6/30/2010 Prize Gathering

Today I spent the day gathering prizes for the Sandcastle contest winners.

This is something I’m good at. I don’t know if it’s because I ask nicely or if its the cause, in this case the Life Saving Station or because I tell the shop owner I’m not leaving until they give me something. Whatever it is, it works. Last year, in Bethany Beach proper, six prizes were gathered. I collected 21 in four hours and I’m not done yet as I had a few I have to return to because I’ve already gotten calls from the absent manager’s to come back and pick up the donations.

I collected body boards (2), T-shirts, wall decorations, stuffed animals,a sun visor, a nice key chain, and a lot of gift certificates for area restaurants among other things.

On Tuesday I’ll go out all day with Emily, the volunteer coordinator, and “do” Rehoboth Beach which is several times bigger than Bethany Beach. Between the two of us we should have prizes for quite a few of the participants in the contest next Saturday. I am so looking forward to this.

6/29/2010 Happy Birthday Ryann!

HAPPY

BIRTHDAY

RYANN!

Thirty years ago today this young lady was born to my brother and sister-in-law, Ryann has been such a joy to this family. She’s a wonderful mommy to her own little boys now and is a friend to everyone who meets her. Happy Birthday sweetie, hope your day was everything you wanted it to be.

Another day in the store, a long day, not much business other than ice. Thankfully I work with Linda and I enjoy her company so much so we just talk the day away.

I was sitting out at the picnic table this evening and I heard this buzzing noise. It would stop for a few seconds and then start again. It was close by but yet I couldn’t determine what was making it. I sat and listened and then caught movement out of my eye. This dragonfly was laying on the ground and beating it wings for all it was worth but just wasn’t moving. I couldn’t see where it was hurt or had a broken wing so I just left it alone. Do dragonflies bite or sting? I don’t even know.

The weatherman says R E L I E F tomorrow. High in the mid 80’s and the humidity will break. Its about time! We are so ready for it! Poor Bob changes clothes several times a day because he is working right out in the sun for a few hours at a stretch, I know he is really looking forward to it.

6/28/2010 Another Monster Storm?

It was slow in the store today, a typical Monday. Once again the big seller was ice. There were some fisherman who came and bought ice three times,,,,three bags each time. Out in the sun and opening the cooler so much to get drinks, it just didn’t last long.

The day kind of dragged by and I was glad when 4 o’clock struck.

When I took my money bag over to the booth to turn in it, Lynn was getting ready to go out and tell the campers, RV’ers and tenters alike to batten down the hatches as a big storm was coming our way. Oh no, not again!

Tom, whom I was working with, did turn on the weather radio the last half we were working and we knew a storm was coming our way but then we found out the wind was enough that it was taking down the trees in its path.

If Lynn left the booth it would leave it unmanned so I told her I would take the golf cart and let everyone know that a storm with high winds was coming.

All over the campground awnings were being rolled up, lawn chairs folded and slid under rigs, toys and towels taken in for safekeeping and tenters putting all they could in trunks to ride out the storm.

As I was riding around the winds picked up and sky got dark like night and we all thought for sure were in for a replay of the storm from the previous week.

The rain started and it lasted all of ten minutes, the sun came out, the wind died down and it was over. For us any way. Twelve miles south, Ocean City, Maryland got hammered and twelve miles north Rehoboth Beach felt the brunt of the storm. We just lucked out, the storm split and we were in the middle. Awnings got rolled back out, lawn chairs unfolded and set back up, the toys came out and were played with again, trunks were unloaded and camp stoves and such set back up.

You just never know what Mother Nature is going to do.

6/27/2010 We Have Company….

Today Bob’s boys came to visit with their families.

We got to meet Jasmine for the first time. This little sweetie belongs to the youngest, Jonathan.

Bob and his boys. Jonathan on the left, Tim on the right.

The kids arrived around one and we sat out in the sweltering heat catching up with each other as it had been two years since we had seen Tim and several more than that since we had seen Jonathan.

Here’s Bob with both of his granddaughters, Brianna, 16 and Jasmine, 14 months.

We had a BBQ with hot dogs and hamburgers, baked beans, a squash/zucchini/tomato dish and chip and sodas and we all ate until we couldn’t eat anymore.

