6/3-6/5/14 It Was a Miracle!

(Damascus, VA)

It was a quiet three days at work.  Quiet but one thing happened that you could almost call a miracle!

Meet David.


The only thing I know about him is his first name.  It isn’t for lack of trying to find out more which I’ll explain in a few sentences further down.

David was here, at the lake, over the weekend. I don’t know if he was fishing, swimming in the lake, or out for a boat ride.  I don’t know if he was by himself, with one other person or with a crowd.  See, I told you the only thing I knew was  that his first name is David.

Well, he came back during one of my shifts.  He told me he was going to the lake and I charged him the $5.00 day use charge.  After I gave him his mirror tag he informed that he was also paying for the vehicle behind him.  This wasn’t the first time that has happened on my shift and I thought perhaps it was his son and a buddy in the truck and that Dad was springing for the parking fee for his son.  That was, of course, before I had even seen who was in the truck.

He pulled ahead so that I could register his “son”.  As you can guess it wasn’t his son after all but two gentlemen I quickly figured were his friends instead.  As I handed the passenger the mirror tag I said something like, “Good luck, I hope you catch a lot of fish.”  The fellow chuckled and said, “Oh we’re not here to go fishing, we’re divers and we’re looking his wedding ring in the lake.”  I thought to myself, “Lots of luck with that!”  If he had lost while swimming, well, lots of people had been swimming the bottom greatly disturbed as kids ran through the water.  If it had slipped off his finger when casting….well, how do you even begin to find that?  As they pulled away I just shook my head and wished them luck.   I also asked them to tell the fellow to stop and let me know if he got his ring back.

Not too much time had passed and the diver’s were back.  They stopped to turn in their mirror tag and I asked if they had found the ring.  I was flabbergasted when they told me they had!  Who woulda thought?  Adventure Diving divers, YOU ROCK!

Shortly after David came through and told me how happy he was to have his ring back.

 

I asked how in the world did they ever find it and since he knew the area where it went in they just went under and took handfuls of sand and gently sifted it through their fingers.

 

I called Adventure Diving to get more info about David so that I could call him to ask some questions.  I want to know if he was swimming, boating or fishing.  I want to know what his wife’s reaction was to him losing his ring.  Or perhaps he is a widower which might have made the loss all that more painful.  These are answers I may never know.  The divers have a message on their machine that they are diving in Cozumel and won’t be back for awhile.

In the long run, it doesn’t really matter what the answers are, it just would have added more to this post and I’m just very happy that this man has his wedding ring back.  But….I’m not as happy as he is!

6/1-6/2/2014 Our Weekend Off

(Damascus, VA)

Another weekend off.  This past week went remarkably fast.

We didn’t have anything really planned other than a BBQ with the other workampers on Monday afternoon.

On Sunday we went to Bristol to try to find the Pro Bass Shop Bob saw the sign for.  What we found was a brand new store that isn’t even open yet.  He wants to buy an inflatable boat so that he can fish the lake.  Cabella’s (sp?) is in Abingdon but again, the new store isn’t open yet.

The trip to town was a total bust.  So much so that as we were coming through Damascus he asked if I needed anything from the store.  I couldn’t think of anything,,,,,until we were several miles past it then I thought of a half dozen things we were low on or completely out of.  Oh well, we’ll head down the mountain again in a few days.

While in Damascus we stopped at the Shuttle Shack to get information on bike rentals so that we can ride the Virginia Creeper Trail when the kids come again.

On Monday we spent part of the afternoon moving our DirecTV dish because the night before we could hardly get any channels.

I think we were both dreading this task but it was surprisingly easy.  Once he broke down the dish, moved it, got it level and we started the fining tuning, we were done within 10 minutes.  Bob had pointed the dish in the right direction on the first try and we were pulling a strong “95” signal.  One hundred is the maximum number we could get on signal strength.

We then reversed the procedure on getting the High Definition channels back and we were in business.  We’re happy campers once again.

Our BBQ was changed from five to six earlier in the day so at the appointed time we arrived at the picnic pavilion for dinner.

Edie, our park manager, drove into Abingdon to pick up five pounds of pulled pork and a mild and hot BBQ sauce.  The rest of us all made dishes to share.  We had a good variety of foods and no one walked away hungry.


Edie and Melissa getting all the dogs fed.  We had five there and it was good playtime for all the pooches.


