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Published: September 14th 2006
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On top of the mountain
There is a huge dropoff about 5 feet away from me and I'm scared stiff! The last 2 days have been very rainy. We have been used to the northern California summers which means absolutely no rain! Since we have been here it has rained at least once per week. And not a little rain either. But big rains lasting at least 3 hours accompanied by big nasty clouds and usually thunder. When they rain over here they mean business. None of this summer showers stuff.
I thought it was time to let everyone know what a typical day is like for us living the semi-retirement life. We work 2 days a week. On Sunday we are the primary workers from 12 to 9 pm. I usually work in the office/store which means answering the phone, making camping reservations, and checking campers in. I don’t understand what is wrong with campers who pull in here after dark with their big beasty trailers or RV coaches and then have to find and back or pull into their spot. Our campground doesn’t have much lighting during the night and their campsite is usually pitch black. Sure I give them a map so they can find their campsite but it is still dark in unfamiliar surroundings. But they
Mike at work
Why does he get to ride the gator? still do it. I guess they have practice. So far all the campers we have met have been very friendly. We have had people from all over the country and a couple from Barcelona Spain who were tenting. I met 1 couple who pulled up on a big touring motorcycle with a trailer behind it. They were from Vermont and had shipped their bike to Vancouver Island in Canada and then ridden it back in 2 weeks. Both their faces were very tan except where their sunglasses had been. Real raccoon eyes. I also have to take care of the store, selling ice & firewood and food items. The registration is very low tech. No computers. The most technical things are the 20 year old cash register and the solar calculator.
Now the low end of my job is cleaning the bathroom/shower buildings. On Sundays I have to clean them. It’s not too bad a job. Takes me back to when I was living in the dormitory during my early military years and cleaning the latrine. Oh well, every job has it’s down side.
On Mike’s side of the job he gets to ride the quad everywhere. His
Kathy at work
For $2 extra you can get cable TV at your campsite. job is to empty all the big trash barrels, check all the campsites and fire-pits to make sure they are ready for the next camper and do other jobs as they come up. He has also become the official sign maker, leaving his artistic mark around camp. We have attached a couple of pictures of us in action.
So that is what we do 2 days of each week. The rest of the time is spent reading, exploring, and going into one of the towns occasionally. There is1 town on each side of us. The farthest (about 15 miles) and largest is called Rumford (about 10,000 people I think, maybe less) and Rumford has the largest grocery store and the Wal-Mart. So for big shopping we go there at least once per week. It’s not really very big though, they don’t have movie theater.
The other town/village is Bethel which is 7 miles. Very nice village. We usually go there for our video rentals. Finally we can get 5 movies for $5 and actually watch them all. Whenever we did that in Chico we never did get to watch them all before it was time to take them back. They have a small grocery store that I can compare to an oversize 7-11. We really miss Winco for shopping. We have gone to about 4 restaurants in Bethel so far and have not been impressed with Maine food. I make better stuff than what we ate in the restaurants, but to be fair we have only eaten out for lunch, not supper. Supper is usually more expensive so we decided to try the restaurants for lunch first and not spend so much money.
The other thing we do in Bethel is go to the movies. It is the only movie theater for over 20 miles and it is very nice. A 4 screen movie plex called Casablanca Cinema. So far they have had really good movies playing all the time, and change them out every week. They also have a email newsletter they send out to tell you what the lineup is. We just love this place. We always go to the matinee in the afternoon during the week. Out of the 4 times we have gone there 3 times we have had the theater to ourselves. Very small, very clean, it was like sitting in own living room. All the 4 theaters are different sizes with #1 being the largest and where they start the new movies, then as the week progresses it moves to steadily to theater #4 which is the smallest. Screen #4 has about 25 seats.
Now, I have saved the best for last. Still on the topic of the movie theater. We went in yesterday to see “The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen” and get a loaf of bread to go with the yogurt asparagus soup we were having for supper. As we pulled up to the theater I was just looking across the parking lot and what happens!!!???? I make a real star sighting!!!!!!!
Stephen King (that’s right… THE AUTHOR Stephen King) and his wife Tabitha was getting out of his black Mercedes sedan (a Pennywise bumper sticker on the rear bumper, Pennywise was the evil clown in IT) and going into the theater. He and his wife were going to see Terminator 3. He is the only ( I think) celebrity in Maine and lives in Bangor which is about 2 hours away. Everyone was very cool and nobody bothered him at all. But people were definitely buzzing to each other when he came in. When we left the move we dawdled in the parking lot to watch him leave. So did about 6 other cars, cause they pulled out the same time we did.
On the news lately have been reports of moose collisions on the highway. The latest casualty was a crash between a motorcycle and a moose. Both man and beast met their maker. There are moose signs all over the highway around here and I guess they aren’t kidding. The black flies are really bad this year and they seem to be driving the moose out onto the roadway. Next week for our weekly workamper potluck is the lobster feed. Our employers do this a couple of times during the summer. I will be thinking of you as I am up to my elbows in Maine lobster. Then very next day our Swedish exchange student from 95 will come visit for 2 weeks. We are both soooooo excited to see her.
Well, I’m about written out now. Till next installment……
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