we went through briefly on a trip to San Felipe, Mexico, several years ago. This time, we drove around the whole town and found out where the important stuff is: Costco, Bank, larger stores, etc. We first stopped at a Skecher's store that was having a huge sale and, of course, Josie bought a couple pairs of shoes. We then located the Bank of America in town where we will do our banking while here and then went to Costco. The major discovery while stopping at these places is that the town is probably 90% Mexican. It is a clean town, but almost everybody was speaking Spanish to each other. They all spoke good English, too, so it wasn't so bad.


We got home at about 4 PM and spent the rest of the day relaxing and watching some TV. We really wanted to get out to visit another town today but since we have the guests coming to dinner tonight, we'll have to stay pretty close to home. We may just go to Julian which is only 30 minutes from here. That is a favorite of most people in this area. The weather is a lot different there though (cooler) as it is located at a much higher elevation than here. If I haven't mentioned it before, the elevation here is 23 feet below sea level. That's why the winters are very dry and mild here. So far the evening temperatures have been between 55-60 and the daily highs around 85-87.

More tomorrow...

Work Day

Josie went into the office at 9:30 AM yesterday to get some one-on-one training on the computer system. She returned at 10:30 AM and we had lunch before heading back together to work the afternoon. Originally, the schedule had us working only Tuesday but Mike changed the schedule to have us working Monday also. The schedule changed again and now we don't work again until Friday afternoon. See, the first 12 hours each for us, each week, is counted as time for our site. In other words, we have to work over 12 hours per week to begin getting paid. Jeff (owner) has us scheduled to work on the new coffee cart and that time will all be paid. Mike is being careful not to schedule us for more than the 12 hours in the office. We plan to get a lot of hours on weekends in the coffee cart and Jeff is satisfied with that.

Our work day ended at 3 PM for Josie (as a result of her hour in the AM) and 4 PM for me. It would be nice to have this much time off all the time, but we need to work for money so we are anxious to get the coffee cart opened.

Today we have a planned trip to El Centro to get some things at Costco and to check out the town. Josie has invited Mike and Sharon over for dinner on Wednesday night - to return their favor on our arrival day. She plans to have chicken DiVan (?) so she needs to get some ingredients for that. Since we have three days off, we will probably do some exploring in other areas. Josie is anxious to see how long it takes to go to the beach in San Diego, so one day may be taken up for that adventure. Until tomorrow...