Friday we worked all day, but we really didn’t have any snack bar business until dinner time. People were pulling in all day getting ready for the big weekend, but they didn’t come see us at the snack bar. The pool area didn’t fill up like it usually does, either. Both Father’s Day weekend and July 4th weekend were slower snack bar-wise than we would have expected, so we have no idea what this weekend will be like. We have plenty of help both Saturday and Sunday, so hopefully we will be busy…

This morning, I went over to the flag pole and took some pictures of Yogi and Cindy bear greeting and taking pictures with the kids. They do this nearly every day during the summer when it is busy and on Saturday and Sunday mornings during the slow season. I have never gone over to take pictures until today.

As you can see, kids love Yogi Bear!! They stand in line for a long time on a busy weekend to get a picture with Yogi.

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We went to the Houston Space Center on Thursday. It is about 75 miles from Jellystone Park on the Southwestern side of Houston. We went on the tram tour first while it was still cooler outside. It is about a ninety minute tour through both historical and working parts of the space center. First we went to the original mission control room.

Then we got back on the tram and went to the training facility where they use full-sized mockups of the space station for training.

The last stop on the tram tour was “rocket park” where we saw the Saturn V close up.

After the tram tour, we went and saw a blast-off film and a mission control demonstration, as well as a film on the space station (the film was a bit dated, but the theater itself was cool{freezing, actually, but anyway}). Then we went and saw the displays in the starship gallery.

We even got to touch an actual moon rock!!

We went to dinner at the Golden Corral Buffet. We went there when we were in Yuma and we liked the food then, so we decided to try it again. It was very similar, but the selections were more “Southern” than in Yuma. By the time we got home, we were both tired, so we watched a bit if TV, then went to bed early.

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We were scheduled to have the snack bar open every day this week, but the park is nearly empty. Now that school has started, people really only come on the weekends. There is one motor home in an RV site and one cabin rented today, so we did not open the snack bar. Jeff and Rebecca did not open on Monday or Tuesday either, but they did make a few pizzas on Monday for the crew that is here paving the road.

This morning we went over to the office at around 10:30 to see if we were needed. We did a few little jobs–organized some bins of candy in the store, moved a table, and hosed off the patio at the snack bar. A long 3-hour day:) I thought we were going to learn the reservation system, but I guess the managers changed their minds. It seemed sort of silly for us to learn reservations anyway–at most we would work in the office one day a week. There are other campgrounds that use the same system, so we were willing to learn, but if we don’t need to, that’s fine, too. I guess we are off tomorrow as well, so we are planning to go somewhere…

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We got a late start this morning. We didn’t leave for town until almost eleven. So the first thing we did was have lunch. Bob–one of the park owners–gave us a $25 Olive Garden gift card a while back (because we are such awesome employees). We decided to go there. The closest Olive Garden is kind of far from here, but not too far from the Costco we go to. So we had lunch–both getting the never ending pasta bowl. We both ate our first servings, and only tasted our second. I brought mine home, but it was without refrigeration long enough that I probably will not eat it. Then we backtracked a little to go to Target. We got some ant baits, some mosquito candles, some oatgrass for the cat (for Yuma–no grass there), and a couple of other small things. I guess they don’t clear out their outdoor rooms in this part of the country. They were still full price.

Then we went to Costco. We got what we needed, then I went to see if I could get in to see the eye doctor. My contact lens prescription expired and I was down to one fresh pair. I had to wait about ten minutes, but he was able to get me in. He checked everything, and yes I need a stronger prescription, although my close vision is still perfect. The doctor said that would probably change within a couple of years. Wonderful. So I got my prescription and scheduled a follow up appointment for next week, then we went to Randall’s for some groceries. We didn’t need much, but I got some beer, so we still spent around $40.

By the time we got home it was after 5:00, but we weren’t hungry at all. We snacked a little and had some of the ice cream we bought, but we certainly didn’t need dinner after such a huge lunch. Our mail came today so I paid some bills and watched a little TV.

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This is the last week that the snack bar will be open on the week days. After labor day, we will only open on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. The park stays busy on the weekends through Halloween, but since the kids are back in school, the weekdays are very quiet. We have been working around 42 hours a week during the busy season, but we should be able to go down to 28 - 32 hours a week for the last two months we are here.

That will give us an extra day off each week to see the area. I have already planned a day trip to Waco, and we still want to go to the beach, and there are more museums and things in Houston to see as well. Hopefully we can see everything we want to see in the last two months we are here…

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We have had quite a bit of rain the past few days. The soil here is a heavy clay, so the rain water takes a long time to soak in. Sunday the flooding was the worst we have seen since we have been here. There was so much rain in a very short period of time the whole park was flooded–huge pools of water in the lawns, down the roads, and on the snack bar patio. We heard from another work camper that the new managers were having an open house for anyone who wanted to stop by. Kevin didn’t want to go, so I went with Judy. By the time we got down there, most everyone had come and gone, so there were just a few people there. That was okay, because we got to know the new managers a little better. After that, the rain had mostly stopped, so the cat took me for a walk. I was really tired, so I went to bed early.

We are off today (Monday), and it is still raining, although not as much as yesterday. We went to IHOP for breakfast again, and I ordered the exact same thing. It was that good. After that, Kevin got his haircut while I did a bit of shopping, then we went to WalMart for groceries. Now the cat and I are sitting under the awning watching the rain. It is nice and cool today–only mid eighties. Usually it is too hot to be outside mid afternoon, but it is nice today…

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As you may have noticed, I have not posted anything since last Saturday. Our workdays are mostly about the same every day, and we didn’t do anything special on our days off. We did have a moment when we thought we were losing most of our co workers. There was a rumor that a certain couple was to be promoted to assistant managers. That was a problem for a majority of the people they came in contact with. At least four couples were planning on leaving if this happened. To stop the rumor and keep everyone here, the owners sent that couple to another of their parks Now everyone is happy again. At least for now…

There are a few places that we would like to visit before we leave the Houston area, but August is just too hot to be outside all day. Plus after Labor Day, the park is mostly empty during the week. We should be able to take more days off and do some longer trips away from the park. We want to go down to the Texas coast. We want to go to the zoo. Both of those trips will be nicer when the days are cooler.

Well it looks like we will be wintering in Yuma for sure. We have site 57 reserved, which is right across the street from my Mom’s place. We just have to mail in the deposit, which we will do on Monday. We should both be able to get retail(or whatever) jobs there for the winter, and even though we will have to pay for our site ($450/month + electric), we will make more per hour than we do here so it about evens things out. Then we will look for another work camping job starting around March first.

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