Tuesday, June 2, 2009

June 2009




June 30th as we awoke we were blessed with the beginning of a nice day. The results are in and in the 30 days of June we had rain for 21 of them. Of the 9 days it didn’t rain the sun was out for 7 of them. Jon did get to do a lot of his chores around the MH and in the afternoon we took a hike on the Island. We came to a very pretty cove and spent some time just watching the tide come in and watching as the boats were going about their business. There was one schooner in the cove and it was anchored there and people were fishing off of it. We did have one interesting moment when a chipmunk came up to Kathleen and started pulling on her jacket as she was sitting on a rock at the beach. We did see a change in the weather today.




June 29th what a miserable day as between the rain and the heavy mist and cool temps we just stayed in and felt depressed. Jon had some outside work to do but it could wait for another day. Even yesterday we shut the store at 12 noon for the day as the weather was that bad. Even as bad as it was it is still great to be here and enjoy what we do have.




June 24th in the morning Jon did some work on our heating system and we thought we had it fixed but there are still some problems with it and hope to get it fixed in the near future. After that we had a lunch set up with Leigh & Lee who are workamping in Bangor. They came down and we met them for lunch. Sharon went along with us and we had a good time. We went to the Mainely Meat Barbeque which is next to the Atlantic Brewing Co. After that we went to a winery and did a wine tasting. Once again it was a good day.

June 23rd Kathleen had an appointment with a local doctor to see about getting help for her back. In the afternoon we had planned on taking a boat ride but, as we watched the weather we decided against it and it was a good decision as we had rain. At Coastal Kayaking we had a pizza party in the evening and we had a nice time there. We also got a chance to meet a lot of our fellow workers. We thought it was rather nice of the owner to do this.

June 22nd as we got started today first we did some errands as we had to get back to the MH by 12:30 to have our windshield repaired, we got a chip in the windshield last week and they made the appointment to have it repaired today. After that we went with Larry & Sharon and visited the Abbe Museum which traces the local native Indian nation. It showed all of the hardships that they endured and how they lived, and how in the last 75 years they made an effort to make stride in maintaining their culture. There are two sites to visit to that are part of the Museum. After that we went to the Jordan Pond House and had a bite to eat, must say when you are in the area this is a must stop.

June 15th today was our first of three days off and we had to go to Augusta VA hospital for more tests for Jon. It was good to have a day off as on Friday when we went to work it was raining so hard that we were told to close up the store at 11:00 am. Saturday was a nice day and we did some rentals, sort of slow right now as it is just getting into the tourist season. Sunday was another rainy day and we did no business, but did give out a lot of information, this day we stayed opened for the entire day and it was quite boring. Back to today; as we made the trip we also stopped in Bangor to have our heater core for the MH repaired, and as luck had it they told us to pick it up on our return trip in the afternoon. It will save us a separate trip up to Bangor as that is about 50 miles one way. We did have a bit of a scare on our return from Augusta to Bangor as we knew we were getting low on gas and when the light came on the next three exits were camping only and had no gas stations. We did make it to a gas station and got $10.00 worth of gas to get back to Bar Harbor where we knew that it was a better price. When we arrived there we saw that they had raised their price .09 cents since the morning. We then went to the second best price station and filled up there and just as we were leaving they were raising their prices. The kicker was when we got home and turned on Fox News (is there anything else) we saw that a barrel of oil dropped $2.00, go figure.

June 9th today we went to Augusta VA Hospital for a problem that Jon has had for about a month now. It was a nice ride as we took Rt’s 1 & 3 across the state, it is nice to travel some of the scenic roads. When we left Bar Harbor it was sunny and about 65 degrees, as we traveled further south the temperature dropped and it started to rain. When we arrived the temperature was 50 degrees and quite chilly as it was raining. We were severely underdressed for the area as we only had shorts and a light shirt on. Once again we have nothing bad to say about the VA and their approach to a traveling couple such as us. Jon did have to register into the system and then went to the emergency room for treatment. Jon had a great Dr. there and it looks like the follow up will be great. We had a rainy ride home and we got back about 8 PM. Even with the rain and the chilly day it was a good day.

