Big Catch Up 3-19 to 12-19
The last post was getting a little long so I'm breaking this "catch-up" into more than a single post. When I last left off it was late March, 2019 and we had just attended our daughter's baby shower. The newest grandchild is just days away from arriving. To get to that baby shower we first had to remove a tree that had fallen across our one and only road in and out of The Village.
The baby shower was a success but days later I began to experience intense itching with red whelps. Some of the whelps even developed small blisters. A hasty appointment was made with a local dermatologist where it was confirmed I had a raging case of poison ivy. Ten days of steroids plus a healthy-sized injection of steroids to kick it off was the (slow) cure. That old dead tree that we moved out of the road a few days ago was covered in ivy vine, it just wasn't obvious since it was winter and there were no "leaflets three let it be" to warn us. You can bet I have since learned to recognize poison ivy from the vine texture. In the mean time the steroids have me grouchy and eating anything I can get my hands on, not to mention being constantly thirsty.
While we are in countdown mode for the imminent arrival of our second grandchild (cell phones charged, frequent calls to check in, fuel tank full on Big Gulp) we are continuing our routine volunteer work here on Lake Allatoona. One of those routine tasks is a security patrol of the closed campgrounds. Also as a matter of routine I carry a 35mm digital camera and zoom lens. You just never know when something interesting is going to happen that a phone camera is just not able to handle. Today was one of those days.
The Corps of Engineers provides habitat for a variety of animals in, on and around the lake. One of the habitats is a nesting platform for large raptors. There are several telephone poles with a half-sheet of plywood on top for eagles and ospreys to build their nests spread out all over the lake. In one of the campgrounds we are in today one of these platforms has been claimed by a pair of ospreys. Based on their behavior as we watch them it would appear that they are sitting on a clutch of eggs.
When it comes to wildlife photography I'm an opportunist. If something happens to present itself, I take a picture. It is a rare day that I will set up a shoot or stalk my quarry. I guess my biggest pursuit of a photo was for that darn Kaibab Squirrel on the North Rim of the Grand Canyon. That little rodent was one tough animal to photograph and it took me several months to get a shot that was something other than a blur.
On yet another campground patrol on a cold March day we came across this guy:
He was just hanging out on the asphalt trying to gather any warmth he could.
But then one evening the call came. The baby was on its way! We grabbed our go-bags and headed 35 miles south to our daughter's house where Cyndee loaded her and our son-in-law up for the trip to the hospital while I stayed with the 4 year old granddaughter who was already down for the night. She and I will catch up with everybody in the morning.
Unlike last time there were no delivery room complications. Everything progressed normally and naturally. When the granddaughter and I arrived the next morning she had a new brother and I had a grandson.
With the coming and eventual birth, a trip to Texas (just a quick out and back, no RV) and several other day trips plus multiple car rentals while Big Gulp was in for repairs, we finally tipped the scales far enough that it made sense (to us) to buy a car.
The baby shower was a success but days later I began to experience intense itching with red whelps. Some of the whelps even developed small blisters. A hasty appointment was made with a local dermatologist where it was confirmed I had a raging case of poison ivy. Ten days of steroids plus a healthy-sized injection of steroids to kick it off was the (slow) cure. That old dead tree that we moved out of the road a few days ago was covered in ivy vine, it just wasn't obvious since it was winter and there were no "leaflets three let it be" to warn us. You can bet I have since learned to recognize poison ivy from the vine texture. In the mean time the steroids have me grouchy and eating anything I can get my hands on, not to mention being constantly thirsty.
While we are in countdown mode for the imminent arrival of our second grandchild (cell phones charged, frequent calls to check in, fuel tank full on Big Gulp) we are continuing our routine volunteer work here on Lake Allatoona. One of those routine tasks is a security patrol of the closed campgrounds. Also as a matter of routine I carry a 35mm digital camera and zoom lens. You just never know when something interesting is going to happen that a phone camera is just not able to handle. Today was one of those days.