Ray doesn’t go anywhere without his dog, Al.

Edie, Melissa and Myra getting dishes uncovered.


Time to fill those plates!


 

Ray and Bob


Missy watching her daddy eat dinner.

 

Daddy, I’m still here, don’t eat it all!!!

 

 

“HEY!  That’s your second plate and I haven’t gotten anything yet!  Don’t you see me sitting here  Daddy?”

 

 

After dinner, we visited for awhile and let our dinners settle.   Then we played a rousing game of Left, Center, Right.  It was the first time anyone besides us had played before and everyone had a good time.  I think this is one we’ll play again and again.

Before long it was time to pack up and head on back up the mountain.  This BBQ was a good time and we’re both looking forward to the next time.

Back to work tomorrow.

 

5/28-5/31/2014 A Nearly Empty Campground

(Damascus, VA)

After the Memorial Day weekend, with nearly all the sites taken, this seems like a virtual ghost town now.  For all intents and purposes the campground is empty.

The sites are all cleaned, what trash was left is picked up and everything is ready for the next time.

Paperwork is all cleared in the office as far as our departed campers are concerned.  There’s nothing to do at work except answer the occasional phone call, collect money from the locals who want to come in and fish in the lake for the day and get lots of computer time in.

The trees are fully leafed out now and that is causing a problem with our satellite reception for the TV.  We can’t get the High Definition channels at all now.  We decided to have the High Def box   switched out for a regular reception box.  Much to my dismay, Directv wanted to charge us just over a hundred dollars to make the switch and then we would have to pay that again when we wanted the HD channels back.  Uh,,,,NO!  There has to be another way I argued.  Once again I was put on hold while the customer service rep checked with the higher ups.  I was finally put through to technical support and was told to get the remote and I would be walked through the procedure.  I explained that I wasn’t in front the TV, that I couldn’t do that because we had no phone reception on the mountain.  Then I had to further explain what a fulltime RV’er was and that no we didn’t just take the boxes out of our house when we go on vacation.  It seems I go through this every time I have an issue with Directv.  There are too many of us out here for the employees not to  understand fulltime RV’ing.  I did end up getting the directions on how to disable the HD channels, but I played hell getting them!  It was easy to do, thank heaven!

We did have one fellow who came in to stay at the campground who uses a CPap machine at night.  He needed electricity so that he could re-charge the battery during day.  Since I was the one who took his phone call earlier in the week I told him to be sure to ask for Site 59 so that we could run an electrical cord to his site.  He was a very nice fellow and he told Bob that he would like to come back and bring his wife next time.  Bob told him to be sure to ask for site 59 again and we would set him up.  We hope they do come back.

Thursday afternoon it poured at the gate house.  It rained so hard that the raindrops were hitting the ground and bouncing back up.  Yeah, that hard.  Not a drop fell three miles up the mountain.  Not. A. Drop.

I enjoy the mountain when there is no one here.  Is that a horrible thing for a camp host to say?

 

5/27/2014 A Too Quiet Tuesday

(Damascus, VA)

The kids are gone, everything is washed, put away, the outside is all cleaned up and back in order.  And I hate it.  It’s too quiet.

We don’t hear that sweet little voice. We don’t hear, “Pop-Pop take me on the golf cart with you”.  We don’t hear, “Grandmom, look at this bubble I caught, take a picture of it!”  It’s too quiet.

I miss that soft tap on my arm and that sweet little voice saying, “Will you make me some more chocolate milk?”  She could have asked me for anything in the cupboard or fridge and I would have gotten or made it for her.  Yes, it’s too quiet here.

I managed to make dinner without that little voice asking, “Grandmom, what’s my job?  What can I do?”  It didn’t make a difference in what I would have made, my heart wasn’t in it, it tasted like cardboard.  I missed my helper.

Everything reminds me of Jasmine.  I threw away an empty shampoo bottle and my thoughts immediately went to the time after her shower when I combed her hair for her, trying so hard not to pull her hair as I combed the knots out.

Everything reminds me of Jasmine.  A freshly laundered blanket draped over the back of the chair across from me sent my thoughts to the campfire over the weekend.  Wrapped in the blanket  because the night was cool, she snuggled on my lap.  Her soft hair against my cheek.  I sit here and smile at the memory.