Around 6:30 they decided that they had better get on the road because end of weekend traffic was picking up.

Oh, and Jasmine….she just loved the ocean!

6/26/2010 We Can’t Get a Break…..

……from the HEAT! This heat wave has got to end. We’re in day three now and every conversation is filled with phrases like “sweatin’ like a pig” or “hotter ‘n’ hell”.

I had no choice but to go out this morning, today is my day for reservation cards. I was surprised that at 8:30 almost half of those pulling out today were already gone and another quarter were taking care of the last things to do before heading for home. They want to beat the heat. HA! It’s already 83!

Bob had a few areas to mow as the RV’s pulled out. Before the hour was out he returned to change shirts, the first one wet enough wring out.

I usually walk when I do the reservation cards. I only got halfway through this morning before I went back for the golf cart. For the first time ever, on my watch, the RV’s pulling out had all vacated by eleven. That is just unheard of.

The camp store is doing a brisk business with ICE being the most sought after item. Three deliveries were made today by the ice company that supplies us. I wonder if the delivery guys draw straws to see who gets to stand in the refrigerated truck and move the pallets to the doorway? This is one time when you’d want the short straw!

We have empty sites in the park. Some of those who were supposed to come in today didn’t. Too hot I wonder? The weatherman says 98 today.

I don’t know how those in the tents are doing it. The air is so still, no breeze to flow through the vents in their tent walls. I would be heading to the closest motel.

Bob and I had the store today from 4 – 7. Bob was kept very busy with ice and I was busy ringing it up. The time went fast and that’s a good thing.

The weatherman says we’re going to get a break tomorrow, its only going to 96.

Yep, summertime at an east coast beach. Hotter n hell!

6/25/2010 It is SO Hot!

It is stifling. It’s like an oven. No, no, that’s not right because that would mean a dry heat and this is anything but. You walk out of the air conditioned RV and you breath is taken away by this wall of oppressive heat thick with humidity. Heat indexes of 100 plus are being bandied about. I yearn for the days years gone by when the temp was 97….period. We were cooler before heat indexes.

No one is moving. No volleyballs are being spiked and no baseballs are being tossed between father and son. No ropes are being jumped by little girls in sundresses. The pavement is too hot to walk on with bare feet and I can’t even imagine what the sand must feel like.

Families file by on the way to the beach, lethargic because it is so hot. Kids cranky already because of the heat and its still early in the day. It’s too hot for the little ones to carry their buckets and shovels, they’re just miserable. Mom and Dad are just as miserable carrying beach bags and chairs and umbrellas and coolers……and buckets and shovels.

I see this from the comfort of my air conditioned home. I have a good supply of Pepsi’s in and all the ingredients for dinner on hand. I have no reason to go out. I’m staying put.

Hours later I watch them come back. Still hot and sweaty but sunburned now. Foolish people on vacation. For some it was the first time out in the sun with bathing suits on and they stood in the water where it felt cooler paying no mind that the water is reflecting the sun and their # 50 sunscreen is virtually useless now. They look like lobsters. Everything they carry back from the beach is covered with sand and it grates against their sunburned skin. The kids are crying, hot, tired and hungry. They’ve planned this vacation for weeks or maybe months now. Welcome to the beach.

6/24/2010 Oh Man, What a Storm!

What a day this has been!

Since we didn’t have to work today we took our time getting up and about this morning. Bob sat outside under the awning with his second cup of coffee while I put a load of clothes in the washer.

We took care of a few chores around the house just to keep up on things because the cleaning fairies didn’t show up AGAIN. I made use of the awning being out by putting the load of shorts I washed on hangers and air drying them in the sunshine and ocean breeze using the handy hangers Bob made for me.

By early afternoon Bob and I were itching to get out of the park. We’ve been meaning to get over to a local RV dealer to look at a rig that is on their sales lot. Bob noticed this beautiful 5th wheel a week ago and we wanted to get a closer look if it was still there. I had my doubts, I thought for sure it would have sold already as I had looked at the info and pics online.