The Corps of Engineers provides habitat for a variety of animals in, on and around the lake. One of the habitats is a nesting platform for large raptors. There are several telephone poles with a half-sheet of plywood on top for eagles and ospreys to build their nests spread out all over the lake. In one of the campgrounds we are in today one of these platforms has been claimed by a pair of ospreys. Based on their behavior as we watch them it would appear that they are sitting on a clutch of eggs.
When it comes to wildlife photography I'm an opportunist. If something happens to present itself, I take a picture. It is a rare day that I will set up a shoot or stalk my quarry. I guess my biggest pursuit of a photo was for that darn Kaibab Squirrel on the North Rim of the Grand Canyon. That little rodent was one tough animal to photograph and it took me several months to get a shot that was something other than a blur.
On yet another campground patrol on a cold March day we came across this guy:
He was just hanging out on the asphalt trying to gather any warmth he could.
But then one evening the call came. The baby was on its way! We grabbed our go-bags and headed 35 miles south to our daughter's house where Cyndee loaded her and our son-in-law up for the trip to the hospital while I stayed with the 4 year old granddaughter who was already down for the night. She and I will catch up with everybody in the morning.
Unlike last time there were no delivery room complications. Everything progressed normally and naturally. When the granddaughter and I arrived the next morning she had a new brother and I had a grandson.
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| Welcome to the world baby Eliot |
After more than seven years of having no other transportation than the large, diesel guzzling truck that is necessary for the transporting of our 5th wheel, we think we can justify having a small second vehicle.
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| Cyndee's little Santa Fe is now part of our traveling show. |
While we are not moving, things are simple, we just drive the little car and leave the truck parked. We get more than twice the mpg using a fuel that is 50 to 80 cents/gallon cheaper. Sweet. Not so sweet is when we are moving. I will be solo in the truck towing the 5th wheel and Cyndee will be solo in the Santa Fe. We coordinate movements via cell phone. It works but I far prefer being together in the same vehicle. Neither of us realized just how much navigating the passenger was doing. And even though we are together all day every day since starting this adventure we would prefer to ride together. It hasn't come up yet but we may choose to leave the car when we make a short trip that ends where we began.
Speaking of cars and gasoline, have you ever heard of Buc-ee's? At it's core I guess you would call it a gas station but, WOW, it is so much more. Even though Cyndee and I are native Texans we had been gone from the state since 1984 and only became residents again in 2012 when we retired. It would seem that in our absence this business came to life and spread across central and south Texas, south Alabama and north Florida (think I-10). Since we avoid major interstates when pulling the 5th wheel we only became aware of this establishment when traveling from Atlanta to Austin by car. When we got to Austin I asked my brother what was up with this outfit, it looked like more than just a big gas station. He said I was right and that we had to stop at one on our way back to Atlanta, and be sure to be hungry.
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| This is the inside of a gas station?? |
I took a quick iPhone snapshot. It doesn't do justice to the place. If you click on this link - Buc-ee's, you'll get a much better look at what they offer.
We spent a solid hour in this place and could have stayed longer but we had miles to make. But we did it on a full tank and full stomach. The pork sandwich and brisket sandwich were definitely worth the stop. My brother swears by the beef jerky.
But, back to the routine. It's the winter off-season and most of the recreation areas are closed. We're doing the routine chores I mentioned earlier and picking up some special projects too. One is a scanning job of old dock permits converting them from paper to digital images. We have a cubicle with all the necessary equipment for the task.
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| It's a tight squeeze but we get the job done. |
Winter does not last long though. It's time to start getting the campgrounds ready for opening day. All the gatehouses need their computers installed, inventory for operating supplies and cleaning.
With the mild winter and very wet February things are bursting with blooms quickly and all together.
The bees are out and the hummingbirds have already returned. Cyndee and I are spending a lot of time working in gatehouses and it is really beginning to feel like camping season, except for one small problem......
There is supposed to be a campground where this water is.
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| Flood of 2019, spring. All seven of our campgrounds were at least partially underwater. |
Looks like opening day is going to be pushed out a little bit.
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| There are campsites out there somewhere. |
And it was. The flooding happened at the end of February and the campgrounds that open first are the third week of March but it would be another two weeks before lake levels got down to normal levels. And that was with every flood gate on the dam open.