I’m still in awe of her fascination with bugs.  I so don’t do bugs but if she asked me to let a tarantula crawl up my arm I would.  Oh wait, forget that!  That ain’t happening, not even for Jasmine.  Whoa, I got carried away there didn’t I?

My one regret is that I didn’t make the time to read her new book to her.  I so hope she’s like her big brother and has the love for books and reading.  I’ll make sure I have another book for her for the next time I see her.

Yes, everything reminds me of Jasmine.

Next time she’s here I want her to stay one night with us in the fifth wheel.  I want to lay in bed and tell her bedtime stories about her daddy when he was a little boy, the stories that only I can tell.  And we’ll laugh and we’ll giggle.

My heart is so captivated by this five year old.  I heard my mom say one time, these kids (her great grandkids) could ask me to do anything and I would for them.  I didn’t understand that at the time.  I get it now.  I really get it.  I would move heaven and earth for her, I would give her anything she needed if I could.  I’d give her half  of what she wanted, I don’t want to totally spoil her.  Oh what the hell, who am I kidding, I’d give her anything she wanted.

I just this minute realized!  She’s got me wrapped me around her little finger!  Oh well, I can’t think of a place I’d rather be.  Besides, I’m in good company, her Pop-Pop is there and so is her daddy.

Yep, way too quiet around here.

 

5/26/2014 Memorial Day Weekend – Day Four

(Damacus, VA)

Up and at ‘em at seven.  Jonathan was the only one up when I got up.  Within minutes Bob was up and about and getting coffee on to start the day.

Brandi and Jasmine slept in until eight.  Needless to say we used that time to wake up before Jasmine’s energy put everything in high gear.

After breakfast, more bubble blowing and a ride in the golf cart, Jasmine decided she wanted to go fishing.  We talked out of that and she settled for a trip down to the lake to play in the sand.

We decided to walk one of the paved walkways around the lake.

Then it was back to the beach for some serious sandcastle building and playing in the water.




A couple of kids further down the beach found a dead snake and of course Jasmine wanted to see it.  So Daddy and Jasmine took off for some dead snake viewing.

She didn’t seem overly impressed with it because she didn’t even mention it when they returned.

Back at the campground we started the chicken on the grill for lunch and got all the leftovers from yesterday out.  I wanted to send them on their way with full tummies.

Lunch was over way too soon.  After cleaning up and sitting around a little while longer it was time for them to pack up and hit the road.

Oh, how I hated to see them go.  Brandi and I have gotten very close this past year and I so enjoyed her company and appreciated all the help she was.  Of course its always wonderful to see Jonathan and I noticed his hug was a little tighter than usual which told me that he really enjoyed himself this weekend.

Jasmine, it was hardest of all to say so long to our little munchkin.  We both got big hugs and kisses from her. 

As Jonathan pulled away from the campsite he gave his usual, I love you and then I heard that little voice from the backseat,,,,I love you!

Perfect ending to a perfect weekend.

Bob and I did a run around the campground loop a little after two in the golf cart and hit the mother lode with wood left behind by the campers.

By 4:30 I was in my robe and Bob was in his pair of comfortable old shorts that he wears around the house when he has no plans of going outside again.  We were tired but what a great weekend this was!

This weekend I learned there is nothing better than arms around your neck from a little girl who calls you Grandmom.

5/25/2014 Memorial Day Weekend - Day Three

(Damascus, VA)

It was an early morning today because, well because we knew that sweet child was next door!

Can you guess what was first in order of the day was?


…..and so it begins.

It was French toast for breakfast because plain old cereal just wasn’t filling the bill for my munchkin.

Brandi and I had lots to do this morning to get food prepared for the BBQ this afternoon.  That normally wouldn’t be a problem, but, of all weekends to happen, the pump for the campground well decided to break down.  No Water!!!  You never realize how much you depend on that water flowing out of the spigot until you have 18 eggs to hard boil and 5 pounds of potatoes to get washed and covered in water.  Breakfast dishes, silverware and pans were waiting to be washed, we all wanted to get washed up and we were stuck.  Well, not exactly stuck, we have bottled water so we could get the eggs and potatoes started but showers were out of the question.  Then add in the constant questions from the campers about no water in the camper’s bathrooms because signs hadn’t been put up yet.

