Labor Day Weekend: the last hurrah of the summer

Last week, there were thunderheads in the area creating great cloud
scenes in the sky.

When the dumpsters are full and it's too early for the trash to be picked up,
the camp tractor is a compacter. 

Last week, on one of our days off, Sonny played golf in Malaga while I
scoped out the antique stores in Wenatchee.

View looking Northwest  from the golf course over the Columbia River to
Wenatchee.

On our way back to camp, we stopped at the Farmers Market on the
river front in Wenatchee.  Brand new building with trendy shops
inside offering coffee, fruit, baked goods, wine and soon to come,
an art show.

Its a rainy Thursday at camp. We got our chores done before the
clouds opened up, thankfully. Wouldn't want to be out in this. The rain
is pouring off our awning.

Later in the day, the rain stopped and we ventured out to
see how things looked. The beach parking lot was empty.

Beach view after the rain.  No one was about. Everyone seemed to
have gone to Leavenworth to escape.

The rain puddles were huge on the beach.

. 

The waters around the boat launch were calm. To the right of this shot,
there is an osprey nest in the top of the trees.  You can hear the
babies demanding food.

Some campsites suffered flooding.  The rain did drain off in time
for the Labor Day weekend crowds.  There were mini flash
floods everywhere in the park.

Adrianna and William run the camp store.
They sell tasty ice cream, snacks, wood and
beach gear.  We spent our coffee
breaks with them every day.  They live
in a converted bus near the campground.
We learned about their numerous life adventures
 from being long haul truck drivers to running dog
teams in the winter.  They have
added to our fun here at the State Park

After the rain did stop, the sun came out so we went into Leavenworth for dinner.
Our friends, the Kivinens from Hoodsport, were in town for a visit.  We
connected with them and they followed us back to see our campsite.
This is Duke and his pal. They had a walk on the beach but then had to
stay in the wood kennel.

Raimo Kivinen and Duke near the playground on their way
back up to our campsite
.

The lake is more often windy than calm which
wind surfers and kite flyers like.  You can
just barely see a little head in the water
beyond the man on the beach coaching the
surfer.  It looks like quite a feat to get
the parachute lined up with the wind
just to actually launch.

Here, the coach is trying to get the sail righted.  I'll be he was cold.  The surfer
had on a wet suit to keep warm.

Late Friday afternoon, the State lifted the burn ban on campfires since the significant
rain storm.  It was enough to increase the water level in the lake by a couple
of feet. We started selling wood and the fires lit up all over the campground.
It was still daylight so we sold many bundles into the evening.  Our clean air quickly
filled with smoke from nearly 100 campfires. Sonny and I rode in the GEM playing
"Light My Fire"on the CD player while we make our wood rounds.  One woman suggested
that we also sell drinks from the back.  We have seen a GEM with a wood fired
pizza oven on board.  Great revenue maker!

You can see the line up of fires from our site. Today, campers left
in droves.  As we were making rounds this evening, we found
a site that we hadn't gotten to clean and a fire was
still going in it.  Campers are so anxious to have
a fire and they are irate if there is a ban but
they can be careless.  Last night, William put out
a campfire that someone had left going on the beach.

Evening of August 31 as the sun sets.

Labor Day Weekend had the best weather for campers and beach
goers.  The lake was calm for floating, swimming and water play.The temps
were in the high 80s.  This is our break time view.

The beach was crowded with families having fun.   Though alcohol is allowed and
people had bottles and cans in their hands, there weren't any problems.
I got an hour or so of beach time including floating around on my noodle after I got
used to the cold water.

A pretty sunset.  Today, the weather  again cooperated.  The beach was crowded with
people getting one last play day before school begins. The camp store was s
old out of just about everything.  The last ice cream was sold yesterday.   

We had nearly 90 campsites evacuated today and we got 60 of them done by 4 PM (with an hour lunch break).  We were pretty proud till we talked with the North camp host who got 80 done! We treated ourselves to dinner at the Headwaters Tavern, the local hangout.  We will try to get the rest done in the morning before going over to Port Orchard to renew our mail hold and check on the house.

Several Small Faces' families camped here this week.  The "18th NW families" arrived Friday for the weekend with newborns to schoolagers. Thursday night, another long time family spent the last night of their cross state trip.  Sadly, they arrive just before the giant rain downpour so they went into Leavenworth and didn't get much beach/hiking time.

Working with the public is an interesting experience.  We are amazed at the thought processes of some people.  One night on our rounds, we noticed a car jockeying around a campsite which has cement barriers to keep vehicles in their place.  It's full on dark and there are several adults with young children about while the driver is moving the car over the barriers.  We can't believe our eyes really.  Finally, a woman comes to us and says that the air mattress in the tent is low and she is trying to get the car close enough to the tent to blow up the air mattress!!!!!!! What?????  (Why not just take the mattress OUT TO THE CAR???) If it hadn't been such a safety issue it would have been funny.  Actually, the neighbors across the way were rolling on the ground laughing.  The next night, at the height of the burn ban, it was reported to us that the SAME campers had a lit candle hanging in a tree.  We went to check that out but they had blown it out, thankfully. 

One evening, we were walking the roads when we found a campsite with candles going AND the camp stove was on.  No one was around and after the second time by the site, we blew out the candles and shut the stove off.  

Another time during the burn ban, we found people who had a fire going.  We poured water on it and they were mad because "the store sold them the wood!  How were they supposed to know there was a ban??" (By the signs all over the place! Dah)  They wanted their money back for the burnt wood.  The store does sell wood because other campgrounds were exempt from the ban.   The store owners don't know where people are camping.

We've seen a couple of cars drive by our site with young children driving them while sitting in their parent's laps and children riding bikes with watercraft life vests on but no bike helmet.  Today, a mom was running by with a 3 year old buck naked headed for the outdoor faucet shower.

We expect the month of September to be pretty with fall colors in the vine maples. Some are already turning. The weekends will be busy though maybe not completely full..  We will have time to do jobs that we don't get to in the summer.  "The hikers" from Seattle, some music friends from Texas and Finnish friends from the Brotherhood will be coming to visit.