It takes a couple of weeks but the water level is finally dropped to its summer full pool level and we get all the campgrounds up and running. Spring has sprung and that means it is time for the water safety programs to commence. Volunteers operate "booths" at Safe Kids events at popular beaches around the lake. There are lots of trinkets given away and water safety themed games played.
A big change for this year is the reservation system for campgrounds. All federal and many state parks use a common system, recreation.gov. The government being the government, they had reached the limit for which they could do business with a contractor and had to switch to someone else. Never mind the current system is working efficiently and economically. So this year a new contractor began operating recreation.gov and they had to do it with all new programming as the old contractor owned the previous software and were not willing to make it available to the new contractor. As we helped the Corps rewrite the operating manuals for gate attendants it became clear that the new software was at best "half baked". It was missing so many features and capabilities, not to mention the bugs, that it caused gate attendants to have to revert to a paper system from time to time.
These troubles opened a window of opportunity for us. The gate attendants were making so many calls for technical help to resolve computer crashes, locked-up screens, mangled reservations and misbehaving credit card readers and receipt printers that we were asked to provide off-hours technical support. So Cyndee and I were fielding calls on evenings and weekends, alleviating the need for a call-out of a Park Ranger. Luckily most of the problems could be dealt with via remote access but there were plenty enough in-person calls.
Another job that volunteers do during the summer recreation season is man the after-hours phone and radio dispatch. Cyndee and I had Wednesday nights. Mid-week is a good time as you don't get quite so many "crazies" calling in or dispatching a ranger because of noise or vicious dogs .
Outside of the volunteer duties our summer of 2019 was punctuated with lots of time with grandchildren. We about wore out Cyndee's new car going back and forth between Catersville and Marietta.
After record rain in late winter and early spring, summer turned dry and extraordinarily HOT. I don't know how many records were broken but I know there were many for heat, consecutive days above 90 deg was the one that got us. Factor in humidity and it felt like we were above 100 degrees for 40+ days in a row. RV air conditioners do okay with this kind of heat when the sun is down but totally fail at it when the sun is shining. Our 37' rig sits broadside to the south and catches full sun from sunrise to sunset. We might as well be in an EasyBake Oven during the day.
Fall finally comes and we are transitioning to winding down from peak summer camping at Allatoona Lake. But the thing is the heat has been so intense that people held off on camping and now that temperatures are getting more agreeable the place is hopping. Campgrounds are sold out right up to closing day at the end of October.
Every year at the beginning of October, Allatoona Lake has the "Great Lake Cleanup". Thousands turn out to pick up trash all around the lake's shore with several tons of debris being the product in the past but in recent years it seems people have been getting better about not letting trash get away from them and landing in the lake. Cyndee and my assignment today is to photograph the event.
One of several registration tables. This one has a troop of Girl Scouts signing in.
And here is a pack of Cub Scouts scouring the shore line at Kellogg Creek.
Also in October is Corps Day (think company picnic). It is a day for all the Corps employees and their families to gather, bar-b-que some chicken, throw some horseshoes and give out service awards.
Volunteers help set up (leaf blow the pavilion, clean the tables, get the bbq pit going, get the game equipment organized) and stick around to break everything down and clean up. But it is not a bad deal, everybody pitches in and it is all done in a few minutes.
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| Allatoona Dam flood water release |
A big change for this year is the reservation system for campgrounds. All federal and many state parks use a common system, recreation.gov. The government being the government, they had reached the limit for which they could do business with a contractor and had to switch to someone else. Never mind the current system is working efficiently and economically. So this year a new contractor began operating recreation.gov and they had to do it with all new programming as the old contractor owned the previous software and were not willing to make it available to the new contractor. As we helped the Corps rewrite the operating manuals for gate attendants it became clear that the new software was at best "half baked". It was missing so many features and capabilities, not to mention the bugs, that it caused gate attendants to have to revert to a paper system from time to time.
These troubles opened a window of opportunity for us. The gate attendants were making so many calls for technical help to resolve computer crashes, locked-up screens, mangled reservations and misbehaving credit card readers and receipt printers that we were asked to provide off-hours technical support. So Cyndee and I were fielding calls on evenings and weekends, alleviating the need for a call-out of a Park Ranger. Luckily most of the problems could be dealt with via remote access but there were plenty enough in-person calls.