We finally got the eggs and potatoes cooked and were in the process of making deviled eggs and potato salad when I realized I only had a quarter of a jar of mayonnaise.  Not enough, not nearly enough.  I ran next door to see if my co-camp host possibly had an extra jar of mayo I could buy from her but she wasn’t home.  Brandi, Jasmine and I then jumped in the car to go down and see if the park manager had an extra jar.  That was a no-go also because she was in the office until after midnight last night and was taking a nap.  I couldn’t knock on her door and wake her up. That left no choice but to go to town.  And of course a stop was made for more bubble liquid.

When we reached the grocery parking lot we found to be quite busy and Brandi called to Jasmine so she could hold her hand.  Jas told her she wanted to hold Grandmom’s hand.  Can you say heart melt?

All afternoon we sat around the camp site, talking, playing, laughing, each of us thoroughly enjoying our time together.

At times Bob and Jonathan got into deep discussions about life events of years past.  So many questions.  I think this was good for them, I think Jon found a lot of answers to questions he’s long had.  I think Jonathan walked away from this weekend with a great deal of respect, even more than he already had, if that was even possible for his dad,,,,and me.  This alone made this weekend perfect for all of us.

Family history, Jonathan is interested in where he came from so there was lots of talk of aunts and uncles and grandparents.  I hope he shares all he learned with Jasmine as she grows older.

During these serious talks Brandi and I would retreat to the kitchen and make something else for our BBQ or just go inside and chat ourselves….or….give Jasmine another gift!



Jasmine’s first Dr. Seuss book.  The Cat in the Hat.


She loved her sundress!  She didn’t want to take it off but it was a little too cool for a sundress up here on the mountain.

Cathy and Sonny were to arrive around three and I was quite surprised to see their son Steve, his wife and daughter pull up.  Just minutes later our nephew Chopper drove up and his wife and their two daughters joined us.  I’m mentally counting people and running inside to count the hamburgers, hot dogs and brats we have.  Whew, we had enough!  Thankfully I had made a lot of potato salad because I planned on it for tonight, tomorrow’s lunch and tomorrow’s night dinner.  Everything else I had made enough for dinner tonight and lunch tomorrow so I had plenty of everything.  I opened another can of Bush’s Griller beans and we were set.  Cathy and Sonny arrived and the party was in full swing.

Everyone had plenty to eat, Bob and I were meeting our nephews families for the first time, Jonathan was getting reacquainted with cousins he hadn’t seen in years and years and my little munchkin was charming everyone.

After dinner settled we broke out the Wannadinger sticks and biscuits and the fillings and we went to town making dessert.

I had a nice chat with my sister-in-law and everyone seemed to have a good time.

Now you know me, I take pictures of everything.  I’m snapping this picture and that picture and this group and that group and Cathy and Bob, one right after the other.  I found out later that I didn’t have the CF card in my camera.  It was in the house sitting in my card reader from when I uploaded all the pictures I had taken up until mid-afternoon.  Normally, I would have been very upset, but I’m not.  You see, we are all going to be together again in July and we’re adding a whole lot more to the group.  Not only will Jonathan be here again but his brother, Tim, will be too.  We’ll have both granddaughters here!  All of Bob’s sisters will be here and their brother.  All families included.  A reunion!  We haven’t all been together in a long, long time.  In fact, I don’t know that we’ve all been together before.  Everyone is excited about it.

The BBQ was over and the Tennessee clan left to go home.  The four of us cleaned up from dinner and then sat around the fire.  With so much activity Jasmine was getting tired.  We wrapped her up in a soft blanket and she settled in on my lap.

When we all found ourselves yawning we decided it was time to call an end to this day.
 

5/24/2014 Memorial Day Weekend–Day Two

(Damascus, VA) 

(Fair warning, this is a long one)

All morning the minutes seemed like hours.  We were both so excited at the idea of seeing Jonathan again.  It’s been nearly a year since we’ve seen him and his family.  Actually, it would be very nice to see Jonathan and Brandi and Evan but if the truth be told neither one of us could wait to get our arms around Jasmine.

Ten thirty came and went.  Eleven o’clock came and went.  I had myself convinced that something had happened and that they weren’t coming.  Finally, I heard Bob yell from outside, they’re here!  The trip took an hour longer because they made some stops. 