June 8th our first day off and we did a few chores around the camper, as Kathleen did some clean-up in the MH and Jon removed the heater core and now has to find someplace to have it repaired. We loaded up the bikes and took a ride on the some of the Carriage Roads in Acadia Park. Such a lovely place and all of the wonderful stone bridges that were built by the Rockefeller’s. They are all built with granite stone and the workmanship is second to none. After that we just drove around a little bit and went to the top on Cadillac Mountain. From there you can see the whole island and the towns on it. Of course we hadn’t taken our camera along so we will have to do it again and take some pictures, the scenery is to nice not to take any.

June 7th this is our last day of work for the week and we look forward to having a few days off. What made it somewhat harder we probably stayed to long at the pot luck last night could have done it in our younger days but as we are getting older we realize we can’t do that anymore. We did have a little incident today as one of the scooters we rent out was damaged, the person driving was okay and it was only damage to the scooter. We just hate to see someone have a problem. We work from 8 am to 6pm and it does make for a long day, but at the same time the job is not that hard and it can easily be handled by two people the majority of the time, at time we do get a run on rentals. As we closed for the day we phoned in a pizza order that is located aside of our main store and we pick it up on the way home. When we got home as we were eating we had to make sure we didn’t fall asleep face first into the pizza. After cleaning up we turned in early and got a much needed good night’s sleep.






















June 6th today was our first day to work alone, as most of our training is complete and we will have to figure it out for ourselves. It is not rocket science though and we are pretty confident that we can handle most of it. We know that we made mistakes, Jon more than Kathleen but as we make those mistakes we learn and go on from there. Last night after work we stopped at the local Hannaford store to by some items that we need for tonight’s pot luck. We were invited to this pot luck and at the same time were asked if we knew what a pot luck was, and as Jon replied he didn’t own a CG and not know the meaning of a pot luck, it was all in fun. LOL. As soon as we got home from work today we made our salad and went to the pot luck just as the lobsters were finishing up. What a great feast it was, and wouldn’t you know that one of the campers here at the park in the summer is a Lobsterman and he had brought in the catch today. As a lot of diners know when you go into a place that you pay the Market Price, well what we paid was the dockside price and a better bargain could not be asked for. We shared three lobsters and that for us was plenty, it did fill us up. Some of the campers bought extra and were going to make lobster rolls the following day. We hope that you enjoy the pictures as much as we enjoyed the lobster. We also had steamed corn on the cob as well and all of the trimmings from everyone at the pot luck.










June 2nd & 3rd we continued our training through Tuesday. We are working with another couple that started the same time that we did. We spent a lot of time in the bicycle shop and were taken to their second store which is not open as of yet, and told what was expected of us. We also had a lot of training on the rental of scooters and how we were expected to do this. On Wednesday the four of us where at the new location and just did a good cleanup and got things organized so it would be presentable and easy to work out of. One employee who worked for the company for several years said “This is the cleanest I ever saw the store.” We were given a lot of leeway as how accomplish it, and were told that since they opened this store late last year no one had really done much with it. Previously it was run for the original store by a lot of very young people that would come down for a day or do and not be fully committed to it. We got it straightened out and are looking forward to get it going. Nothing like having a couple of mature workampers to give a little guidance to some of the younger staff members.

June 1st today was our first day of work. It has been 9 months since we last worked and we were looking forward to start. It did bring about new aches and pains but, we are sure they will be short lived. We have to do a lot of standing and we were not used to it. The job is great and the co-workers are just great to work with, we have met most of them and we feel we are in for a fast summer as the time will probably fly by. At the present time we have to drive about 12 miles to get to Bar Harbor and it is such a scenic drive, with all of the quaint New England fishing villages here in the area. We will be working 10 hour days, but it does seem to go by fast. We did have a small booboo today as we left the coffee pot on all day, this is something we will have to change and not let happen again. To any of our friends that come to the area we can help you with the rental of Kayaks, bikes and scooters.