Another job that volunteers do during the summer recreation season is man the after-hours phone and radio dispatch. Cyndee and I had Wednesday nights. Mid-week is a good time as you don't get quite so many "crazies" calling in or dispatching a ranger because of noise or vicious dogs .
Outside of the volunteer duties our summer of 2019 was punctuated with lots of time with grandchildren. We about wore out Cyndee's new car going back and forth between Catersville and Marietta.
After record rain in late winter and early spring, summer turned dry and extraordinarily HOT. I don't know how many records were broken but I know there were many for heat, consecutive days above 90 deg was the one that got us. Factor in humidity and it felt like we were above 100 degrees for 40+ days in a row. RV air conditioners do okay with this kind of heat when the sun is down but totally fail at it when the sun is shining. Our 37' rig sits broadside to the south and catches full sun from sunrise to sunset. We might as well be in an EasyBake Oven during the day.
Fall finally comes and we are transitioning to winding down from peak summer camping at Allatoona Lake. But the thing is the heat has been so intense that people held off on camping and now that temperatures are getting more agreeable the place is hopping. Campgrounds are sold out right up to closing day at the end of October.
Every year at the beginning of October, Allatoona Lake has the "Great Lake Cleanup". Thousands turn out to pick up trash all around the lake's shore with several tons of debris being the product in the past but in recent years it seems people have been getting better about not letting trash get away from them and landing in the lake. Cyndee and my assignment today is to photograph the event.
One of several registration tables. This one has a troop of Girl Scouts signing in.
And here is a pack of Cub Scouts scouring the shore line at Kellogg Creek.
Also in October is Corps Day (think company picnic). It is a day for all the Corps employees and their families to gather, bar-b-que some chicken, throw some horseshoes and give out service awards.
Volunteers help set up (leaf blow the pavilion, clean the tables, get the bbq pit going, get the game equipment organized) and stick around to break everything down and clean up. But it is not a bad deal, everybody pitches in and it is all done in a few minutes.
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| The "Pit Master" |
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| The Pit Master getting some serious heckling from the peanut gallery. |
The bean bag toss and horseshoes were hotly contested games.
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| Cyndee sharing a laugh with two of our rangers. |
Allatoona Lake touches three different counties in north Georgia. Local organizations hold all kinds of events and many times the Corps is asked to participate. This year Cobb County is throwing a Fall Festival (PC for Halloween party) and the Corps has been asked to partner with SafeKids and host a booth.
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| The penguin was the DJ for the evening. |
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| That's me and Cyndee with our Mascot Buddy Beaver. |
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| That's Cyndee in the red shirt, middle of photo. |
Our venue for this festival was a rodeo arena. The field was large and it could take a thousand people without being crowded.
We got a nice surprise this fall when our daughter and son-in-law decided to dip their toes into the RV world. They bought a small bunkhouse travel trailer and are planning on doing some boon-docking camping. But they get their maiden voyage in first at a developed campground.
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| Maiden voyage, McKinney Campground, Allatoona Lake |
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| Happy to be out of the tent and off the ground. |
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| Our newest happy camper in-training. |
Now that it is not scorching hot we can enjoy a little after-hours time in the village. One of our members is pretty talented with guitar and voice.
It's November now and all the seasonal campgrounds are closed. After hours phone and radio dispatch is over as is supply delivery to gatehouses and tech support for gatehouse contractors. We have one year-'round campground and the other six close for winter. The six that closed have to be winterized (done by contract maintenance) and all electronics removed, which is what Cyndee and I do. We've bundled up all the computers and their peripherals and taken them to storage in the basement of the ranger office.
And now Christmas is upon us. We are in winter routine (dropped from contributing 150+ hrs/month to struggling to get in our required 80 hrs/month). But we are back to making frequent trips to Marietta to bounce grand-babies on our knee.
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| Christmas gift wrapping station in an RV |
Again, a long post. Stopping here and picking up with next post.
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