Surprisingly enough, it was still there. And we fell in love with it. We opened all the cabinets and drawers, sat on all the furniture, checked out the medicine cabinet, ooh-ed and ahh-ed over the cedar lined closet, marveled at the dual pane windows, were ecstatic over the storage space in the basement (Bob more so than me) shouted with joy at the pull all the way out clothes drawers that were both deep and wide and looked in awe at the NEVER USED stove/oven and convection oven. I truly don’t think a meal has ever been cooked in this rig. We envisioned watching TV in the leather recliners warmed by the FIREPLACE! Oh yes, a fireplace. Not wood burning of course but it gives out heat when we want it to. It has a computer desk built in and a four door fridge. It is nearly showroom condition and its an ‘07 model. Did I mention it has four slides?

When I looked at the rig online I couldn’t help but notice the low, low price. I plugged all the info into Google to find others of this make, model and particulars for sale. I found three right away and the prices ranged from $56,400 to $58.700. This one is for sale for $38,000. WHY, we wondered.

It was time to find a salesman. Back in ‘99 we bought a Jayco 5th wheel here and our salesman was Jeff. He still worked here so we asked for him. A few minutes later he came out and we told him that we bought a 99 Jayco from him, yada, yada, yada. Much to our surprise he looked at us and said, “You stayed at the National Guard camp and he looked at me and told me where I worked at the time. WOW! Talk about a memory!

So we told him we loved the rig and we wanted to talk. Jeff then dropped the bomb. It’s there are on consignment. No trade-ins taken. That stopped us in our tracks. We were so disappointed! So why is it priced so low? The fellow who owns it, paid cash for it and just wants out of it. He’s an elderly gentleman and his knees went on him and he can’t do the steps anymore. He just wants it sold. He put the truck on the lot too and that is already gone.

Sooooo,,,,,we’re putting OUR rig up for sale. If we find someone who wants it, we’ll call Jeff and make sure the rig is still there, if it is we’ll sell ours and buy that one. We are hoping it all works out and is meant to be. Keep your fingers crossed for us!

We ran a few more errands and went back to the camp.

We had heard on the radio that we were due for a thunderstorm and we heard on TV all the problems this storm brought to the Long Island, New York area. Bob started watching the Doppler radar and after awhile I got dinner started. I was really looking forward to this because we were having corn on the cob for the first time.

So dinner is ready and I’m just finishing up the main portion of dinner and ready to start on the corn on the cob, yes, we eat our corn on the cob last, don’t ask me why we just do. And then it started. Our 5th wheel rocked! We looked at each other and said simultaneously, “What the hell was that?” We looked outside and the storm was HERE…..NOW! It came in much, much faster than we thought it would. Things were blowing everywhere, people all over the park were scrambling to secure lawn chairs and towels that were hanging out to dry and beach toys were flying down the street. A lot of us were caught off guard and had to fight to get our awnings up. Some lost that battle, us included. The wind was blowing at 60 miles an hour and awnings were just ripping to shreds right before our eyes. Don’t forget, we’re at the beach so when the wind blows at 60 mph SAND is blowing everywhere which means that you have to do everything with your eyes shut or at least nearly shut. And the rain came down. Torrential downpour! Within mere seconds we were soaked to the skin. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a storm come on so fast and so strong.

Of course our awning getting ripped was MY fault. Oh yeah, I got blamed for that one. I KNEW the storm was coming but I made dinner anyway. Uh,,,,yeah. We HAD to eat first, we couldn’t go put the awning up first. Um….we’ll why didn’t YOU go do all the stuff that I can’t reach anyway???? Huh? Huh? Oh well, we have insurance so I’m not worried about it.

After the rain stopped I went out to see the damage.

The rain came down so hard and so fast the ground just couldn’t absorb it fast enough.

No volleyball playing today!

This awning was literally in pieces all over the campground.

The cover may be gone but the aluminum frame is still there.

Another awning bites the dust.

All over the campground aluminum skeletons of gazebos were left, their canvas tops nowhere to be found.

Even the street signs couldn’t stand up to the wind.

….and of course, there was the sunset, such as it was.

6/23/2010 A Most Enjoyable Day!

Today I spent the day with forever friend, Elaine. She lives here at the beach up the road a bit in Lewes. This is the first time our paths have crossed since we’ve been here but she’s so busy that our reunion had to wait until today. When she had free time we were in Wilmington or working.

Bob spent his day fishing and Elaine and I went to the beach.

It was a hot one today but the ocean breeze made it bearable. Of course Elaine and I were so absorbed in our conversation that I think a whale could have beached itself five feet from us and we wouldn’t have noticed it so the heat wasn’t really a factor for us.