Evan, Brandi’s son, didn’t come as he wanted to stay with Brandi’s parents instead.  I was disappointed because Evan is a great reader and I had the 2nd book of a trilogy for him.  I was looking forward to sitting with him and discussing the books I’ve sent him over the past months.  We don’t know Evan hardly at all and I wanted this weekend to be the time to start to remedy that.

Bob got a hug from Jasmine right away and when they came in the house where I was, she was suddenly shy, as a five year old can be.  I asked for a hug but she stood behind her daddy’s leg and just peeked at me.  I assured her that it was fine if she didn’t want to give me a hug.  It had to be in her own time, I don't believe in forcing a child to hug someone when they don't want to.  She has a picture of her and Bob so he was very familiar to her even though it had been nearly a year since that picture was taken.

We went outside to sit and she was still keeping her distance from me.  I knew how to break the ice!  Jasmine’s birthday was earlier this month (the 6th) and since we knew they were coming this weekend I decided to hang on to her gifts so that we could watch her open them.  I had seven gifts for her and thought it was the perfect time to bring one out.

Bubbles!


She had gotten quite good at catching the bubbles and I was instructed to take a picture of all them.  Of course I obliged.  Thank heaven for that erase button.


While I was sitting at the picnic table talking with Brandi and taking pictures of caught bubbles, Jon walked over and set the planter he made for me down on the table.   He had posted some pictures of some he had made a couple of months ago and I commented on them and asked him to make me one too.  He said he would and he didn’t forget.  Actually, I had forgotten about it so this was a very pleasant surprise.  Isn’t it pretty?
 

Since my little munchkin was getting bored with bubbles, Brandi and I thought it would be a good idea to go check out the playground.  I was walking a few steps ahead of Brandi and Jas when we first started out and suddenly I felt these little arms around my legs.  I got my hug!  My heart just melted.  From that point on, she was my shadow.

So we did the swing thing.

Played Tic-Tac-Toe.

And found she couldn’t go down the slide because the metal was too hot to sit on.

Jas then decided it was time for some refreshments.  Of course no one could open the Freeze-pop except her Pop-Pop.  When she wasn’t my shadow she was his!


Of course it was back to the bubbles again and we discovered she had used up the bottle of bubble liquid.  I supplied a bottle of dish detergent and let her make bubbles to her hearts content.  Do I need to tell you that there was Palmolive dish detergent everywhere???  It didn’t matter, if it made her happy I was happy.

I had gone into a store in Damascus a week or so ago and as soon as I walked in I saw this wind chime with the Saint’s icon at the top.  The Saints are Jonathan’s favorite football team.  Knowing that, I couldn’t leave it on the display unit could I?  Look at that smile, I think I did good.  He says there is already a nail in the perfect place for it.

 

I soon heard this little voice asking me if there is another present.  Well, of course there is!



Doesn’t this face just say, “Oh look! Clothes.”  This one just didn’t register as high as the bubbles did with her.



Pretty soon I brought another one out and she was happy again.

If I had only known how many games of Memory we were going to play!

Dinner time soon came and she was right by my side the whole time.  It was during this time, when I first heard “Grandmom”.  “Grandmom, what’s my job?  What can I do?”  Is it possible for a heart to melt twice?

So we put her to work crushing crackers for a dish I was making.  She was so eager to help and so proud of herself.

She wasn’t done there!  She helped with almost every dish in some way and when she couldn’t she was counting out napkins and forks and paper plates.  She was lovin’ it!  With every good job  and you are such a good helper that she heard, her smile just got wider. 


In the meantime Jonathan got their tent set up in the site next to ours and shortly after we ate dinner.  We had to eat a little earlier than we normally would have because we had a parade to walk in yet.  The Cradle of Forestry held a Memorial Day Parade here in the park for the kids.  Since we are camp hosts we had to put in an appearance and besides we wanted Jasmine involved.

It was off to the playground.



Jasmine got her flag with streamers but of course Daddy had to carry it.

And we were off in the parade!

Jasmine was given a Certificate of Participation which she is extremely proud of.

After the parade we sat around a campfire and of course it was bubble time again.



It was a great first day with Jonathan, Brandi and my little munchkin.

This little girl makes my heart so happy.  I love it when she just randomly calls out, “I love you Daddy” or “I love you Mommy”.  I can’t possibly describe the feeling I had when she called out “I love you Grandmom” for the first time.  Let’s just say my heart melted,,,,,yet again.