Lone Pine Campsites 8/31 --> 9/6/2016 Weekend

LABOR DAY WEEKEND:

Not much excitement or traffic here at the campground. I spent two beautiful afternoons and a late night in bed reading and finishing my first Robert Greer novel, The Devil's Hatband. Time passes quickly when engaged in such pursuits. As mentioned in a previous blog, four of his novels were purchased at a "Going out of Business" bookstore in Lake George. Yes, I know. Betcha if I returned next season, they'll still be going out of business. Anyway, all books were one price: 2 for $5.00. The second novel, The Devil's Red Nickel was completed today, Saturday. It was another great experience admiring the art of writing while being held captive and eager to begin the next chapter without putting the book down. I have to slow down as I have only two more to go. With three more campgrounds on my itinerary, I'll want to have something to read in NH, ME, and MA. Temperatures are dipping down into the low 40's so getting warm and comfy with a good novel is the ticket.

While lounging in the heat of sun and reading my novel this afternoon, young Logan appears out of nowhere clutching a white garbage bag. Looking up from my book I expected a request for a contribution for some worthy cause and in turn, I'd receive whatever token was in his bag. No, wrong. "Hi. My name is Logan. Would you like me to throw your garbage away for you? $.50".  Well, waddya know, a campground entrepreneur. It was a first and, unfortunately, I had none. My morning walk of 100 yards had taken care of disposing my garbage. I told him I had none but would probably have some tomorrow. What a great idea. Think I'll try it in another state as this kid's got this campground sewn up and I don't want to tread on his territory. As you know, garbage and the mob go hand in hand. I'll be interested in seeing if he returns. If he does, he'll get my garbage....and maybe a tip for his enterprising endeavors. 

As expected, Friday after 1:00 pm check in time, the RVers arrived in droves. Photos just give a hint of the crowd. According to staff riding around in golf carts, "every spot is filled."

  

Friday morning....

....Friday afternoon.

Looking down the road toward Winnie Friday morning.

Further back on the road toward Winnie.

My half mile walk one afternoon
showed just how big this campground
is. I'm in another loop where 
campsites 1-75 are located.

Looking back up the road from Winnie Friday afternoon.

This campground has some charges that I haven't seen in others that I've stayed at.

~~ WiFi - Some campgrounds use "TengoInternet" as their subscription WiFi service. Here, they use "Recreation Networks" myrecnet.com
  -- 1st hour free
  -- "Vacationer" package:  $30 for 7 days unlimited "surfing."

For me, Internet service is essential; email, music, blogs, banking, and news. Most campgrounds provide "free WiFi" as an amenity. However, I've yet to be in a campground where the signal is strong enough or the bandwidth provides fast enough service to get the job done without resorting to use my "hotspot" on the iPhone and AT&T.

~~ Didn't know this until I received my receipt for paying the balance. Making reservations on line to this campground cost me $3.50

~~ Taking a shower: $.50 for 7 minutes of water.

~~ Laundry: the usual coin operated machines. Don't need it but I'll assume $1.50/load to wash and $1.50/load to dry. Reasonable. It's what I pay back in my apartment complex.

Next door neighbors on site 19, Lou(ise) & Doug, from Vermont are frequent visitors. "Bear" took a liking to me...and I ran out of Milk Bones. Poor fella is going blind. Drops are administered and not a peep out of him. Doug is in the HVAC business and wife, Lou, took a job driving a school bus for just a 4 year stint while her two boys were going through school and has since put in 24 years. 

As if by divine orchestration, the wise advice from my dear friend, Sharon, "What goes around, comes around" and "what are the chances" came into play.  Both did. At 4:45 am Sunday morning, the silence of the night was shattered with a loud banging and startled me out of a deep sleep. I jumped out of bed groggy and in seconds I realized something had gone wrong with the AC/heat pump up on the roof over my head. With the temperature dipping down to 52°, I had set the thermostat to keep it at 68°. I scrambled to the thermostat and turned off the unit. After returning to bed it was awhile before I drifted back to sleep. Chances are good I'll need the AC during the day and heat during the night in the coming days. Wheels turned and scenarios played out as I pondered the situation: What was involved in getting an AC unit on an RV looked at on a Labor Day weekend. Where would I go? How far out of my way would I have to travel? Did they have the part? How much was it going to cost? Was it under warranty? Frustrated and knowing my problem wasn't going to be solved at 5 in the morning, I said, 'later' and went back to a chilly sleep.

During the day Sunday, I asked Doug if he heard the stillness of the early morning being shattered by my problem AC next door. He hadn't but offered to take a look at it. After hearing the racket, he first thought the compressor went bad. That horrible word caused visions of $$$$$ to dance before my eyes. Next, on the thermostat, I switched from the AC mode to the fan mode only. A sigh of relief (kinda) because the same clattering, banging noise continued thus eliminating a bad compressor. When he removed the ceiling grate and cover plate, he inspected the barrel-shaped fan and noticed one blade (plastic) broke. He proceeded to take jury-rigging to new heights. He called his son, Josh, over, and with the better eyesight of youth, proceeded to have Josh thread a zip tie around the broken blade to keep it taut as it spun at very high speeds to blow the cool (or heated) air into the coach. A 10 minute job...and it worked! Another piece of good fortune came my way. Thank you, Doug & Josh.

Doug, Lou, Josh & Brittany

Bear wanders over, peeks in, and makes himself
right at home.

Sunday, the Farmers Market was a bit of a disappointment. It should have been labeled "Craft Fair." Five tables of vendors; one with jams, another with Vermont maple syrup (which I had to buy) were the only food items for sale.

With tomorrow being my last day here at Lone Pine campground, I expect most folks will be taking off and once again the vacancies will open up. The campground closes for the season on October 15th. I hope my readers enjoyed a great Labor Day weekend, Hermine, notwithstanding. My next stop is Timberland Campground in Shelburne, NH, 145 miles away almost on the Maine border. See you then.