We did venture down to the water to dip our toes in but that’s as far as that got because that water is COLD! Damn cold! I’m supposed to go kayaking here soon,,,,yeah, right, like that’s going to happen! This water is going to have to warm up a whole lot more before I venture into it again.

As is usual with all good friends catching up time went much too fast. Elaine and I will NOT let too much time pass before we are relaxing on the beach again.

Now that I think about it, its a pretty interesting story on how Elaine and I met. it was all because of a murder. Seriously. Back in 1999 there was a widely followed murder trial involving a prominent Delaware attorney, from a well known Wilmington family, charged with the murder of the scheduling secretary for the then governor. On AOL there was a forum that I visited on a daily basis, as did a whole bunch of others, Elaine included. Well, as the trial played out all the daily posters became friendly with one another and the next you know there’s a few more than a half dozen of us meeting for dinner at a local restaurant. Our friendship, Elaine’s and mine, proved out to be a true friendship, one that continued long after the lawyer was sentenced to life in prison.

Here we are today, still friends, still have tons and tons to talk about and we truly enjoy each other’s company. With Elaine so close by this is going to be a fun summer!

6/22/2010 WARNING! WARNING! SUNSET PICS!

What a slow day for both of us. Bob didn’t have much to do in the way of work and I was in the store all day and other than ice it just wasn’t that busy. I got a lot of reading done and Linda shared a Cryptogram puzzle book so we passed the time.

Well, as the title of this warns this post is all about sunset pictures. We had a beautiful one tonight before the storm that came through. There was lots of lightning at the end of the sunset and try as I might I just couldn’t get a picture of it. As cool as those pics would have been you are just going to have to suffer through the sunset ones instead. Or….you could just close this post but you won’t do that, after all, who doesn’t appreciate a pretty sunset? So here we go!

The sky seemed to change colors minute to minute.

The sun disappears behind a cloud…..

….and darn if it didn’t start peeking out at the bottom of the cloud.

Is it any wonder that there were lots of people watching the sunset along the Inlet this night?

….and the sun disappears for another night.

….but the show wasn’t over yet!

I’m done. I hope you enjoyed this.

Oh yeah, I took 56 pictures of the sunset, you only had to suffer through 17.

6/19-6/20/2010 A Busy Weekend In Camp

Summer is in full swing now, the kids are out of school, week and two week long vacations are starting and it seems everyone and their brother is heading to the beach.

Along with the crowds and traffic comes the heat and humidity. It seems like the dog days of August are here and its only mid June.

Saturday brought the reservations cards for me to do and Bob cut a little grass and in the late afternoon we both worked the store from 4 – 7. I’m always right on the money when I prove my drawer out and tonight I was exactly $10.00 over. Not $9.67 or $10.43, exactly ten bucks. I knew it was my mistake and I couldn’t find it. It took me nearly an hour to find that I had added a ten dollar roll of quarters to my rolled coin total AND to my loose quarters. It was right in front of me and I just couldn’t see it. As many times as I recounted that drawer I kept adding that roll to both sides, I don’t know why but it sure was frustrating, I was near tears until I just happened to glance at my paperwork and it was like neon yellow arrows were pointing to the loose quarters notation. I was so relieved to finally be done with this!

When I finally locked the door to the store and walked over to the booth to turn my moneybag and paperwork in I paused to admire the evening sky.

Sunday brought early morning, read that as 4 a.m. fishing for Bob and a lot of heat and humidity later in the day. I never even set foot out of the house because Bob kept saying the humidity just takes your breath away. I saw no need to go out,

The evening sky promised a pretty sunset and by the amount of people at the jetty with cameras it was clear I wasn’t the only one thought that. I knew Joy and DeWayne were coming over to say so long so I called Joy and told her to be sure to bring her camera.

They didn’t get here in time and missed this.

I don’t think I will ever get tired of these sunsets!

It was just at the point above that Joy and DeWayne arrived. They are moving on tomorrow as they have to be back in Texas for a family reunion. We visited for a few hours and it was time for hugs and handshakes before we knew it. They have plans on coming to Arizona this winter so we’ll see them again for sure. We sure did enjoy our time with them and are glad they made first trip to the first state.

We bid them safe travels and called it a night.

6/18/2010 A Quaint Little Town and Dinner Out

I started my morning at the local drug store to pick up a Father’s Day card. The next stop was the post office to mail that Father’s Day card and to pick up our mail which I had delivered to us for the first time in over a month. Wouldn’t you know it, mostly junk mail. From there it was off to get my nails done which were in dire need. I really liked the woman who did the last time I was there and asked for her only to find out that she moved to Massachusetts. So now i have someone new again and she swears she isn’t going anywhere.

Bob had a few hours to put in around the camp and he had a fishing line was begging to get wet so we each had plans for the day.

DeWayne and Joy picked me up a little after eleven and we headed towards Lewes, DE so they could explore this quaint little town. I didn’t take any pictures because I had done a post on this town when I visited with my forever friend Elaine. You can read about it HERE.

I enjoyed seeing the town thru their eyes and of course enjoyed walking through the shops and looking at all the beautiful things I had no intention of buying.

Next we headed to the beach right there in Lewes. The water is just as calm as can be in this area and beach wasn’t crowded at all. We talked about everything under the sun while sitting on the beach and all too soon it was time to head home.

We met again about two hours later for dinner at Mickey’s Crab House in Bethany Beach. Neither one had ever had blue claw crabs before and wanted to try them before they pull out of here. Crabs are still at premium prices right now at $48.00 a dozen. A little steep to order something if you don’t know if you are even going to like them or not. Face it, crabs are a lot of work for the meat you get out of them. Bob did get the All You Can Eat order at $38.00 but knew that he would eat a fair amount of crabs. We suggested that DeWayne and Joy get the lump meat crab cakes which they thoroughly enjoyed. I was torn between the crab cakes and steamed shrimp and opted for the shrimp. As soon as I saw the lump meat crab cakes I was sorry with my choice.

Bob really enjoyed is pile of crabs.

The three of us were done our meals and Bob was still going strong on his second pile of crabs. We gave these newbie full-timers some advice and money saving hints and things to think about in this new lifestyle they have chosen.

When Bob decided he had enough crabs our waitress packed the leftovers into a paper bag for him to take home and we were on our way out the door. Getting out of the parking lot took some maneuvering since we both have huge trucks and everyone seems to be in such a hurry to find a parking space but we managed to hold up traffic long enough to back these trucks out.

We headed out to get beer and Pepsi’s and DeWayne and Joy went to their place. We met up with them a short while later and finished our conversation at their picnic table. Three hours later, at eleven thirty we said our goodnights and headed home.

This was a full and fun day!

6/17/2010 A Great Beach Day!

Joy, DeWayne and I spent another day at the beach. This time they came up to my beach. They arrived a little after one and we gathered all the beach essentials and started the short walk to the beach. No meters to feed quarters to here.

Within 10-12 minutes we were setting up chairs, DeWayne was twisting the umbrella pole in the sand and we were ready for some serious beach time. We weren’t the only ones on the beach, just the only ones in this area.

We had passed this fellow situated on the jetty painting and we took a walk over to see what his work in progress looked like.

He’s painting the scene which is actually behind him. I would think it would be easier to just look up and over the easel rather than turning around to see the scene again,,,,but then again that’s why he’s the artist and I’m not.

It was quite breezy on the beach today but it was certainly a welcome breeze. I almost dread the times that are sure to come when the sun is blazing hot and the air is still.

We watched about a half dozen guys (boys/teens) skimboarding at the waters edge. The equipment used for this water sport is much like a surfboard only smaller. Maybe just a tad wider and half the size.

The object is to catch just the right amount of water left as a wave goes back out. These guys must know just what the good wave must be like because they’ll stand there and just watch and then all of sudden just take off.

When just the right amount of water is there….

ride the wave out….

and then catch the next one coming in….

ride it in till the board hits sand and do it all over again….and again…and again.

Like me, Joy is seldom without her camera. Another joins our ranks LaVon!

DeWayne and Joy, oceanside.

It was a great afternoon on the beach and I finally thought to ask what time it was. I was surprised to find out it was quarter to six! I had to bid them farewell as I had dinner to make yet. I found out later they stayed till 6:30 before they called it a day.

After dinner I went in search of a sunset.

What a great way to wind down the day.